rough cut

despite illness wether and the fact that it has christmas i have come into school to finish my editing. however the uploaded piece will be a rought cut as i do not have access to download the appropriate soundtrack (halleluja-jeff buckley cover) on the school computers. i will put it on a memory stick at home and bring it in for the first day back.

this is the new addition to the script and will be shot in a psyciatrists office and has a one to one speach.

Dr: ive been seeing you for a total of 8 months now and I think your ready to stop treatment jim. You’ve made good progress and have had no incidents for a good few months.

Jim: no im not ready I need this please.

Dr: I know a good quote jim. ‘’ while soldiers in war have been pushed further and further apart by new weapons and bombs. The act of war dosent change and the pain of killing haunts a man for eternity.’’.

Jim: who said that ?

Dr: you did in one of our first sessions.

i have had some trouble uploading my storyboard from home so it will be uploaded at a later date. i have decided to go down the route of a synical view of war and have my timeline in a non linear fashon.

Production schedule

November 20th	Shooting the opening scenes in the forest from the opening shots of the meeting	Need the army gear, paint and guns also have to take lighter.	Me , nail, matt shalou and James will need to be there	Roughly 2 hours of shooting
November 21st	Shooting the first deaths of the soldiers	‘’ ‘’ - lighter	‘’ ‘’	One and a half hours of shooting likely
November 21st	The night scenes in the forest and the death of the main characters dad	Need the pistol fake blood and duct tape for the POV shot	Me , shalou	Roughly a thirty minute shoot
December 1st	Shooting the scene of James walking up the snowy street	Duffel bag and lighter	Me, James	An hour long shoot
December 2nd	The scenes of James in the recruiting office signing up	Duffel bag and the copy of the sing up sheet	James, Chris earl, me	An hour and a half shoot

i have done the research for my media As opening sequence and have decided to go towards the more cynical view of war that jarhead and hurt locker portrays. both of these films are based in iraq and while the start of the film is meant to be falklands i believe that the father son link jarhead works really well and want the film to be in iraq. also i believe that the type of war in iraq is far better than any other for portraying the horror of war instead of the glory. while i recognise that the men who knowingly and willingly sacrifice their life even if for the wrong reasons. i feel asthough the sacrafice of my personal pacafism is necassery for the audience to like the film and for the company to make a profit upon its releace. however i morally couldnt portray war in a good light and will still take the cynical route. however saving private ryan has massive profit margins and that is a film that puts soldiers in a heroic light and paints them as saviours. furthermore the film apocolypse now was a massive sucess and had the cynical anti war view in. this was due to the fact that it accurately represented the public view of the vietnam war. this is somthing i can use with the iraq war as many people see it as an illigal war and disagree. furthermore the british involvment in iraq was questionable in its reasons therefore my film will target this audience that holds the negative view of the iraq conflict

saving private ryan

Saving Private Ryan.

The introduction of saving Private Ryan is quite a typical opening and you expect it on war films of this genre. The intro is meant to instil pride in the viewer and patriotism it also tells the viewer the feel of the film with the music. For example the image of the American flag in the wind with the sad and daunting music in the background. The intro is also introducing knowledge in the viewer that one of the veterans survived as it concentrates on an old man. It gives connotations that the old man is important as the camera follows him and has an ECU of his face. Furthermore the intro tells the consumer that there is sadness in the film because in the ECU the man looks although he is crying. The man looks although he has a definite direction in his life and that he is very certain of where he is going. It shows the character to be tough and hard headed therefore introducing the power of the man and how he is a proud and strong character. However it also shows that he has allot of emotion as when he reaches the grave he is headed to he starts crying instantly and fall to the ground. This gives connotations that there has been an extreme tragedy in this man’s past involved with this man. Furthermore it sets up how to introduce the narrative and shows the viewer that it is a story being told. This therefore brings it home to the viewer and really brings it home in making shore the viewer knows all the disgusting and haunting stuff you’re going to see for the next few hours actually happened. Te camera zooms out to cut away and you see the size of the graveyard and instantly know that it is a massive war graveyard memorial. This therefore tells the viewer that this is the reality of it look all these people died. The director really tries to impact that this is meant to be an accurate representation of the war and that this is not a light hearted film. I would like to use that effect in my project, the effect that lets the viewer know the basis and mood of the film straight away and without fault. I believe that it would be of great effect for my film as the introduction is of people dying. This is already a solemn vision and I want to instil that further in my viewer and in a way that tells them that the film isn’t going to get anymore light hearted.

an analasys of the intro to jarhead

Black hawk down intro.

