Critical Research

Synopsis

Synopsis-
Musical

Characters-
Jane Allen
Michael Rhodes
Macy King
Louise

Locations-
Office-
Flat-
Large doors-



Jane is a very important figure in the company which is 'Rosetta Architects'. Michael is just an average doorman for the building. She passes him everyday, but is usually too busy to notice. When the company have a party, Michael is keen to introduce himself and get to know Jane. As she is unaware of who he is, he describes himself as the architect who's been employed to design one of the newest projects. Intrigued they spend the night getting to know each other. Following this they go on a lot of dates (this is shown though montages of dates and them singing.)
Michael confides in his friend, what he has done and his friend suggests he tells the truth. However instead he decides to call into work sick to avoid Jane.
Jane is questioned about her relationship with 'the doorman', she decides to tell him she is ill so he comes into work. Surprising him she turns up to work, confronting him about his lie. On the spot he gives in and tells her the truth. They don't speak for days, until they encounter each other at the door. Taking control she asks him to have coffee with her. Jane concludes she does not want a relationship, because of his lies, but they remain friends.

Treatment / Layout for Key Frames

Script

Casting

Risk Report

Recce

The majority of my key frames will be shot in the Leigh Academy, located as shown on the map. Green Street Green Road, Dartford, Kent, DA1 1QE.

It is only Michael's flat that will be shot in a house in Wilmington, only 10 minutes from the Leigh Academy, making travel from both locations easy and quick. As well as this it is located next to bus stops. Burr Lea Church Hill, Wilmington, Kent, DA2 7EH.

20 Key Frames

This first key frame is the introduction into the film, over this scene there would be an upbeat soundtrack playing.  It is a pan across the sky, similarly to how the Disney musicals often begin. To conform to their style I also increased the exposure and brightness to make it more cartoon like. This scene sets up the beginning of the day and movie itself so that following this Jane enters her work. Using this introduction similar to Disney films, it may imply to the audience that the film will be a romantic musical however I have tried to subvert it to oppose Mulvey's  male gaze. 

The second key frame is a mid-long shot, it is during the montage of Jane's daily routine walking in and out of work past Michael. The soundtrack from the previous intro scene is still playing but blends into a faster pace piece. I have edited Jane's hair to blonde to fit the characteristics of Cinderella and Ali from my critical analysis. Both characters were sexualised and I want to remove this from this film. 

This frame is a mid-close up during the montage of Jane exiting the building. With a closer shot I was able to show more clearly that Michael is gazing at Jane while she does not acknowledge him. Although this helps introduce my character and plot I feel like I could have done it in a different way because it allows the audience to view Jane through the male gaze and therefore objectifying and making her submissive. This is what my study was based on and what I wanted to oppose. 

My fourth frame is a mid-long shot of the montage, again showing Jane leaving her work place. Again I feel as though this montage allows the male gaze to be adopted because Michael is looking at her while she is unaware. However my original intention for this was to show that she is not interested in all men and more focused on her work. 

This frame is a long shot of Jane at the party. The party is full of colleagues from her office, this frame is where the audience see Jane from Michael's point of view. There is no one else in the shot so that it is clear that Jane is the most important person there. I created a light circle round Jane, and decreased the brightness around her, again to emphasise her importance. I found it difficult to make the circle of light not obviously visible. This scene was influenced largely by West Side Story and Singin' in the rain.

This frame is an eye level, mid shot of Jane in Michael's flat. This is where we see Jane questioning the picture of Michael and his friend in security uniforms. By her facial expression she is oblivious to why he is dressed so. The audience having the omniscient view may feel sympathy for Jane due to her being a strong woman and she is being presented to be naive as she falls for his excuse. The photoshopped hair colour went well in this specific frame, as it did not go in other places and is not un-naturally bright. 

Key frame 7 is a mid-close up of Michael looking worried that he has been caught out. This is the point in the movie where his lie begins to unravel. I darkened this shot to subconsciously encourage the audience to align with Jane more.

