The Orphanage (J.A. Bayona, 2007)

After watching Crimson Peak (Guillermo del Toro, 2015) and The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro, 2001) as a class we watched another film in a similar genre to these two: The Orphanage (J.A. Bayona, 2007). Whilst The Orphanage wasn’t directed by Guillermo del Toro, he did produce it.

Tomas in The Orphanage (J.A. Bayona, 2007)

The film opens in Spain in 1975 where Laura, a young orphan, is adopted. We then return to see her years later with her husband Carlos and their adopted seven-year-old son Simon planning to reopen the orphanage she grew up in as a house for disabled children . Simon claims to have met someone named Tomas, a young boy wearing a sack mask. Laura is visited by Benigna, a social worker, and as an audience we learn that Tomas is HIV positive; Laura asks Benigna to leave after her inquiries become too intrusive. She then finds Benigna in the coal shed later that night but is unable to catch her before she flees. Simon discovers he was adopted through a childish game including clues, he tells Laura that his new friend told him that he will die soon. During the opening party for the orphanage, Simon hides from Laura after an argument. While looking for him Laura is trapped in the bathroom by a child wearing a sack mask. After escaping she finds that Simon is missing; one of the head police offices suggests that Benigna may have abducted him. The film then jumps 6 months, Simon is still missing, Laura spots Benigna in the street but she is run over and killed by a car shortly after. Investors discovers that Benigna used to work at the orphanage and had a secret child with a deformed face, the child was kept hidden from the others and always wore a sack mask which was once stolen from him by the other children causing him to become embarrassed and hide in a cave before being drowned by the sea. Laura discovers the remains of the orphans she grew up with in the orphanage’s coal shed and it is revealed that Benigna poisoned all their meals which killed them as revenge for them “killing” her son. Laura’s husband Carlos leaves the orphanage overwhelmed by his wife’s speculations. After he has left Laura gives the orphanage a makeover so it resembles the one she grew up in and she attempts to contact the children’s spirits by playing an old game with them. She is led by them to a hidden underground room where inside she finds Simon’s corpse wearing Tomas’s sack mask. A realisation hits Laura that whilst she was looking for Simon she moved pieces of construction scaffolding therefore blocking the entrance to the hidden room, Simon was trapped inside and fell and broke his neck. Laura takes an overdose of sleeping pills and as she dies the children’s spirits alongside Simon’s appear.

What’s a horror film without some creepy dolls?

Personally, I wasn’t as keen at first on this film as some of the others we had watched. The first half seemed to have a few pacing issues for me however, this was outweighed by the brilliant second half. The suspense created as different layers and possibilities to the story were revealed increased my curiosity more and more. My favourite scene of the entire film was no doubt the scene in which Laura starts playing the knock on the wall game, that we previously saw her playing as a young girl, in an attempt to contact and play with the orphan’s spirits. The scene was wonderfully thrilling and suspenseful with a great build up as we are shown the progression of the spirits participation in the game through a series of camera pans. Whilst watching the scene I definitely got goosebumps and was unable to shake the chills in gave me; perhaps this was due to the juxtaposition between this darkly lit location with little sound other than Laura speaking and the children’s footsteps; and the opening scene of the film showing the orphans playing the same game on a bright sunny day. The opening scene was full of energy and happiness whereas the replicant scene later on was much more suspenseful and uncanny, it was a detail of the film that I was very impressed with.

Due to The Orphanage not being directed by Guillermo del Toro, there are clear differences between the appearance of the “ghosts” in this film compared to the others we have watched. In Crimson Peak and The Devil’s Backbone the ghosts appeared to be very deformed particularly the black and red older ghosts in Crimson Peak whereas the ghosts that appears in The Orphanage look extremely normal like normal children which is in some ways more uncanny. However, despite the differences in terms of exterior, the interior and what the “ghosts” represent is very similar. The Orphanage continues the reoccurring theme of ghosts being a possible figment of the imagination rather than a legitimate supernatural being. In this case the ghosts seem to on be able to be seen by those who are about to die, Simon claimed he could see Tomas and his other friends in the days leading up to his death, the medium could suppossedly see the orphans and later revealed she was ‘close to death’ and then Laura (the only one that we as an audience see interact with the spirits) is only able to see them moments before her own death.

