Animatic anlysis

At its simplest, an animatic is a series of still images edited together and displayed in sequence with a rough dialogue and rough sound track added to the sequence of still images to test whether the sound and images are working effectively together. The function of the animatics is to allow for the producers to work out any screenplay, camera positioning, shot list and timing issues that may exist with my current storyboard.

The first step to our animatic process was the storyboard. We created a storyboard from our trailer plot were we were able to generate ideas to a picture sequence.

 Completing the storyboard we were able to work out our shooting schedule. Within the shooting schedule we matched each location for the shots together and went from most important pictures to least important pictures. We then considered our actors as a group. We decided we had to consider an actor that can sustain our timing schedule and match the characters target age.  We chose our actors from our media group enabling us to keep a good timing schedule. Our next step was our photo shoot. During our photo shoot we did come across a relative amount of rain which caused us to postpone a shoot. However we were able to catch up on lost time.   We all took part in the photography of the animatic sharing the responsibility of each shoot. Towards each shoot we tried different types of shots this then allowed us to visually see which photo worked effectively and best for the animatic. Finishing the shooting we put the shots into the editing suite, as we edited the pictures and sound we became more familiar with editing transition. At this point we were able to revise our ideas visually on the screen and caused us to rethink our ideas.  Although we were forced to revise our original film plot and generate a new idea for a new plot we benefited from the experience in the editing suite.

We created and developed the narrative for the animatic through the storyboard. We cut out pieces from the storyboard and rearranged them in the appropriate order. From this we were able to see what works and what doesn’t work. We were also able to witness that that the storyboard reveals too much of the plot and were able to take out some shots that would create the sense of enigma. For example we had a shot of our main character dying but we realised we wanted the audience to question on what will happen to the main character.

Within the animatic we had 4 different shoots at 4 different locations. We chose our actors regarding appearance of character keeping in the tone of the film and matching the age of the character.  We wanted to get the age of 20 therefore we went with someone looking older for his age which was me. By choosing me we were able to follow the timing schedule.  During the shooting process we changed the type of shot and angles used within the shooting.  We also changed the location for a shoot when discovering construction in the way. The shots that we were unable to do were the train shots. We were unable to do these shots because they were unrealistic. After we finished the animatic we were caused to revise our ideas. This was caused because the animatic did not have the right codes and conventions of a psychological thriller. This was revealed due to the film matching the genre of an action adventure and not a psychological thriller.

We constructed the animatic by uploading all the photos and ordering the shots to a specific order. We were then able to add editing transitions, intertitles and a newly produced soundtrack keeping in tone with our animatic.

Choosing the length off shots began from the storyboard were we gave an estimated time for each shot helping us have a rough idea when going into the editing suite. When in the editing we were able to discover our length of shots were to long causing us to shorten the length of shot from 5 seconds to 3 seconds. We also made changes to transitions, at the beginning we didn’t start of great due to relishing as new software. However when we got more familiar with the editing process we were able to choose the right transitions.  We were able to speed up our time regarding transitions towards us having a rough idea in our story board of were we wanted them and how long we wanted them.

For the film title “Retribution” we went for the colour red we chose the colour red because it reveals blood and violence. We had this towards a black background to emphasize the serious of the title that we intended to bring. Within the animatic we also used intertitles to communicate to the audience. We used a black font for the intertitles showing keeping the serious tone throughout the story board.

The choice of soundtrack was not at all its best however it did have a positive effect on the animatic. . We created a fast track which adapted well with the fast pace editing towards the end. We also introduced a heart beat when we had a photograph for someone dying. This did however  decrease the serious nature of the photograph.

 Our completed animatic did not appeal to our target audience. This was firstly evident towards our genre. We wanted our film to be a psychological thriller with a mixed genre and an age of 18-35. However our animatic turned out to be an action adventure which would appeal to a lot younger target audience and it would be prominently male.

