Jonathan Russell's films

Semiotics:
Describing what the image contains in the frame. Keeps the interpretation of the picture separate from the description of the content


Denotation and Connotation:

Denotation:
describing what is in the image. e.g. horse, cart, man, fire, colours, framed, shots

Connotation:
Interpretation you put on the picture or which is suggested by the picture. e.g. love, conflict

Audio:
Our groups final introduction to our thriller 'The Unburied'. This introduction originally had other music to create moods and emotions to be felt by the audience. We originally had music from 'The Watchmen' soundtrack by Tyler bates during the search of the house toward the end of the piece to create tension and built suspense. To create the mood of the party we also had the original soundtrack as 'Spitfire' by the Prodigy to create a feeling of youth and also insecurity as the song is full of hard sounds and eery effects. During the opening credits until we see the long shot, over the shoulder shot of the hooded figure looking at the house, we initially had the song 'My Body Is A Cage' by Peter Gabriel. This non diegetic track acted extremely well in applying a horror feel to the start of the piece and intending to create a slow pace which we would later contrast and quicken the pace with the Prodigy.
However because of the copyright measures put in place we were unable after a series of attempts to put our video on youtube as the audio was disabled time after time. We had no choice but to swap the audio with something basic, so I used some of the loops on the apple Ilife sound effects and managed to create an acceptable alternative to the audio.

Originally I created the story of the hooded man. Most of the shots if not all including him in were from my initial story boarding. Originally we wanted the introduction to be more split up and contain more flashbacks, like Quentin Tarantino's 'Pulp Fiction' of Robert Rodrieguez's 'Sin City' we all liked the idea of mixing the story up so it make little sense and then has a clever twist at the end. However we realised that this idea would be harder than we imagined and if it was not done well it would be very confusing and not successful. We then planned to keep the idea within reason, we decided to show the hooded character walking until he sees the house. We would then see the events of two nights earlier, keeping the audience asking questions about our hooded character but also answering previous questions about the house and the horrific event which had taken place there.
I had always pictured the interrogation scene to be quick and also misplaced. The scene takes place before the hooded figure sees the house, however it also comes after we see him walking. As it is explained this way people recognise and it becomes clear to the audience where it takes place. In actual fact we shot the interrogation scene while we were shooting the house scene as it seemed much more practical. Make-up was a big issue as we needed the character of the evil male to be beaten up to show the lengths the hooded character would go to to find the missing girl.

The representation of race and nationality in this piece is that of a small peaceful african community living in 'Botswana. The piece opens with a series of long, birds-eye, tracking shots of the vast african landscape. the beauty created through these images act as a mental link to our perception of the native characters living in this area even before we meet them. The non-diegetic music is used to suggest the peacefulness and total serenity of the country, using native african music. It also acts as if the land itself is alive, joyful and singing songs of praise, again linking to our view of the societies living here.
Our introduction to the first characters are not through usage of dialogue or much action but a long-shot of a man and a little girl walking along a road positioned to the left of the frame and walking towards the back of the frame. This shot is met with a voiceover of a women s explaining she was the little girl we see before us. We then follow this parent and child and see what they see. The sequence cuts to long-shots of different animals, emphasising the characters love for the animals and the country. The voiceover acts as evidence to this we she says 'I was taught to love my country'.
The relationship between the father and daughter is also emphasised through the animals. In most cases we see a parent animal and a younger one, in elephants, rhinos and meerkats showing the closeness of the father and daughter's relationship.
The little african girls Journey from a young age to care about the nature and animals is shown from a series of shots of her and the animals. At first we see long shots of the animals alone, next we see a long-shot of the little girl standing below a giraffe and finally a medium shot of a meerkat on top of her head. This shows love growing and eventually leading up to her adults years.
A peaceful aura has been created specifically for the purpose of structuring our love for the character, nature and preparing us for the story through use of clever shot work, peaceful diegetic sounds with glockenspiel and african instruments. This works effectively in drawing us in to the nationalities life, and by creating such a dramatic contrast between our modern everyday society and theirs, it almost feels alien to us which only intrigues us more. the Representation of the african race is that of a peaceful society.