Crimson Peak (Guillermo del Toro, 2015)

After watching The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro, 2001) we were told to watch another Guillermo del Toro film: Crimson Peak.

 

Edith in Crimson Peak (Guillermo del Toro, 2015)

 

Crimson Peak begins with a young Edith Cushing being visited by her mother’s disfigured ‘ghost’ who warns her to “beware of crimson peak”. We then pick up 14 years later as Edith, who is now an aspiring author, meets Sir Thomas Sharpe and his sister Lucille. When the siblings plans to gain investors for their clay mining invention fails, Thomas and Edith become romantically involved despite her father’s disapproval as he learns some unsavoury facts about him and demands he break off the relationship. However, Thomas sends Edith a note explaining everything. Edith’s father is murdered and the couple move back to Thomas and Lucille’s home, Allerdale Hall, in England after getting married. Weird red “ghosts” begin visiting Edith in the mansion but she seems to be the only one who can see them and in general everything seems a bit off. After spending the night away, Thomas reveals to her that the estate is often referred to as ‘Crimson Peak’ due to the red clay sweeping up through the snow. Edith begins growing weak and ill as she continuously coughs up blood. She begins exploring the mansion and finds out Thomas has been married three other times for the women’s heritage, she also discovers the siblings have an incestuous relationship that in the past led to a sickly infant who Lucille killed along with their mother. After discovering this, Edith realised the siblings had a “marriage and murder” scheme to support and fund the clay mining invention. Edith’s childhood friend Alan arrives to save her and Lucille demands that Thomas kills him but he has fallen in love with Edith and so only makes it appear that he has stabbed Alan. Lucille reveals to Edith that she killed her father and then Edith stabs her and flees. Thomas is murdered by Lucille as she becomes jealous of his love for Edith, Lucille then goes after her. Aided by Thomas’s ghost, Edith kills Lucille before saying goodbye to her husband.

 

One of the three ghosts explored in Crimson Peak

 

So as proven by the very long description above, the plot is pretty intense and detailed however, whilst the plot did interest me and keep me on edge, the ghosts were the main thing I was intrigued by throughout. After debating what the ghost of Santi represented in The Devil’s Backbone, I went into this film expecting to see a similar portrayal of ghosts. At first it did seem this way as Edith was the only one who could see the ghosts, similar to Carlos being the only one that could see Santi. However, this idea was contradicted by the end scene when both Edith and Lucille can see the ghost of Thomas.

“Guillermo wanted the ghosts to feel like something wasn’t quite right. There was a lot of time spent in production design with Tom Sanders (production designer) getting everything to look Victorian, so we decided to go for practical hybrids for all of the ghosts except one.”

Guillermo also continued the idea that ghosts only appear to bring warnings, as he explored in The Devil’s Backbone, as Edith only sees the first two ghosts (one black, one red) when she is being warned. The ghosts in this film are quite humanised despite their decaying and corrupted appearance on the surface; it is important to note that they are not representations of Edith’s guilt and rather in my opinion show how she is different to the rest of the characters as she is able to see them.

Overall, I enjoyed Crimson Peak but maybe not as much as I enjoy The Devil’s Backbone. Guillermo continues to confuse me wonderfully with his representations of ghosts and what they may symbolise.

The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro, 2001)

The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro, 2001)

To prepare us for the first component that we are going to be looking at for our exam, Global Films, we watched The Devil’s Backbone (Guillermo del Toro, 2001) to get a feel for Guillermo del Toro’s films in preparation for our study of Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006).

 

The Devil’s Backbone tells the story of Carlos, a twelve year old boy, whose father died in the Spanish Civil War (1939). Carlos is left at a boy’s orphanage where he is taken in by Carmen and Casares who operate the home. After befriending the other boys Carlos begins to see visions of what appears, on the surface, to be a ghost of a boy named Santi who died when a defused bomb hit the orphanage’s courtyard. As the groundskeeper, Jacinto, tries to take the gold that is hidden at the orphanage, Carlos attempts to bring justice for Santi as the orphanage begins to fall apart.

