Research on Mental Illness

From researching into both Schizophrenia and Paranoia I have developed a greater awareness of mental illnesses and how badly it can effect people. This has allowed me to plan a more realistic film as my character can be seen to have both of these illnesses. I used elements of Schizophrenia within my dream sequence as he hallucinates himself and begins to panic, this also then links to paranoia as the character is beginning to convince himself that something is there when in reality it is not.

Evaluation Questions

Your evaluation requires you to respond to these certain questions:

1. In what way does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
2. How effective is the combination of your main and ancillary tasks
3. What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
4. How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

This is to be presented electronically in one of the following forms:

• a presentation using slideshow software such as powerpoint
• a blog or website
• a podcast
• a DVD with 'extras'

Actors profile

Name: George Turner

Occupation: A2 Drama, Media and PVA student

Age: 18

Experience: Last year's coursework video, school panto, drama performances in general and youtube videos.

Why i chose this actor: He fits the idea of the age range that i wanted to aim my film towards as well as he does not look like an adult therefore looks like he could be vulnerable to his thoughts.

How will my actor look in my film: My actor will either be dressed in full black to set the eerie feel to the film or in full white to add the psychotic part to the film. The actor will either be wearing no make up or add darkness under the eyes to show the stage of lack of sleep.

Reliability: we both take media therefore we will have a lot of lessons together as well as we both have a lot of frees that we can work together in.

Animatic

This is a short animatic to give the visual and audio atmosphere that i wish to create for my audience to view as well as my final product to possibly look like. The audio is from Youtube and is royalty free, however this is not the audio I wish to use in my final product as I wish to keep on searching for an audio that will fit into the product I want to create as well as my sound affects.

research on schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a long term health condition that causes multiple different psychological affects:

• hallucinations such as hearing/seeing things that do not exist.
• delusions that are unusual beliefs which are not based on reality and usually contract the evidence provided.
• confusion on what has really happened and what was a delusions/hallucination.

The reason for schizophrenia to occur in someone thoughts is still yet to be unknown, however most scientists believe that the reason for it is due to combinations of genetics as well as environment. It is believe that certain things/situations make you more vulnerable to developing the mental condition as certain things/situations can trigger it.

The Open Door Analysis

The film starts off with someone playing the piano as audio whilst the film industry icon comes up on the screen. The title credits then shows up and then makes it become suspense as the titles they have used seem quite sinister. The piano audio then stops and you begin to see a river. A long shot is used to show a woman walking with dietetic sounds of her heels walking on the concrete. A medium shot is then used to see her in more detail. A tracking shot is then used to watch her approach a house. At this point the audio is only the wind from what you can hear outside, however because it is so quite it builds up suspense to the audience. A close up is then used on her hand whilst she opens the front door.

An aerial shot is then used as she walks through the door followed by a close up on the door when the woman tries to shut the door however leaves it open, suspense audio typically used in horror films begins to start playing. It then cuts to a medium shot of her sitting at an island in her kitchen. A close up is then used whilst she begins to cut a cucumber. It then cuts to the woman pampering herself, oblivious of anything as the cucumber is over her eyes whilst she lays in bed. The suspense music begins to get higher and lower and this point putting the audience on the edge of their seats as they are trying to prepare themselves for something to happen however they do not know when or what is about to happen.

It then cuts a long shot of a black silhouette however is blurred for what seems to be outside. It then carries on to cut from the woman to outside as it builds intensity with the outside as it builds up speed and narrative. The character is yet to be unknown then walked through the door using a close up on their hand, then walks up the stairs using a close up on their feet. A tilt shot is used from her head to her feet which you can then see the character coming towards her through the door leaving the audience on the edge of their seats. The woman then says 'Hey Jamie' as if she knows who had just walked through the house, a close up is then used on her ears where the unknown character whispers in her ear 'It's not Jamie'. The woman then jumps up and is pushed straight back down by the antagonist.

Then screen then blacks out and it leads to the woman waking up again, however in a different outfit. Dietetic sounds as well as lighting of lightning is used to present a thunder storm setting the typical type of horror. Close up and medium shots are used to show the woman's panic in her face and body language. Everything then seems quite again apart from what is going on outside, she then begins to get up and goes to get her keys.

