Taking inspiration from M. Night Shyamalan

Manoj "M. Night" Shyamalan is an Indian-American film director, screenwriter, producer, and occasional actor known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots. He is best known for directing and producing films such as The Sixth Sense, The Visit, The Last Airbender, The Village and Signs. I am going to be discussing why I think Shyamalan’s films are so successful. Directors/producers such as Shyamalan study lighting to be able to help support the mood of their story. He is aware of how he will light a set using either artificial or natural light. A stylistic issue which may turn a lot of audience’s off, is the lack of design in a film. I have found that Shyamalan’s productions hire a production designer to conceptualize the look of a film. Essentially, a film’s designer is the film’s architect. They work with the director, stylists and set decorators to help design a colour palette, incorporate texture and find outfits and props that fit into the overall design of a film. To add to this, I also found after looking at many of Shyamalan’s productions that it is very important to understand that most natural environments have neutral design elements. For example, most homes and apartments have white walls. However, most audiences will find white walls infinitely boring.

However, from a filmmaking standpoint white walls may support the emotional tone of a scene, relating to emptiness and focusing the scene of whatever may be in front of the white wall. It’s a filmmaker’s responsibility to adapt these natural environments in creative and low cost ways to support the tone of their film. As discussed above, when watching almost any of Shyamalan’s films, I find I am always able to identify a good storyline. A director such as Shyamalan will always be able to go through a script and look for the dramatic peaks in the plot. He is also able to identify issues with relationships, character arcs, what the scene needs, emotional highs and lows and so on. He studies how to analyse and deconstruct the plots of his films as to keep the audience intrigued throughout the entire duration of his production. What also strikes me about Shyamalan is his ability to work well with the actors cast in is films. I can see this trough how the actors portray their roles and in interviews. He understands the need to learn and use the communicative tools used to help shape the plot of his films. This means understanding character back-story, knowing how to communicate using active verbs, being able to identify improvements in the scene and so on. As well as this it is also clear is Shyamalan’s attention to detail and his ability to properly punctuate his scenes.  

Insignia - AS Media thriller opening analysis

To benefit my group's thriller opening, we have decided to individually analyse a previous year’s work. I decided to analyse this particular opening as it is a psychological thriller. By analyzing this opening I can use the notes I have made to influence and improve my groups opening. The opening begins with the film distributors appearing on screen. the first is SYNCOPY whilst conducting research into the company to see if it worked well with the selected genre I found that Syncopy Films Inc. is a British film production company based in London, England. The company was founded by award-winning film director, screenwriter and producer Christopher Nolan and his wife Emma Thomas as the co-founder. The company has produced films such as Interstellar, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises, Man of Steel and Inception. Although the company has produced thrillers in the past such as The Dark Knight Rises, they mainly produce films within the mystery genre. However, this still works well with the chosen genre of a psychological thriller as mystery and thriller films both build suspense and tension. The second film distributor shown on screen is 'Knauf Pictures' upon research of this company I found that as a group they decided to create their own film distributor. The shot lasts four seconds and shows a blue and green coloured wall with a hand moving towards to camera lens to eventually black out the audience's view. This is an inventive and effective idea as no other group will have this company, also the action of the hand moving towards the camera suggests that the person filming the events that are about to unfold does not want the audience to see what is happening, building tension and suspense as to why the events should be hidden. The shot from black then blurs and fades slowly into what appears to be an establishing shot of the setting of the opening. Low dramatic and suspenseful music begins to play softly in the background. In the bottom, right-hand corner the date is given to the audience '15th November 2016' this is an example of editing within the opening through the use of transitions when the next shot is shown to the date given in the corner of the shot. As the text appears there is also the sound of typing to match the characters appearing on screen.

The shot then shows a bird's eye view shot of the boy laying with a blanket over him. the following shot through a cut transition features a close-up of the boy's eyes as he wakes and frowns in confusion this is used to show the audience the emotion coming from the boy at this point. we are then shown a wide shot of this boy leaning up into a seated position, the continued sound of suspenseful low music plays throughout the shots. The next series of shots shows a mid-shot of the boy begging to lift his t-shirt at this point the music begins to speed up slightly giving an indication to the audience that dramatic and perhaps dangerous events are soon to unfold. This sense of danger is continued through the next close-up shot showing a tattoo of an unrecognizable symbol on the boy's stomach. The next transition is another quick cut to a mid-close-up shot of the boy looking down at the tattoo in confusion, what is interesting about this shot is the low-level lighting as the camera is facing towards the sunset the lighting is very dark and you can barely make out the boy’s face. The following shot shows the boy standing and looking out over the hill he is on.

