Character Representation Analysis

Our Cast consisted of all of our group plus two other friends; making six of us in total. As our opening sequence is an action, we split the cast in two, following typical action conventions of Good vs Evil. On the good side, I acted as the Protagonist, along with group member Alex Dimmock and one of our mates who isn't in our group, Oli Gregory. On the bad side, was the guard/agent type characters, played by group members Chris Gill and Daniel Wogan, aswell as a another friend, Danny Goodman. We chose to make good and bad characters as it follows typical Conventions found within action films. We also made sure we had authentic looking costumes to fit with our Genre, I for one had specifiaclly ordered an airsoft tactical/assault vest, simply for the fact it adds effect to the opening, and makes it look more authentic.


1. Luis Mapes - I starred as the protagonist on the 'good side', who's aim was to break into a government styled building, in order to steal information being held by corrupt government agents. My dark, all black costume, shows the fact that I am trying to stay undetected, as the opening is also set at night in dark conditions. The fact I am wearing a tactical bulletproof vest, also shows danger, as there is a chance I may be shot.
The character I play is also very organised, being equipped with all sorts of gadgets aswell as being directed through a headset by a right hand man, this shows he is very knowledgable and knows what he is doing. I am also a skilled FreeRunner, so during the opening I chose to incorporate it in, showing that the character I play is also agile and willing to do anything to escape.


2. Alex Dimmock - Alex plays Luis' right hand man, and is portrayed as a Computer Nerd; who he is able to hack into government CCTV, Passwords and Files, in which he uses to help and direct Luis on his mission. Again, the use of an all black costume, shows that although what he is doing is for a good purpose, it is also illegal, and therefore he wants to remain undetected. The headset and laptop he uses, aswell as his diaglogue, is made to stand out, in order to show a clear link between him and Luis.

3. Oli Gregory - Oli plays a Scout type character, who ends up saving Luis from being killed at the end of the opening. We got him to wear a balaclava and gloves, so every part of his body is covered, the effect we wanted from this was to add suspence by hiding his identity. The fact his weapon of choice is a sniper rifle, also shows he is skilled with firearms.

4. Daniel Wogan - Dan plays the leader of the corrupt government agents, who attempts to kill Luis by shooting him at the end of the opening. We chose him to take the lead role of the government guards, as he fits the role well being the biggest member of our group, he looks the most dominant. To make him look official, as if he did work for the government, we dressed him up in a suit and tie, as that shows he is formal.

5. Chris Gill - Chris plays another security guard who attempts to stop Luis at the lift, he is also the character that takes part in the fight scene and holds the card key to Luis' escape. He wears the same costume as Dan, apart from the jacket and tie, this is to show he isn't as high up in terms of rank and hierarchy. This is why we chose him to take part in the fight scene.

6. Danny Goodman - Danny was an extra we decided to use right at the start to add some suspense to the opening. We made Danny to look like an easy target on purpose in order to show the audience what Luis' character is like, by taking him out within the first few seconds.

Storyboard

With the location seen, we got to work on the Storyboard. We already knew our genre (action) and the typical conventions that go with it, along with inspiration from watching The Bourne Ultimatum's Opening, we knew the things we had to include.

We came out with a basic idea that we got 6 people to star in the opening and split them into good and bad sides, following the convetions of our genre. On the bad side, will be a group of corrupt government agents who are protecting a top-secret computer file, that if brought to the publics attention, will reveal what unprincipled things they have been doing. And on the good side will be a team of people trying to stop the agents and bring what they have done to justice. I have broken the storyboard/storyline down into detailed sections below:




The scene opens with the protagonist (Luis Mapes) breaking into the building and taking out the first guard played by Danny Goodman. The location also had a CCTV monitor at the front desk, so we are going to use that to show Luis breaking into the building. We decided to open with this, to straight away add suspense and get the auidience interested in what was happening.

After taking out the first guard (Danny), Luis puts in an earpiece and asks for directions from his right hand man played by Alex Dimmock. Alex is located at a seperate location to Luis but will communicate to him to give him information when needed.
We are going to use a series of cuts and voice overs to show a clear link between Luis and Alex, as well as physical props such as microphone
headsets and earpieces.

Alex directs Luis to the office with the computer that has the file he is trying to steal, the room is locked so Luis breaks down the door and enters. The chose the idea of breaking the door open to keep the audience entertained, as well as showing the limits Luis' character will go to in order to geth what he's come for.






Inside the office, Luis hacks into the government computer with help from Alex, and steals the file he is after. We are going to film this using are range of camera shots such as over-the-shoulder and close-ups, when editing, we are also going hold the shots to make the audience watch closely to what is going on as this is the main part of the opening.





Meanwhile, the boss of the government agents, Dan, finds Danny knocked out in his chair where Luis left him, and calls for back-up. Alex happens to see this over CCTV and warns Luis to get out fast as he has been caught. At this point we will increase the volume of the music as all of the dialogue will have finished, to build pace and add tension to the actions about to take place.






Now Luis has the file he came for and knows he has been caught, he cuts of Alex by taking out his earpiece and attempts to escape, but as he leaves the office, he is confronted by Dan and Chris, both holding their guns. We've chosen to do this as it leaves the audience thinking what is Luis going to do next therefore making them want to watch on. We are either going to film this part from Luis' point-of-view (P.O.V) or over his shoulder to keep the viewer on Luis' side and complying with the 180 degree rule.





Luis decides to take Dan and Chris on and runs at them, sliding straight past and under them, and towards the lift. Even though the lift isn't a realistic choice for an escape, we wanted to use it for the next fight scene, so we got Chris to cover the stairs, giving him a valid reason to take it.

With Chris having seen Luis take the lift, he runs up the stairs and waits for Luis at the top. As the lift arrives, Luis sees Chris holding a gun to him, so he moves out of the way and disarms him. There is then a quick fight scene, where Luis takes Chris out before leaving him knocked out inside of the lift. We are going to film this in the same style as the Bourne Ultimatum, with quick cuts and movement, as well as the camera being handheld to give a 'shakey' effect.







After taking out Chris, Luis takes his key card and uses it to open the door and into the west wing where a fire exit is located. We are going to use a series of panning shots to show Luis as he runs through the west wing towards the fire exit before opening it. On the other side of the exit is a set of spiral stairs which lead towards the ground level.






Instead of going down the stairs, Luis jumps from the top down to the ground, rolling and then running off. We decided to do this as its more dramatic which fits with our genre and also because it incorporates some of the FreeRunning skills Luis has.

As Luis continues to run around the building towards the car park, he unaware he is being followed, so just as he thinks he has escaped, he is shot in the back of the shoulder by government agents leader, Dan. In the post production and editing stage, we are going to use a realistic gun shot effects, to make the mise-en-scene of the shooting authentic.




As soon as Luis has been shot, it fades in to a P.O.V shot from Luis' perspective of him looking at the ground, before he is turned over to see Dan stood pointing a gun at him, ready to finish him off. When we film this, we are going to get Luis to breath heavily into the camera and shake it, in order to intensify the audiences knowledge of his injury. When editing this part as well, we are going to use transitions such as fades and adding blur to make the P.O.V shot look better.



To add a final twist at the end, the screen goes blank and all you can hear is a gunshot, a second later, an image re-appears showing Dan having been shot in the head. From that shot we will cut to a mid-shot of Oli who lowers his gun from his sight and say the words, 'Target Down'. This is to show the audience that he has just shot Dan, therefore saving Luis. The reason we did this was to confuse the audience so when we they find out that Luis hasn't been shot, and instead its Dan, they find themselves in a state of shock or excitement.