The introduction of black hawk down is another film that perpetuates the classic style of an introduction in this genre. It starts in a much more simplistic style than saving Private Ryan but it is just as effective in telling the viewer the plot. Furthermore it is far easier for the viewer to recognise, without having thought too much the plot. The introduction is literally telling the back-story of all the characters without a spoken word. It simply tells the viewer of the events prior to the film and the fact that it is a true story. However they introduce some suspense at the end and a little bit of a problem ‘’it was supposed to take 3 weeks the Whitehouse got anxious when it had been 6’’ this connotes trouble straight away as people associate being late with trouble instantly. Furthermore it makes the viewer assume the trouble will be large because the white house is involved in it. The film in the background of the writing instead of having action or soldiers it shows quite daunting images of famine and starvation. These are images that are not meant to please the viewer and unlike jarhead give an impression of a dark tone to the film whereas the white glinting halls in jarhead portray a happy mood. This connotes that the film will not be something to laugh at and is a classic Hollywood technique for serious films. It is although they are trying to instantly shock the viewer to set up the mood of the rest of the film. The music is a non diagetic soundtrack of native Somalia tribal song. It is played softly and goes well with the images of death and pain at the beginning. However the only character setup in the intro is that of the villain it portrays him as a cowardly and evil man who is homicidal and a tyrant. These all make the viewer certain who the ‘good guys’ will be killing. I do not personally like this technique and believe that it wouldn’t go well with what I had planned. Although I think that the words and the painful imagery belong in my intro perfectly. I will be using a completely different situation and one that introduces the ‘good guys’ first and has the viewer relate to them much more than the villain.

analasys of jarhead intro

Jarhead opening sequence

The opening sequence to jarhead starts with a black screen and the main character (scoff) narrating. He starts speaking and the narrative is quite daunting in the way he speaks. He speaks in a way that you would expect a man who has been haunted by war to speak. He starts by saying “a story- a man fires a rifle for many years...he goes to war... afterwards he turns the rifle in at the armoury and assumes he is finished with it. But no matter what else he does with his hands...love a woman...build a house...change his sons diaper...his hands will always remember the rifle.’’ This quote has connotations that the narrator is the person he is speaking about. Also the monotone voice he speaks in gives connotations of a man who is speaking from experience and telling the story solemnly because it has affected him. The fact that it is spoken with no image also makes the viewer extremely involved with the narrative and actually listens to it. The scene then cuts to a drill hall and has a mid shot of the main character. A man begins shouting loudly but the camera stays on swoff who stares directly at it only glancing away for a second, breaking one of the cardinal rules of film. However the shot works extremely well and draws the viewer in then in simple writing the title of the film appears in a relatively small font at the bottom of the screen. This is not typical of the average film in this genre where bold titles flash up and attack the viewer this is softer and in my view far more effective. The camera then cuts to a pristine white hall with a group of soldiers in perfect lines setting up the basis that it is an army film and the soldiers have already begun training. This is also something that isn’t typical of the genre as war films will usually give the main character a back story and reason to enlist. The man shouting is saying that race is no longer relevant people aren’t white black brown etc they are green. Giving connotations of ownership of these men by the army. The camera then cuts to a two shot of the staff sergeant and swoff where the staff sergeant fist commends his father for fighting in Vietnam then says its ‘’too f@*#ing bad’’ that he didn’t die. This is a scene that is showing he is being bullied into submission by the army and that people’s lives don’t matter. Then the staff sergeant is deliberately trying to make him buckle by calling him gay and asking him if he loves him. When swoff replies no he shouts at him for not saying he is beautiful. This scene shows further that the man is bullying him by putting him in a catch 22 situation. The scene then cuts a little in the future where he has drawn on a chalkboard a layout of a footlocker. The staff sergeant then goes on to say it is a scrappy drawing and starts shouting then he puts him on his knees and starts slapping him hard in the back of the head and asking questions. When swoff says he can’t concentrate when being slapped he shouts in his face again with the truth of ‘’ how do you expect to fire a rifle with live grenades going off in your face’’ he then says why are you here. Then swoff shouts back I got lost on my way to collage. This gives a good character setting as it shows that he is obedient and almost subservient up to a certain point when he will crack. The staff sergeant then smashes his face off the chalkboard and the shot freezes. It then goes back to the narration and he says when I met staff sergeant mayors I realised I had made a poor decision to join the Marine Corps. This opening 2 minutes sets up the rest of the film perfectly as it shows the setting of it the mood of it and the fact that the main character already hates it.