The scenery is now very dark and eerie as she begins to walk downstairs into pitch black. Tension is built as she begins to walk down very slowly and steady however the stairs begin to squeak so if someone was to still be in the house they would automatically hear her. It then cuts to a close up of the door which turns into A POV shot as it turns from the door to the woman walking down the stairs. The woman then shuts the door and locks it by this point the audience would be at the edges of their seats as they are anxious of what is going to happen next. The tense music then begins to play again, the higher and the faster the pace of the music the more anxious the audience begins to come. A close up is then used to show the woman's emotions, however in the background you begin to see the antagonist in the background coming towards her in a mask.

In my opinion this short film was one of the best I watched due to the fact it left me on the edge of my seat and the film techniques that they used were very effective.

Engrenage Analysis

It begins with the film industry icons. It then cuts to a close up of lift numbers going up and then a close up of a man's face which he has two cuts underneath his eye. Once the lift gets to level 42 the male persona begins to run out and slow motion is used to create tension in the narrative. Beeping is then heard and then the camera begins to show a bomb counting down from 59 seconds.

It then blacks out comes up with the movie title and blacks out again. It then cuts to an old style train track where a man is walking along the tracks and then a close up is used on his feet when he stops on the track and stands there. It then shows the man putting what seems to be oil on the track, you then hear a dietetic sound of a train and then see a shot of the train, which then builds up speed in the narrative as the camera focuses on the wheels. A shot of the driver is then used.

It then cuts to a mountain and a man is running furiously through the woods, which is the same man that was running to the bomb, he then gets to the mountains. An over the shoulder shot is used to see what the man is seeing and he can see the train going through the mountains. A close up of someone's feet is then used to present someone is chasing him, he then begins to start running again. It then cuts back to the scene where the bomb is and then same man running towards the bomb (therefore match on action is being used). It then shows a dog chasing after him and at the same speed or what the camera has seemed it to be it cuts to the train. A close up is then used to show the man on the tracks putting his ear on the tracks and then a fast tracking shot is used to track the tracks to where the train is.

The man then begins to pull the leaver for the tracks and then the man with the bomb begins to cut the wires. However the leaver doesn't seem to be moving and the train is getting closer and closer as he begins to panic that he won't be able to change them. Match on action is then used as when he finally gets the leaver to move the man also cuts the wire to the bomb. The train then successfully drives though the track and a close up is used on the man's face to show his relief. It then blacks out and shows a close up of the wires and the man. A zoom in shot is then used to see that the bomb has been stopped as it is on 42 seconds, the same number that the man is on the level of, therefore is this number a clue to the audience? It then begins to start counting down and the man's eyes open quickly starting all of the action again, it then cuts to the man running away from the dog's again and then begins to show the train again, however the man is working with coal this time. A 42 is then showed on the front of the train.

Then all three scenes then begin to go down hill as the man running begins to start loosing energy the man running the train comes to a track that is spilt however is too late as he can't stop the train and the man with the bomb does not know what else to do as the wires have already been cut. The match on action makes the narrative very tense at this point as the timer of the bomb will match when the train will fall off the tracks. It then continues to use close ups of the man's face and then the timer and then train leaving the audience on the edge of their seats and waiting for something to stop everything bad happening at the last second. However this does not happen as the train does fall off the tracks, the timer then begins to become very slow in the last second as if the last second was a minute. It then becomes very fast again and the man cuts another wire. However this film leaves the audience on the edge of their seats as it then cuts to the credits.

In my opinion I liked the film's techniques a lot as they worked as the creator intended them too, however I find the storyline very unclear as there was no explanation as to why the man was in multiple different places at once as they couldn't be flashbacks due to the fact he would of died in the train, however this may be what the creator intended.

Portal: No Escape Analysis

I picked this film before I watched it due to the fact it looks/is described to something like to as I want my short film to look like.

