Photos from Clifton reccy

Some shots from my reccy to  the clifton cemetery

The railings are very victorian looking and
 i like the way the path seems to go on for ever
the tree in the background is gnarled and old

 focusing on the most tim burtonesque features of it

The entrance with the gates that is visible on Google maps 

The trees have wound themselves round
 the wire structure

Gnarled tree

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one of the lights was green!

ivy was everywhere!

Voice Over

This is our script (with annotations) for the voice over

The crescendo music from the death scene

I have just added some footage that we didn't use in the film to enhance the music!

Post Re-Shoot

We have been on a re-shoot, a few factors made it not as successful as it could have been.
Unfortunately it rained pretty heavily all day. I am worried about the quality of the lighting in the shots because of the environmental issues!
Also we asked Aimee (who was not present at the first shoot) to bring a camera so that she could take ' behind the scenes' style photos to put on our website showing our research and planning. this would give her a solid job while shooting and use her talents more effectively. Before we met her at weston in gordano, i took some pictures of the actors getting ready in costume and make up. However, she failed to bring a camera so now we will not have photos to illustrate this part on our website.
I do fear that the mise-en-scene is not as accurate as the first shoot because we were shooting near a busy road. hopefully with editing, they will fit and the film will make more sense.

Date for the re-shoot

We plan to re-film and get the extra shots we need on 15th february,  there were a few complications that need to be sorted:

• the actor who played the second male character has been injured. Fortunatly, we need to re-shoot all the scenes with this character in (due to technical and framing problems) so we have found another actor to play him. 
• the framing problems were in reference to a few shots where either heads were partially cut out of the shot or modern houses were visible in the background. this will be corrected with the re-shoot, 
• initially, both the death scenes were shot in a cemetery in clifton. however, we are going to shoot these in our first  possible location, Weston in Gordano. This will add to the idea in the audiences mind that time has passed. hopefully, we can shoot at a later time in the day because it is closer to home and so the full potential of the street lights will be more effective than our first attempt. 
• there were a few times in the sequence that we felt needed more emphasis or that it was not clear of the plot. this reshoot will allow us to make the story 'flow' better. 

Final deadline dilemma

We have decided exactly which bits to re-shoot, however there is a problem that we are in the process of sorting out. the main male character is unavailable when the rest are available and visa versa. there is an inset day a day before the deadline for the whole sequence and that seems our only hope! we might be able to get an extention of a couple of days in order to edit and get the voice over timed to the clips in our study periods. its a problem, but we will work something out!

rough cut

we have assembled to clips into some kind of order with a few titles and transitions. while editing, we have noticed some glaring mistakes that we need to re-shoot. for example: modern houses are in the background of one of the shots and the killing scene is not as dramatic as we would have liked. i am unsure as to weather we should re-shoot before or after the initial marking because it takes a long time to organise the other actors. we know what we want to re shoot  and after the marking, we will know what the teacher wants from it. we may also vary the location a third time to make the killing scene link more to the jealous over the shoulder shot.

First attempt at filming

We spent sunday filming. it went reasonably well but i feel we may have to do some re-shoots because it was such an alien experience for them that the actors looked quite awkward. however the main obstacle we faced when Amiee suggested Tim Burtons genre of film, was mise en scene. the whole look of his films is extremely recogniseable. hopefully, with my research into makeup, costume and the various locations we thought about, i think it will look ok, 
I feel less confident in the project than i would like, at this point.  Tim Burton films are not my passion. however, they are interesting, recogniseable and theatrical. imitating his style was ambitious but i feel it has taught me a great deal and let us be artistic and creative with the brief. i have tired my best and it may look better once it is edited with the music and voice over. 

optional location for death shots

the trees on either side would make a
 good frame for a 'watching shot' ------>

There is a walk way in clifton with grass and graves on either side of a path and victorian looking railings and lamps lining it. this could provide the location for the deaths and beginning and ending shots.

Rough Story Board

May need to be cut considerably to fit into the 2 mins time constraints ...

(Apologies for bad drawings!)

Initial Costume and Make up Conventions from Burton Films

The make up for edward scissor hands endears
him to the audience, the shadow around
the eyes goes to a point to create a worried expression. 

The costume is ripped and reveals bones
to enforce the feeling of years gone past

Black and red lace are used in detail
around the neck line, also shows quite a bit of flesh

Although an animation, it would be ideal if the suit
for our male characters  is similar to this one.

the billowed sleeves and waist coat is a convention that
most male characters have in tim burton films 

the white queen from alice in wonderland, the character is the 'goody' but has a dark side, this is shown in the costume and make up. this is what we want to portray in the snow white character's costume. 

the tinted lense  adds a more sinister tone, and highlights the make up to make the characters look gaunt and sick. 

if i can find something similar to this costume,
 it would be perfect for the 'other man'
character in our opening. 

