The feedback we recieved from our first collage proved that we did not portray the feeling and messages of our film, therefore we tried to show the immature, not serious, comical, halloween theme through our second collage. We used a lot of orange, black, purple and yellow in order to show the chidlish of our film and the fact it is a simple adventure story of a young boy aimed at children. We also used images of 'Mr clumsy', cartoon pumpkins and 'splats' in order to show Rodneys naive, clumsy character implying our film will be full of comedy for children. We want our audience to feel lost in the world of our film where anothing is possible in childrens eyes, however nothing too scary. It is simply a fun film about the world of a love to hate little boy.

We decided to fill our collage with images of vampires, 'buffy the vampire slayer', castles, a stake and a pumpkin alongside words from magazines and newspapers such as 'dark secret', 'evil', 'day and night' and 'after dark' to portray the gothic theme of our film. We felt this reflects the history and supernatural side of Mr Vamping. As our film is for entertainment purposes and is not meant to be taken seriously we decided to lighten the collage with more fun, immature images for example we used pictures of mosters from 'The incredibles' in order to show a fun adventurous supernatural side to reflect the simple world of a little boy. To show Rodneys character we used a comic image of a little boy with boxing gloves on. This shows a comic side of Rodney as he is portrayed as a dopey, clueless boy who is always the target of jokes. The boxing gloves represent him gaining his independance towards the end of the film and preparing himself to 'defeat' his vampire teacher. We also used words such as 'I'm lonely, confidence, anxiety, gullible and bullies' to show the shy side of Rodney that lacks confidence, is very nervous worried and anxious, dopey and gullible and is prime target to bullies.

Christopher Doyles masterclass in cinematography-

From watching this clip i learnt that cinematography plays a huge part in setting the mood and creating feelings in the character. Lighting, camera and the way the scenes are filmed can change a scene entirely which is why it is so important. When Doyles made the film 'Mood of love' he was going for a very lonely,iscolated energy he wanted to portray therefore he found a setting in a dark eerie road where the light was very dim and atmosphere very mysterious. The wall in the background which was falling apart gave him a sense of lonliness which he wanted for his film which is why he chose to film there. This setting played a huge part in creating the effect of loneliness and isolation he wanted.


Krzysztof Kieslowski -

He talks of how camera plays a big part in the film. He speaks about how his close ups in the film represent the heroins view point to the audience. These close ups help establish that she looks at the smaller things instead of focusing on bigger things in life. She is trying to make her world smaller. Just by using these close ups we gather all this helping to set a isolated theme where rejection is a huge element. The girl rejects everything around her as it does not interest her. She is in her own world where nothing else seems important. This could be relevant in my film as my main character Rodney is very 'in his own world' and quite iscolated. We could use this method of filming smaller things from Rodneys point of view in order to portray him in his own fantasy world where anything can happen. He could be shown as a daydreamer.


Cinematography of my own film-

I imagine my own film with very quick, sharp cuts in order to portray the 'hyperactiveness' of the situation where everything is moving along in this boys world. There is excitement and there is a very hectic busy atmospohere we would like the audience to notice. We will also use very high key lighting in order to show the innocence and harmfulness of the story.Although it has a gothic element to it and there are vampires, it is not serious, it is merely a little boys adventure where life is easy and simple and he truely believes he can take on these vampires by himself. There is a huge element of innocence and our film is purely for entertainment. The high key lighting will show this as everything seems light and 'safe'. When we shoot scenes with Mr Vamping in we have decided to use low key, dull lighting to show a dark,sinister side to him.This creates a mysterious atmosphere so we know there is something not right about him. The surroundings for Rodney we decided will always be quite messy and out of place in order to reflect his clumsy character and create a childish atmosphere to the audience.

