The Haunting

The Haunting 1964 directed by Robert Wise. Based on the story of The Haunting Of Hill House.

From very early on the film brings across a feeling of psychological terror.

It starts off giving a brief history of the house right up to when the film story starts. the history is full of death and misery.

The first scene where the main character

Eleanor Lance arrives within the vicinity of the house she is greeted in an unfriendly way by the caretaker. He is rude and immediately warns her in a roundabout way that she shouldn't be coming near the house. The film is in black and white so the use of colour is obviously lost when trying to use it to portray a feeling. However the grey shades so add to the atmosphere.

Removing the colour to create a eerie mood works and sometimes a blue tint is added instead. Tim Burton used this when making the film Sleepy Hollow (1999) and in some of his other films too.

Mike Newell used this also in the graveyard seen in Harry Potter and the goblet of fire (2005)

So the lack of colour in this 1964 film does add to the mood in some ways.

The black gate which the scene is set against in itself is a very important part of the set when creating a mood. Its wrought iron black metal bars look sharp and unfriendly, almost warning her themselves to keep out. Reluctantly the caretaker grumpily lets her pass and she continues to drive up a long winding path shadowed by thick foliage up to the house entrance.

When she gets to the house a lot of close up shots of the houses architecture is used at a low angle, making the house tower over the car and Eleanor. A voice over of Eleanor is added so the viewer can hear her thoughts. She is telling herself not to go in as the house is scaring her,

'its waiting for me'

'its evil'

but she in internally arguing with herself, willing herself to go on in as she desperately sees this as a new chapter in the life she so far was miserable in.

Yet more warnings from the housekeeper and a unsettling and unnerved feeling is perceived by Eleanor as she wanders around.

The corridors of the house seem endless and dark. In the story the seem to change and rooms are difficult to find. They are grand in design though.

When the Doctor who invited her arrives she is introduced to two others a woman named Theo who is 'psychic' and a man with 'ESP'.

Then told they are there for an experiment to prove the existence of paranormal activity.

As the story develops the viewer starts to realise that there is a likeness between the tragic event which have happened in the past in the house and Eleanor.

The story takes a turn when 'Help Eleanor Come Home' is written on the wall.

Eleanor now feels like the house is now after her. The house is very elongated and large. Double doors are used to great effect, long corridors, long shots and banging doors create the feeling that the house is truly possessed in some way.

Another thing I noticed within the film to symbolise the terror was how Eleanor was dressed in predominately pale colours and Theo always in black/dark colours. As a character Theo played a part in the misery and fear that Eleanor had when staying at the house. This was reflected in the tones of the clothes on the screen.

Set Shape

we are making a film set so we need to think about where the cameras would be.

We have two rooms which will be joined but we need to think about access to them both with big cameras and equipment. I know that it wont actually be used for filming but it is meant to be for filming therefore we have to keep the detail level high etc so i think its worth addressing. It is something i have posted on the group blog and will address at the next meeting where our opening can go.

The Sets in the Lord Of The Rings Trilogy

This is an outdoor set that was built into the landscape of NZ.

All the house fronts are false and the interiors were built

The interior sets were bulit twice on two different scales to give the illusion of a hobbit to human ratio with the actors.

Each set was made identically and EVERYTHING within the home was made twice,, identically but on two different scales. This was so when Sir

Ian McKellan filmed his role of gandalf he looked enormous in the hobbit scaled home. When Sir Ian Holm filmed his part he was in a 'normal' sized set and looked right size within its walls. Weta work shop then proceeded to edit the two shots together using green screen and some other camera angle shots to create the final film.

A shot of them at a table in the kitchen having tea is really cleverly done. The table appears to be whole as it tracks across from gandalf to bilbo, but its actually moving on a track so that when the camera pans round it seems still whole. This gets around the fact that the actors are two different sizes and are sitting far apart to seem different sizes.

Meeting: 24th March

The meeting went very well and I think the designs and drawings produced by the other members of the group were really promising!

Hannah came up with a picture that showed furniture which had a bug like quality to it. It was received very well by the rest of the group and I feel that this idea will be incorporated in the designing of the groups pieces of furniture and room.

Johns ideas of the doing the walls in three layers sounded like it would be a good overall effect. Really bringing an aged and build up of years of living in the space. He had the idea to start with a gunky kind of base, with perhaps a vein like quality. The next layer would be wallpaper, possibly patterned and then on top of that a layer of damp and more wear and tear.

For the lighting in the final shots in gregors room we came up with the idea of having dust particles visible in the light that will come from the window- possibly the only light source. The photos would look great with that touch added

For Gregors room Ben had the idea of having a kind of three dimensional flooring. This being that there is a base floor and a gap between the flooring you walk on. This allows for the floorboards to be bent and manipulated. I'm am not 100% sure what he is thinking but i look forward to seeing some designs on it!