It begins with a woman dramatic waking up and in a state of confusion a close up is to used to show this. It then straight away cuts to her trying to get up and she is refrained from much movement as she is in a hospital gown in isolated room with only a bed to be seen. Suspense music begins to start playing to engage the audience to a higher state as well as the audience begins to sense danger as on the hospital gown there is blood presented coming from the woman as she draws attention to it but putting her arm near it then begins to start looking at what has happened. Whilst this is going on the audio begins to become much more tense building up more suspense to the audience. A long shot is then used as she quickly moves over to the mirror so she can investigate the bleeding further. A close up is the used to show the panic in her face whilst she looks in the mirror. She then frantically tries to take off the gown and smashes the mirror once she realises that there is nothing there for her to be bleeding, this can then shock the audience and empathise with the character. She then picks up part of the smash glass and a close up is used to show that a bar code has been printed onto her neck. The audio then begins to become much more tense and dramatic. Close ups and medium shots are then frequently used to show the characters emotions, you then begin to see that there is a tally written on the wall which the camera then begins to focus on as well as the character.

You then see as an audience a CCTV footage of the woman running in the current moment in time. It then blacks out and goes to a close up of the tally on the wall this then indicates to the audience that this is a clue to the narrative in which the need to take notice too. It then cuts to a medium shot of the woman training/exercising as she is shown to be quite muscle it then cuts too and from the CCTV footage to normal filming. The audio at this point then becomes quite calm however still builds tension to keep the audience engaged. In-between her training/exercising you see the woman feeling/looking around the room for an escape. A close up is then used to show food being slid into the room for her through what could be seen as a prison gap. The CCTV footage the becomes running at a much faster pace making the audience more engaged as they do not want to miss anything that happens as it may be crucial to the narrative.

This then becomes a repetitive routine for the character to train, eat and sleep as well as find an escape this then begins to represent to the audience that the woman could be an experiment of some sort. Suddenly there is a close up where you see the woman face as if she has finally come to the realisation of something, possibly the escape? She then runs to the bed and moves it and then climbs on it to then find something that opens and there is an object of some sort which is unclear to the audience of what it is, she then climbs down from the bed (a long shot is used). A close up is then used to show the woman inserting her hand and suddenly something shoots out of it and opens to what seems to be a portal. A medium shot is then used to show her trying to work out what to do next, she then shoots another portal on the wall opposite. A long shot is then used to show the woman putting her hand in one side of the portal and her hand coming out of the other portal on the opposite wall, creating a sense of no escape.

Suddenly, an armed character comes into the room and the woman tries to shoot him with what is seen to be a portal gun, he then drops to the ground and the audio begins to become much more tense again. She then tries to escape out of the door that the armed character came out of. A long shot is then used to show the woman running down a long corridor with corners that she is unsure of what is about to approach her. You then see another armed character heading towards her, which she again begins opens a portal so she can get closer to him and hits him to the floor. She then proceeds to run down the corridor until she gets to a stair case where she can hear walky talkies talking to each other and there are multiple of the armed people coming towards her one after another. She then makes a portal that gets her to the top of the stair case and escapes out of the door that is at the top. A close up is then used to show her relief she then begins to walk around outside where she is automatically followed out by the armed men.

She then opens a portal as she falls off a building to the top of another building. However it then begins to seems unrealistic as what seems to be the town in front of her begins to glitch and she touches it showing that there is a digital wall fixed in front of her. The camera then shows the hallway kind of like the one she just ran down behind the digital wall showing that she hasn't escaped and that she is trapped within a highly operated building. The audio then becomes highly tense and slow. The camera then blacks out leaving the audience tense and in suspense of what is about to happen next. It then cuts to the credits and the audience is left on a cliff hanger, the typography fits well with the film as it looks futuristic and digital.

Overall parts of the short film dragged out however i was engage to the narrative and did not get bored the whole way throughout as I was intrigued to the narrative and not much was given away to what was to happen next or even at the end.

Knowing Too Much Analysis

It begins with a icon of their film industry "Zion In Chaos". It then comes up with a warning to the audience that some people not feel comfortable watching as it is suspense and includes violence therefore it may not be suitable for everyone. It begins with a tracking shot in the dark of a man walking on the phone outside with a paper in his hand.

Suspense music begins to build up as the camera then follows back to the same corner that the character was just on screen walked round and another man in a suit walks round. A gun shot is then heard in the background. The original character is then back on screen and begins to start looking around and at the paper and walking at a faster pace in a sense of panic. A gun shot is then heard again and the character begins to start running an aerial shot is used then a tracking shot as he begins to run up a stair case in a car park which is well lit. The audio then begins to become heavy paced and like a heartbeat.