This is again followed by fast paced editing transition to an over the shoulder shot showing the back of the boys head, shoulders and his view of his surroundings. What makes this over the shoulder shot interesting and unique is the fact we see over both of his shoulders. The group obviously was pleased with how the shot came out as they decided to make it the shot that features their film title. 'INSIGNIA' appears in capital letters on the right-hand side of the shot. After this, the plot begins to thicken and the longer shots begin to play. A three-second shot showing the boy reaching for his phone followed by a close up of his dialling his Mum's number allows the audience to become aware of the time in which the film is set as we are now aware of the boy being in the present day, his clothes also gave an indication. This is all part of the mise-en-scene of the opening, the phone being a prop, the costumes used (basic black jeans and t-shirt) and the tattoo could be considered as makeup due to it only temporary. 

The next shot shows the boy reaching down for a skateboard that is hidden in the long grass. Through the next series of shots we are made aware of the boys confusion which keeps the audience on edge, through these shots non dietetic sound plays along with the omnibus soundtrack of a voicemail service. The next series of shots show great editing skills as one long shot would have been taken of the boy walking up the hill with the skateboard and the group edited small segments of the long clip together to show time moving quickly (almost like a montage showing the boys movements) this is an interesting and unwise way of showing time passing and the direction in which the character is traveling. The last in these four shots shows the boy nearest to the camera looking out on the rolling hills in confusion once again keeping the suspense high. This shot also brings in the high notes in the soundtrack accompanied by the boys voicemail to his mum, showing how he is feeling and what he is thinking. This reinforces the boys confusion and fear to thew audience. 

The following shot is a reverse zoom showing the boy skating a hill. What strikes me most when watching the opening is the skill used to allow the audience to gradually learn more about the character, we are aware that he has a mum and can skateboard what now interests the audience is finding out how these things will relate to the rest of the film. The next shot is from a low angle showing the boys feet on the board skating in and out of the cameras view. We are then shown the boy walking up to a house and discarding the board in what appears to be anger. As the boy approaches the door through a canted angle shot we are shown the door to the house he had approached left open. As soon as the boy enters the house and goes to shut the door behind him the soundtrack dramatically stops and the diegetic sound of the boy calling out "Mum? Dad? Kevin?" can be heard and is made slightly quieter that the music that had played before. This leaves the audience asking more and more questions, such as: Who's house is the boy in? Is this his home? Who's Kevin? Why was the door left open etc. 

The soundtrack then returns louder and more dramatic that it had been through the previous portion of the opening. This gives the audience some indication that they may begin to get answers as the boy starts to search the house. The boy enters a room and a pan shot from behind him, shows that the room is empty, the boy returns to looking confused as he exits the room and travels upstairs to search. A wide shot shows the boy running round the corner and up the stairs in panic. The following shot is from an extremely low angle, as i the camera is on the floor as the boy reaches the top of the stairs and stands with his feet either side of the camera lens. The soundtrack then appears to reach its climax as it slows. As the boy enters a room upstairs we are shown a mid close-up showing him inspecting the room, through another pan shot we are shown that the floor is covered with papers and documents. The audience does not recieve any answers, but is faced again with more questions. The soundtrack through this shot has changed to a more low pitched but faced paced solum track. 

The boy then lowers to the floor and picks up some of the documents beginning to inspect them, a close-up shows one of the dates on the document as being the 15th of November which is the date the audience was shown earlier when we first were shown the boy laying in the field. This builds suspense and the start to draw their own conclusions about what might be happening. This makes the idea behind this thriller opening unique and interesting. As many thriller films promote this type of thought provoking drama. A wide shot also allows us to see that the symbol that we saw tattooed on the boy earlier is posted all over the wall. Through a series of shot reverse shots we are shown the boy looking down at the documents and shots showing the audience  the boys point of view (looking at the documents) some of the shots don't allow the audience to read what is on the paper which frustrates the audience as they are left again in the unknown and the boy is able to read the documents. 