 Before the making of the movie trailer the animatic has caused us to rethink our plot. This was caused by not capturing conventions of a physiological thriller. Before we begin this new process of making a new plot we must go into more depth towards the research of physiological thriller. This would involve researching films like Shutter Island, and memento. This way we will be able to understand the true codes and conventions of a psychological thriller. We also have to think about realistic and appropriate location along with going into more depth of the soundtrack.  

These two shots below show the alter ego aspect of the film, without revealing too much. They are ultimately our greatest shots towards a target audience and our chosen genre of a psychological thriller. It makes the audience think twice about the main character and think that it isn’t him causing all the destruction.

This image makes the audience feel concerned for the character and trying to adapt a relationship between the audience and the character. This is caused by making the audience question why this happening to him.

  This shot reveals a man dying and makes the audience feel sorry for the other character because they can see a bond between the two character and see that he is about to loose a friend.

T This image shows the man being haunted by his alter ego; however this shot could be a lot better as the face expressions of the characters do relinquish the seriousness of the photo. 

   My role during the process of the animatic will involve contributing to the story board. Being the main actor of the film and being able to adapt with the target age and timing schedule making it easier for my group to finish the animatic on schedule. I also produced the soundtrack for the animatic and contributed to the editing transitions.

Storyboard from flowerdj

The happening film poster analysis

M.Night Shaymalan is a director of many thriller films Including signs and the sixth sense which have also broadcasted on the top of the page.  It instantly attracts audiences who have already watched these films as there genres are very similar. The layout of the poster sees the characters adapt in well to the background of the poster. It shows to the audience that the film will inflict in supper natural events evident towards the fact that the poster looks like the city is moving in towards the characters. The iconic image for the poster is the disserted city. This is instantly initiating the thriller genre. This is due to the audience wondering why these people are the only people in the city, what has caused this and what will happen to the characters on the poster.

The film poster targets an audience of around 20-35 and is mixed gender. This is shown because it includes two characters around the age of 30n and also a little girl. It provides that sense of a family being threatened by something which the audience is unable to see. The characters are presented as normal people who the audience of 20-35, mixed gender and middle, lower class people can connect to. This is evident due to the way the characters dressed, as the man is wearing jeans and a casual shirt the little girl is also wearing jeans with a white t-shirt. As it shows a family being threatened this shows to the audience its unique selling point. This is down to the fact that ordinary people are being threatened by something and it can happen to anyone. This breaks that sense of security when you’re with your family. The film poster includes a release date of Friday the 13^th they have purposely set this date as Friday 13^th if supposed to be one of the unluckiest days of the year. It provides s that sense that something bad is going to happen. The title block is decorated with white bluish colour. This initiates a cold scary feeling. The billing block has also the same colour this shows the poster is very well colour orientated. The whole of the billing block is about the same size of the title. This shows the title being the largest lettering on the film poster. The actors are positioned to be sitting down. This causes the characters to look more vulnerable. The man seems to be holding the man and the women as thou he is trying to protect them. This man is also the only character to have his name written on the poster. This is evident towards the name of Mark Wahlberg.  The image is multi layered. The background looks like a city bring squeezed in as thou something bad is coming closer. This is also initiated with the dark shade on the left hand side of the picture. It creates the suspension and tension for the characters that are on the poster.  Those examples of suspense and tension are key elements for a thriller. The tagline for the poster isn’t shown very clearly due to the image. However it says,” Don’t look for the answers it’s already too late”. This is suggesting that something has happened but it might be too late to figure it out because something will happen to them before they can.

