Twilight Zone: First Stage of Planning

After submitting all our scripts, we formed groups of 3/4 and read each other's scripts in order to decide on which script we will use. I teamed up with Tess and Charlotte. 

Tess's story belongs to the horror genre and revolves around two girls (one alive one dead) chasing each other. Charlotte's story "Only 16" is about a man sacrificing his son in order to redeem his life. Their stories were very interesting to me as they are very different from all the ideas I came up with in my brainstorm. In order to choose the script that is most suitable for the final production, we had to considered the following factors:

1. Is the story doable? 

2. Can the story be conveyed to the audience within 4 minutes / when put on screen?

3. Is the story intriguing?

4. Does the story match Twilight Zone characteristics?

All three of our scripts had their own flaws. My script has too many portals and will take a lot of planning because the actor has to play two roles (good side of the character & evil side of the character); Tess's script is set in a house and we do not know where we could find a house; Charlotte's script needs a grownup to act as the father. In the end, we decided that my film will be used for the final production as we agreed that it is a intriguing story and can be made doable if we cut out some scenes and do a detailed storyboard. 

The next step was the choose our roles. Tess wanted to be the director. Charlotte chose to be the editor. I decided that I will be the sound editor for this unit, as I think that it will be a challenging but interesting task to find audio for science fiction films. The three of us will also be sharing the role of cinematographer.

Next, we had to figure out what the major problems of the script are and fix them so we will be able to film it. Below is the list of problems:

1. Actors / Actresses

Who is willing to act and fits into character?

2. Mirror Scene

How will we film the mirror scene so that the camera is not reflected in the mirror? How will the evil version of the character appear?

3. Portals

Some scenes need to be taken out. Only keep the significant ones - which are the ones where the character tries to take drugs / smoke. 

Scene 7 (MTR scene) and 8 (cafeteria scene) were taken out. The two street scenes were combined into one. 

4. Clarification of script

How do we make sure the audience understands that the second character is the evil version of the first character?

5. Props

Where will we get the fake drugs & cigarettes?

6. Ocean Scene

How will this scene be filmed?

7. Locations

Where will we film the scenes?

Twilight Zone: Scriptwriting

Requirements for the Script

• Challenge what’s real and what’s imagination 
• 3 portals, don’t do “waking up and it’s a dream”
• When the character first gets introduced, name has to be in CAPS, and put age and gender 
• 5-7 page
• Twilight Zone — Usually a social critique
• Three Act Structure - Setup, Confrontation (Chase Scene), Resolution

Brainstorm 

After watching an episode of Twilight Zone - "To Serve Man", some student films, and reading some information about the series, I came up with many different ideas for my script. I learnt that science fiction films often comment on human nature, so many of my ideas revolve around themes like good vs. evil and loss of personal individuality.

Inspiration: Flash, Dr. Who, Real Life Stories about Portals 

Portals: Elevator, Convenience Store, Beach

1. Man striving for perfection, running to become a better version of himself / become someone he finds perfect. In the end he finds someone chasing after him. 

2. Man falls into portal and meets different versions of himself. Concept of Rabbit Hole. Man has a tough / sad / happier life than the other versions of himself, finding out how lucky he is / feels happy that there is a happy version of him out there in the universe. 

3. Man tries to retrieve fragments of his past. 

4. Man trapped in wall and breaks fourth wall in the end. Man coming from another dimension entering our world. 

5. Man chased by bad memories. 

6. Victim turns into villain / villain is actually protagonist. 

7. Device malfunction because of excessive use. 

8. Parallel Universe: Jumping to different worlds, same character but different personalities. Personality / emotions differ according to circumstances / happy, sad, angry version 

9. The Flash - using a device and running from the “Time Wrath” idea 

10. Finding out that third character is evil. Recurring name as a motif. 

11. Running away from consequences / responsibilities —> facing all your responsibilities (360 degree shot of the same person representing the different responsibilities)