I also saw a basic plan of both rooms. I was unsure of what type of set it is going to be or what is required as the rooms were drawn with four sides but i always assumed that one side of both adjoined rooms must be open for film camera/crew access?

Health and Safety.

http://www.flints.co.uk/welcome.html

Fire safety in Theatre and Film is really important because of the amount of people working on the set at any one time a fire breaking out could have disastrous affects due to the flammable materials that are used to create sets, props and costumes.

Fire retardant. This does not mean that it will not burn, to protect something in this manner simply means that the burning of the material will be slower and give more time for people to evacuate the building/set.

NDFR- this stands for Non Durable Fire Retardant. If the object that is classed as a NDFR is wetted, retardant must be applied afterwards as it will not stay retardant. Humid conditions also mean it will have to be reapplied. Any outdoor work taking place will have to take NDFR materials into consideration.

DFR- Durably Flame Retardant. Costumes and curtains are in this category. They will have to be applied with Flame retardant every few days because costumes get washed and the retardant will eventually wash out if not re-applied every so often.

IFR- Inherently Flame Retardant (or PFR Permanently Flame Retardant) This means once it has been treated it is safe throughout the materials life and does not need to be reapplied.

Flamebar

http://www.flints.co.uk/pdfcatalogue/flame_retardants.pdf

Flamebar is a type of flame retardant and it comes in a variety of types depending on the type of materials used in the set/props and costumes.

Fire proofing Poly is important as when polystyrene burns it gives off poisonous fumes. By Scrimming the Poly using PVA and muslin the poly becomes safer as long as there are no bare edges to the object and it is completely covered.

MDF this comes in different colours depending on what is required.

Brown is the standard

Green is water RESISTANT it is not water proof but will withstand a certain amount of water.

Pink is fire resistant and is so in two classes.

Ist class- a low spread of fire

0 class is for areas where limited combustibility is required in high-risk areas such as escape routes.

http://www.wood-protection.co.uk/acsfire_google.htm

Paints. Paints can be mixed with fire retardant liquid to make them safe for use on sets and props. Rosco are a good company to use when dealing with paints. Roscoflamex P50 is one type of flame retardant liquid you can use.

The Shriek Shack film set in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

This film set really depicts decay and abandoned space really effectively. Gregors room is going to have a abandoned kind of feel to it. In a meeting today I saw the plans for the layout and shape of the rooms. The walls of Gregors room are going to be slanted and one side of the room will be small and cramped to reflect his feelings of claustrophobia. I have pulled these images up because in the set build for the shrieking shack scene in Harry Potter 3 the walls of the set actually moved. This created a great feeling of terror and uncertainty as if the set itself was another character. I know this wouldn't show up in a photograph but as a piece of film the part in the third Potter film really is effective and creates the right mood to go with the scene they filmed within its animated walls.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBRSPaASLFA&playnext=1&list=PL73024349C371D7CF

Danny Boyles Frankenstein Set.

I saw a recording at the IMAX of Danny Boyles Frankenstein- closest i could get to seeing the sell out play.

I was fascinated by the set design, which was really really good. The set was designed by Mark Tildesley, lighting designer Bruno Poet.

This image is of large machinery with many people on it. It moved via a track which ran through the centre of the revolving stage and then reversed back out again. The stage did many different movements, including sinking down to portray a riverside.

The other sets included a material like tent which was a house, where you could see the actors going in and out in shadow and at the windows. A flat set with walls and windows to represent a grand house in Germany. I wish i could find photos for all of the scenes, they truly were pieces of art in themselves.

The Stage revolved and in this picture you can see a circular disc. This represented the 'womb' in which the actor playing Frankenstein was 'born' out of. It was a brilliant idea and was really effective on stage as a prop and a piece of set. The actor could interact with the 'skin like' surface which stretched over the circular frame.

The sets were fairly simple in design but were so fantastic. The ceiling was a dense strip of different lightbulbs which lit up at certain points of the play and really added to the performance

I found these to basic chairs and have sketched them and intend to tweak the design when developing them

Ideas for two armchairs.

The first one is of a Victorian nursing chair. I got the idea once reading the text that perhaps the chair belonged to her mother and was passed down in the family. The mother then used it to nurse her two children. The upholstery is embroidered and could have been sewn by the mother herself. To have an embroidered cushion in both chairs would be a nice touch.

“How long you have been sewing again today!” - Mr Samsa

The fathers chair I thought would be a rocking chair as he sleeps in it sometimes. It is comfortable but the rigid look to it makes it feel hard and that any sleep would be disturb as in the the his wife and daughter persuade him to his bed where its more comfortable.

