Have you ever wondered about the process of a
film?? How many obstacles one may encounter and has to resolve in order to
continue with one’s plans?? And what if something happens and one would have to
change things such as the script, the actors, the location or anything else??
Well let
us start by going through the three stages to produce a film.
Stage 1: Pre
Production
The
script: Some scripts are a film version of a book
while some are scripts made solely for a film. It would have the plot of where
the film is oriented, the lines the actors say, the actions and emotions the
actors have do, the effects that need to be accomplished…
Example
of a script that was a book:
The
Lucky One
Novel
Writer: Nicholas Sparks
Example
of script written as a film:
The
Punisher
and
Michael France
The
production design: In this section of film making
designers would have to research and then design sets, clothing, props… If the
film is oriented in the present with no unrealistic aspects of life the
designers would work different from designers of a film oriented in a different
time period or have the need for certain props.
Example
of a film oriented in the present.
The
Heat
In
this film designers had to design the sets of where the filming is taking
place, the clothing for the actors according to their character and design the
props needed for the filming.
Example
of a film oriented in the Victorian era.
Sweeny
Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
In
this film the designers had design the clothing for the actors, the sets for
the shooting to take place, and the props such as the barber’s knifes, the
barber’s seat…
The
Casting: In this section the actors are selected through
auditions. An actor is selected because the producers and directors would
believe he or she is ideal for a part. Sometimes after an actor is selected a
process to change certain aspects begins such as learning an accent or changing
physical appearance.
Christian Bale
Bale is one of the actors who
had to change his physical appearance for a film role. Back in 2004 Bale had to
lose 63 pounds for the film The
Machinist. Then in 2005 Bale was
casted for Batman Begins, in which
the actor had to gain 93 pounds for his role.
The
Storyboard: This is when sketches scenes of film are
planed and recorded, so that the cameraman would know the angle of shooting,
what or who needs to be emphasized…
Spiderman 2
Stage 2: Production:
During this stage the shooting
of the film takes place. Everything would be as it should be; the actors would
be in their appropriate make up, hair styles, clothes… in a location usually a
set, with props, and any other thing needed for the shooting. Cinematography
than takes place to record the actors in their roles.
The Hunger Games
Stage 3: Post
Production
When all the production is finished, the editing
takes place. Not only would scenes taken at the production stage be selected
and connected together but also things like colour gradation so that a scene would be more effective.
The Girl in Red
Other Special
Effects such as smoke, fire, flooding, bullet shots… are digitally added to the shots.
Sound
solidifying also takes place in order to make
the film more effective. Such as a
scene where police are coming near, the sirens would have been chanting for sometime
at first very low to show they are at a distance and getting loader the closer
it is to the actor in shot.
After these 3 stages the film would be ready and
available to people. Some films would have the chance to be shown in cinemas
while others would be on DVD’s. Either
way lots of work has to be accomplished, everyone would have to work together
In order to finish on time, and have a good standard film.
References
TheFilm Foundation, 2009. Story of Movies Available at: http://www.storyofmovies.org/pdfs/tdtess/tdtess_ch2_go.pdf
(27/10 2013)
Buisness Insider, 2013, 10 actors who have drastically alerted
their appearances for film roles Available at: http://www.businessinsider.com/actors-who-make-dramatic-changes-for-movies-2012-3#christian-bale-3
(27/10/2013)
Flavorwire, Awesomestoryboards from 15of yourfavourite films.
Available at: http://flavorwire.com/349534/awesome-storyboards-from-15-of-your-favorite-films/13/
(27/10/2013)
The Hob. New Behind the scenes Photos from “the Hunger Games”
. Available at: http://www.thehob.org/2012/08/new-behind-the-scenes-photos-from-the-hunger-games.html
(27/10/2013)
The Fall
Director and screenplay: Tarsem Singh
Screenplay: Dan Gilroy
Nico Soultanakis
Valeri Petrov
Cinematography: Colin Watkinson
The Fall is a film oriented in the 1920’s. One of the
characters in the film itself is an actor who gets injured during a stunt while
filming a scene. He gets suicidal while at hospital because he feels his world has
now crashed. A girl who is also injured visits the actor and he tricks her to
do things for him while telling her a story. In this story a group of five men
are searching for Governor Odious.
In one of the scenes during the narration of the story a
dance with precise movements is held, this dance is important for the five men
in order for them to find the Governor Odious. The movement the characters
perform in the dance show symbols and shapes of the route the five men have to
travel. One of the five men, Charles Darwin takes record of these places on a
book.
The Director, choose a series of different shots in order to bring out the excitement, adventure and destination of the five men. A wide shoot is used to get the viewer in the scenario of the dance where the group of dancers is sitting aligned to each other. A medium close up to the group’s leader with his voice most outstanding in the choice of music used during the scene is also noticed. A wide shot is then again used in order to bring in a shot of all the dancers, some medium close ups to various other dancers is also used. A wide shot of Charles Darwin looking at the Mystic, followed by a close up to the Mystic getting marks on his body is then used. At this moment Darwin recognize that it is the journey they need to take, and starts to sketch on his book, various sketches are shown by cut in shots. As the dance is still taking place other cut ins are being used to show the five men in places told by the Mystics’ dance, such as Egypt and the Great Wall of China.