 

Santi (Junio Valverde) in The Devil’s Backbone

 

The thing that stood out significantly to me during this film was the character of Santi (played by Junio Valverde) as he is quite different to the typical “ghosts” you see in movies. Whilst at first it may be easy to discard Santi’s character as yet another child ghost, if you look into his character with more depth you will see that that isn’t the case at all. No other character seems to be able to see Santi except Carlos, he appears and disappears at will and is only seen during the night and when we as an audience see him communicating with Carlos he always seems to be giving some kind of messenger for example his repetition of the warning “many of you will die”. Perhaps Santi is in fact or a ghost, or maybe he’s a vision or hallucination of some sort. It has been suggested that Santi is a representation of “the stifled Spanish citizen rallying for the rights of the underclass by taking on the country’s political complacency”. The character could also be interpreted as a hallucinations built from, and representing, Carlos and the other boys uncertainty and fear as they are young children and most likely do not fully understand the war and the context of their situation.

The film as a whole was really enjoyable in my opinion, I loved the storyline as it managed to keep me hooked and the character were all interesting. I think the complexity of Santi’s character increased my interest in the film and added something unique to the story, I also liked how despite the eeriness of Santi’s character he didn’t take away from the other storyline.

Kitchen Sink Drink: Finished Film and Evaluation

Once I had completed my final edit I exported it and uploaded it to Vimeo. After doing this I showed my project to my parents and a couple of friends in order to get there feedback so I could fully evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of my finished film.

One of the greatest weaknesses of my film is probably the lighting as it changes throughout and doesn’t look good on camera. For the most part this is because I filmed some shots against windows and the curtains in the room were open the entire time I was filming so the lighting on screen changed depending on the brightness outside. If I was to do this again I would definitely make sure I kept the lighting as consistent as possible; at some point perhaps in future projects I would love to use a real filming light to see the difference it can make. Also I would avoid filming against windows as it produces a glare and you can see reflections as shown in the photo below.

Kitchen Sink Drink

Another weakness in my project was the lack of smooth transitions and this is both a filming and editing fault. To improve the filming I could’ve recorded a few surrounding shots of the kitchen to show more of the environment and these shots then could’ve been used in editing to separate individual sequences in my film. I also feel as though the pace of my film could be a lot more upbeat which would mean increasing the pace of my editing. A big mistake I made during editing was forgetting to get rid of the 30 seconds of extra blank screen at the end of my film so when I uploaded it to Vimeo it was 2:20 instead of of 1:50.

There are, however, certain parts of my project I like and strengths that could be found during the filming and editing processes. One of my favourite parts of my film is match on action used very subtly at th beginning of my film when you see the cup of tea being made and we switch from a wide shot to a birds eye view shot as the kettle is placed down. I also think my shot reverse shot sequences worked effectively and showed the right amount of each character. Another strength to my project is the confidence displayed by me and my friend Chloe in terms of acting; neither of us held back when it came to being dramatic which allowed the narrative to flow assertively and easily. Focusing on my editing strengths, I believe after I received the constructive criticism from the class about the last sequence of shots being too slow pace I increased the pace of the edits to improve this aspect which I think is a lot better now. Detaching the audio from the clips also allowed me to create some smoother transitions and context between certain shots and I think this works effectively as you watch my film.
Overall, I really enjoyed this project. The pre-production preparation was extremely helpful and I particularly enjoyed making the script as I’d never made a professional one before. During filming I was able to experiment with new shots, e.g birds eye view shots, and use different equipment which has massively helped me to get more used to the tools needed to film a great video. Editing in post production was definitely my favourite part and I learnt several new techniques which I will now be able to use in future projects that I may do.

Here is my final finished film:

https://vimeo.com/238924772

Kitchen Sink Drink: Editing

After finishing filming I imported my camera clips and audio files onto Final Cut Pro ready to start editing. During the entire editing process, which took about 4 lessons, I kept my storyboards in front of me to make sure I didn’t forget to add certain parts to my final piece.

