Lighting will be important in the film as it gives the film a sense of mystery and also gives the contrasts between the point of view of the gods and the point of view of Mike. When filming from the point of view of the gods I plan on making the camera rise to high heights to put across a sense of superiority.
Because this film is based around the theme of the Greek Gods the mis - en scene is very important. I will have a lot of the setting for scenes in natural surroundings for example the woods. This will put across the effect the Gods have once they have arrived on the earth. Also having the scenes in natural areas helps as it’s easier to film on location and, as it is a low budget production, could save money.
I intend to choose the music and sounds carefully so that they fit in with the genre of the film and add effect to the potent parts of the film. I think sound, both dialogue and non-dialogue plays a big part as it can emphasise things happening and enhance the mood.
Script
The scene starts of in the kitchen of the family home. The camera shot is a static one at eye level of JANE helping her mum cook dinner for the family. The camera cuts to a MID-SHOT of MIKE’s mum who is standing beside the benches that line the wall, on the benches from left to right are three jars together saying coffee, sugar and tea on each one then beside them is the sink which is a brilliant silver colour and on the side is a wooden drying rack that contains plates and pots. Beside GINA there is the cooker which is old and has four pots on it with steam rising from each one and on the handle to the oven there is a pair of oven gloves and a drying towel the steam from the cooker fills the room. The tiniest ray of sunlight is coming through the window and splitting through the netting curtains and is highlighted by the steam. The weather outside is bright but windy as we can see from the tree outside, the atmosphere is dense in the kitchen which is built up by the steam in the air , the amount of objects within the kitchen and the wind outside which can be heard blowing slightly. Camera cuts to a CLOSE-UP shot of MIKE the camera is looking at him from the right side and pointing up from the table and on the left die of the shot we can see the door. He is sitting at the table talking about his day at school but no-one is taking much notice of him. He puts his head down and starts to do his homework but as we then see from his confused facial expressions he stumbles upon a problem. Camera cuts to a LONG-SHOT of the kitchen with MIKE on the right of the shot and his mum and sister on the left. He asks his sister for help but she ignores him so he asks her again. She turns around camera cuts to CLOSE-UP of her face and back to LONG-SHOT.
JANE: (in an angry tone) what do you want? Your always whining, can you not get on with one thing by yourself?
CUT TO;
(CLOSE-UP sot of MIKE as his face becomes saddened, he get out of his seat and a the camera ZOOMS to follow him out the door)
CUT TO;
(LONG-PANNING-SHOT of the garden as MIKE runs down to the bottom and through the trees)
CUT TO;
(MID-SHOT Eye level, in the kitchen of JANE and her mum looking at each other)
GINA: He’ll be back; I don’t know why you can’t just help him!
JANE: Well you didn’t seem to care!
(Camera cuts to a MID to LONG SHOT of JANE and GINA as JANE storms out of sight of the camera, the shot is of GINA standing on her own in the kitchen.)
CUT TO;
(TRACKING SHOT about half a metre above the ground pointing up slightly of MIKE Running through the trees as they pass rapidly in front of the camera. MIKE Slows down and stops CAMERA STOPS ON MID-SHOT he is panting by a rock and sits on it.)
CUT TO;
(CLOSE-UP HIGH ANGLE SHOT of the back of the rock, a sign that looks like a lightning bolt is engraved on the back.)
CUT TO;
(MID-SHOT LOW ANGLE of MIKE sitting on the rock panting for air and putting his arms behind him, laying his hand on the stone.)
CUT TO;
(CLOSE-UP shot of MIKE’s face as he feels the marking on the back on the stone. His expression is that of intrigue)
CUT TO;
(LONG-SHOT HIGH ANGLE of MIKE crawling round the back on the stone and looking for a time at the marking on the stone, the camera cuts three times, from LOW ANGLE SHOT of MIKE’s face to OVER SHOULDER CLOSE-UP of the marking and back to LOW ANGLE SHOT of MIKE’s face in quick succession.)
CUT TO;
(MID-SHOT LOW ANGLE of MIKE reaching his arm out towards the stone with his index finger pointing at it.)
FADE IN : Rothko – Harold Budd – low bass drone
CUT TO;
(CLOSE-UP over shoulder shot of MIKE’s finger tracing the shape that is engraved on the stone. The shape suddenly glows in a magnificent orange ember colour before going back to normal)
CUT TO;
(CLOSE-UP shot of MIKE’s face with a look of disbelief and excitement, he smiles a wide grin, Thunder crashes in the sky and MIKE looks up)
CUT TO;
(LONG PANNING shot, MID LEVEL that follows MIKE as he runs back through the forest towards home)
CUT TO;
(BIG CLOSE-UP shot of the god of thunder’s eyes as they open startlingly)
CUT TO;
(P.O.V shot from the eyes of the god, the camera blacks out and fades in to focus as if it was an eye opening, and colour filter shows everything in this shot is red)
CUT TO;
(CLOSE-UP shot of the hand of the god slowly clenching and unclenching, the hand looks like its made out of tree bark.)
CROSS FADE: (Rothko – Harold Budd FADES OUT as the sounds of the wind get louder.)
FADE OUT:
Evaluation
By using my cinematic techniques I believe I achieved a scene that I feel is very effective. The sense of tension and mystery was heightened by the use of the song by Rothko. It took a lot of time to find the right music for this scene as I really wanted something that had a few different elements in it that would give more effect to the scene For example I wanted the music I was choosing to have a low bass drone and something that would represent in some way the time of year being autumn. I went through a few different pieces of music before coming to my decision of using Rothko – Harold Budd. I looked at music from a band called Experience. Hold from their album March forth but I found that the song didn’t have the bass drone that I wanted so I decided not to use it and went for the song by Rothko instead.
Mis – en scene was very important in the kitchen to create the dense atmosphere I wanted to create in order to show the contrast of the inside and outside of the house. I deliberately made it so that the bench had numerous objects on it ranging in shape and size and looked almost cluttered, this along with the steam rising from the pots and filling the room made the scene dense as I wanted and I think it worked very well.
The way I used editing I think was very effective as it added a lot to the scene in terms of emotion. The close-ups on faces of the characters I think was good as they showed the reaction to lines of dialogue or actual events within the scene for example when Mike sees the stone glow the camera shows his excited reaction. In the scene I scripted when the stone glows I had a close-up of mike’s face, this is the first time in the film where mike actually looks powerful and makes the scene pivotal. I decided to use colour filtering when doing shots from the point of view of the gods as I thought this added a different level to the scene as we then see it from a different kind of perspective. I saw this technique used in ‘Predator’ when the shots that are from the point of the Predator the colours are digitally enhanced and not like normal colours. I thought this was effective as it added contrast and so I decided to use it. The colour filter I think also shows the hostility of the gods as we associate the colour red with danger.
I chose to have the generic device of using the symbol or the mysterious object that is seen in films such as “Jumanji” and “Hellraiser” Using this helps the film fit into the genre of suspense and fantasy. I thought that the idea of the object being triggered out of innocence was a good way of also keeping it within the genre. Using the main character as a vulnerable teenager I think was good as it not only widens the audience that may come to see it but it also adds effect to the innocence we see in the scene.
I am aware that the story I have chosen has been in a way told before through some of the writings done by H.P Lovecraft and Neil Gaiman I thought I would use the story and put my own spin on it and make it my own by using certain things that I thought would make it different For example the colour filter and lots of Point of view shots make the story a little bit darker and not completely fantasy.