Through a series fast paced cuts and wide shots we are shown the boy exiting the room and running back down the stairs. He enters another room and the sun is begining to set. Through a mid shot we are shown the boy looking out of a window. The soundtrack has remained through this time as dramatic as when he reached the top of the stairs. A close up of the boys faced looking frightened and confused looking out onto the houses and land out of the window is then met with a sudden change in soundtrack. The soundtrack is cut and in the same close up shot the boy turns round as the door bell is heard. The boy looks round in confusion and the shot fades to black. Overall this thriller opening is very well directed. They have stuck closely to all the conventions of a thriller which allows the opening to build suspense. The emotion of the character through the opening is always kept clear and this also provoked emotion in the audience, a desired reaction to every thriller. I will take inspiration from this opening because of this. I can now see how important it is to keep the emotion of your character kept clear to the audience to try and provoke emotion in them as they watch the opening. 

Research into Schizophrenia

What is Schizophrenia? Schizophrenia is a psychotic disorder that often begins in late adolescence or early adulthood. It is an illness of the brain that affects how a person perceives the world, thinks and behaves. Many people confuse psychosis with violence but they are not the same thing. In fact, people with psychotic disorders like Schizophrenia are much more likely to be the victim of a crime than to commit one. Psychosis means “to break from reality,” and that’s exactly what Schizophrenia is – a mental disorder that causes the individual to have difficulty distinguishing what is real from what is not. Although Schizophrenia is a psychotic illness, psychosis can also occur in other mental disorders, such as Bipolar Disorder, Depression, or as a result of drug ingestion or Substance Use Disorder. Individuals with Schizophrenia experience these two categories of symptoms, plus many others. These categories are symptoms based on problems with cognition (delusions) and problems with perceptions (hallucinations). Another symptom is a belief in something that is not true, even when confronted with proof. The most common delusions are related to persecution, grandiosity, religion, or jealousy. Examples of this would be belief that a group or organization is out to get you; belief that the star of your favourite TV show is speaking directly to you; belief that a loved one is trying to harm or kill you; belief that someone you’ve never met is in love with you and belief that someone else is controlling your behaviour.

What causes Schizophrenia and who is at risk? Schizophrenia is equally common in men and women, affecting about one percent of the population, although the age of onset is usually about 10 years later in women than men. Some research suggests that women tend to have more paranoid delusions and hallucinations, whereas men often experience more negative and disorganised symptoms. Schizophrenia is linked to structural and functional abnormalities in the brain. The regions of the brain that control and coordinate thinking, perceptions and behaviours are not functioning properly, making it difficult for people to filter and process information. Frequently, people with Schizophrenia experience the information that comes to their senses as garbled and mixed together. A variety of different neurochemical pathways is involved, including brain pathways that use the chemicals dopamine and serotonin. The limbic system (an area of the brain involved with emotion), the thalamus (which coordinates outgoing messages), the cortex (the part of the brain that is responsible for problem-solving and complex thinking) and several other brain regions can all be affected. Schizophrenia often has a genetic component, although not in all cases. Birth trauma and fetal brain damage in utero increase the risk for Schizophrenia. Recent research also suggests that significant marijuana use may trigger the onset of Schizophrenia in youth who are at risk for the illness. Individuals who have an immediate family member with Schizophrenia should avoid using marijuana or other drugs.

Audience Research

Further research not added into the Prezi: Due to our film being based around the mental illness schizophrenia, as a group we decided that the target audience could somehow link to this. Upon further research, I found that men tend to develop schizophrenia slightly earlier than women; whereas most males become ill between the ages of 16 to 25 years of age, most females develop symptoms of the illness closer to the age of 30. The average age of onset in men in 18 and 25 in women.

The Prezi linked bellow explains the research and thought behind are decided target audience of 16-24.