Here are a couple of drawings i did from inspiration

from the text

The couch with a blanket over it which Gregor drags over himself and a table in the living room with some breakfast items on it.

mood board

my mood board for Gregors room is a lot darker. It has barely any furniture and the greens are dark and dense in colour. The textures of the vines and scrapings into the board with a knife and paintbrush probably cant be seen. I added the bug as i thought even though it wont be in the room it is a big presence in the story and the feel of the room

Arm chairs

In our meeting today we have been assigned items within the rooms to design.

I like to design a chair similar to this one in the art nouveaux period. I think for the father it would be perfect as it is a place he sleeps but is still rigid enough to reflect his personality and not get a comfortable sleep which he doesn't get in the story.

http://www.antiquesatlas.com/

This is a great website for me to get some ideas on period furniture.

colours

http://www.victorianbazaar.com/homes.html

This was the kind of colours i had in mind for the living room.

Floor plan

http://selectfloorplans.castle.ca/elegant-apartment-building/pid/114094192

Rear Window Review

I really enjoyed watching Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window. The sets filmed really well. I was very impressed by the realistic look of the studio set, pretending to be outdoors. For the time in which it was filmed they did it very well.

I suspected when watching it that the skyline backdrops where painted and hung. The mixture of false walls, fake brick work with detailed paint affects added worked really well with the green props really bringing the outdoors indoors and creating a believable 'outdoor' space.

The use of real animals also helps to create a realistic atmosphere- birds walk on the rooftops and a dog is let out by its owner several times to dig up real earth in the flowerbeds.

This also allows the environment to be completely controlled. Weather wise they can control it and make rain, wind whatever, or for the purpose of this story keep the place for the most part of the film dry.

The big wide windows and doors in all the apartments are deliberate for they help to tell the story.

It enables the lead character to watch/spy on the people in the courtyard apartment block with ease.

The story incorporates a heatwave, evidenced by the thermometer shot in the beginning of the film. This allows the windows and doors of the apartments to be wide open and the main character full visual access to their lives. The absent of net curtains or blinds seemed to do the same thing.

However the use of blinds is part of the story. At the beginning a newly wed couple pull the blinds down preventing the main character from viewing their business and more importantly the murder he suspects one of his neighbours has committed. Hitchcock uses blinds to create mystery and curiosity by hiding some of the action coming from the suspects flat.

Post I put on group blog for colour ideas

Maybe the bedroom should be quite bare- as in later on in his transformation. I say this because we will have a limited budget and the idea of having quite a cluttered look in the living room will not be cheap! I have done some mood boards for colour ideas and really like the idea of green in the bedroom and a complimentary colour in the living room eg reds pinks, cream oranges etc. as this is a nice METAPHOR for the relationship between parents and son.

On my mood board for the living room I picked out a picture of an illustration of a Victorian European children's book. It caught by eye because of the colours and the beetle. I could see the family of Gregor having this images framed in their living room.

Text notes

Here are some very basic notes i wrote whilst reading the text for the first time. I fully intend to print the text out and go through it thoroughly writing notes and highlighting key points.

Room-dark, small, half drawn curtains no artificial light,

Table with sample cloths- travelling salesman.

‘Hung the picture which he had cut out of an illustrated magazine a little while ago and set in a pretty gilt frame- picture of a woman with a fur hat and a fur boa. She sat erect there, lifting up in the direction of the viewer a solid fur muff into which her entire forearm had disappeared’ quote from text of a picture on wall.

Metal window frame

Bed- posts,

Carpet

Wooden door and key, brown fluid on it and floor

Melancholy,

Props: travel guides, bus/train times, car information? Chest of drawers, alarm clock,
a bowl stood there, filled with sweetened milk, in which swam tiny pieces of white bread

Military history- neat bedroom could reflect this


He lay at an angle in the door opening. His one flank was really sore from the scraping. On the white door ugly blotches were left


high, open room

selection of food on floor
Bare room, maybe only couch in it towards the end of the story.
Messy and dirty at the end with gunk trailing on the ceiling and walling.

Second meeting

We decided after the second meeting to go away and research Victorian and European interiors and architectures. Lot of ideas flowed around the group and a few drawing were sketched. My drawings are as follows, sketches of Gregors room, the hallway and plan of set, with a rethink of layout after talking to the others. I found it hard to visualise the layout by the text but after talking to my group it is clear it is to rooms joined by a door.

Initial ideas after first tutorial

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Dung_beetle

Given their name, it should come as no surprise that dung beetles feed on faeces, which makes them useful recyclers. There are three main types of dung beetles: rollers, tunnellers and dwellers. The dwellers actually live in the dung. Typical dung beetle appearance is a grooved shield, large, strong front limbs for digging and fighting and elongated back legs for holding on to dung balls whilst rolling them along. Long flying wings are folded under hard wing covers. Some of the well known families in the dung beetle superfamily are the stag, bess and scarab beetles. Dung beetles can be found on every continent except Antarctica.