The main character from 'Home alone', 'Kevin', is very similar to our main character 'Rodney'. After looking at various clips of the film as well as the trailer i have found a number of useful ideas i can take note of for my own film and the portrayal of 'Rodney'. In one of the scenes of the film Kevin says 'This is my house, i have to defend it'. After this we are shown a series of shots of him setting up traps and making a plan to outsmart the adults. As there is a scene quite similar to this in my film when Rodney vows to 'defeat' his 'vampire' teachers and comes in the next day prepared and with a plan i looked carefully at tips i could use to make our own film more effective. Heroic music is used throughout the scene giving a mysterious illusion of fantasy and adventure showing a little boys world where he can outsmart adults with his own courage and outrageous ideas. This is exactly what we were going for in our own film. We wanted to create a simple film of a lovable boy which is imaginative and in some parts unrealistic, however, is able to get the audience lost in this boys world with him. I deicded to also include music to show this, however, as a huge theme is comedy i chose to use heroic music to also create humour as Rodney is shown as quite a comic figure. We would like the audience to laugh at his 'dopeyness' but at the same time admire his lovable nature. There is also another scene in which Kevin is sad and lonely. He feels forgotten and down. Rodney feels rejected and upset that noone will believe his claims and he walks around the school alone. In 'Home alone' sad music is used to reflect Kevins mood and i think depressing music should be used to create empathy for Rodney in our film too. Not only does this create empathy for Rodney, but alos creates sympathy towards him as he has no friends and no one believes him. This makes him lovable and the audience will warm to him.

The film 'Queen of the damned' has large gothic elements about it, as well as being a story about vampires which is why i chose to look at it. I observed that in the film the vampires are portrayed with a sharp, sleek, smooth air about them making their character more mysterious and unknown. This gave me tips on how to present Mr Vamping, the teacher/vampire character from my own film. I noticed the dialogue and speech of the vampires was wazs very cold and deep as well as being sharp and well spoken. This gives a gothic vibe and atmosphere which would be ideal for my film when Mr Vamping is in the frame. This creates a huge contrast from Rodneys character which we wanted. The vampires in the film also seem to have a very peircing look about them as though they are looking through you. This will be very useful for Mr Vamping as it will give the impression there is something not right about his character.

I chose this childrens Tv series 'Mona the vampire' as it was about vampires and the supernatural but also because it is targeted at children, therefore it fits in with the 'non-serious', 'unrealistic' element that my film also shows. It is for entertainment purposes only. The tv show revolves around a young girl who is deluded into believing the adults in her town are supernatural creatures up to no good who she must help defeat in order to save society and the world. This is exactly what my main character Rodney feels is his mission throughout the whole story. They also share the similarity that none of their fears are correct and it is merely in their head. I decided to look at how Mona is portrayed as she is so similar to Rodney, however, i found she is a more confident character which is unlike Rodney. I looked at her friend Charlie who is her sidekick and realised he was very much alike with Rodney. I observed his body language and facial expressions and noticed that he always rubs his arm nervously and had a permanent sense of fear in his tone of voice. This would be good to apply to Rodney as he is also very shy and nervous too.

The film 'Son of Rambow' shares the theme of comedy and has two young boys as the main characters. In the film the boys peform a lot of 'stunts' for their action movie which results in them getting hurt. This is shown in a comic way however, as the boys always get straight up again after and brush themselves down. Not only does this show them as lovable, but also quite clumsy and as typical young boys. I could use their attitude to portray my character 'Rodney' as being your typical clumsy character who is always falling over or getting into some kind of mess. By showing Rodneys quick reactions when he falls over or does something clumsy at various points in my film it develops his character further, showing the audience this is a normal thing for him to do. It also makes the audience warm to him. One of the main characters, 'Will', is very alike Rodney in the fact he just wants to be known as a hero. In one scene, he bursts through the door and declares 'I've come to save you Rambow'. The camera then cuts to an old man in a womans costume creating humour as he is obviously not as heroic as the thinks. This is extremely similar to a scene in my own film where Rodney marches through the door wearing his garlic necklace and holding his carrot stake then steps in a decorative pumpkin laying next to the door. His cool image is ruined by this and he is made a comedy figure to laugh at. I notices that in 'Son of Rambow' Will is positioned very 'macho' with his hands on his hips as though he is about to save the day. This is contradicted by his small, skinny frame creating humour. I decided to use this in my own film as i think it will be very effective and funny.

Rodney


Name: Rodney Rickets

Age: 13

Birthday: 13th August 1996

Lives: 4 minutes away from school on an estate

Lives (with): Mother and Father. Both parents are over protective and smother him with love making him into a wimp. Mother is a housewife and Father is a nurse. Rodney is an only child.

Likes: Nintendo DS-Cooking Mama
Table Tennis
Ready Steady Cook
Pop Idol
Mum’s homemade Cottage Pie
Cucumbers
Baking Short Bread
Visiting his Grandmother

Dislikes: Sweets
Football-he gets hit by the ball
Girls-Cooties

Childhood: Perfect childhood. Goes Butlins every year.

Dream: Open his own Bakery called, ‘Rodney’s home made touch’.