This frame is where we see Michael asking for advice from a friend. It is a mid close up to show his concerned facial expression. I have also made this shot darker to imply he is the villainous character, similarly to the villains dressed in dark colours in the Disney musicals I studied, such as Maleficient and the Evil Step-Mother.

The casting decision for this character was based on the Disney musical Princess and the frog, as I felt that women as a whole are not presented well in films but black women are especially misrepresented. The angle for this shot is slightly lower, giving her more power than Michael in key frame 8 as she is the voice of reason. However he does not listen to her advice. 

This shot is a mid long shot of Jane in her office, working. As she is sitting behind a desk it does not allow the male gaze to be apparent and therefore the audience can not objectify her body.

This frame is a long shot of Macy, Jane's colleague. Macy's character was designed so I could compare the stereotype of a female in society to Jane who I tried to make as a realistic representation of a modern woman.  I think this frame would be better if Macy was dressed in more sexualised clothes to exaggerate how women are presented in film. 

This frame is a mid shot of Macy leaning across Jane's desk in a child like way. Her facial expressions imply her excitement over the office gossip. This scene is bright, to link to the style of musical genre films. Again Jane's hair colour looks more natural in this picture but where the original was dark it gave it a slight green tint, this I struggled with.

Key frame 13 is a mid close up of Jane in her office. This specific shot is after Macy revealed the truth about Michael. I feel like this is where Kaplan's submissive gaze is subconsciously adopted by the audience, because her facial expressions and dialogue would explain her feelings about this and Michael is unaware of the occurring events so it would not be possible for the male gaze to be present. 

This scene is the only high angle used on Jane in my 20 key frames, however it is during a flashback in the screenplay and therefore one scene where it is from the omniscient audience view rather than Jane's. The picture is brighter to show what part of Jane's memory is reoccurring in her current thoughts. 

Frame 15 is near the end of the movie where Jane begins to plan her confrontation, and shows her strong personality. This specific frame is a mid close up of Jane. I was influenced by the evil step-mother in this shot, as she is often shown plotting against Cinderella, when Cinderella is shown as innocent. Similarly in this shot Michael sleeps innocently behind her. Taking Kaplan's gaze of the evil step mother in Cinderella, I found out that she has her own purpose for doing so, as does Jane. 

This frame is a mid long shot of Michael and Jane in bed. By placing the couple in bed together it could allow the male gaze to be dominant and insinuate sexual context, this is why I made sure that both characters were covered so either sex could not be sexualised. 

This frame is a high angle of both characters in bed after Michael has been placed with a dilemma of his secret being revealed. I distorted everything apart from Michael to show that from his mind he only thinks of himself. I chose to do this so that I could subvert the male alignment and allow the audience to feel more aligned with Jane without having to make a conscious effort to do so (as Kaplan's submissive gaze states). 

Key frame 18 is a close up of Jane's conversation with Macy about her plan to confront Michael. This scene in the movie would entail Jane's plotting, similarly to Kathy in Singing' in the rain as I discussed in my critical analysis. This is where her intelligence is shown, as Michael is unaware. 

This frame is a long shot of Jane walking into her office to confront Michael. I increased the contrast of this frame so that only her silhouette is visible to the audience. As this is close to the end of the screenplay it draws back to my subversion of the male gaze as you are not able to sexualise her body when it is not shown on screen. However this scene shows Jane being brave as she has used her intelligence to catch Michael in the act and stand up for herself.

Key frame 20 is a low angle mid close up of Jane, in her dominating moment. This is from what would be the last scene of the movie, where Jane stands up for herself and decides she does not need a man to be happy. This shot was influenced by the picture of Merida from Brave that I discussed in my essay, as it showed her power through her heroic stance and I feel that this is important to show women can have power without using their sexuality to gain it.

Evaluation