The reason I looked into these insects is because of this quote from the book

“Come here for a bit, old dung beetle!”

Taking the description of the insect in the first paragraph perhaps evidence of sharp marking around the room and on furniture may add to the mood. Also the strong front limbs could dent any walls or the door. Perhaps the wings could have knocked something over. Also the way in which the dung beetle rolls faeces could be interpreted by having a ball of rubbish or waste from around the room, maybe dust collected and in a corner of the room.

When reading I got a feeling of the 70’s era and could imagine the large geometric shapes within the room where he slept in shades of green.

I like the idea of his bed being a cocoon like shape, or echoes of this as this is where he changed. The whole room could also have a terrarium type feel to it. I liked John’s ideas also about the wallpaper having a dirty gunk like substance underneath it. I could visualise this both in the 70’s type wallpaper and also as it is set at the time it was written. Emily’s ideas about having a Victorian paper underneath a more 1915 style would also look really good with the dirt showing. This would symbolise the wealth of the family, being that they are trying to keep it nice but it still has a couple of decade’s age to the decor.

Set building lecture

Set building.

The reason for building sets:

1. It supports the story.
2. Puts the story in an appropriate place.
3. Makes it believeable (mis en scene) For example a spaceship interior.

Why choose an studio?

1. It is an controllable invironment
2. Location work is impractical- for example you cant go there or cant change anything there.
3. What you want to film doesnt exist (links with previous point 3)

Locations cons.

1. Access difficulties
2. Doesnt provide everything you need
3. Hide unwanted details. for example: Tarmac has to be covered with gravel to conceal it, window and doors covered or boarded up, postboxes- anything not in keeping with the set period is boxed/hidden from view.

Minitures. Models of the set- usually fantastical in seting made to a scale and in amazing detail. Lord of the rings used this technique a lot in the making of the trilogy. This can then be used as a background to actors shot on green screen and layed over the top.

Production

Production designer passes tech drawings to the art dept and the appropriate people e.g. Carpenters etc. The costing is worked out and approved and construction can then begin.

The drawing must have a lot of detail and information in them for a number of people to read and understand how to make the oject/set without having to continuously consort with the original designer.

Deadlines. It is a good idea to create your own deadline before the actual deadline. This gives you time to work out anything which hasnt worked and do it over. It also takes away the pressure and panic a deadline can bring.

Film analysis

After the lecture on psychoanalysis, we were shown a film containing 'psychological terror' which our set project is based upon.

Since we have been set the project we have watched two films so far, these were The Shining and Peeping Tom.

The Shining (1980) directed by Stanley Kubrick.

I noted some of the things within this film which I found distilled the feeling of 'Psychological terror' to the viewer.

-The music created tension and gave an uneasy feel to the film. It also plays a big part, like another character. Loud strings were used in some scenes and it made the viewer feel as though something terrible could/might happen.

-The terrible crime committed before the films storyline begins, gives the feeling that it is hanging over the entire film and is very much part of the action as Jack slowly changes.

-The sets are simple, not too cluttered. Big empty spaces, tall wide rooms and corridors makes you feel like anyone could be lurking around and it would be easy to get lost- this is kind of linked to the maze outside of the hotel. The floors of the hotel have large geometric shapes. In one particular scene when the little boy has a ball rolled to him as he is playing with cars on the carpets shapes, I could see arrows in the carpet. These were almost beckoning the boy to walk in the direction of the ball but at the same time he patterned carpet was creating arrows in the opposite direction- this for me would be the direction the little boy should be going in to get out of a incident/scare that seems to be about to happen.

The use of children in thriller/horror genres create a creepy mood/feeling. Children and horror make a good combination and have been used before in many other films to great effect. I feel the reason why it works in the shining may come from the Freudian theory of Id, Ego and Superego. The child representing the Id and the father the Superego. In this instance the Superego is threatening to the Id and the visions the Id sees could come from the unconscious mind of the child- perhaps manipulated by the Superego.

Peeping Tom (1960) directed by Michael Powell.

I found this an interesting film when applying it to the work of Freud.

The main character, Mark (serial killer) seemed to me to switch places with the other characters when labelling them the Id, Ego and Superego.

First off, when he kills his first victim and meets Helen, he is the Ego suppressing his Superego. the woman in the Id. His second victim also is the Id.

He had a strange relationship with his father and his father filmed him as a child just as he does now with the world around him. In this respect his father becomes the Superego and I feel that Mark becomes the Id and Helen who is sat watching the the footage of his fathers on the screen becomes the Ego.

At the end in the last scenes Helens mother becomes the Superego, telling Mark to stay away from her daughter. I feel now that Helen and Mark switch from Id to Ego as they both struggle to deal with what is going on around them.