Character Shots - My Sinatra!

These are a few of my character shots, in these few shots i have tried to imitate Sinatra's relaxed signature style.

Animated Sketched Storyboard

Here i have imported my sketches into i-movie and added on the 'Lions Gate'

institution to the beginning. This animated storyboard gives a clearer idea

of the timeline which i want to use that is similar to the style of the

one from 'The Kingdom' which you can see in my first animated

storyboard. The last clip that focuses on the back of the

directors chair will introduce the title of the film as

there is going to be 'The Voice' written across

the back. This is relevant as 'The Voice'

was one of Sinatra's many

nicknames.

1. An close up of a gramophone playing a record showing a micro close up of the lines on the record, whilst spinning with some of the opening titles running around the record. Radio voice-over using no diegetic sound in the background - tuning in and out of different stations.

2. Timeline appears with images zooming in and out from the era shown on timeline.

3. Line carries on showing more content and ideal images on Sinatra...

4. Line carries on with more and more images fading in and out of one another and becoming animated.

5. Animation turning into first shot of Sinatra sitting at dressing room table, close up of tapping foot and hand - showing nerves.

6. Bright lights blocking out were audience would be as you see silhouette of Sinatra walking of stage with cheering in the background and the body shot of Sinatra holiding hat to his chest.

7. Quick flash of Sintra snatching Whiskey bottle of stool, with brightly lighted stage in the background.

8. Then as the opening is at it’s climax showing Sinatra slam bottle down on dressing table as he stares at himself in the mirror - with ongoing repeat of cheering and knocking on door showing everyone trying to get to him and him loosing himself in emotions and thoughts.

9. As Sinatra slouches back in directors chair camera does close up of stage name written on the back, ‘The Voice’ showing title of film.

Sketched Storyboard

This shows the progress of my ideas and a stronger structure.

1. Close up abstract shot of spinning Gramophone

2. Introduction of animated timeline pushing gramophone of the screen

3. Introducing images to dates

4. Images become animated and timeline disappears during footage

5. Long/Mid shot of Sinatra staring into mirror in dressing room, trembling hand/tapping foot highlighting nerves. 

6. Mid shot of Sinatra holding trade mark trilby hat to chest as he has walked off stage

7. Close Up shot of snatching of Whiskey bottle showing his urgency

8.  Long Shot - Slamming glass down on dressing room table, stares at himself in mirror

9. Falls back in to chair, camera zooms onto the back of chair and focuses on writing 'The Voice' introducing the film title. 

ANIMATIC STORYBOARD

The storyboard does not run as smoothly as i had hoped

because i had to include segments from 'The Kingdom' to show the style

of timeline i want to include. The Still pictures will be running behind

the timeline and become animatic. There will also be the sounds of 

different radio stations tuning in and out throughout, which will include 

some Sinatra music as well as Dean Martin and other musicians of 

his time. 

The flashing pictures at the end are the main scenes that i am going to 

film and these include Sinatra before and after a performance

and higlight his alcohol problem. 

Ideas for my Timeline in the style of 'The Kingdom' opening.

I am going to use actual past pictures of Sinatra that will flash up but i am also going to go around shooting my Sinatra (Mr Bonney) in differnt locations. These images will start as stills and then become animated similar to the style of 'The Kingdom,' which is shown in my animated storyboard.

Locations in mind - 

• Worn down houses ( Eg. near Hectors fish and chip shop)
• In front of shops 
• Walking down the street
• Night time shots, busy night life

November 6th

PROPS!

For the props i will need - 

• Gramophone or spinning record preferably Frank Sinatra 
• Trilby hat
• Old fashioned microphone
• Whiskey bottle
• Whiskey glass
• Dressing table with Mirror preferably framed with lights

            



LOCATION, LOCATION!

For my main location i am going to use 'The Jersey Opera House' stage, i have decided to use this as i will hopefully be able to capture the vintage look of the 1950's. I will attempt to do this by using bright stage lights to drown out any detail that will not suit the era. 

I am also aiming to use a typical looking performers dressing room, if i do not find one i will use the studio and use props and lighting etc to make it look appropriate. 

