How to control the nation. This is the famous quote which shall be remembered by Britain as the day we have been incapacitated to believe we were stuck to our chair. Darren Brown, the nations most renowned magician, demonstrates his astonishing powers by inviting us to be part of a special TV event which will literally have you on the edge of your seat. This had inspired 3 students from Paddington Academy to create a short film which shows a character fallen into Darren Browns mind control, this film goes by the name of 'Unnatural Comfort'.
The idea of this film came into mind when the group of student were discussing the effects of Darren Brown and whether if it had really worked and the conspiracy behind it, until we decided to have a perfect idea which will open up to a wide range of audience and entertain them by projecting the Darren Brown event onto a short film. The original idea slowly developed from a small suggestion which grew into a spectacular short movie.
Unnatural Comfort holds a similar trait to other films such as Fight Club and The Usual suspect, mainly for mind twisting endings and psychological effect throughout the film. The short film follows the conventions of other short films, allowing the audience to fall into the stress and frustration of the main character. The film is based in a quite isolated workplace of, ironically, chair building company, this immediately shows a connection between this movie and around the Darren Browns highly popular 'how to control the nation'. This creates a constant atmosphere throughout the film, allowing the audience to feel the protagonists depression.
The character is suited perfectly for the theme of the short film, an average everyday 9-5 worker, who is sick and tired of his job and walks carelessly throughout the film, a perfect victim for Darren Brown, allowing Brown to put images and subliminal message into his mind. This makes the film more interesting and entertaining as us audience as we love to see the struggle of a character.
The scenes throughout this short film are professional and the students have clearly taken in the idea of big blockbuster type movie, the direction and camera works explore different variety of shots to feel as if we are spectating the film. The acting was amazing and fitted the role for the film, the actor had clearly taken on board the natural attitude of the character. However, the props in the films are chosen carelessly without taking any consideration, such as, the chair specifically chosen for the film has wheels, the protagonist makes it seem as if it the wheel is stuck making it seem rather strange and awkward.
Overall, this spectacular movie is worth to watch, it had worked well in many ways, the film delivers a mind boggling and entertaining plot, the scenes have been edited in a professional style to give it a blockbuster style movie, the atmosphere and feel of the movie stays consistent thoughout.
Thursday, 26 November 2009
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Day 2 Filming
During our second day of filming we have set up the workplace for the location in which a scene from the film will take place. The props were already set up in the room which was more convenient for filming over the period of production. We went straight onto filming, we have filmed all the office scenes in order to quickly get it out of the way rather than to come back to it which may cause problems. We have successfully filmed all the office scenes in many different varieties of angles, which will then later be used in the editing suite. This will ensure us to find the better shot in order to give an idea of continuity towards the audience. After finishing off the scene,we then put the room back in it's normal state,we were given a responsibility to clean up and put the furniture back in the room.
After gathering all our required equipment such as the camera and props, we proceeded to our next scene in the canteen. We filmed during the school holiday which was convinient as the canteen was empty which created a isolated envinroment. Everything in the canteen was laid out perfectly. A water cooler was readily available for us. We had to take down the posters around the canteen and add our own posters in,this will make the film more realistic and build up the tension within the film as the audience will be dragged into it.
We then filmed the corridor scene which was empty, clean and plain which created the same isolated effect. We used the dolly and tripod to track the main character as he moved down the corridor. The posters were up on the side of the wall, the posters were clearly visible and can be seen by the audience.
After two full days we finished filming and called it a day. We have left the uploading and editing for another day.
After gathering all our required equipment such as the camera and props, we proceeded to our next scene in the canteen. We filmed during the school holiday which was convinient as the canteen was empty which created a isolated envinroment. Everything in the canteen was laid out perfectly. A water cooler was readily available for us. We had to take down the posters around the canteen and add our own posters in,this will make the film more realistic and build up the tension within the film as the audience will be dragged into it.
We then filmed the corridor scene which was empty, clean and plain which created the same isolated effect. We used the dolly and tripod to track the main character as he moved down the corridor. The posters were up on the side of the wall, the posters were clearly visible and can be seen by the audience.
After two full days we finished filming and called it a day. We have left the uploading and editing for another day.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
Day 1 filming
We have all agreed to meet on the 27/10/09 at the first location of our filming, which is the isolated street near the school. We have gathered all our props such as the costume of the main character, the posters in the background, the dolly, the tripod, a Sony HVE A1E with a microphone. This was then ticked of our checklist and ensured us to start filming quicker. We have then proceeded by sticking the posters on the wall, at the idea of the posters we thought it wouldn't suit the setting as it is isolated, however, it had worked very well and came up on the screen very clearly. The day was rainy and gloomy, this had a great effect on the film as it reflects on the characters mood and behaviour. We tried to catch the shots from many different angles in order to get a different variety of shots which can ensure us to find the best shot to include in our film.