12. Wearing masks / holding umbrellas 

13. Incorporate comedy / irony 

14. Competing at a race, running so fast that you go into a portal and discover something new 

15. Spoiled kid meets something bad / entering dystopia world 

16. Fear: 1 - Confronting fear, chased by fear; 2 - running is the only way to escape from reality; 3 - confronting your fears, future self chasing oneself to improve past self 

17. Person holding something - significant motif / sound - protagonist chasing for it 

18. Rod Serling intro / outro

19. Controlled by computer / all inside a computer game; dolls controlled by humans

20. Propaganda / Brainwashing 

21. Man in front becomes man in the back 

22. One person split into too - Good vs. Evil - Good side tries to control dark side. Hell vs. Heaven 

23. Mental Disorder: Depression - sees happy version of himself 

24. Character controlled by another person “The Author”

In the end, I decided that I will use Idea 23 as the basis for my story. In our recent CHOICES session, we were discussing stress management and learnt about the two types of stress - eustress (positive stress) and distress (negative stress). I know that a lot of students, including myself, are feeling very stressed out about school, therefore, I decided to use "distress" as the theme of my story, and wrote the plot according to the three act structure:

Setup | Boy is sad, lectured by teacher / mom, having trouble at school and with relationships. Extremely stressed out, releasing anger, negative & violent thoughts piling up in his head. Goes to wash his face. 

Confrontation | Evil (stressed out) side of him unleashes (comes out from a mirror), good side of him tries to catch him to control him. This is all happening in his head. Evil side escapes and tries to do bad things (hurting people, throwing things around, do stupid things, stealing, committing crimes, alcohol, takes drugs, smoking), boy goes to catch him and control him. 

Resolution | He returns to the same place and washes his face again. Confuse audience on whether it is reality of imagination. 

Through my story, the audience would enter the mind of a teen and experience how teenagers struggle to manage their stress (control their "evil" side). I think many students would resonate with the character in the story.

Twilight Zone: Continuity Editing

What is Continuity Editing?
A way of breaking down a scene into a series of shots.

Why 'Continuity'?

• Creates coherence and helps spectator orientation;
• Way shots are edited must permit the viewer to piece them together like a puzzle;
• Techniques of continuity editing enable the viewer to create a continuous picture from the shots presented on screen
• Connect characters, connect time. 

Continuity Editing - Key Techniques

Observing the 180 degree rule 

• The viewer is positioned on the same side of the scene or action (i.e. the invisible 4th wall).
• A film edited using continuity editing orients the viewer by placing them on one side of a 180 degree axis line of action. 
• Axis of Action, Director's Line
• Line between characters and camera can only stay on one side
• Helps to use a wide shot or establishing shot 
• One character looking to screen right, the other looking to screen left
• Camera has to move if you want to cross the line to show the movement visually
• Directors may intentionally break this rule to create disorientation.

The Eyeline match

• A character in one shot glances at something off-screen (out of frame) and a cut reveals the object the character is looking at. 
• The line of the character's glance has matched the two shots together, creating coherence. 

Point of view Cutting

• Variant on the eyeline match.
• Character looks offscreen, cut to the object the character is looking at. 
• Object is shown from the character's POV, through the character's eyes.

The match on action cut

• Cut from one shot to the next where the action is continued from one shot to the next. 
• Continuity of the same action across the shot creates coherence. 

Directional continuity 

• If a character exits the shot from the right of the screen, he should enter the next shot from the left of the screen.

The Establishing shot

• To make transitions smooth
• Used at beginning of stories or beginning of new scenes within the narrative
• A re-establishing shot may be used after many cuts to remind viewer of spatial context. 