IMDb, 1990- 2013. The Fall 2006. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460791/ (28/10/2013)
The Director, choose a series of different shots in order to bring out the excitement, adventure and destination of the five men. A wide shoot is used to get the viewer in the scenario of the dance where the group of dancers is sitting aligned to each other. A medium close up to the group’s leader with his voice most outstanding in the choice of music used during the scene is also noticed. A wide shot is then again used in order to bring in a shot of all the dancers, some medium close ups to various other dancers is also used. A wide shot of Charles Darwin looking at the Mystic, followed by a close up to the Mystic getting marks on his body is then used. At this moment Darwin recognize that it is the journey they need to take, and starts to sketch on his book, various sketches are shown by cut in shots. As the dance is still taking place other cut ins are being used to show the five men in places told by the Mystics’ dance, such as Egypt and the Great Wall of China.
Media Collage.com. Shot Types. Available at: http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/
(20/12/ 2013)
IMDb, 1990- 2013. The Fall 2006. Available at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460791/ (28/10/2013)
Penelope (2006)
Director: Mark Palansky
Writer: Leslie Caveny
Penelope, a self named film of a girl who had to deal with a
curse that was passed from her grandfather, to be the girl born with a pig
face, was trying to break the spell by marrying a blue blood. One of the scenes
in the film was a set up, Max, who was assigned by a newspaper reporter and a
fellow blue blood who was blind dating Penelope a few days before, had to
capture a photo of Penelope. But before she let him see her, she wanted to know
certain things about him such as; what instrument him plays. Flirtatiously Max
tells her to guess what instrument he plays, using different instruments to
play :You Are My Sunshine. For this scene the director chose wide shots to show
the whole band and then a close up to Penelope to show her reaction of him
playing the bass, followed with a close up of Max performing. Another close up
of Penelope is used, when she is speaking and telling him he does not pay the
bass. Another wide shot is used to show Max changing the instrument, from bass
to drums, with a cut in shot to show Penelope’s parents and match maker in the kitchen watching the performance
by Max and the band. A combination of close ups of Penelope and Medium close
ups of Max are then used, just a few seconds each to show the commotion and
movement created by the song in the room
Max was. The scene ends with Penelope
close up telling Max to stop playing, followed by a medium close up of Max and
the band waving and bowing at Penelope, A wide shot of Penelope is then used to
show her smiling at them, passing a statement that she is not done guessing,
when a wide shot of Max is then followed with him asking her what she plays.
Media Collage.com. Shot Types. Available at: http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/
(20/12/ 2013)
Changing Clothes
An
average person takes at least five minutes to remove his or her clothes and
wear something else, fix make up and/ or hair... In films, especially in
animated movies we can see the transformation within seconds.
A
classical animation film by Disney; Cinderella comes in mind. When the poor
girl with the pink ruined dress gets her wish made true by her fairy godmother.
Along with the transformation of the pumpkin into a beautiful white carriage,
mouse into people as a means of transport for the Ball, Cinderella also gets
the wish made true in order to have a beautiful white dress and glass shoes. In
this scene we see Cinderella surrounded by fairy dust swirling around her and eventually
transforming the girl.
Another animation film transformation takes place is the
newest Disney film; Frozen. This takes place when Princess Elsa runs away from
her town and into the mountains. While there she accepts the fact that she has
the power to make ice and snow. She decides it for the best to stay away from
her town and away from her sister, so she builds a castle made of ice to live
in, as well as a crystal blue dress made of ice crystals. The change starts as
the ice starts to form around the base of her skirt and build its way up to her
neck and hands, as well as a beautiful ice cape at the back of the dress.
In
a live action film transformation is different, one cannot really see the
character changing continuously, so usually the shot is cut, to portray a
reaction and then eventually go back to the shot of the transformation. In
between the two shots of before and after work from the makeup and clothing
department may take places. This is how in the film Oz the great and powerful,
Theodora (Mila Kunis) changes from a sweet looking girl into a green skinned,
long chin and diagonal eyebrows witch. 
Videos:
In the animation film The Princess and the frog, Tatiana And
the prince do their first vows as two frogs, in front of Mama Odie, when they
eventually kiss, they break the spell and become human again. One can notice
that in that scene Tatiana is wearing a big ball gown dress. The prince kisses
her again and lifts her up, with this movement the surroundings change and they
turn up to be in a church, wearing different clothing.
In
films such as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, visual effects are added to the
picture, in order to show the transformation in Katniss’s dress. At the 75
annual games show Katniss enters stage wearing a white dress, which would
eventually become a black dress with wings due to Katniss turning movement.
The
fact that in film certain things can take place, which looks as if they are
only happening in a few seconds while in reality it takes way longer than that,
I became interested in challenging myself to come up with a visual product that
transforms due to movement.
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