There are two major representations of youth and young people within this piece. Starting off with an establishing shot, long shot of a backstreet or ally way of the main adult character Jackman. As he turns the corner he runs into a couple having either an intimate moment or some sort of dispute. It strongly suggests a dispute as it cuts quickly of the woman straightening out her skirt and the male character with the knife out. This suggests a sexual assault may have been taking place between the couple, being a stereotype that crime in the UK is mostly by young people in society. As the fight begins with a low angle shot of Jackman on the floor and then cuts to the younger individuals standing, the younger male character first starts with aggressive language in an accusation which shows power in the younger individual. He then pulls a knife in an over shoulder, two shot of the younger male behind Jackman with a knife to his throat acting as evidence again to the stereotype of young people carrying knives. Through this the director attempts to communicate with stories i the news and false mediated reality.
The point about the couples dispute is questioned in a close-up of Jackman's face saying calmly with the knife still on his throat 'Was he attacking you?' to which the woman says nothing but shows a look of fear. This suggest the male could be taking advantage of the girl reinforcing the point of crime in the UK.
The representation of strength in younger people changes when Jackman changes to Hyde turning around with a crazed face in a close up shot. The music creates the feeling of terror and the dialogue shows shift in power between the two male characters. The young man is now speaking nervously and not finishing sentences while hyde, now has the upper-hand, talking confidently and even jokingly implying it his sick, evil pleasure. The camera is constantly switching close ups of different characters, to show how this mood has changed. Hyde is shown to be toying with the young character. In contrast with the messages of youth earlier in the piece we know see the weakness in youth and strength in adults.
The costumes in this piece has also been constructed to show binary opposites. There is Jackman wearing a shirt and suit while we see the stereotypical hooded youth. This gives Hyde the appearance of a higher standard or higher class to the young male creating power.
After hyde has killed the male, he playfully skips over to the woman in a child like manner and begins to talk about lions, introducing the intellectual aspect of the killer, creating a contrast to our stereotypical view of young offenders in society. Her weaknesses are shown through her pleading and asking questions to which Hyde give no answer.
The stereotypical view of criminal youth at the end of this piece is challenged by Hyde, shown as the psychopathic criminal suggesting against this stereotype. The final shot of the sequence shows a long shot of Hyde jumping on the male individual after having broken his neck earlier in the piece showing his violence and aggression. The audience is shocked having been pushed and pulled in feeling emotions to the three characters and how our perceptions can be changed.
Also the close-up of Hyde holding the women against the wall mirrors the image at the start of the sequence with the young man physically replacing the characters to show the change in power and therefore opposing the stereotype of a violent, aggressive criminal youth of modern day society.

In the opening five minuets of Survivors, we are shown the importance of families almost straight away in the opening credits. Opening with an extreme long shot of the earth as if from space, we are given an idea of the whole planet, its life, population and scope of landscape. We then cut to long shots of busy street filled with hundreds of people. This is to show the size of people on the planet and emphasises how many will be wiped out by the virus. It is also fast-forwarded to show indifference and similarity between thousands of people that will ultimately share the same fate.
The music is used to change the audiences feelings towards the characters we see in the opening. When the classical, orchestral music gets louder, the shot showing indifference cuts to a series of shots showing singe or couples of people. We see a medium shot of a just married couple standing by the doors to the church, smiling and throwing a bouquet of flowers followed by a medium shot of a couple laughing. This shows unity and singles out these families, lovers and friends by using slow motion contrasted with the sped up effects used to create the sense of everyone being the same. We also see a women dancing on a beach in a 180 degrees medium shot symbolising individuality and innocence.
An effect has been used in post-production during these shots to show the virus slowly creeping over parts of the screen. This could suggest how the virus will wipe out all of this love in the world and symbolising all the families lost. It continues to fill the screen and cut to the main titles . The credits have ended and it cross fades to a medium shot with a narrow field of focus showing faceless people walking by. Some slow-motion is also added to create tension. The out of focus people could symbolise the majority of the population that will be wiped out by the virus, and when one man, clearly in focus walks into frame and past the camera, this could resemble the survivors of the virus in its minute minority.
The story opens with a long shot of an airport walkway, then there is a cut away to a tracking shot of a couple walking alongside an escalator. The character 'Abbie' is shown through dialogue and emotions to be a protective worrying mother and it becomes clear to us that she will be one of the main characters in this series. the sequence then cuts to a middle class kitchen, we get a sense of Abbie's concern and caring nature towards her son who is away in holiday. Her partner and her are talking to friends and in this conversation we can tell the male character is very positive suggesting Abbie is over protective, we are shown the great difference of opinion when he says 'he's in perfect health'. The shot cuts to a over the shoulder shot Abbie looking down, with a shallow field of focus to separate the two characters opinions and emotions towards the child. This positive representation again will be contrasted later in the program as we see the loss of all the family, love and caring the world.
On a school field we see a teacher, father and daughter a wire fence covering the frame, symbolising the loss of life and dooming these few characters from the start. Being shot through the fence or bars, segregates these people and it gives the audience a predictable idea of these characters fate.
In the prison scene the use of low-key lighting and mise en scene with costume creates the sense of isolation. No families for these men, no love in their life, which is contrasted with the previous scenes and shots emphasising the love through families on the planet. The scene shows the gloom and depression of the send of the world, expressing again the importance of family at an apocalyptic time. The white uniforms worn by the inmates and the guard uniforms creates the contrast of virus deaths and the survivors as only a few guards can be seen in shot with the majority of inmates. This also creates the binary opposites idea from Levi-Strauss of survivors and the doomed percentage of the world who will die from the virus.