Weakness: Very Gullible, values Friendship to much.

Strengths: Creative
Enthusiastic
Hard working

Education: Nursery-Tiny Tots
Primary-St Josephs
Secondary-Barking Abbey

Beliefs: Catholic
In telling the truth

Values: Family and quality time with them.
Friendship

Speech: Well spoken

Daily Activity: Wakes up and 7am and makes breakfast which consists of a soft boiled egg and soldiers. Studies hard at school and has lunch with grandmother. Comes home and bakes a desert. Have dinner in the evening and Father tells Rodney his latest nursing stories. Goes to bed at 9pm.

Name: Gabriel Vamping

Age: 26


Birthday: 31st October 1870
Lives: One Bedroom apartment in Limehouse.

Lives with: No one

Likes: Teaching
Blood
‘Queen of the Damn’-The book
Reading
His imitation of gothic painting-‘The Nightmare’
‘Twilight’-the film
Robert Gascoyne-Prime Minister from 1886-1892 and 1895-1902

Looks: Average looks
Fair skinned
Friendly face
Between average and tall height

Jobs: Mines in 1886
Farming Tractor Driver in 1890
Brought own land and had workers in 1894
Business man for food in 1904
Started teaching young children from 1912

Dislikes: Sunlight
Garlic
Crucifix

Childhood: Tough Childhood. Father died of disease and Mother died at birth 8years after Vamping was born, baby brother died too. Now an only child he began to beg then went into the Mines. Late went to work in Farming Transport and managed to work his way up. At 26 years old he was awoken in the night by strange noises. He searched his house finding bloody under the kitchen door. When he opened it he found a strange being feeding on rats. The being was a Vampire and attacked Vamping. Since then he has been living alone moving from place to place hiding his true identity.

Dream: To find a female vampire without having to bite them.
Weakness: Accepting his past. Regrets what happened to him because of how it’s affecting his living circumstances.

Strengths: Energetic
Ability to stop and live a new life
Hiding behind a mask

Education: In the 20th Century-Barking College-GSCE
Havering College-A levels
UEL-Teaching Degree

Beliefs: Not hurting others for personal gain
Hard work

Values: Youth
Aging
Education
Family which he never had

Speech: Changes through time

Daily Activity: Wakes up at 6am. Drives to work. Teaches his lesson and comes home to sleep. At midnight he visits slaughters houses. He kills the animal and stores its blood.

Pitch Powerpoint For Media

View more presentations from neasterla.

My mood board focuses on the colour black and is filled with various assocoations and links to the colour. For example, I have included different countries associations of the colour as well as different connotations, poems and song lyrics refering to 'black'. I used a variety of 'gothic' images as the theme is largely represented by the colour black as well as some less heard of assocaiations to the colour. I included images of money signs as in accounting black is regarded as a sign of wealth and money. Black can also be interpreted as mystery and the unknown which is why i put images of space and planets on mymoodboard. After researching i also found that the black ring in the olympic logo represents Africa. Most commonly black is known for representing sadness and depression, one of the reasons black is worn to funerals. I included a line from the poem 'mental cases' by war poet Wilfred Owen. 'Night comes blood black'. On the other hand however, in the fashion industry black is considered as sophisticated, elegant and smart.

Pitch - first draft
Rodney and the boy who cried vampire

Rodney arrives late to Mr Vampings history lesson as he does every morning. Every time he arrives a clumsy event happens. As the lesson finishes Mr Vamping announces to the class there will be a special lesson the following day.
After lesson, Rodney returns to the classroom after realising he has forgotten his rucksack but is distracted by his teacher crouched behind the desk. As he asks if Mr Vamping is okay his teacher spins round revealing fangs and blood dripping down his chin. A terrified Rodney screams and runs out.
Rodney runs to his ‘friends’ to inform them of what just happened but they laugh at him and Danny (leader) orders the ‘Posey’ to throw poor Rodney in the sandpit. A very upset and humiliated Rodney sulks around school; however he stumbles across Mr Vamping and Mr Drackson and decides to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Mr Vamping- ‘I think Rodney is onto us’
Mr Drackson- ‘don’t worry, they will all find out soon!’

