Creating a Character Profile

 Based off my previous research into female detectives portrayed in films and tv shows, I created my own character profile for my film's main character.

(made using - storyplanner)

Character Research

 For my main character, I wanted to use a female police detective who would solve a murder mystery. This is because I wanted to portray a female protagonist in a strong and unconventional position, particularly for a film set in South Asia, where female police officers are quite rare. 

I did a little research into some famous female detective characters from films and TV shows so I could create a profile of my character.

1. Detective Kate Beckett from Castle

Detective Kate Beckett is a main character in the ABC TV show 'Castle'. She is a homicide detective who solves murders with the assistance of a writer named Richard Castle. Kate's character is very methodical and analytical. She has a strong moral compass and often uses her intuition as well as her reasoning to solve crimes. She is portrayed as a strong female character in a male-dominated field. She dresses professionally and stylishly and in one episode we even see a discussion she has with another female detective about how she wears high heels to convey her authority in her workplace. This not only indicates that she is conscious of the fact that she has to work against gender stereotypes but also the fact that she is very intentional in what she does. From the first season onwards she climbs the ranks in her profession steadily, showing that she has ambition and focus. 

Another important thing to note about Kate is her backstory. This becomes a focal point in the show, and it is the main reason why Beckett is a cop in the first place. Her mother was murdered and the killer was never found, which explains why an intelligent and relatively wealthy woman would choose to go into an initially low-paying and tedious job. This is a convention often scene in Crime Dramas and Police Procedurals, where detectives are often motivated to solve crimes due to traumatic incidents in their past.

2. Teresa Lisbon from The Mentalist

    Detective Teresa Lisbon is another strong female detective lead. She solves crimes for the CBI, with the assistance of Patrick Jane, a former psychic. Teresa is often described as a 'straight arrow'. In one episode, Patrick describes her high school self to her as "Driven to succeed to the point of developing an ulcer, no tolerance for superiors less sharp than yourself, shutting out girls that wanted to hang out with you, blowing off boys that want to get close. All the while, at every turn, wondering 'what is it I really want?'" 

As such, she is a very strong-minded woman. Similar to Kate, she did not have the best childhood. Her mother died in an accident when she was young and her father then turned to drink and would sometimes even become violent. Teresa had to step up and raise her younger brothers by herself and this is likely to be what moulded her into the determined and independent person she is. Her father died by committing suicide, and it is possible that Teresa chooses to become a detective because she wants to help others in a way that she wasn't able to help her own family.

3. Amy Santiago from Brooklyn 99

Detective Amy Santiago is often perceived as somewhat of a goody two shoes as she is a stickler for the rules and often does her best to gain the favour of her superiors. She is somewhat socially awkward and can sometimes find it hard to interact with her co-workers, however, there is definite character development in this regard as the show progresses. 

Amy is very competitive and there are many examples of this such as in the Halloween Heist episodes where she doesn't hesitate to betray her friends and colleagues in order to win the game. Her competitiveness is likely because she grew up in a household with 7 older brothers who all became police officers as well. She became her family's first female police officer and is motivated to prove her success in relation to that of her siblings by working very hard and climbing the ranks of her profession as quickly as possible. She lives alone in a New York apartment that is very clean and organized. She values her work above all else and is willing to sacrifice other aspects of her own personal life for her job which may be one reason why she does not have many romantic interests in the show.

4. Olivia Benson from Law and Order

Captain Olivia Benson is the commanding officer of the Manhattan Special Victims Unit in the show Law and Order. Similar to the previous detectives, Olivia's upbringing provides a definite linkage to the reason why she works for the Special Victims Unit. She grew up in a single-parent household in Manhattan with an alcoholic mother who emotionally abused her. Olivia's birth was a result of her mother's rape and since the Special Victims Unit also focuses on rape victims it is possible that this is why Olivia works in this unit.

She is portrayed as courageous and a great leader who will always support her colleagues and friends. She is level-headed under pressure and completely dedicated to her job. Her relationship status is usually single as she focuses a lot on her job.

Researching Codes and Conventions of a Murder Mystery

 Having analyzed the opening of a Crime film, I did a little more research into the codes and conventions that typically appear in Murder Mystery films:

Getting Inspiration

Following my teacher's feedback on my first script concept for my opening sequence, I decided to take a different approach and was inspired to write an entirely new script.

I decided to explore the genre of crime for my film's opening sequence. This could be because I've always enjoyed crime and mystery films and TV shows like Castle, The Mentalist, and Sherlock. I also thought it would be a good idea to have an opening sequence with a mystery theme to keep the viewer guessing and persuade them to keep watching the movie because they are now invested in the story and want to find out "whodunnit."