These pictures i took of a student in my class for a basic outlining of my storyboard, i then traced them using a light box so i could scan them into the computer ready to adapt them and colour them so i could import them to imovie to start making my animatic storyboard.

Summary of Planning

Summary of Final Plan 20/10/08

I have chosen the film brief for my foundation Portfolio, my final piece is going to be the opening to a film biography of Frank Sinatra’s life. This idea was initiated from my personal interest in music and from watching certain films that haves stood out to me e.g. Ray. I originally researched artists such as Eva Cassidy, Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman but found that the story of Sinatra’s life would work well and interested me. From the beginning I wanted to do an era film with the use of monochrome and colour footage, so although the film is based on all of Sinatra’s life the opening is mainly going to be based around the 1940’s, which was when Sinatra’s music career was just forming and if I was to do the full length film it then would shoot back to his childhood.

We started by watching past film openings from students overseas, they were all from a E-C grade and thrillers-as it was compulsory to do a thriller last year. None of the films stood out to me but they did show me what I did not want to do and the areas to try and avoid, E.G. Filming amateur actors close up, uncertain story line and making to much happen in a the short period of time. I also watched a section from the film ‘Se7en’ and although I was not thinking of doing a thriller it gave me lots of ideas of positioning and how important the set is.

The scene was effective as it used simple acting with no talking, the main lighting was a spotlight with rays of red light which built the tension within the scene and the set and location were well thought out. I had always had the idea that if I was going to do a film opening my film would be music based, so after researching different ways of doing this and different musicians that I like I came to the decision it would be a biography of Frank Sinatra’s life. I choose to focus on Sinatra because I find his life story and era in which he became famous fascinating as I can also introduce the likes of actor James Dean and Sinatra’s close friend and co-worker Dean Martin.

During my research I looked into different past musicians of Sinatra’s era and up till now including the likes of Joni Mitchell , Tracy Chapman, Dean Martin, Eva Cassidy. I looked into different music feature films including, ‘Ray.’ Ray is a modern film that was made in 2004 yet was set back in 1930 when he was born and up until 2004 when he died, it mainly focused on his active years from 1947-2004. If I was to do a full-length biography I would like to follow this structure and include all of Sinatra’s life stages. I also looked into modern musicians who have made feature films including Eminem’s ‘8 mile’ premiered in 2002 and 50 Cent’s, ‘Get rich of die tryin,’ premiered in 2005. I got my idea of showing Sinatra’s nerves in my opening from the ‘8mile’ opening when you see Eminem in the bathroom jumping up and down in front of the mirror. This will be similar to my idea of showing Sinatra in his dressing room staring into the mirror. I find the intro to ‘8mile’ so effective because of its simplicity and grungy lighting that helps set the atmosphere and enhances the genre of Eminem's music. I also want to use similar camera angles; in ‘8 mile’ they use close ups of Eminem’s face and his feet jumping up and down which i would like to copy by showing Sinatra’s nervous hand on the whiskey glass, his tapping feet and possibly his reflection in the mirror but differently from a distance as I want to avoid it looking amateur by using close ups of the face.

The type of audience i am aiming to target is not a specific age yet targeting an older audience purely because of the content and merely because i imagine the film to be quite intense and where the audience would understand and feel empathy towards Sinatra's situation of stress and alcohol abuse. The audience ideally should be musical or interested in the life of Sinatra but i would hope that the film would be interesting to any mature teenager/adult despite there level of interest in Sinatra and music in general. The music feature films I looked at; ‘8 mile’ and ‘Ray’ are rated a 15 and as I am following similar structures within those films I would also rate the film a 15. I went on the BBFC website, www.bbfc.co.uk/classification, to look into the criteria of a ’15’ certificate. Under the ’15’ it tells an in-depth list of what you can and cant contain and specifially tells us that ’No-one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video or DVD’ whereas under the ’18’ certificate it has less information of bounderies and states. ’In line with the consistent findings of the BBFC's public consultations, at '18' the BBFC's guideline concerns will not normally override the wish that adults should be free to chose their own entertainment, within the law.’ This rein-forces my reasons for rating my film a ’15’ as there is no need for the content to be as explicit as what you would find in a ’18’ rated film.