intro to apocalypse now analasys

Apocalypse now opening

Apocalypse now (1972) is one of the classic war films and the opening sequence is both striking and amazing. The simplicity of it is perfect for the kind of opening I want for my film. It consists simply of a 30 second shot of a tree line that looks tropical and therefore in a way tells the viewer the location of the film. It is accompanied by the song ‘the end by the doors’ it has a slow beginning and takes a while for the lyrics. Then in relatively slow motion a helicopter flies past and when the lyrics kick in the whole tree line explodes with napalm. This is a minute long establishing shot that is extremely effective and during the whole shot the camera doesn’t move an inch. This is a trade mark move of Francis Copella the director who also used this technique to a greater effect in the godfather. The shot is very subversive of the war film genre as the first minute of a war film is typically either action packed or a back-story to a character, not an establishing shot. The scene then cuts to a man gazing through some blinds but the music continues. However the music changes to being diagetic. It continues but gets quieter and the man says ‘’ Saigon...still in f@*#ing Saigon’’ this gives instant connotations of boredom and that character doesn’t want to be there. However later on in the scene when men arrive with his mission dossier e is extremely reluctant to leave. This along with the rest of the opening sequence gives connotations of insanity. The rest of the scene is the psychedelic music in the background with him going insane with boredom drinking allot and injuring himself. However perhaps the most daunting part of the scene is when the G.I’s come to collect him and he is lying in a pool of his own blood and faeces they simply say. ‘’ we got another sleeper’’ and then drag him in the shower as if this is a regular occurrence. While the sergeant is acting crazy in his room he decides to punch a mirror in his room opening his hand wide but doesn’t seem remotely phased. This gives both connotations of the desensitisation of soldiers in the Vietnamese war and the violence and destruction that is instilled through the film. The scene then cuts to him entering a general’s trailer and being questions on a previous mission. This is where you find out that he is an assassin. The room is dark and filled with smoke giving connotations of an improper event occurring. However the shot then moves to the general eating a full course meal and the saying that it isn’t good enough when he says’’ if you can brave eating the shrimp you are more of a man than me’’ this shows ignorance within the higher ranks and how they are being treat well and getting full 3 course meals while the soldiers are going insane in their small cramped little rooms.

analasys of the intro to hurt locker

Hurt locker intro.

The introduction to hurt locker is again a very technically simple but is still very effective and draws the viewer in perfectly. However hurt locker does this especially well as the beginning three minutes already brings you to the edge of your seat. This build of the suspense so quickly is not usually used well and often backfires. However in the hurtlocker it is used to perfection. Not only does it draw the viewer in and set them up perfectly for more it introduces the characters in a setting that portrays them as human. They show fear and imperfection unlike the typical film in this genre. For example tom hanks are portrayed as a dashing hero who saves the lives of many men and is the perfect soldier. Whereas hurt locker portrays them as normal men who happen to be in the army. For example when the sergeant calls one of the soldiers he has to repeat himself because the soldier is scared. This is subversive of the typical war film and I would like to use this technique in my final piece. I like the way that even when the film is introduced it is silent and goes almost unnoticed so not to break the tension. The film starts however on a different note it has a black screen and a quote saying ‘’the rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction. As war is a drug.’’ This is very heavy as a first line and instantly along with the silence brings people to attention. The line gives connotations that war drives people insane and therefore that one of the characters will be just that. The words then fade away accept for the last line. ‘’war is a drug’’ remains in the same place on a black background this makes it stick with the viewer longer and makes it a memorable quote that people will talk about later. The fact that the films’ first shot is on a low quality camera tells the viewer that the film will be gritty and full of kitchen sink realism. However this is cut to a HD camera quite quickly in my opinion the shot should have been longer. I love this technique for my film, the fact that it is shot on a low quality camera but still effective. I want to use the techniques to make mine look like the use of a low quality camera is a conscious choice. The use of sound in the intro is quite subversive as there is no music whatsoever. This mirrors jarhead in a sense however this one has a much busier situation with people shouting and panicking.