Limitless poster analysis

The names of the stars of the film are located at the top of the film poster. The first name is Bradley cooper. He is the actor who is situated at the front of the film poster. This shows he is the main character of the film. However another actor is also located on the film poster but he is located behind the main actor. This suggests he has more of a supporting role rather than the main role. The actors are both dressed in suites this is showing them as looking very smart and powerful as though they are very high up in life. Due to the two actors being male the poster reaches out to a predominantly male target. The target audience for the film will be aged at 20-35 this is due to the characters involved, the type of film genre the poster is insinuating and the imagery on the poster. As the main character looks to be at the age of 30 and the other character is Robert Deniro a famous actor which 20-35 year olds will relate to due to him staring in other films relating to the genre of this film. The imagery on the poster like the colourful scheme using modern advertisement boards compels with the modern target age of 20. The title of limitless suggests too the audience that anything can occur in the film due to the poster telling the audience that it has no limits and it is a faced paced film. This is a key convention for a thriller film. The billing block is located at the bottom of the screen it is also the same colourer as the sky. This is done because they are background images and letters which add to the conventions of a film poster. The tag line for the film poster is “Everything is possible when you open your mind”. This is suggesting that you can do everything if something opens up your mind to the full potential. However this does suggest more than one meaning. This is down to the fact that you will be opening up your mind through a medical source. The main image seems to be multi layered with two of the actors standing in the middle of the street in a city. The background image sees cars speeding passed connecting the image to the title of the film which is limitless due to the fact that cars are looking like they are going at a fast pace.  Giving an indication of what the film will be like. This film includes two sets of narrative in the background. This includes the writing on the left which says “unlock your potential”, and the writing on the right which says clear pill.  This employs the iconography to the audience through the fact that a pill is the reason for causing limitless action. The unique selling point for this film is the fact that it includes big name actors like Bradley cooper and Robert deniro. What makes this poster different from other film posters is the way the men look. This is because these men may have some sort of advantage over a normal human being however they are dressed smart and are not looking like they are doing anything special. This raises the question in wondering what is there advantage why are they limitless.

Trailer plot

 The trailer begins with the production company’s name. There is a diegetic sound of a train and someone listening to music. The next shot then shows a man on the train listening to music through earphones; the music is just loud enough to hear. A man then walks past with a newspaper relating to the war and a close up shot shows the story before the train goes through the tunnel and the scene fades out.
There's then a flashback of a squad of soldiers walking through a forest where they are ambushed. There is a gunfire which marks the fade out of the scene followed by an inter title with the background of the woods, reading 'the death of a friend’ This then fades again and the main character (Mark) holds him in his arms as he dies . It fades back to the train and shows a close up of him starring into space looking sad.
The inter titles 'pushed over the edge' show in between cuts and it changes to a cut where his girlfriend tells him she's cheated on him. This then cuts to the inter titles "it's time for a new war", then a scene shows a close up of him packing his knife and other equipment into a sports bag/rucksack. Then it shows Lisa on the phone and we hear the diegetic dialogue, "Thomas, he knows". Then it cuts to Thomas' house and a close up on his fridge with a note saying "That's the problem with best friends, they know all your secrets, and I’m coming for you." After reading this Thomas runs out of the house and as he runs past a blind corner he's struck down and tackled/punched. Then it cuts to a scene were we see him being held under the water. The next cut shows the inter title "This time he's not the only one fighting to survive."
There is then an establishing shot of woods at night. The next scene shows Thomas hitting mark and running away through the woods. As he gets around the corner Mark is stood there with a bloody nose staring menacingly at Thomas. He charges at him knocking his phone out his hand which he's using as a light. While he tries to get signal, as the phone hits the floor, the light goes out and everything goes black. The words "he will have retribution" appear at the end with the word "retribution in red".

Final film plot

The film begins in a greyish colour at a war zone with troops advancing under enemy fire. The commander gives the order to advance through a smoky forest and the main character's friend, Matthew, gets hit by grenade. As they head through, he runs to him but it's too late and he dies in front of him. The gunfire fades out and so does the scene.

The next scene is in normal colour and present day in front of the commander. The main character, Mark looks shaken up and the commander tells him he's in no state to continue his service and to go home and spend time with his girlfriend while he gets over losing his friend.