I am also using ideas from ‘The Kingdom’ opening by using the idea of a timeline with the use of still images becoming animated. The use of typography to illustrate certain key points in Sinatra’s life. There will also be the sounds of different radio stations tuning in and out throughout, which will include some of Sinatra’s music as well as Dean Martin and other musicians of his time. This is similar to the news readings and facts that are spoken throughout The Kingdom.

I am hoping to film my opening at the Jersey Opera House, due to it fitting the image i hope to portray perfectly as it fits the aged era of Sinatra’s life. It was built in 1865 by Henry Cornwall and was named Cornwall’s Royal Amphitheatre and Circus. The age of the building, although since it has been modernised will help me capture a more realistic flashback of Sinatra's life in the 1950s.

storyboard ideas

radio success

mid 1940

30years old bonney playing him

radio diegetic sound - tuning in and out of different stations with moments of other music artists of his time.

titles

flashing images of his gigs so far (very happy)

titles

cuts to directors chair the voice image on the back

titles

cuts to hand nervous twitch, saving private ryan bit with compass at the beginning, 

titles

cheering and cuts to wearing hat trilby silhouette alcoholic dependent walking off stage with bright lights

titles

cuts to hand picking up glass (whisky) bottle next to it, walks off

titles

walking off back stage, slumps into chair exhausted depressed the voice close-up title, with whiskey glass etc in focus then changing to 'The Voice' 

titles

Research

Ferris Bueller's Day Off

In this comedy i like the way you get introduced to all the characters straight away therefore quickly capturing your attention and wanting to know what happens next. In the first 5 minutes you get a very good idea of the character Ferris Bueller, with lines like ("The key to faking out the parents is the clammy hands. It's a good non-specific symptom; I'm a big believer in it..."). You immediately take a liking to this laid back character, i want to involve my audience with the characters by doing something similar to this.

Kill Bill

I like how at the very beginning it starts off with a pitch black background. A quote appears which basically summarizes the meaning of the film. Although this is not the style film i am aiming at the idea of it starting with a black background and the film being introduced by text.

The Kingdom

The first film i watched is The kingdom, which although isn't a genre I'd want to do, has given me idea on the opening. In the opening it uses news reels with an explanation of the Saudi Arabian/American oil situation. It also uses very graphic silhouettes of different relating images. I'd like to use the timeline idea, but for a different genre.
Camera angles are also used well in the film, especially in more action scenes where the camera moves and seems hand-held, i like the idea of this creating a sort of gritty style.

Get Rich or Die Tryin'

'A tale of an inner city drug dealer who turns away from crime to pursue his passion, rap music.' Get Rich or Die Trying is directed by Jim Sheridan and is based on the life of Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson. It caught my inspiration because not only is it music based but also based around 50 Cent's strong interaction with crime and drugs. The addiction to drugs relates to Sinatra's addiction to alcohol and helped show me how i could portray this sensitive subject correctly.

8 Mile

'A young rapper, struggling with every aspect of his life, wants to make the most of what could be his final opportunity but his problems around gives him doubts.' 8 mile directed by Curtis Hanson is a film based on the life of Rapper Eminem. This film inspires me for mine due to its extreme power and tension throughout that continues to keep the audience on the edge of their seats. It manages to really capture the gritty, realistic lifestyle of a musician which is what i hope to do. Despite Eminem and Sinatra being complete opposing genres it is the connection through fame and music that helps inspire me.

This film about Ray Charles was my inspiration to do my film based on a music artist. I think it is such an effective film and Jamie Foxx has managed to replicate the character of Ray Charles perfectly.

Aspects of trailer i find affective -

- The narration at the beginning by Ray's mother which overlaps with ringing of chimes and bells.

- The birds eye view shots of Ray's hands playing the piano.

- How the flash backs and hallucinations are done with differing volumes of music and flashing images.

- Showing different extreme moods.

- The music

i like the idea of having an element of motion or kinetic text at the start of my film as i feel it makes the audience focus on what is being said, i just did some initial research on youtube and i have added my favorites below, i think you use after effects to achieve this, and we have that at school.