(Evil laughs)

Feeling a sudden urge of independence and courage, Rodney vows to prevent the ‘vampires’ from revealing themselves to his fellow classmates.
The next day Rodney arrives late to lesson yet again with a garlic necklace around his neck and a carrot stake in his hand. Feeling heroic he marches to class but falls over the bin. As he walks into class a dark, black figure wearing a cape walks into the middle of the classroom. As he pulls his cape back and roars the class gasp drowned out by Rodney’s girlish screams. In the middle of the class stands Mr Vamping in a vampire costume and he announces to the class they will be studying vampires today.
At the end of the lesson an embarrassed Rodney admits to Mr Vamping how his suspicions were wrong and leaves. Alone in the classroom, Mr vamping turns and takes out his fangs revealing a real pair and gives an evil laugh.


Feedback for first draft of Pitch-

Posotive feedback-

- Elements of comedy are appealing
- Rodney comes across as a very lovable character
- Simple story of a little boys world where we see things from a child’s point of view (escapism, not reality)
- Rodney is similar to boy characters from ‘Son of rambow’ and ‘The Goonies’. We are able to pick up tips on how to portray him and take pieces from different characters to help develop him.
- Everything links together making story easy to follow

Questions

How will we show Rodney’s thoughts throughout the film?
Rodney’s thoughts are shown through his actions and behaviour. We will use camera work and music especially in order to do this. The main element we are trying to show is comedy for example when Rodney thinks he is being heroic and saving the day we will use typical ‘save the day music’ in a mocking way. This shows the audience that Rodney thinks he is saving everybody but really, there is nothing to be scared of. This creates humour in a light-hearted way.

If he screams like a girl where does he find confidence to defeat vampires later in the film and why does he not just get the police?

We show character development of Rodney showing him as reliant on his ‘friends’ at the beginning, however, after being bullied and humiliated by them he gains the strength to go it alone and save the day. Although he is shown as more independent his dopey, clumsy character still remains throughout the story. Rodney wants a chance to he the hero for a change which is why he doesn’t go to the police or his parents. Our story is an innocent light hearted comedy which we feel does not need the presence of police as it is the world of film and not reality. It is just for enjoyment.


Problems we may encounter

-Costume changes (fangs).Keep costume minimal so it is easy to change in and out of. Not a lot of costume is required.
- Number of actors and use of teachers. We do not have to have a full class which lessens the number and instead of using teachers we would prefer to use students from sixth form.
- May be too long in some parts. Some unnecessary parks can be cut.
- Ending – ‘learning about vampires’. We can change to something more interesting for example in a theme of Halloween/trick or treat/Transylvania.







Pitch – second daft

Rodney and the boy who cried vampireRodney arrives late to Mr Vampings history lesson as he does every morning. Every time he arrives a clumsy event happens. As Rodney enters Mr Vamping is writing the date on the board ‘Wednesday the 30th October’. As the lesson finishes Mr Vamping announces to the class there will be a special lesson the following day. After lesson, Rodney returns to the classroom after realising he has forgotten his rucksack but is distracted by his teacher crouched behind the desk. As he asks if Mr Vamping is okay his teacher spins round revealing fangs and blood dripping down his chin. A terrified Rodney screams and runs out.Rodney runs to his ‘friends’ to inform them of what just happened but they laugh at him turn to walk away. They crowd together in a circle and mumble. Turning back round, Danny shouts to Rodney

Danny- ‘Rodney! Trick or treat
Rodney- huh? (Looks confused)
Danny- TRICK!

Danny and his friends then throw poor Rodney in the sandpit. A very upset and humiliated Rodney sulks around school; however he stumbles across Mr Vamping and Mr Drackson and decides to eavesdrop on their conversation.Mr Vamping- ‘I think Rodney is onto us’Mr Drackson- ‘don’t worry, they will all find out soon!’(Evil laughs)Feeling a sudden urge of independence and courage, Rodney vows to prevent the ‘vampires’ from revealing themselves to his fellow classmates.The next day Rodney arrives late to lesson yet again with a garlic necklace around his neck and a carrot stake in his hand. Feeling heroic he marches to class but falls over a toy pumpkin laying beside the door. As he walks into class a dark, black figure wearing a cape walks into the middle of the classroom. As he pulls his cape back and roars the class gasp drowned out by Rodney’s girlish screams. In the middle of the class stands Mr Vamping in a vampire costume.

Mr Vamping- ‘Happy Halloween guys!’

He then announces to the class they will be having a Halloween themed lesson.At the end of the lesson an embarrassed Rodney admits to Mr Vamping how his suspicions were wrong and leaves. Alone in the classroom, Mr vamping turns and takes out his fangs revealing a real pair and gives an evil laugh.