Charlie Serafini's Art Blog

Sunday, 18 January 2015

From Script To Screen - Like For Like Storyboard Segment (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug)

I choose to do a fight scene in the second Hobbit film, it was a lot of fun to draw. amazing how many shots are used in 30 seconds.

Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948) Film Review

Fig. 1. Rope poster.

Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope (1948) is a film that reveals everything to you and then forces you to watch and wait as the suspense becomes unmanageable. Rope Is an adaptation of Patrick Hamilton’s play, Rope’s End, in which two young men commit what seems to be the perfect murder and then throw a party to celebrate, the guests are unaware of what had happened earlier in the day and confused as to why the deceased hasn’t shown up to the party.

Fig. 2. Murder still.

Hitchcock described this film as more of an experiment; he wanted it to be a cinematic equivalent to the play, which takes place in the actual length of time of the story. Although hugely experimental Rope is a very impactful film, that appears to be one continuous shot, with no cuts. In actual fact they would have had to have cuts around every 10 minutes as that was all the film reels could record for. As Keyes describes in his review, ‘There is a great stroke of craftsmanship at work throughout the film. Shot in ten long takes, the movie creates an elaborate illusion that there is no cutaway or break from the action, as if to indicate a quiet observer is present in the room for the whole duration of the story instead of a mere movie camera (actual breaks do occur, though, most of them involving zooms into shadows at the end of one take and then panning back out at the beginning of another).’ (Keyes, 2014). Keyes suggests that the effect that the camera creates gives an illusion to the audience of being a quiet observer that is present in the room, much like a fly on the wall; it is possible that this also creates an immersive experience that mimics the effects of the stage performance.

Fig. 3. Chest still.

Hitchcock, the master of suspense, demonstrates his technique’s impact in Rope; from the very beginning he gives the viewer all of the information on who has been murdered, who committed the crime and where they stashed the body. He then makes you wait; teasing at the idea they will get caught, showing the weaknesses in the duo, Philip appears to be crumbling from the inside out, while Brandon is thrilled and wants to proceed to see how much further they can push the boundaries. An incredible scene occurs in which the maid starts to slowly take everything off of the chest that the body is hidden in, Hitchcock makes you watch, cringing slightly at the thought of her opening the chest to find the body. As Canby mentions in his review, ‘One high point: While the guests are discussing something of no great moment just off- screen, the camera, catlike, stares at the chest as the maid gets ready to put some books back into it, unaware, of course, that the chest is already fully occupied.’ (Canby, 2000). Canby’s comment is a reinforcement of Hitchcock’s great choice of camera shots to build suspense, by having the rest of the party members just of screen, discussing things in the moment all unaware of what could potentially happen. This is what makes the suspense even greater and such a joy to watch, moments like this are exactly what the edge of your seat was made for.

Rope is a film that deals with a theory of a superior man that can decide to kill of his inferiors; Superman is a term that is given to this theory that is used by Friedrich Nietzsche, As Britannica mention in what they wrote about the theory, ‘This superior man would not be a product of long evolution; rather, he would emerge when any man with superior potential completely masters himself and strikes off conventional Christian “herd morality” to create his own values, which are completely rooted in life on this earth.’ (Britannica, 2014). The film uses this theory in a brutal sense, as Brandon believes himself and Philip are superior humans, thus allowing them to kill off their friend David who they deem to be weaker. It’s a sense of killing for the pleasure of killing and not for a motive as such. Nearer the end of the film Rupert, the character who was their former teacher and who potentially implanted the idea upon Brandon, admits that his theories on the superman theory where incorrect and he was disgusted to see the action of his theory.

Overall this film is a joy to watch and it will leave you on the edge of your seat. With suspense building from the very start it is definitely a must see for any film lover, the continuous shot makes the film somewhat more immersive as you begin to feel like a fly on the wall, watching as the perfect crime falls apart.

Illustration List:

Hitchcock, A. (1948). Figure 1. Rope poster. http://images.moviepostershop.com/rope-movie-poster-1948-1020198503.jpg (Accessed on 18/01/2015)

Hitchcock, A. (1948). Figure 2. Murder still. https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMuM1JIs-cmzoSC7cNhuMAmM-yWKNfBThYQROrwQMEW5mxY-KChEhyphenhyphenRaKC5GiBU_vpyxPv5KGFKsoWjx-hUrMeAFaYTTjut3cQW40oVthQNL7cGicTd_YusKAYo1UpeInvMVcPidp0SSg/s1600/Rope.png (Accessed on 18/01/2015)

Hitchcock, A. (1948). Figure 3. Chest still. http://explore.bfi.org.uk/sites/explore.bfi.org.uk/files/styles/gallery_full/public/bfi_stills/bfi-00m-fta.jpg?itok=QWg_ZC1t (Accessed on 18/01/2015)

Bibliography:

Britannica. (2014). britannica.com. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/574434/superman (Accessed on 18/01/2015)

Canby, V. (2000). nytimes.com. http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/060384hitch-rope-reflection.html (Accessed on 18/01/2015)

Keyes, D. (2014). cinemaphile2010.blogspot.co.uk. http://cinemaphile2010.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/rope-1948.html (Accessed on 18/01/2015)

Thursday, 15 January 2015

From Script To Screen - Story Ideas

I've neglected to post my ideas up, mainly because until today I hadn't finished a whole story or concept, I would be writing one story and then think of something else and start writing that one. However this has left me with a few different ideas and options to choose from.

