RESEARCH TASK - Haze!

So what is haze? Haze is that atmosphere you see in films, or in a dusty old room, which adds depth to scene. This is usually noticeable in a film when a protagonist is going through an abandoned building with a torch and you can see the light from the torch bouncing off all the dust in the air creating a golden beam of light.

So why the hell would I want this haze stuff in my opening title sequence? Well due to not much time being spent on the props for the van, as this idea was quite rushed, I thought it could be a easy cheat, due to it adding depth to a scene it makes, what is being seen on screen more interesting. As well what haze does is diffuse light, this would appear nicely within the van, as we can only have one light in the van, instead of it being a harsh light and making highlights over exposed, it would give a more gentle light.

Gentle? Yes, while it would give a gentle atmospheric feel, it would as well give a darker more gritty look. This would compliment our dramatic action packed sequence. Haze is very similar to fog, and what effect does fog bring… thats right… mystery. Not only does fog add depth and light dispersion but mystery as it hides a lot more, meaning not all is given away creating intrigue, therefore suspense, therefore we have a thriller element.

Haze would also be very interactive within the scene, due to it creating visible shafts of light. We could have the actors use flashlights to investigate the gunshot wound on the dying character, creating beams of light, this gives a selective view of what the audience can see, building that very important intrigue.

Right so wheres your haze machine thingy? Haha good question. Well I don’t have one of those things laying around, so my plan is to ask our theatre department at my school weather they have…. a fog machine. Yeah I bet you didn’t see that coming. However the problem with using a fog machine is that the fog can be too thick and therefore look like fog rather than haze, making it less atmospherical and more foggy. And it looks rubbish, because why would there be fog in van…. haze yes, fog no. But if you get the right consistency it can look like haze.

Our storyboards

Developments.

Over the holidays Dasha and I pushed for group Skype call, so we could finally decide what we were going to be doing.

After numerous attempts, we couldn’t all connect up on Skype, so it was left up to me and Dasha to move forward with what we thought would benefit the group the best.

Unfortunately sound wasn't recorded.

After the Skype call I came out fresh and motivated, we had discussed how the opening titles sequence instead of using a poker sequence as the alternative story, which would be difficult to shoot due to continuity of the cards and chips. So we thought about integrating my CEO opening title, with the bank robbery. Like the American Psycho opening sequence we could have the CEO doing a particularly artistic morning routine, for example, meditating, working out, showering, using his special face washes, picking his suit, eating his breakfast. While in conjunction with the bank robbery scene. The two stories could meet when the CEO goes on his morning walk, or something that makes him isolated from witnesses.

Moving on

We never received a call or an email reply from Pfizer. So it was time to move on.

So after weeks/months of trying to develop our thriller opening titles sequence we were just adding more elements that were making our idea less of reality.

So we came back to the drawing board. I decided that we should all take a few days away from our current idea and bring a fresh one to the drawing board.

We grouped up a few days later to put out our ideas we had come up with. However I was the only one that had came up with anything. So I pitched my idea.

The film would be a thriller comedy about a bunch of bank robbers who run over a gangster king pin in there get away vehicle. They recognise him as the biggest influence in the city, so they take his body with them and the millions they stole from the bank. The rest of the film consists of them running away from not only the police but keeping out the gangs hands.

The opening title sequence for this would be two different stories, one of a group of bank robbers just leaving the scene of the crime, in an intense adrenaline filled, disorganised get away vehicle. While cutting to and from a powerful man (the kingpin) playing poker in a dark, mysterious, warehouse. The two stories converge, when kingpin leaves the warehouse with his winnings, he is then hit by the get away vehicle.

We discussed the idea with Matt. He liked the idea but believed we wouldn’t have the time to shoot two different stories. As well another factor he discussed is the gimmick of cutting between two stories can end up not appearing as wished.

With these constructed criticisms taken on board our group most move forward as time begins to slip away from us.