Parallel cutting / Cross-cutting 

• Editing that alternates shots of two or more lines of action occurring in two different places, usually simultaneously 

Transitions

• Jump Cut - an abrupt transition between shots, sometimes deliberate, which is disorientating in terms of the continuity of space and time. Helps with the passing of time.
• Traditionally as seamless as possible
• Can be more creative e.g. 
• Dissolve - the first image gradually disappears while the second image gradually appears; Can be used as a straightforward editing device to link any two scenes, or in more creative ways, for instance to suggest hallucinatory states. 
• Only use Fade, Dissolve, Straight Cut

Rhythm

Why edit? Why risk disorientating the viewer? Why not just use long takes and deep focus photography?

• Because only have one shot with no movement is boring, and you want to direct your audience to look at what they need to look at. Help their understanding progress, help the story progress. 
• Gives director complete control over events and actors
• Gives viewers optimal access to the unfolding events
• Helps to prolong suspense
• Allows viewer to be more involved in action rather than focus on character psychology or actor's performance
• Eliminates unnecessary time and space

Needs element of chase. Film cannot be any longer than 4 minutes. 

FILM NOIR EVALUATION

The three major flaws of our film are the blurriness of the shots in the outdoor scene, the inconsistency of lighting, and an overcomplicated plot that was delivered poorly due to lack of time and poor acting. These three issues are all caused by our team's lack of communication and poor planning. 

• Inconsistency of Lighting due to my lack of communication with the director

In my second edit, which you can view here (note that the music and voiceovers are missing), the colour tone of the opening scene was blue and it was consistent. What happened was that I sent the second edit to our director for him to complete the final edit by adding the missing voiceovers (which he and another actor had to do) and music, and it turned out that he changed the coloured scenes as well because he seemed to disagree with my artistic choices. The final scene of the film was also changed - in my second edit, the scene of Justice talking on the phone wasn't shown again (only the voiceover was played) and instead there were longer cuts of Justice dying. I also rotated the shot of Justice on the ground in an attempt to create a dutch angle effect. I was not aware of these changes until the screening, but this is my fault because I did not communicate with the director clearly about my artistic choices and review the final edit before the screening. 

• Blurriness of the shots due to poor schedule management

The blurriness of the shots in the outdoor scene was caused by our lack of planning. First of all, our cinematographer was not there to film with us as she was busy, and the actor Hadrien was in a hurry to leave and we only had around 10 minutes to finish filming that scene. We wasted some time finding another location since filming is banned in our original location. The scene was newly added to the script, so we could not refer to the storyboard for the shots and we had to come up with them on the spot. I remember that the situation was out of control and we started to panic as we had a limited amount of time to finish filming that scene, especially because we would not be able to film during mid-term break since our director, who is our male lead, is away. We were unaware of how out of focus the camera was. If we had the chance to return to the production stage, I think that we should not have crammed all the shooting into two days when we had two weeks to film. We should have made sure that the location is available to use, chosen a date when everyone is sure that they are available, and found another actor who had more time to spare. 

• Plot cannot be conveyed well due to my lack of communication with the team

It is evident that I wasn't very pleased to act as the femme fatale in our film, but I never told my team that I feel uncomfortable with acting because previously, when I suggested to find someone who is actually enthusiastic about acting, they thought that it would be very inconvenient and difficult to match the actress's schedule. I don't think I was able to portray the femme fatale well at all since I lack a lot of emotion and the typical "seductive vibe". Therefore, our climax did not seem like a climax because I failed to deliver my lines well as the femme fatale. 

Overall, I think that all four of us seemed to lack the enthusiasm to communicate with each other - the boys and the girls were often working separately. For example, we originally planned to film after school so I filled in the equipment form and handed it in, but then it turns out that they never knew about the shooting and had decided that we would film the scenes in order. The shooting was therefore cancelled and I had to return the equipment right after we borrowed it. We could've made use of our time more effectively if we spent more effort communicating with each other. 

