SETTING AND PROPS
Setting and props play an important role in manipulating an audience, the narrative, expectations and the genre of a media text. Sets are either built from scratch or located through a setting that already exists.
Props are most commonly used in conveying the time and place the narrative is set. Props are often the only indicator of what decade, or cultural movement a story is set in. It helps the story come alive, and helps viewers activate their imagination more readily.
Things to consider:
- naturalism
- time period
- symbolism
- atmosphere
- emotional response
- dramatic irony/ tension
- colour symbolism
COSTUME, HAIR & MAKEUP
Act as an instant indicator to the audience of a character’s personality, status and job. Tells us immediately where and when the media text is set in terms of timeframe, society and culture. Certain costumes signify certain individuals.
Maleficent, played by Angelina Jolie has a unique costume they have fabricated a character who is both beautiful and terrible at the same time. Maleficent is meant to be dragon like, her : contacts and horns giving us this image while her flawless skin, deeply contoured cheekbones and red lips making her look delicate and beautiful. They used prosthetics, adding on to her cheeks, nose, ears and molars. Toni G was inspired by the colours of the labradorite stone, a mineral which has a swirly, metallic, oil-spill finish. They used contacts to make her seem more magical.
Things to consider:
- character status
- emotion
- stereotype
- where characters look
In our short film, we plan on making the costume stand out, in order to attract an active audience and make our film stand out from other coming of age films. We also plan on adding retro colours and theme to the film, giving our film a vintage vibe.
BLOCKING AND COMPOSITION
The arrangement of the actors on the set is called blocking. The way in which the actors are positioned can show the dominance of one character over another, the importance of family or religion, and a myriad of other relationship possibilities.
Things to consider:
- conflicts / alliances
- statuses
- centre of attention / outcast
- spacing
STRANGER THINGS
Scientist:
white lab coat - organized, structured, well put together, contrasts danger and chaos
Children:
casual, 80's vibe
layers - insecure, vulnerable, mature
colorful - playful, childish, innocent, doesn't know what's coming, cheerful
patterned clothing
long messy hair - childish
little to no makeup - youth
RELATE
In our film, we plan to focus a lot of our attention on mise en scene, as this is what will make our film stand out from other coming of age films. We plan to have a retro vibe to our film, meaning that we will have to look into specific color schemes, colors that contrast and complement each other. As our film will have a retro vibe, we plan on learning how to do an 80's blowout for our protagonist's hair. We have also put together some ideas of the kind of 80's makeup we want. Due to Covid-19, we are unable to film in settings which contain a lot of people, for safety reasons. Hence, we will be filming in each others' homes, as well as using the streets in front.
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