I decided to edit together this trailer for people to see on youtube. I was first inspired to make this the day we finished filming 'The Unburied'. I uploaded the footage we had shot and began to pick out some of the more successful shots which stood out in my mind as being visually pleasing to the eye. With all the really good shots I then began to visualise it as a trailer and analysed a few different trailers on the television and the internet. I understood that the trailer has to intrigue people and grab their interest, to do this I would have to establish a basic storyline of the film however at the same time try not to give much away. I decided to establish the basic storyline through the simple means of large white text and short phrases on a black background.

The trailer begins with an establishing shot of the big dark house to try and communicate with horror fans who would find interest and ask what events have taken place there or what secrets lie within its walls. I had also added a video effect called 'day to night', as we intended for this shot to take place in the early hours of the morning. As the piano in the song 'Hurricane' (by '30 Seconds To Mars') kicks in the scene cuts to a black screen and the text reads 'An amazing party'. The text fades in and out from left to right of the frame creating an effect which looks like the circular light of a torch, this acts as a motif in the film as the main hooded character later appears, searching with a torch. I chose this particular music as the rhythm fitted very well with the cuts and made it quite easy to watch. Next I used many different transitions such as ripples, cross fades and cross blurs to portray the confusion and chaos to the party. The drunken nature of the characters we see can also be understood through the transitions. I also added a video effect on this section of scene called 'sci-fi' to emphasise that this was a flashback or at another time to the previous shot. We see close ups in the party scene to link back to the text. The mise en scene in these shots consist of bottles to establish the party scene. Cuts to close up of Adam on the floor drunk showing stupidity of young people and portraying a negative attitude to try and communicate to the audience what a mistake this party was. The text then reads 'A terrible crime' and then cuts to a close up two shot of a couple, as the girl pushes the forceful male away. In this section of the sequence I lowered the colour levels to pick out the more importance focuses of colour (the eyes, the girl's hair). Next cutting to close ups of the male characters angry eyes and then to a medium shot of the male moving slowly but threateningly toward the girl at the back of the frame, as another male character steps in to the left side of the frame creating an over the shoulder shot. As the music picks up more of a technological pace we cut to a close up two shot of the male characters fighting and then to a tracking shot of the girl running down the corridor, as she runs past a doorway we see a silluetted figure with dark and sadistic eyes looming in the dark room, suddenly the shot glitches to the text reading 'A murder'. I created this effect by creating a minute cut between the end of the shot and successfully creates tension and horror. Up until now I had used thunder and lightning sound effects however on the glitch all sound switches off to suggest the horrific event has taken place to shock the audience. The text fades and I decided to leave a brief second of silence to build tension, suddenly my second song 'My Body Is A Cage' (by Peter Gabriel) almost illuminates out of the darkness symbolising the hooded hero, the last glimmer of hope, rising up, facing evil. With this we begin a series of quick shots quickening the pace of the trailer. I added a quick fade to black after each shot as they changes with the orchestral rhythm of the song. A medium, two shot of the hooded character punching the aggressive male character and fading to black. Next to the medium shots of the hooded character with his torch searching the dark house. Next to a low angled medium shot as he turns and creates a very effective lens flare off the torch. We then cut to a reverse angle, close up, point of view shot, of the three drops of blood on the wooden floor illuminated by the torch light. Next it cuts to a medium full shot of the character walking up the stairs towards the camera creating a mental flashback of the previous events and then tilting down to a close up of the blood on the tarpaulin leading down the corridor. Finally we cut to our final phrase which I believed has become the slogan for the film, 'He Will Find Her'. This also fits with the music at this point, being very inspiring and heroic. After the text we cut to our sort of poster image to our thriller of the hooded character silhouetted in the landing slowly raising his torch to create a final camera flare and then fading to black and our final title enters from both sides with one work red and one white saying, The Unburied. The music fades out and as the ambient music fades we hear a faint hum which creates suspense for the last two shots of the trailer. Fading from black, a low angled, long shot of the hooded character illuminated and silhouetted by the light round the corner which cannot be seen emphasises again the light in the darkness, creating the contrast of good and evil. His face cannot be seen deliberately to conceal his identity keeps the audience interested, asking questions and wanting to know more. On the floor we can just about make out the shape of something, a body? Again aiming to capture the audiences attention. As he steps into the room all we can hear are his actual footsteps and then to shock the audience and scare them we quickly cut to a medium full shot of the murderer standing in the room, centred in the frame staring at the camera. I used this shot to engage the audience and make them believe they were in danger. The door slams shut with a sound effect of the creaking door ending the trailer with a shock.

In this opening sequence to the comedy Zombieland, we can see how effective the opening credits are framed within these shots. In each of the graphic and horrifying slow motioned images, we see a title appear on the screen. It is very interesting and extremely effective how the characters within the shots interact with the titles by knocking the letters out of the way and smashing through them giving them a 3D effect to almost place these giant titles in the actual shot. The image I believe stands out the most is when we see a medium shot of a man with a crow bar facing the front of the frame smashing through a window shattering the glass and simultaneously through our main title of the movie 'Zombieland' in large bold letters with a red, metallic tint. In the background we see two out of focus zombies chasing him, which in a way in a preview of the movie to come and telling you to fasten your seat belts for the ride ahead.