Prezi// Audience Research 

Filming 09/01/17

Lucy played a massive role in this weeks filming, being head of costume and makeup. Lucy spent allot of time working with the cast and makeup. Although Ellie's makeup was natural, the process took almost forty five minutes. Lucas' makeup was very basic, Lucy used dark eyeshadow to give the effect of the character looking tired and ill. The images on this post show the step in which the group took throughout the session to achieve certain shots such as using fake blood too show the audience the female character has been injured. I filmed the mojority of the shots, I tried to achieve high quality shots and incorporate a set of varied camera angles. We referred to our story board throughout filming to try and keep to the decided on shots. However upon reflection of the shots, to allow the opening to flow in non-chronological order the flashback scenes and the scene set in the present need to flow well and flashbacks need to be easily distinguished from the present. Although this will come down to editing the shots that we take need to be of a certain quality so the final outcome dos not seem over edited.

First stage editing abusive flashback scene

After intense planning as group we finally decided on a date to film. This was hard to plan as nearly everyone in the group works, planning to film around this narrowed it down to Mondays. So as a group we decided that after school on Mondays we would film. We planned to film the abusive flashback scene in which Ellie was thrown down the stairs during an argument. On the 09/01/17 we arranged to film at a large house for the scene where the argument would quickly escalate into the female character being thrown down the stairs. We took inspiration from the abusive scene in Gone Girl. As it was a The argument has came about due to the main male character refusing to take his medication as he believes it isn't helping. The female character try to persuade him to continue taking his course of medication, however due to the male character mental illness the voices in his head quickly escalate the argument into a scene of violence. 

The video above is all of the shots that we took edited into order so we can get an idea of timings. Due to this scene only making up sixteen seconds of the opening sequence being a short flashback. We my have to film this scene again as looking back we have missed a few shots that would allow the scene to appear more professional. The ideas that we had incorporated into the scene however worked well. As a result we may use this scene and the shots we took as the guide line for our next filming session. To add to this to ensure are acheive  all of the shots we indeed to add into the opening we are using a story board for each scene, varied shots and writing down lists of shots before the next filming session to ensure nothing is missed. 

Side Effect pitch and feed back

Film Title: Side Effect

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Film Tagline: “Madness is the only freedom”

Producers: Universal studios and

Plot Synopsis: 18-year-old (…) suffers from a mental illness called schizophrenia; an illness that affects the individual’s way of thinking, making them delusional as they experience hallucinations that affect them day to day. This character is dependent on his medication to treat his illness. His reluctance to take them will lead to the series of events that unfold. The disease affects 1 in 100 people. The film is based on this character's point of view, giving the audience an insight into a mental illness his thoughts. Within the film, (…) meets a girl called ‘…’ – they fall in love only to result in their relationship falling apart with a dark and gruesome ending. The film is arranged in a non-chronological order, meaning the film and its events will not be in order, adding to the suspense and thriller effect. Many flashbacks will take place throughout the film slowly piecing together the whole story.

Opening Sequence: Our opening sequence has little dialogue and little information about the overall film, subtle clues are given to the audience – however, the idea of the non-chronological order is to keep the audience guessing, building the anticipation to add to the ‘psychological thriller’ effect. Our opening sequence will last 2 minutes, accompanied by non-diegetic sound, a variety of camera angles and more. We are especially focusing on camera angles, to show the movie through the eyes of an individual with psychological issues.

Soundtrack: We will be using the following tracks for our opening sequence:

Zack Hemsey “The way”

“Ominous” by Chaos Frequency

Group Members:

Lucy Czaplinski: Make-up, Costume and set producer

June King: Editor and filmmaker

Joby Okouhya: Cameraman

Ellie Spencer-Webb: Scriptwriter and soundtrack producer

Lucas Bowles: Main actor

https://prezi.com/e537tyqtrqyh/side-effect-pitch/

The feedback we received was positive. Our ideas are unique and the idea of using a voice over is rare. We do however need to keep onto of filming and make sure we are planning everything correctly before we film to ensure everything runs smoothly and we are able to edit easily without going back out to film because we forgot something this will save time and ensure we can spend that time improving the finished product however we can. We also received feedback that we should ensure the plot of the film is not given away in the first two minutes as our film is in non-chronological order we need to be careful not to give too much away in the opening. We will make sure to use the feedback we received to our advantage and use it to improve our opening.