Da vinci code shots

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=F_HKGZRUroE

Synopsis draft 1

The genre I have chosen is a detective-mystery. The story will be set in the town of Oakridge, isolated from the rest of society; and the town has very little in the way of a police force. After getting into trouble with the boss on his first official week as a police detective, Christian Woods has been sent to Oakridge to attend a weekend fundraiser in his place. However, this place isn’t any ordinary town, abandoned houses down every street, roads slowly falling apart and hardly anyone to be seen. When Christian arrives at the fundraiser he notices that the guest are in a panic as there has just been a murder. The protagonist will represent a young worker just starting out in their field of work, having to suck up to the boss being the lesser in the work place, however the character is smart and enthusiastic towards the work but not taken seriously by that of the more experienced detective. This will allows my targeted audience of younger adults to relate to starting out at the bottom of their field of work and instantly relating to the character. Being the only Law enforcer in the town, Christian realises that he needs to solve this murder on his own. However, one guest becomes very willing to help. Although the protagonist doesn’t discover the truth about this guest until the end, the audience will be able to get the vibe that he isn’t a good character through the use of darker lighting, the little of him seen and the positioning of him when in the shot.The best part to my film will be when The Antagonist arrives for the first time in the shot and attempts to gain the trust of the protagonist so he can steer

him astray. 

Antagonist and Protagonist Characters

The Antagonist/ false hero:

Actor name- Wes Bentley
- killer of the film, however isn't discovered to be the killer until
the end of the film.
 Character Name- Lewis Turner
- isn't an actual guest at the fundraiser ( unknown to anyone )
- pretends to help the protagonist to find the killer but instead
leads him away from the truth.





The Protagonist:


Actor Name: Jake Gyllenhaal
- Main character ( detective sent to fundraiser in the place of the boss
and starts to discover disappearances).
Character Name- Christian Woods
- always seen in the light
- police uniform ( a guest of the house owner )
- discovers the killer and the cause if the dissapearances ( unexpected killer )

Story Type

Narrative Structure-

Todorov (equilibrium- disruption- resolution – restored order – new equilibrium)

Thematic narrative-

Roland Barthes (enigma- a narrative that teases the audience by presenting them with a puzzle/riddle to be solved)

The Quest-

The character is set on a task to find someone or something. He accepts the challenge, searches for and finds the someone or something. He is then rewarded, or not, for his success in the quest.

Education Plot-

Protagonist’s view of life / self / people changes from negative to positive.

Some conventions of a Detective-Mystery Film

- Violence

- Dramatic music creating tension

- Low lighting

- Death (murder)

- Theft (robbery)

- Weapons

setting (police station, cells, office, big houses, woods etc.)

- Costumes depend on the time period

(suits, cigars/pipes, hats etc.)

Detective films.

The content and conventions of the detective film can be seen as being very similar to that other genres, it can also be seen as a subcategory of  crime films. This also goes with gangster, thriller and the social-problem film. so that a film can belong to a detective-mistery genre it need to cover two features within it. These two feature are: a narrative that covers and investigation/mystery and a detective protagonist that will solve this investigation/mystery. 

The narrative of a detective/mystery film needs to follow the protagonists investigation to solve the crime and tries to prove his power over the antagonist. This genre constantly adapts to the changing world and changes the protagonists take to the investigation to suite the time we are living in. Changing from the classic intellectual detective, to the hard, masculine cop. Showing that the antagonist is no longer the only one who doesn't play by the rules and the protagonist will do what is needed to solve the case.

Mystery/suspense films

Moodboard

when creating this mood board, i took into consideration the key iconography presented within a detective-mystery. However i also needed to take into account the time my storyboard will be set in to determine what features are suitable and what is no longer conventionally used within this genre.

i also had to take into account the style of the Antagonist within this genre, when researching into this, i discovered, traditionally we don't see this character until the very end of the film and even when we do see them, they are presented as a dark and mysterious character and therefor can not make out and feature of the character. However the protagonist is seen very clearly and the costume for this character is usually very neat and smart. a very well known convention of the protagonist in this type of genre, is that they smoke, either a pipe or a cigar, depending on the time it is dated in.

After researching into this genre and creating this storyboard i have been able to gather a greater grasp into the layout and conventions into the detective-mystery genre.

Chosen Genre

My chosen Film Genre is going to be a Detective-Mystery. I've chosen this as i think i will be able to portray the emotions and conventions of this genre better through the shots i will take, with the resources available to me. this genre of film is also one of my favourites as the audience attempts to figure out parts of the mystery as the film progresses, however these types of films usually end with an un expected twist. The storyline purposely leads the audience to believe the film will end in a certain way, only to change the direction of the film at the last second; and only once the end story unravels at the end, do the audience realise how obvious the ending really was.

Aims and Context

Genre of film- Detective- Mystery

• extract of the film, showing Detective Woods interrogating Lewis. (climax of the film)
• targeted to young adults, middle-class male/female. (ages 18- 26)
• Applying Cinematography( whilst also using the added stylistic of sound)