Another issue is that a lot of the times, even though I am a good listener and am open-minded to my group mates' ideas, I listen too much and did not take initiative to voice my ideas and opinions. I did not communicate with the director much when I was editing, so in the final edit, he made a lot of changes and I was not informed about them either because I did not take the initiative to review the final edit and justify my artistic choices to him. It is unfortunate that my ideas weren't fully showcased to the audience because I didn't take the initiative to discuss my ideas with the director. A positive point is that I was able to apply the knowledge I learnt in class about editing and I took inspiration (i.e. ideas for color correction - applying a blue color tone to the film even though in the end this was not showcased during the screening) from the two Hong Kong film noirs that I watched for the film noir critical analysis.

In our next film project, I will make sure that my ideas are heard and fight for them instead of being easily convinced to use another idea. I would also take the initiative to make a clearer schedule that all my group mates can access to avoid having any crew members missing during shootings. This unit served as a great start to Year 11 and I hope that throughout this year I can improve on my communication skills and increase my confidence in my artistic ability. 

Film Noir Screening and Feedback Session

Export to XML File. Submit a folder, with XML file and MOV file, on Monday. Reflect on all films. No huge analysis needed, a few observations is okay. Main focus is reflection on your own film.

1. Unscrupulous Justice 
Storytelling

The plot of our film contains the iconic elements of film noir like props, characters and themes, such as Jolie as the femme fatale manipulating the male protagonist, Justice talking on the telephone, the depiction of a sense of futility, a complex chronological order of scenes involving flashbacks to a irretrievable past. However, after watching our film on the big screen, I realised how complex the plot of our film is for the audience to understand within 7 minutes. When editing, I had some trouble understanding the plot of our film but unlike the audience, I had the script to refer to to help me clarify the parts I don't understand. I also feel that our film lacks a climax and that we failed to create much tension at the part where Jolie kills Justice. Throughout the film, the relationship between the male protagonist and femme fatale felt like it lacks a lot of emotion. This perhaps is due to my poor acting since I was not able to deliver much emotion as the femme fatale. I believe it would have enhanced our film if we found a better actress for the femme fatale role. However, it is also important to note that the exposition took up too much time compared to how fast and sudden the dying scene happened. Faster cuts in the exposition are needed. Some lines seemed too ambiguous or redundant when put on screen, especially the last scene where Justice repeats what he said in the opening scene. The film was sometimes too vague that the audience had trouble understanding what is going on. Since the task is to convey a clear story in 7 minutes, we should have simplified our story and put less emphasis on the exposition / more emphasis on the key points of the story i.e. the scene where the conflict rises between Jolie and Justice to create a more tense and nerve-wracking atmosphere in the film. 

Cinematography

We were able to display film noir mise en scene and major thematic components like low-key lighting, the use of venetian blinds, unconventional angles like medium close ups, etc. Unfortunately, the shots in the scene with the "Knowledge Dude" were all very blurry due to our poor planning and carelessness during the shooting. It was an outdoor scene so we had to film at night, the actor was in a hurry to leave, so we had to rush that part of the shooting and we were unaware of how out of focus the camera is. In addition, we also had to decide on what the shots would be on the spot since the scene was newly added and was not part of the storyboard. If we had planned the shots beforehand and found an actor who was available the entire night, it would have certainly enhanced the quality of that scene. In addition, the audience also said that they could see the film equipment i.e. cords within the shot. Ms. Ward told us that we should take in everything around the subject when filming. I think that we could have taken more risks with the lighting and shot sizes. I would have liked to used more unconventional angles like dutch angles or extreme close ups, as well the use of lines, internal framing, silhouettes, and darker lighting in general - for example in the part where Justice leaves the office with Jolie, it would be nice to film of shot of him exiting the door frame to symbolise how he is entering Jolie's trap. In addition, the lighting of the opening scene and the colour tone of the entire film was inconsistent. Our intention was to keep the present time scenes in colour and the flashback scenes in black and white, however, the audience found it to be too cliche and suggested that a better idea would be to keep the entire film black and white. The colour tone of the present time scene switched between warm and cold, however that was actually due to some miscommunication that occurred in post-production, which I will discuss later in evaluation.