Editing on Final Cut Pro

When editing I found it extremely helpful that during filming I had made sure to clap and announce what take it was after hitting record on the camera and audio because it allowed me to easily synchronise the correct audio to the correct camera shot. I started with the opening wide shot I had filmed and then went onto the shots of me creating the cup of tea. I decided to make the shots of me placing down the ingredients short and snappy which require a lot of trimming of the clips. Also I tried to do a match on action between the shot of me pouring the hot water into the cup and the birds eye view shot of me placing down the kettle, I think it worked pretty well and it is a part of my editing that I am proud of. The more difficult part of editing for me was the 3 shot reverse shot sequences. Our media assistant, Mr Grant, taught me a clever trick to make the transition between each shot in the shot reverse shot sequence more natural; he taught me to detach the audio from the clip so that I could extend the audio over the beginning of the next clip so that there isn’t a jumpy cut in audio between each shot.

Detaching audio from the clip

I used this technique multiple times during my editing as you can see in the photo above. The part of editing I particularly enjoyed was putting together the sequence of reaction shots between my two characters and in the end I was happy with how it turned out in the end as I think it has quite a humour effect.

Once I had finished my first edit of the entire project it was shown to the rest of my class so that I could receive feedback and make improvements to my edit. I was told by them that the end section of my short, that showed Chloe drinking the tea and wondering whether it tasted alright, did not have a fast enough pace. They advised me to cut the clips shorter in order to increase the pace of my film and provoke a better response in the audience. Overall though everyone seemed to enjoy it. After receiving these comments I made a few adjustments to my edit, mainly trimming clips and audio to increase the pace, and then rewatched it to check and correct any parts I didn’t like before exporting my final edit and uploading it to Vimeo.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Aesthetics

Seeing as we had already touched on the colour scheme and tone of the film in previous film elements we have looked into, when looking at aesthetics we focused more or Aspect Ratio.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) uses aspect ratio in a very unique way that I have never seen before. Aspect Ratio is the proportional relationship between the height and width of an image; in this film it is used to establish different time periods.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) 4:3 aspect ratio

The 4:3 “Academy” ratio is used to show the oldest time period in the film which follows young Zero and Gustave, this ratio was used in many films during silent cinema and the invention of moving picture cameras so it is appropriate that it is being used to represent our oldest time period as it was one of the earliest commonly used ratios.

The aspect ratio 2:35 is used to represent the 60s time frame that shows Zero grown up and talking to the young author, this aspect ratio was introduced and became more known around the 60s so it makes sense that it is being used to represent that time period.

The 3 aspect ratios used in The Grand Budapest Hotel

The most modern time period, the commentary by the author, represented through the film is shown through the 16:9 aspect ratio as this is probably the most modern aspect ratio as it is used for most televisions and computer monitors.

The Grand Budapest Hotel: Performance

After looking at cinematography, editing, sound design and mise-en-scene we decided to look closely at the performance of Ralph Fiennes as M. Gustave.

M. Gustave

The beginning of the sequence that we focused on shows the back of Gustav as he looks over a balcony. He has a confident, assured and upright posture; his stance reflects extreme power and control.

This is then followed by a side angle close up which is the first time we see Gustave’s face. His appearance is extremely dashing and he is presented as very clean and well kept. The moustache is well trimmed and groomed which presents him as in touch and in control with his masculinity.

As multiple hotel staff begin to arrive we see him take on the central role to the organisation of the room they are in, he issues commands with an assertive manner and clearly knows exactly what he wants to be done and how he wants it to be done.

Gustave and Madame D

When Gustave talks to Madame D we see a different side to him; he appears to be concerned and less confident. As she tells him that she doesn’t want to leave he attempts to comfort her however, it is clear that she is irritating him and his reaction isn’t as genuine as she may see it to be. This annoyance quickly turns to anger but he quickly relaxes his appearance and holds her hand looking into her eyes, as an audience we know this is his way of manipulating her into leaving so he can continue to woo the next line of women he must gain the affection of.