Since after his friend’s death, Mark had been experiencing flashbacks of him and he imagines he's having conversations with him regularly. This false representation of Matthew tells Mark his girlfriend, Lisa, is cheating on him. He tries to forget about it but he himself has been noticing she has been acting different since he's returned from war.

He finally confronts Lisa and she admits to cheating on him with one of his best friends, Thomas while he has been away at the army. It's at this point he storms out the room and heads upstairs to pack his bag. He begins by just packing his clothes but on later inspection notices other stuff such as rope and knives. This is when Mark says out loud, “ What, I didn't pack these!” and Matthew speaks to him and says, “I know, I did”. He tries to remove them but eventually, after they keep reappearing he leaves them, as it is no use.

He leaves the house and pushes his girlfriend out of the way as she tries to say she's sorry. He yells “It's over” before slamming the door.

The next scene shows her on the phone to Thomas warning him and telling him to watch out because Mark knows and he's not himself. Thomas hears something while on the phone and turns round to his fridge/mirror and finds a note saying “that's the problem with best friends, they know all of your fears. Scared of the dark?”. After he reads this the lights go out and he hears running. The door shuts before power returns.

Scared and on the phone to Lisa the whole time, Thomas tells her what he has witnessed and only Mark knows about his embarrassing phobia of the dark. Lisa rings Mark and confronts him about it, this where he tells her he's been sleeping while this has been going on and hasn't been anywhere near Thomas before hanging up. He goes back to sleep and has a weird dream with him and Matthew in it. In the dream, Mark and Matthew plant a letter in Thomas' house before turning off the light and rushing out through the front door. Matthew talks to Mark and Mark tells Matthew all about how he's struggling to cope. He tells Mark, “Thomas will pay, I'll see to that”. Mark then wakes up and finds the words “Die. Suffer. Pay” repeatedly carved around where he was sleeping and looks at his hands to find them bloody/muddy ( this depends on location as to whether he sleeps in a house or sleeps rough in the wilderness).

Stuff like this continues to happen until Thomas becomes enveloped in fear. When a final note says, “I'm coming for you soon”, seeing this he runs from his house only to be ambushed in an alleyway and suffocated with a bag until he passes out.

He regains consciousness and is tied up in his own bathroom where Mark, with a slightly different darker voice says, “Scared of drowning too, wasn't it?”. He looks over to see a bath full of water and Mark laughing. He looks terrified at this point and begs him to stop, but Mark just laughs harder and says, “Let's see how long you can hold your breath for?”, before dragging him over and pushing his head under water. At this point, Lisa runs in and pulls him off. He turns to her, and he says, “Oh god Mark, what's happened to you?” before backing away. He throws her to the floor and she hits her head, losing consciousness. He then moves back to Thomas, who is coughing and spluttering, and hits him in the side of the head knocking him out.

The next scene shows Thomas looking out of the car boot as it is opened, and Mark drags him out. He sees a forest and Lisa tied, and on her knees blindfolded. He is forced on his knees next to her. Matthew says, “Since you had no problem choosing between me and her, let's see how easy it is for you to choose between you and her. One of you dies”.

Thomas manages to break free and hits Matthew who falls to the floor. He then frees Lisa and they run through the forest away from Mark. He catches them up and pins Matthew to the floor, hitting him over and over again. Meanwhile, Lisa is screaming “Stop it! This isn't you!”. He has memories of the four of them (Him, Lisa, Thomas and Matthew ) This somehow seems to wake Mark and he releases Matthew. As he does this, Matthew screams at him, “Finish this, finish it you coward! If you don't I'll get them when you're sleeping , you can't stay awake forever!”. He replies with, “I know” and we see him walk towards an edge by the river. We see Lisa watch him, then look to Mark to check he's okay. We hear a splash , and when the camera pans Mark is gone. The film ends with the camera cutting to the side of the river where Mark has been washed up. It ends on a close up of his face and his eyes fling open, where he gasps before it ends. 