Sudden switch between warm and cold lighting.

Shots in the outdoor scene were out of focus.

Sound

The music helped enhance the tension in our film since originally without the music, our film was very awkward and empty. The music fits our plot well - at the scene where Jolie gets killed by Justice, there is a change in the tempo of the music as well. However, the music was too loud at some point and it covered the dialogue. The audience also suggested that due to the fact that our plot lacks a strong climax, the music was misleading because it makes the audience think that the story would continue to develop and that something would happen to destroy the narrative structure. Aside from the music, I think that the sound effects sounded realistic and the voiceovers for the scene with the knowledge dude were edited in very well / sounded very natural. The foley for the footstep sounds in the opening scene and the music helped remove the construction noises that were originally in our film.  

2. In Justice 

I think that the plot of this film is the most outstanding out of all four films as it had the strongest plot twist. The actors did an very great job delivering the storyline as well. I really liked how they did not show just the dress but not the face of the femme fatale in the final scene when she comes and kills the two male characters, even though the film crew's original intention was to show the femme fatale but due to scheduling issues, they could only use the femme fatale's voiceover to convey to the audience that she is the killer. It helped elevate the suspense when there were suddenly gunshot sounds that did not come from the gun on screen. However, I would have liked to see more of the femme fatale character in the film as she was not able to establish a strong presence in the film until the end, which understates the importance of her role. 

The group was able to apply film noir thematic components in their film. I really liked their use of unconventional angles i.e. the shot of Neil from below in the fighting scene that amplifies his strong presence.

What could be improved is that the camera was unstable in some scenes i.e. the bar scene where it suddenly drifted. It felt unnatural to use the flashes as the transition to the flashbacks. The music was also too loud during the bar scene, as the group stated that they were attempting to cover the construction noises. However, that was counter effective and it distracted the audience from the dialogue. The punching sounds in the fighting scene were overused and too artificial. It sounded to me like it was a cartoon / corny action film. 

3. The Informant 

There were some editing errors in this film regarding the transition and sequence of the scenes. The shots of Kaia walking were a bit too repetitive since the opening scene was supposed to go between the two outdoor scenes. I was also unclear about what role Raghav played in the film. The cuts between the dialogue were too jumpy as the pauses between the lines were evident. It did not sound like a real conversation and the timing was off. In the final scene where the guard kills Derik who was attempting to kill Kaia, it would be a better idea to show the knife and gun at the same time in order to create tension rather than showing Derik charging forward with the knife first then showing a slow shot of the guard pulling out his gun. The volume of the dialogue in the outdoor scene was also too soft and was covered by the natural sounds of the environment. 

What I liked about this film is its lighting, especially in the final scene. The contrast between black and white was so strong that half of Kaia's face was dark while the other half was light, as it can be seen in the following screenshot: 

In the shot above, I also liked how half of the frame was completely dark, and the film crew did a good job creating shadows. The strong contrast in lighting seems to symbolise how two-faced the femme fatale is. 

4. Lowlife

I would have to agree that this film is the most aesthetically outstanding out of all four films. I like how the scenes of the male protagonist walking were comprised of shots filmed from different angles with different shot sizes, as the wide variety of shots helps increase the audience's visual interest:

Extreme Long Shot

Dutch Angle - shot is slightly tilted and filmed from below, medium close up of male protagonist's legs 

Another Extreme Long Shot with the shadow of the male protagonist reflected on the wall

However, the main issue with this film is that there are some plot holes that made the film very confusing. It was unclear what the purpose of the killing was in the end of the film. During our class discussion, the film crew revealed that some crucial dialogue is missing and that the reason why the femme fatale had to kill the male lead was that the male lead was about to turn himself in and expose the femme fatale as well. Another issue is that the shots are quite grainy. Nonetheless, I think that this film has a lot to learn from in terms of its visuals.