So, in order to research and learn more about this genre, I decided to write an analysis of the opening sequence of Se7en, a well-known crime thriller film. The plot follows retiring police Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) as he takes on a final case with the help of newly transferred David Mills (Brad Pitt), and they discover a number of elaborate and grisly murders. They quickly realize they are dealing with a serial killer (Kevin Spacey) who is hunting down people who he believes represent one of the seven deadly sins. (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/seven)

I chose to analyze the film's first two minutes because the opening scene is roughly that long. The film begins with Detective William Somerset getting ready for his work day in a medium shot. The opening scene is very dark and ominous, as is typical of crime films. The set design hints at a meticulous and orderly personality. The chess set represents his strategic prowess; he enjoys keeping his mind sharp. Everything is neatly lined up and in its place when he begins to pick up his accessories.

The scene is edited to concentrate the audience's attention on the detective. POV and over-the-shoulder shots are employed to manipulate the audience's level of identification with the character. All evidence points to him living alone and living a simple life centered on his work as a detective. A lot of effort has gone into introducing this character to the audience in depth; in just a few seconds, we have a general idea of the detective's personality.

The body receives little attention and is only shown for a few seconds from a high angle, implying the victim's lack of power. There is no background music in this scene; the only sound is the diegetic background effects of Somerset's urban environment. There are people shouting, dogs barking, and traffic noises. These are noises that are typically heard in the morning, so there is also a rough indication of the time of day.

By watching this film, I learned a lot about the genre and was inspired to create a new version of my sequence.

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First Script Attempt

Having completed the basics of learning about camera shots, angles, movements and editing techniques it was finally time to start on my foundation portfolio film opening task.

Attached is the first script attempt I made for my two-minute film opening sequence. 

What I liked about this concept was the sense of mystery and anticipation being built up. I felt that creating a sequence based on genres like action, thriller and heist. I wanted the sequence to start off feeling casual to lull the audience into a fall sense of relaxation. Then, as the sequence progressed the audience would start to have questions and be invested in what would happen next after the opening.

However, after discussing this concept with my teacher I realized that there were a few issues with this idea. Although tension is created, this did not showcase many techniques and concepts that I had learnt. It also didn't really raise that many questions in the audience's mind since the protagonist's face is revealed within the opening. Furthermore, although I had created implications of a deeper underlying story behind the character (hence the pill-popping), it didn't really create much of an impression of the protagonist. My teacher suggested that it might be better to build up a backstory for the character to introduce the audience to her.  It would also be better to indicate the passage of time, rather than a linear sequence of events such as this one.

Hence, after considering the feedback I decided that I would come up with a different and better concept which would better showcase my knowledge on filmmaking. So, I decided to do some further research and come up with a different idea.

180-Degree Rule Exercise

 In order to inculcate in us the importance of the 180-degree rule when it comes to filmmaking and editing, our teacher gave us an exercise to complete with the help of our classmates. The 180-degree rule states that two characters (or more) in a scene should always have the same left/right relationship with each other. The rule dictates that you draw an imaginary line between these two subjects and keep your camera on the same side of the 180-degree line, to provide cohesion to the cuts made in the scene.

The assignment we were given was to mark a 180-degree line in a classroom and then shoot a dialogue scene from 3 different angles while observing the 180-degree rule and shoot another piece of footage shot without using the 180-degree rule. We then had to use the footage to cut and edit the scene in two ways; One person had to make the video completely using the footage that was made using the 180-degree line and one person had to edit the video including the footage that broke the 180-degree rule, in order to illustrate the difference. 

I shot the footage on my camera and edited the video that showed the 180-degree rule being broken. Included below are some behind-the-scenes pictures that I took, along with the two final videos.

Behind the Scene Photos:

Following the Rule Video:

Breaking the Rule Video:

"Cutting" Exercise

 As a way of letting us get used to using Adobe Premiere Pro for editing videos and as a way of getting us to practice our editing skills, our teacher sent us a link to raw footage meant to be used as a short horror film, provided by an education filmmaking project named Cinsetudy. This is the link to the project and footage - https://cinestudy.org/2019/09/24/interactive-project-horror-movie/.

By using the raw footage provided of the multiple takes shot, and the given horror sequence editing script I created my edited sequence by cutting the footage to fit the script and picking the best takes.

I was quite happy with the way the footage came out, however, I should have worked harder on refining the ending to make it more impactful and in certain parts the cut should have been made a few seconds earlier or later.