Representation of Social Groups - Gender

We did look into the ways which we could represent social groups for this film opening so we decided to cast the interrogation victim as a girl, she would be subject to the interrogators that were to be Males. The representation of Gender is conventional here, as she is sat on a chair; therefore she is lower than the male characters in terms of space-relationship.

We also stayed loyal to the convention of the hero being a male, saving the female victim. Andrew, who was thought to be on the side of the other interrogator, turns around and shoots him, providing a twist in the storyline and allowing an action-style close the opening.

The villains are all male and the voice at the start, on the radio, is an authoritative male voice. We considered voicing this broadcast as a gentle females voice at-fist, to juxtapose it against the imagery and make it look more ironic/subjugating/brainwashing.

Genre Confirmation - Post-Apocalyptic/Sci-fi

We took interesting elements from films which we thought linked well and stayed within the Dystopia/Post-apocalyptic genre. Our film is set 10 years in the future (from 2012 to 2022), and it is implied that some kind of event has happened which has lead the world into some kind of dark age, with a Martial Force attempting to bring order through sinister methods.

The influences for Genre included, 'Schindlers List', '1984' and 'V for Vendetta'. These all have sinister imagery for inspiration in visualisation. 1984 and V for Vendetta in particular were good inspiration as these were also Science Fiction Films.

Here is some Digital Art I made to illustrate some of the events which have happened in the back-story. This was created on PhotoPlus 0.9, an art programme very similar to Photoshop (if not more primitive). I used a Graphics Tablet to create this image, twisting the appearance of the original photograph so it looks Chaotic.

Special Effects

There were no spectacular special effects added into this video as it went through post-production. We included some minor adjustments to certain clips, such as the one where a character is running across a hill, with bellowing smoke towering over them, far in the distance. This was meant to be the terrorist attack which had been carried out, mentioned in the Radio Speech and has been suggested that it was carried out by Jessica's character.

We used colour adjustments in Adobe Premiere to make the scene look more fiery. The actual columns of smoke rising behind the hill in this scene is real, but it is just steam rising from a Power-Station in St-Helens, early in the Morning of January 28th 2012. Lot'f of stock footage was taken of this effect but in the end we could only pick one, to keep the video short.

One thing we thought had a good effect in this shot was the transformation of the figure into a silhouette, this makes it look much more enigmatic and therefore more dramatic.

Soundtrack - Music in the Opening.

The soundtracks in this were not original scores.

The Music is from 'Modern Warfare 2', an Activision Game produced by Sledged Hammer Games and Infinity Ward. Hanz Zimmer produced the score.

This music was selected as it created the right atmosphere, suggesting that something under-cover, enigmatic, or low-profile and Militaristic has happened. This Enigmatic score was well suited to the visuals of the film opening.

Playing quitely throughout the moment where Jessica is sitting in the hall, waiting for the Interrogators to enter, we also included Mozart's Lacrimosa. This however, has been slowed down to 20% of it's original speed, so it sounds completely different and is barely recognisable.

Interrogation Scene - Camera Techniques

The Camera techniques in this scene are also kept simple, there are a lot of still shots and not much shaky cam until the last few seconds. We used a dolly/moving tripod for some of the shots but most of them had to be cut out, to shorten the length of the video. We had one shot of the dolly crossing the 180 degree line just in case we broke the 180 degree rule at any point.

 This is an extreme close-up of Jessica's eye. She is looking down so her actual eye is not visible, holding back her personality/character from the audience.

It might have been more effective to get an even more extreme close up of here eye, to accentuate it further.

 This Security-Cam shot was filmed using the same HD Camera but then altered in Adobe After-Effects to have a static effect and an outline with a Frame, Words, Numbers, a logo and a 'REC' Notice.

The Flashing Red-Dot was created using 'Key-Frames' in After Effetcs. The boxing within the frame was designed on paint and altered in Adobe Photo-Shop, before being exported into this scene.

This shaky-cam shot needed to increase the tension and suspense after Andrew had Shot the other Interrogator who I acted as. He is helping her get her freedom, and escape the force of authority which a captured her.

This shaky-cam moment is meant to contrast with the slow-paced nature of everything which came before it.

Interrogation Scene - Props

There was one main prop for this part of the Opening, which is the Gun, held by Andrew (Interrogator 2).
This Gun was not exactly what we were looking for, as I thought it would be better to have a modern pistol with an attached silencer. Instead we stuck with what was available; a Western-style Revolver.
We kept the gun hidden in darkness throughout the scene so it is not obviously an out of place prop. Even when it gets pointed directly into the Camera, it is still not clear that the prop is out of place in the setting/genre.
It was interesting to use Adobe After Effects and get a Lens-Flare Flash from the Pistol, making it look more authentic, as if it really fired.

For this shot below, we wanted to portray a divided personality. We did this though lighting so it implies that he is going to change sides. With half his face in shadow, his imminent betrayel is justified, cinematographically.

This was inspired by a shot from one of Don Siegel's 'Dirty Harry' Movies, with the Gun pointing right out into the Audience for Dramatic Effect.

Interrogation Scene - Cinematography

The Cinematography was also very basic in this scene of the opening. We wanted to capture an interesting frame-composition in each shot to keep the audience focused on the screen. So we kept things simple. Much of the Frame Composition inspired by the Story-Board.
In one shot, we considered trying out a method of symmetrical framing, with Jessica in the Middle, below the Light, and with the two interrogators on either side, surrounding her.

This style of framing has been used by Stanley Kubrick in many of his films and was inspirational for this particular shot.

Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket'


Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey'


Kubrick's 'The Shining'