Individual group plot

A man aged 20 male with the name lieutenant Paul walker is seen arriving on his door way in his army gear as he is about to get out of the car he looks at a letter sitting on his right chair. Looking at the letter forces him to have a flash back…..

Lieutenant Paul Walker is seen holding his gun looking out of a small gap in an old castle, he next shot sees Paul becoming under attack by the enemy. He then hears a loud scream up above him and sees his friend lieutenant parker has been shot. Paul runs to his aid but even Paul knows his friend is going to die. Parker tells Paul “life is too short look after yourself and look after you’re loved ones don’t make the same mistakes I did lieutenant”. And then he dies. Paul tries to pound on his friend’s chest but he doesn’t come back to life. Paul then screams out noooooooo……

The next shot sees Paul walker sitting in front of an older man in an office he then gives Paul a letter as the letter, which tells lieutenant walker that due to his unstable condition refereeing to the death of his close friend we are going to have to send you back to the UK.
The next scene sees him back in the present day pulling out the army gear from his boot. As he is about to pick up his army gear from the floor he reaches inside his pocket were he pulls out an engagement ring. Due to the words of his best friend that “life is too short” he believes now is time to ask the question to his long term girlfriend.

As he enters his house he notices his girlfriend, Sheila also aged 20 is sitting on the chair very upset. She then gives Paul the news he least wanted to hear, which is the fact she is having an affair with his best friend, His mind then feels like it has just been hit by a big thud suddenly he feels like he is back in the war. He slowly walks to the door stiff and shocked he goes into his car and then drives off

We then are introduced to the character of Charlie. Sheila reveals to Charlie that Paul knows about the affair. Too shocked by the words to carry on the conversation, Charlie drops the phone as thou he knows the consequences of his actions.

He then hears a rattling noise coming from the bottom of his room, but he then discovers that his front window has been open. When he closes the window and turns round Paul appears were he hits Charlie over the head with a metal bar, Charlie lies on the ground unconscious.

Paul takes Charlie to the top of a mountain, no map, food or water and leaves him there, with his hands tide. When Charlie awakes from being unconscious he has no idea were he is. He suddenly gets up, with his hand tied behind his back and strangely enough his legs not tide at all as if Paul wants him to find his way down from the mountain.

Paul struggles to get any sense of direction were he is going but his mind is too tired to think were he is going, his body takes a lot of hits from falls due to him unable to use his hand for balance. Paul is near the bottom of the mountain but still unable to see were he then sees a sharp stone on the ground he picks it up very smartly and try’s to unlock his tied hands. He is half way through cutting the rope but then hears rattling from the bushes. He gets distracted and puts the rock in his pocket as he is about to explore but then Charlie appears and he gets another bang on his head but this time he keeps his conscious. Charlie then picks him up and takes him to the nearby woods.

The next shot sees Charlie stranded in the middle of the woods tied to a tree. Paul then starts light up a fire and he then places a pan with water in on that fire. When the water starts to boil he gets it and poor’s it all over Charlie. He then starts to scream why you did it. Charlie is too petrified to answer him by the events going on.

Paul then realises he forgot something he quickly walks over to Charlie and whispers in his ear you better not try and escape I got as surprise for you.

The word “escape” ring into Charlie’s mind and he feels something digging into his back coming from his back pocket. He cuts the rope and sets himself free he starts to run as Paul is walking up to Charlie and he sees him running through the words and chases after him. Charlie reaches a river surrounded by pebbles and realises it’s a dead end. Paul also reaches the island and then Charlie realises it is about time he try’s to fight back. Unable to compete with the skills of the solider, Paul drowns Charlie’s head into the river. Charlie on the brink of death shouts out to Paul” you were never there Paul”, “I love her Paul and if you’re going to kill me for that then so be it”. Paul stops drowning Charlie and remembers the words of his dead friend lieutenant parker.

“Life is too short look after the ones you loved”. He then tells Charlie too go, Charlie runs quickly off. You then see Paul staring into the sky the camera then follows his eyes the end.