All of these stories are set in a world that is a zoo, I did this as I felt as if I could inject more of my style in to it. So the inhabitants are animals that are human like and the world has fences that plot off everyone's land, the houses will be based off of the animals that live there for example, if a lion lived in that plot of land, the house would be rock based and the land would reflect there normal habitat.

I would also like to point out that the names associated with the stories aren't final, they were used more as a reference for me to find and add to each story, a lot of them aren't finished and are basic concepts but I would very much like to hear what you think.

Enchanted items:

Travelling merchant goes door to door selling enchanted toys, he goes to the castle to try and sell his toys to the young prince. The prince is uninterested in the wares that the merchant has to offer, until his eyes catch a glimpse of the merchants enchanted skateboard. The young prince demands he must have the skateboard, the merchant agrees to sell the board to the prince however he warns him that the board has a mind of its own.

The prince greedily takes the board and sends the merchant away, later that night as the prince begins to sleep the skateboard springs to life and ventures around the castle, the mischievous skateboard smashes a vase that was placed on a table. In the morning the King see’s the mess and punishes the prince, the prince is confused and returns to his room as ordered by his farther.

The prince witnesses the skateboard spring into life and is amazed, he realises that the board broke the vase and decides to try and teach the skateboard what is wrong and right. The board becomes a real friend to the prince and they have lots of fun together.

Theft:

Late one night random things start disappearing from people’s homes, from one home a young boy’s skateboard is stolen. He wakes up to find his board is missing so he runs to his farther and asks for his help. The farther and son go and search for his board, while walking down the street they see a man, going door to door wearing rags. He was pulling his rag to the side revealing various items that he was trying to sell, the young boy notices his skateboard concealed by the man’s rags.

Turned to wood:

A figure in rags is by a bubbling cauldron muttering words, throwing random things into cauldron. A puff of smoke rises from the cauldron in the shape of a skull before it disappears; the ragged figure laughs hysterically and grabs a nearby piece of wood. He continues muttering words while holding the wood over the cauldron; the liquid bubbles up and grabs the wood, dragging it into the cauldron. A flash of light explodes from the cauldron and the room goes dark.

A flashback to the past occurs, a time in which a young man came to this figure trying to sell him a skateboard. The young man tricked the figure into believing that the skateboard possessed magical powers and would aid him with his spells. In exchange for the ‘magical’ board the young man wanted to be an all-powerful king, the figure agreed and performed a spell which turned the young man into what he had wished for, this came at a price and made the ragged figure very weak and vulnerable. The newly appointed king didn’t want the figures power being used against him so he threw him in a prison cell to rot. Feeling deceived the figure sat in the corner of the cell, plotting his revenge.

Back in the present we see the figures spell working, the king begins to feel sick and stumbles down his halls. A green smoke wraps itself around him, and spins him around, the smoke engulfs him and when it fades the castle starts to disappear and the king begins to transform back to the door-to-door salesman with only his skate board.

The Orphan:

Door to door salesman goes door to door selling various goodies; he uses a skateboard as his means of travel. He arrives at a house that appears to be empty, it has a basket on the front step that has a baby in it, and he looks around confused, trying to see if its parents are around, but he cannot see anyone. He decides to take the baby as he cannot leave it alone to die; he skates off home with the basket in his arms.

The Young Salesman:

There is a young man who gets his first job as a door-to-door salesman, He skates around town trying to sell his companies goods to as many people as he can.

Equal Rights:

A young woman has just got her first job as a door-to-door salesman, the company she works for specialise in selling a range of sports items and wear. When arriving at her office, her co-workers are all male, they look up in disgust and turn to each other and start whispering. She meets with her boss and finds out what she has to sell and her route. Upon leaving his office she is stopped by one of her co-workers, who laughs and her and asks ‘Aren’t you scared you’re going to break a nail?’ astounded by the man’s ignorance she pushes past him and gets off to her first day.

She gets on with her job and by the end of the day she returns to the office, the man who confronted her earlier is celebrating, he had just been awarded employee of the month, for selling the most items. His picture was hung on the wall for all to see, he approaches the young woman and mocks her, suggesting she should give up and retire back to her home.

Determined to do well the young woman heads out for the next month, successfully selling lots of items and become a very well respected and known individual around the office. The figures of each salesman and woman are tracked and it appears that the young woman and the ignorant man are tied for points; it comes down to one last transaction.

The boss decides to send both of them out to houses that have never bought anything from the company before. The woman arrives at the house and knocks on the door, an old man answers and slams the door in her face. Intent on not giving up the woman knocks on the door again, the man answers once more and asks what she wants, the woman explains she is trying to sell a skateboard. The old man laughs and questions why a woman is trying to sell a man’s thing, the woman isn’t fazed by the rudeness of the man and she places the board on the floor, she skates around outside his home, which shocks the old man. Impressed with her effects he agrees to buy the board and apologises for his misjudgement.

She returns to the office to see that the man had failed to sell his last item, there for she becomes employee of the month, everyone celebrates and the story ends with a close up of her photo on the wall.

The last one so far is my favourite and has the most meaning behind it, the idea sparked today from a story that Sam told me. I wanted to create a story that demonstrates how the world is still tackling the issue of equal rights and how everyone should be treated equally.