As he gets to his car which as audience we see as an escape he starts to panic and cannot find his keys however once he finds them he can't find the key he needs/drops them, slowly down the time he has to get away therefore creating a sense of panic to the reader. As he goes to pick his keys up he hears a loud sound, a close up is then used to show the confusion/panic on his face. The camera also keeps cutting back to the stairs therefore giving a clue to the audience that the danger is about to come from the stairs. His phone then begins to ring, a close up in then used to show the confusion in his face again. As he answers the phone a medium shot is used to show behind the character, giving the audience an insight that something is about to happen behind him.

The man in the suit then appears from the stairs and begins to walk towards him a long shot is used to show all this action. The audio then begins to become faster and higher pitched as he walks towards him, the main character is clueless to all of the due to the fact that he is on the phone still. The man then sends the main character unconscious as he bangs his head agains't the car and then goes into his pocket pulls out a gun and loads it. However you don't see this as the camera is on the other side of the car, although diegetic sounds are used to present the audience what is going on. A medium shot is used to show under the car so that you can see the main character on the floor as he begins to wake up, you then hear 3 diegetic sounds of a gun and the characters body drops, such as his hand and his head connoting that he is dead.

A long shot is then used to show the mans action of picking up the paper that was in the main characters hand, he begins to read it then walks away with the paper. A tracking shot is used behind the man in the suit as is focused in the centre of the frame. His phone then begins to ring and the audio begins to become suspense again as he goes to answer the phone. It then cuts to the credits.

This film really did not appeal to me as the narrative was not thought out or deep enough as nothing was explained and in my opinion seemed pretty pointless. As well as most of the storyline/shots were unrealistic and just seemed to be elongated such as when he is trying to get into his car and when he is in the phone, as if he was trying to get into his car quickly he would talk on the phone whilst he was getting in his car or wouldn't answer the phone at all if he was panicking and thought he was in danger. Overall I did not like this film at all.

Target Short Film Analysis

The film automatically starts with the action as it shows a top end car with close ups and then shows the main character who is wearing a suit and glasses, therefore giving off the James Bond kind of atmosphere. It also has the typical action audio music playing in the background. It then cuts to a close up of the car going into 'agent mode activated'.

It then follows the typical action film of fast, cut shots. It then cuts to a man on a coach who seems to have just woken up, he gets up put his bag on and leaves the coach. The typical spy typography is used to indicate where the current scene is based and says 'England, Cambridge'. The bus then moves and the camera zooms into the character as he is looking on a map for where he wants to go, the filming then becomes sped up and the audio of an orcordian is played at a fast pace, giving off a tourist feel to the audience as he also starts taking pictures of everywhere he goes.

Suddenly you begin to hear a phone ring and the character on screen turns to the telephone box. and the number comes up as 'M16'. He then goes up to the phone and answers it, close ups are used on the telephone and the characters mouth to create the audience's focus as to what is being said on the phone as the person on the other end says 'you have permission to blow your cover, good luck'. The man then changes back into the suit and puts back on his sunglasses. Tense music then begins to play. Tracking shots are then used to follow the character. A target effect is then used on screen and goes to a fast speed until it comes up with a person and says 'target required'.

The spy then comes into eye sight of the target and the music begins to become much more tense. The scene then leads to a typical spy movie of a market place where the spy is trying to find the target. The target effect then comes back on screen and is unable to find the target. The character then goes to the top of the building to get a better view or to even find his target. He then finds his target and does the typical jumping off buildings, going down stairs, body flips, etc to get to his target, he is also being kept updated through his ear piece. Once the character gets his target the ear piece says 'mission accomplished'. It then cuts to the credits.

In my opinion I did not like the narrative of this film as it dragged out too much and then ending made the whole film absolutely pointless as nothing happens.

The Deal Analysis

The film begins in what seems to be a forest or a woodland area, however it has a road. A long shot is used to show someone who has there hood up beginning to walk down the road. The filming then keeps jumping to show that periods of time have passed. As well as there is tense, fast pace music playing. It then comes up with the film title of 'the deal' and the film credits. A medium shot and close up is then used to show the main character making a deal with an unknown character in the woods. 