(<--- from the same film) combination of corset and shirt-like under garment is another feature similar in many tim burton films 

by leaving the rim around the eyes pale and
darkening the hollow of the eye makes the character  more friendly
 and sad looking, i feel this is the direction we would go in for the snow
white character and for the men more sweeny todd look. 

close up of lips imitation, may use deep purple red instead of bright red for snow white, to add gothic twist on classic look

the classic style of snow white character, we will do
our best to let the audience know the character
is snow white while giving the character a gothic/timburton twist

stripes in black and white and red are a classic tim burton style costume. 

Initial location research

i used google maps to explore locations near Portishead like Western in Gordano. below are some screen shots of  places i get to with this application. 

 a church with interesting entrance

 the tree would cast creepy shadows in the evening

 the church and grave yard

 interesting stone detail

 church windows are very Gothic

 lane with secret path

 idyllic cottage

 with stable

 very authentic sign

 small idyllic village shop 

 stately home with lane 

 lane with beautiful trees on either side but the road looks modern 

 a second church with graves, i like the entrance shape, very Gothic

Progress on story

Since the post about the story, the group had a discussion and came up with more ideas than the initial one with the witches. (Scan of the planning is shown below) eventually we have decided on a dark twist on the fairytale of snow white. We felt that the image of the poison apple was similar to Tim Burton's style and the reinvention of a classic story was similar to his style on Alice in Wonderland. The main problem with this idea was that a convention with Burton films is that there is normally a male lead, so in our in initial story board we have featured the male more than snow white than in the original story. This may seem strange because the story is about the character snow white but our plot is centred around her, she just doesn’t have a major physical role. I feel that this direction is more of a team effort than the first idea.

Tim Burton film notes part two

Notes on Big Fish

Opening:

·         Camera switches many times between CG underwater shots following a big fish to the main characters son's life growing up, through bed time stories to prom night with the same story of how the dad caught the fish,  being told throughout the switches. establises the tall story characteristic of the dad.

·         voiceover of young man starts and is eventually replaced by the story read by the father in his old age (diagetic sound)

Notes on The Nightmare before Christmas (animation)

Opening:

·         iconic ‘Tim Burton’ gothic swirly text

·         voice over speaks in rhyme

·         camera spirals from Birdseye view around the forest

·         camera goes through a pumpkin shaped door into blackness

·         and into a distorted grave yard

·         smoke and mist swirl around the camera

·         music is sung by all the characters in true musical style, marching

Conclusion

Conventions of Tim Burton film openings are

·         old  male voice over to set scene (often in rhyme)

·         ‘a Tim Burton film’ is always put in the titles

·         spiral/panning/moving shots are always used

·         mist/smoke

·         dark imagery

·         Danny Elfman is always used for music

·         most commonly used actors are Jonny Depp and Helena Bonham carter

·         swirly/gothic font is used for titles

Tim Burton film notes part one

Notes on Alice in Wonderland

Opening

·         Mist

·         In each scene there is a colour scheme and the costumes, props and background all follow that colour scheme. E.g. the engagement scene is white and light blue and the battle scene at the end is red and black.

·         distorted characters with CG the head of queen and eyes of mad hatter

Notes on the Corpse Bride (animation)

Opening

·         close up shots of book and drawing

·         colour scheme: all shades of gray

·         camera follows the butterfly around the streets

·         text is white, swirly and ‘distressed’

·         camera direction is in a zig zag like clockwork like the music and all the characters actions

·         tracking along ground

·         Distorted characters

Notes on Beetlejuice

Opening

·         old style film with ‘noise’ on film

·         text is like times new roman in capitals with blue glow around them

·         skulls in the title border

·         Tracking over a green forest quite fast, into a town and up a hill, gradually getting less luscious. To a hill with a house, turns out to be a toy house with a tarantula climbing over it.  

Notes on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Opening

·         mist and snow

·         titles :gold metal appearance emerging from mist

·         the camera follows the machinery in the factory

·         the music is similar to a march

·         Inventive ways of transport like air balloons that fly the chocolate to the wrapping stage.

·         Uses a voice over to set the scene.

Tim Burton style film opening

This direction was chosen by the other people in my group as I was away when the class started the coursework. As a result of this, I felt quite detached from the project. I would have liked to put forward my ideas for genre, and style, so that I could be as in control as the other members.  My passion is comedy and I feel I could work better with a plot that has room for humour.  Personally, I am not as familiar with his style as the rest of my group. The message I got from them was that it might be too late to turn back and reconsider the theme. This is why over the Christmas holidays I have tried to see and make note on as many Tim Burton films as I possibly can, to familiarize myself with the conventions of his films.

Another problem I have encountered is that we only have one idea from one group member, and it seems as if no one else feels it is important to think of a range and pick the best one. The idea is:

1.   Previously, in a séance with 4/5 witches, an evil spirit from witch 2 is transferred into witch 1

2.   few years pass

3.   Witch 1 unaware but slowly turns evil.

4.   Witch 1 is with man. Spirit makes her kill man.

5.   Witch one finds out it was witch 2

6.   Witch 1 finds witch 2 and kills

I feel that the storyline is quite complicated, one dimensional and may be unoriginal. when I return to school, I will raise these issues with my group and hope we can come to a better conclusion.