Katie, Amy and I had the task to capture the 180 degree angle in a simple video including a location , 2 characters with a variation of camera angles. We were to include shot/reverse - (extra camera shot), match on action, 180 degree rule-(characters not swapping sides.)

We tried to keep the dialogue and actions simple and mainly focused on getting the correct camera angles, the camera work was slightly unsteady due to not using a tripod so next time we will make sure we use one. The background noise is too loud and at one point i had to decrease the volume to nothing as Katie spoke too slowly and fast when Amy was still sitting down which would not have fitted with the next camera angle and dialogue.
I had to re-take a few times due to laughing and different actions so i had to edit it which makes the film not run as smoothly as i hoped. If i was to do it again i would plan the dialogue, use the tripod and think more about the surrounding noise.

first attempt

An Idea.

I have just had an idea of how to portray Sinatra without having to use to much acting and with being able to bring in his alcohol problem. Watching a clip on Sinatra there is a clip of him sitting in his chair at a dressing table with one of his nicknames 'The Voice' written across the back of his chair. So i could use an actor to simply with his back to the camera either pick up a whiskey glass and slam it down or use something to do with an alcohol bottle etc. 

September 15th

Francais Albert 'Frank' Sinatra - Ol' Blue eyes timeline

1915 - Dec 12th Born Hoboken, New Jersey

1929 - Expelled from high school after just 47 days for rowdy conduct

1940's - Early to mid started of with great success as solo artist

1950 - Music career stalled

1954 - Reborn after winning academy award for 'Best Supporting Actor'

1954+ - Signed with Capital Records, released albums such as - Songs of this time, In the wee small hours, Come fly with me and Only the lonely. 

 - Found his own record label 'Reprise Record' Had great success with albums such as -  

Ring-a-ding, Sinatra at the Sounds and Francis Albert Sinatra & Antonio Carbs Jobim.

1960's - Toured internationally and fraternized with the Rat Pack and president John.F.Kennedy.

1965 - Sinatra turned 50; recorded 'Septemeber of my years' and scored hits with 'My Way' and 'Strangers in the right'

1971 - Retired after dwindling album sale 

1973 - Came out of retirement recorded several albums 

1980 - Scored a hit with 'New York, New York' and toured both within the United States and internationally for a few years.

1998 - Died, May 14th, aged 82 - LA, California

Target Audiences

The type of audience i am aiming to target is not a specific age although it would not be suitable for children merely because i imagine the film to be quite intense and where the audience would feel empathy towards Sinatra's situation of stress and alcohol abuse. The audience ideally should be musical or interested in the life of Sinatra but i would hope that the film would be interesting to any mature teenager/adult despite there level of interest in Sinatra and music in general. 

'15' – Suitable only for 15 years and over

No-one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video or DVD.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (eg 'fuck'). But the strongest terms (eg 'cunt') will be acceptable only where justified by the context. Continued aggressive use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed but without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.

Violence

Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.

Imitable techniques

Dangerous techniques (eg combat, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on imitable detail. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.

The reason i would choose '15' rating for my film is because it would include the journey of Sinatra's life which includes his alcohol addiction, it would also include the lust and love of his life which may include nudity and sexual scenes, the language would be strong as it would be enhancing the stress of his musical lifestyle, his ups and downs and mood changes depending on the period in his life. 

September 9th

I have made a decision to make my film on the life of Frank Sinatra; in todays lesson i have been looking at his biographies on the internet and the time scale i am going to focus on in the 2 minutes i have. I have been thinking about whether i am going to get an actor to act as him in detail with facial shots or whether i am just going to use body shots; i think that depends on whether the actor is a suitable and a believable look a like which is doubt full to work without it looking poor quality.

I am still going to use the idea of the radio tuning in and out of different stations to start with and there being lots of hype about him as well as other musicians of his time. I am going to introduce a time line within the first 30 seconds flashing in and out of video clips of him at the stages of his life; similar to The Kingdom. -




I think the majority or possibly all of my piece is going to be in black and white merely because it is based around the 1950's era where colour technology was not so advanced.