Kitchen Sink Drink: Filming

Equipment List:

• Camera
• Tripod
• microphone
• Boom stick
• SD card

Props:

• Nail File
• Phone
• Travel Mug
• Milk
• Kettle
• Tea Bags
• Sugar

On Thursday night I started and finished filming my project using our film studies department’s equipment and with the help of my friend Chloe to act alongside me. The beginning was the most challenging part because setting up the equipment took a while to figure out however, once I had finally managed to get everything up and running it was a lot easier to get into production. At first, of course, Chloe and I had to get over our nervous laughing fits when the camera first started rolling. The first shot we filmed was the wide shot that needed both of us in the frame, this was difficult as because we were both in the scene there was no one to hold the microphone or be behind the camera. We ended up resting the microphone in the background near my kitchen curtains and pressing record a minute before we actually started acting. All of the shots involving only one of us were a lot easier to film as the person not in the shot was able to monitor and control the sound and camera recording at the same time.

Setting up the first shot we recorded

Another difficulty we encountered when filming was that our camera battery ran our of charge so we had to take a break from filming in order to allow it to charge. During this time I made a list of what shots we had yet to film. However, as we started to resume filming I realised that it had gotten significantly darker outside. This meant that the shots I had filmed previously featured a window in the background displaying a sunny outdoor setting whereas the shots I was about to film would show it to be night-time. To overcome this we re filmed the beginning shots that explicitly showed the earlier time of day so that when it comes to editing I can choose whether to use the initial shots I had filmed or the shots I re-filmed.

Filming a more detailed shot showing the making of a cup of tea

The part I enjoyed filming the most were the close-up shots of me making a cup of tea, partly because I wasn’t required to be present in the frame, but also because positioning the props and adjusting the camera in order to get different angles was fun and made me feel professional. I decided to film these shots from various different camera angles, which I originally had not planned to do, because I figured it would give me more to work with when it comes to editing as well as meaning any mistakes made such as a shadow covering the counter or the mic being seen in the shot did not result in me being unable to include this part in my final project. One of the angles I experimented with was a bird’s eye view shot which was particularly challenging, but fun, as I had never filmed one before. Even if I do not choose to use it in my edit of the project, at least I was able to try something I never had before.

Positioning Props

Whilst filming I tried my best to adhere to the 180 degree rule we had previously been taught however, it is possible there are a few shots I filmed that do not fit. Hopefully I will be able to fix any issues I had in regards to that during the editing stage of my project. I also made sure to film each shot I did at least 2 times, for most 3, so that in editing I have various options I can use in order to create the best edit possible.

Storyboards, Treatment and Screenplay

Storyboards, Camera and Screenplay

All of the preparation I had done before production such as making storyboards and producing a script were all really helpful when it came to filming. However, there are some things that I would also do to prepare for production if I did a similar project in the future including making sure the camera and recorder are 100% charged and possibly closing any curtains in the room so that the outside exterior didn’t effect the filming, these are all things I will think about next time.

Kitchen Sink Drink: Storyboards

From doing previous media projects, I know that making storyboards is a crucial part of the creating process. Not only does it allow me to plan what specific shots I am going to use to tell my narrative, it will also be extremely useful when it comes to filming the project as I can use it to make sure I do not forget to film any specific shots. Admittedly I am not the best artist but hey I tried my best to show the position of my characters in relation to the frame; I also used annotations to more specifically clarify what type of shots I will be using and which characters would be present in each shot.

My Storyboards Page Number 1

My Storyboards Page Number 2

My Storyboards Page Number 3

Kitchen Sink Drink: Location Scout and Floor Plan

Location Scout: My Kitchen

Location Scout: My Kitchen

Location Scout: My Kitchen

Whilst the title Kitchen Sink Drink gives a rather obvious hint to the location of this project, I still had to evaluate how I was going to use the space avaliable in my kitchen to my benefit during filming. I took a series of pictures of my kitchen as part of my location scout and also drew a floor plan which helped me figure out the ways in which my characters could move around the space as well as possible places I could put the camera to get good shots.

Kitchen Floor Plan