An over the head shot is then used to see who the main character is trying to shoot as he suddenly now has a long gun in his hand. He then shoots and gets one of the two people he was aiming at. The second person then decides to try and run towards the gun. Then another person with a handheld gun decides to try and shoot however it is unclear who they are trying to shoot. There then seems to be a shoot of but not one seems to get hurt. It then becomes clear that they are trying to shoot towards each other as an over the shoulder is shot from the main characters point of view to see the other character. He finally hits his target and walks over to him. He then picks whatever was dealt to the character at the start and walks off.

I did not like this film as the story line was very unclear and at the end I wasn't sure who died and who didn't.

Research on Paranoia

People that experience paranoia have beliefs that other people are intentionally trying to do them harm even no there is no actual evidence of them doing so. Paranoia is the unknown fear that something bad is about to happen, however not knowing what and that other people are to blame for this as there are to be believed to have planned it out.

People who have experienced the symptoms of psychosis regularly have paranoid thoughts which becomes a frightening. They live in the fear that they are going to be psychically harmed, believe that things are being said behind their backs, have people plotting against them or even trying to control them by manipulating their thoughts. Sometimes the person with paranoia doesn't even know who they're scared of.

In general people with paranoid have a constant fear, however there are different types of threats that they can feel paranoid about, such as:

• Psychological or emotional harm - thinking that someone is against you, such as saying stuff behind your back, planning stuff against you, intentionally annoying you and so on.
• Psychical harm - having thoughts that someone is going to intentionally hurt or kill you.
• Financial harm - having thoughts that someone is trying to steal from you, damaging your stuff or manipulating you into giving them money.
  

Persecutory delusions are seen to be the most extreme versions of paranoid thoughts as they are one of the most common symptoms of schizophrenia; although not everyone diagnosed with schizophrenia will have them these types of experiences can be related or come along with voices that confirm the person's beliefs and fears. They are a symptom of paranoid schizophrenia which is a sub-type of schizophrenia, sometimes people who are diagnosed with this may see themselves as being important in some sort of way and thus this is the reason that they are being persecuted with the illness. They can also experience auditory hallucinations, sinister whispering or laughter as well as voice that can be seen as mocking or threatening.

Some people can be given the less common diagnosis of  'delusional disorder' if they do experience persecutory delusions however do not experience hallucinations.

Anyone who is a victim of persecutory delusions is more than likely to withdraw themselves from other people in their life to protect themselves from getting hurt therefore to avoid situations where they feel threatened. They mostly will spend a lot of time by themselves worrying about their fears rather than turning to someone for help as they do not seem to trust anyone. If someone is content that other people are intent on hurting or harming them, they begin to interpret actions and events in a way that confirms their beliefs for them rather than considering alternative explanations.

I love You Analysis

'I Love You'

Produced by Adam Wright

The short film begins with a close up of the persona's eyes with delicate childish music playing in the background, as she applies make up to her face the camera stays close up to her face it then carries on to show close ups on what the persona is doing as the next shot is a close up of her fixing her hair. It is then followed by a medium shot of what the persona looks like as she applies more make up it then goes back to a close up of her hands as she places her make up down, this then begins to give the audience that the actions that are being shown are going to be significant to the story line. She then removes some of the make up that she has just applied shown using a medium shot then changes to a close up of the music box that is playing in the background the box then gets shut and the movie title is shown on screen.

The scene then changes to a kitchen and the persona's movements are still being tracked however the persona seems to be shown as nervous. As the scene goes on it is evident to the audience that the woman persona is preparing to see her significant other as she is preparing a candle lit dinner. It then shows a close up of a glass that she picks up and switches to a close up to a candle light flame that is beginning to go out as it is flickering quite fast connotes to the audience that something is about to happen, then in the background you hear the diegetic sound of a glass smashing.

She then sits on the floor and slowly picks up the pieces of smashed glass and says "when he comes home we will definitely notice, i hate this kinda thing" presenting to the audience that the persona is now nervous for when her second half is to arrive home. It then cuts to the male persona on the phone saying "she can't do anything right" and carries on to explain onto what she has done wrong then goes onto say "I think it has been doomed from the start" also the male persona is first shown from the back leaving the audience in mystery as the woman persona's appearance is shown almost straight away in the story line.

Unfortunately, half way through analysing this film the video was blocked due to copyright issues therefore it is difficult to carry on the analysis. This has made the importance of not using audio that is not copyright free. However from what I did get to analyse the idea of the film was great however some of the footage could have been better.