- In the 1950s some of America's greatest actors played characters who were past their prime, emotionally vulnerable, with fragile egos. Bette Davis stars as an aging actress manipulated by an aggressive younger actress in All About Eve (1950); Humphrey Bogart plays a broken-down alcoholic in The African Queen (1954) and a psychotic naval captain in The Caine Mutiny (1954)-

I want to include Sinatra's like for alcohol and it being his way of getting through his days within my opening by shooting similar to Hitchcock eg: shooting body shoots and his hand picking up a whisky glass and slamming it down empty whilst walking of stage or in his dressing room or something similar. 

“Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.” - Frank Sinatra

“Basically, I'm for anything that gets you through the night - be it prayer, tranquilizers or a bottle of Jack Daniels.”

FRANK SINATRA - EXPERTS REVEAL SINATRA WAS A FUNCTIONING ALCOHOLIC -
ContactMusic.com says - Frank Sinatra was a functioning alcoholic, who went cold turkey on his love of booze and cigarettes in the weeks running up to recording sessions to save his voice. The late crooner's biographers, ANTHONY SUMMERS and ROBBYN SWANN, have presented evidence they discovered while researching their book SINATRA: MY LIFE to alcoholism experts, who have confirmed claims Ol' Blue Eyes was ruled by Jack Daniels. The husband-and-wife journalists now claim Sinatra's boozy standard ONE FOR MY BABY was more than just a song the legend sang; it was actually the soundtrack to his sad, lonely and violent life. Swan says, "Sinatra's use and abuse of alcohol was much more important than anyone understood. We tracked that and we gathered information that, from the mid-40s on, he was really seriously abusing the booze, and, even in his later life, drinking a bottle of Jack Daniels a day. "It was all well documented by close friends, who spoke lovingly about him. "When we submitted that evidence to a couple of experts on alcoholism, they said, pretty conclusively, that this is a functioning alcoholic and I think that helped us to explain and I think will help the reader understand the explosive temper, the up-and-down relationship with women and his children, the depressions and the insomnia." Oxford University-educated Summers adds, "One of the strange anomalies is that a man, who not only drank so much but smoked so much - those untipped Camel cigarettes - for years and years and years, was still able to put out such a wonderful voice over such a long period. "We learned that he went off the booze and off the cigarettes for a period before he made an album." Summers claims the ravages of heavy drinking and smoking took their toll on Sinatra's famous voice - and this can clearly be heard on some recordings. The biographer adds, "The booze and the cigarettes and the sorrows in his life affected his voice. "You hear him do One For My Baby in the late 50s, and then you hear the recording he did of the same song just before the 50s and they're as different as day is from night. "The voice, by then, has been tempered, weathered by the booze, the cigarettes, the sadnesses and he's clearly living the song more the second time around."

September 8th

I watched Desperate Housewives the other night and thought the way in which the beginning is narrated with a set voice talking about the silent footage with appropriate music in the background was really affective and an idea which i liked.

First Idea - Black and White biography of a music artist eg. Eva Cassidy - An amazing act who was unfortunate and suffered from cancer. 

Use of narration over music and writing on screen of timeline and major happenings in her life. 

- Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American vocalist known for her interpretations of jazz, blues, folk, gospel, country and pop classics. She released her first album The Other Side, a set of duets with go-go musician Chuck Brown in 1992 followed by a live solo album, Live at Blues Alley in 

1996. Cassidy was virtually unknown outside her native Washington, DC when she died of melanoma in 1996. -

Possibly starting with a radio presenter introducing her and then going on from there with narration and pictures into someone acting to be her.

Other ideas of Musicians - 

Tracy Chapman (Problem - finding a suitable actor)

Joni Mitchell 

Frank Sinatra

 

September 5th

Today we watched some past film openings of students from overseas, they were all at a E-C grade and thrillers. None of the films stood out to me but they have shown me the things that i do not want to do and the areas to try and avoid when/ if i decide to make my own film opening.

We also watched a section from the film Seven; although at the moment my thoughts are to do a possible romance film it gave me lots of ideas of positions and how set is extremely important. The use of -
- Simple acting with no talking
- Lighting (a spotlight in darkness and rays of red light made the scene tense)
- Photos hanging up and old books etc