We then decided to move on to our next location, when the main character enters the workplace. This location was located in the back entrance of our school, this had an ideal work style effect, with the brick wall and the glass doors, the glass doors gave us a chance to put our poster which will still continue to give a natural effect. We have successfully used a panning shot, however later, we were worried that the glass door might reflect our reflection on, not just the character.
We then filmed the opening scene of the character in the office,we have needed further props which was the clock, posters, desktop equipment. This was very easy to find, as there were these equipments lying around the school. One of our biggest problem was that the room we were meant to use for the office scene was currently under construction, however, there were similar rooms around the school. One of which was a room in the media suite which had the equipment laid out giving it a more natural feel, another advantage of the room was that it's small which gave a catastrophic and awkward feeling towards the audience. We've had many problems filming the scene as the location was in a small room, therefore limiting our shots of camera. we've managed to shoot half of the office scene up to the part when he is about to leave to get some snacks, however,our time for filming was up and we called it a day.
We then decided to move on to our next location, when the main character enters the workplace. This location was located in the back entrance of our school, this had an ideal work style effect, with the brick wall and the glass doors, the glass doors gave us a chance to put our poster which will still continue to give a natural effect. We have successfully used a panning shot, however later, we were worried that the glass door might reflect our reflection on, not just the character.
We then filmed the opening scene of the character in the office,we have needed further props which was the clock, posters, desktop equipment. This was very easy to find, as there were these equipments lying around the school. One of our biggest problem was that the room we were meant to use for the office scene was currently under construction, however, there were similar rooms around the school. One of which was a room in the media suite which had the equipment laid out giving it a more natural feel, another advantage of the room was that it's small which gave a catastrophic and awkward feeling towards the audience. We've had many problems filming the scene as the location was in a small room, therefore limiting our shots of camera. we've managed to shoot half of the office scene up to the part when he is about to leave to get some snacks, however,our time for filming was up and we called it a day.
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Influences - Fight Club
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mGPyXgtKzDE
We have also been inspired by the film fight club, throughout the movie we see subliminal messages, such as the images of a character created in the protagonists head. We have decided to do this for our film, however our main character will have a headache, as soon as he touches his head, a quick flash of an image or a video will appear. These images and videos will show a chair, derren brown or someone sitting on a chair. This will allow the audience to figure out what's going on and also build up tension before revealing the consequences of the character. This will allow us to make the video more exciting and entertaining for the audience rather than the whole film following the main character.
We have also been inspired by the film fight club, throughout the movie we see subliminal messages, such as the images of a character created in the protagonists head. We have decided to do this for our film, however our main character will have a headache, as soon as he touches his head, a quick flash of an image or a video will appear. These images and videos will show a chair, derren brown or someone sitting on a chair. This will allow the audience to figure out what's going on and also build up tension before revealing the consequences of the character. This will allow us to make the video more exciting and entertaining for the audience rather than the whole film following the main character.
Influences - The Usual Suspects
In most of our film the protagonist sits behind a computer screen. However, the wall in front of him with posters and diagrams of chairs inspires him to give him new ideas.
This scene is inspired by this image, this image is a scene from the movie The Usual Suspects. The villain in the movie manages to create a lie and build up a story by using the board behind him, however in our movie the main character stares at it uselessly not knowing the fact that it's having an effect on him.
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What influenced us
The derren Brown live show was quite extrodinary, whilst many people viewed it and claimed to be effected by it, true or not its very entertaining and people found themselves watching with great intensity. This inspired our group to base the idea of our short film on the darren brown experiment. We slightly twisted our film from a strange experiance to a dumb down parody, but this still sticks to our initial idea.
What also influenced us is the way Darren brown works and plans out his stunts in advance so they all come together at the end which is what we are trying to acomplish with our short film.
Another piece of media that influenced us to create a short story based on unexplained events is "The Blackhole" This gave us an idea of how we can utilize silence to build the suspence until the climax.
What also influenced us is the way Darren brown works and plans out his stunts in advance so they all come together at the end which is what we are trying to acomplish with our short film.
Another piece of media that influenced us to create a short story based on unexplained events is "The Blackhole" This gave us an idea of how we can utilize silence to build the suspence until the climax.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
Costume
The costume we have chosen for the main character would be a pair of plain black trousers with a white shirt and black tie. The shirt should be slightly rugged and loose, also not properly ironed. This is important as it conveys the character's attitudes to life, he is reckless, frustrated and tired.
The reason we have chosen this costume is that it makes him fit into the role of an stereotypical office worker at an average job. This makes it realistic and allows the audience to relate to the character.
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