1888 Timeline

Our two minute film is set in 1888, so I thought I would explore what historical and social events happened in 1888 which has effected today's society. I thought that if I researched this time period it would give me a border outlook of 1888. Also, Jack the Ripper and his victims are mentioned in the timeline, which shows that it was a significant event in that time period and as it is a worldwide timeline the case was international. The timeline contains when the football league started, Brazil abolishes slavery and the first African-American nominated for US president.

January 1888:

Tuesday 03:
The 91 cm refracting telescope at Lick Observatory is used for the first time. It was the largest telescope in the world at the time.
Tuesday 24:
Jacob L. Wortman patents the typewriter ribbon.
Friday 27:
In Washington, DC the National Geographic Society is founded.

March 1888:

Friday 02:
The Convention of Constantinople is signed, guaranteeing free maritime passage through the Suez Canal during war and peace.
Sunday 11:
The Great Blizzard of '88 begins along the eastern seaboard of the United States, shutting down commerce and killing more than 400.
Thursday 22:
The Football League is formed.

April 1888:

Wednesday 11:
The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam is inaugurated.

May 1888:

Sunday 13:
With the passage of the Lei Áurea ("Golden Law"), Brazil abolishes slavery.

June 1888:

Sunday 03:
The poem "Casey at the Bat", by Ernest Lawrence Thayer, is published in the San Francisco Examiner.
Saturday 23:
Frederick Douglass is the first African-American nominated for US president.

August 1888:

Tuesday 21:
The first successful adding machine in the United States was patented by William Seward Burroughs.
Friday 31:
Mary Ann Nicholls is murdered. She is perhaps the first of Jack the Ripper's victims

September 1888:

Tuesday 04:
George Eastman registers the trademark Kodak, and receives a patent for his camera which uses roll film.
Thursday 06:
a feat since accomplished only by Tom Richardson (twice), J.T. Hearne, Wilfred Rhodes (twice) and Tich Freeman (six times).
Saturday 08:
In England the first six Football League matches ever are played.
Tuesday 11:
Death of the Argentine politician Domingo Sarmiento, after whom the Latin American Teacher's Day was chosen.
Sunday 30:
Jack the Ripper kills his third and fourth victims, Elizabeth Stride and Catherine Eddowes.

October 1888:

Tuesday 09:
The Washington Monument officially opens to the general public.
Wednesday 17:
Thomas Edison files a patent for the Optical Phonograph (the first movie).

November 1888:

Tuesday 06:
U.S. presidential election, 1888: Democrat incumbent Grover Cleveland wins the overall popular vote, but is voted out of office because he loses in the Electoral College to Republican challenger Benjamin Harrison.
Friday 09:
Jack the Ripper kills Mary Jane Kelly, his last known victim.

December 1888:

Saturday 08:
Bulgaria's National Assembly adopts an Act on establishing a higher school in Sofia.
Sunday 09:
Herman Hollerith installs his computing device at the United States War Department

Footsteps and the Knife

Even though we decided that we will have music in our two minute film, we did consider having other sounds. We have to also think about the fact that our music may overpower the other sounds, so we would have to think about where to place the alternative sounds and when to lower the music.
These are the sounds that I have been considering adding.:

Footsteps

In one shot of our opening we have a close up of Jack the Ripper's feet which shows that he is going to go after the victim. I have been thinking that we should develop the music, such as a piano could be playing in the opening which gives a feeling of the film being tranquil and that the victim feels safe. Then the noise of the footsteps will alert the audience to danger. If we do decide to use footsteps it will not have to be that loud in the beginning. However, the noise will have to continue as the victim is walking but the music will also be developing maybe in to violins. This will be a slight problem that we will have to think about.

Knife

We have a quick shot of the assault scene and Jack the Ripper picking up the knife, so the knife sound will not suit this particular part of the opening. However, the knife sound may suit the newspaper flashes and the quick flashes which implies the murder. However, I do not know how we could make a stabbing noise, if it would suit the story at that point of the story and if the music develops how the sound could overpower the music. As all of the anticipation is leading up to the murder in the opening if the sound will be effective or if the music is better for the opening.

The Murders

I have been researching the Jack the Ripper murders. I found alot of information on wikipedia about the murders itself. This is the information about the murders such as alot of women died around that era in Whitechapel but no one knows if they were all victims of Jack the Ripper, how they were murdered and their were two other murders around that period unrealted to Jack the Ripper which I did not know about. I also found that the Jack the Ripper victims are called 'Canonical Five'. What I find to interesting about this case is that no one knew who it was and how different murders are solved in that era in comparison to ours, because of the huge impact of technology and we have forensic science.

This is from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper.

The above map shows the sites of the first seven Whitechapel murders Osborn Street (centre right), George Yard (centre left), Hanbury Street (top), Buck's Row (far right), Berner Street (bottom right), Mitre Square (bottom left), and Dorset Street (middle left).

Murders

The large number of horrific attacks against women in the East End during this era adds uncertainty to how many victims were killed by the same person. Eleven separate murders, stretching from 3 April 1888 to 13 February 1891, were included in a London Metropolitan Police Service investigation, and were known collectively in the police docket as the "Whitechapel murders". Opinions vary as to whether these murders should be linked to the same culprit or not, but five of the eleven Whitechapel murders, known as the "canonical five", are widely believed to be the work of the Ripper. Most experts point to deep throat slashes, abdominal and genital-area mutilation, removal of internal organs, and progressive facial mutilations as the distinctive features of Jack the Ripper's modus operandi.
The first two cases in the Whitechapel murders file, those of Emma Elizabeth Smith and Martha Tabram, are non-canonical. Smith was robbed and sexually assaulted on Osborn Street, Whitechapel, on 3 April 1888. A blunt object was inserted into her vagina, which ruptured her peritoneum. She developed peritonitis, and died the following day at London Hospital. She said that she had been attacked by two or three men, one of whom was a teenager. Though this attack was linked to the later murders by the press, it was almost certainly gang violence unrelated to the Ripper.
Tabram was killed on 7 August 1888. She had 39 stab wounds. The savagery of the murder, the lack of obvious motive, and the closeness of the location (George Yard, Whitechapel) and date to those of the later Ripper murders led police to link them.However, the attack differs from the canonical ones in that Tabram was stabbed rather than slashed at the throat and abdomen. Many experts today do not connect it with the later murders because of the difference in the wound pattern.

Publicity of Jack the Ripper Today

I am currently researching Jack the Ripper and I always knew that Jack the Ripper was a very famous case study, but I never expected the results that I got.
When I google search Jack the Ripper about 2,530,000 search pages came up, which included facts about Jack the Ripper, Jack the Ripper victims and the suspects of Jack the Ripper.
I also searched on http://www.play.com/ and there are multiple DVD's, games, books, costumes and books about Jack the Ripper. This is the link to the website http://www.play.com/Search.aspx?searchtype=allproducts&searchstring=jack+the+ripper&page=search&pa=search.
Now knowing how popular and mainstream the Jack the Ripper story is, it defiantly adds even more pressure to be true to the story. However, now knowing this I feel that we need to make it unique and different from other films about the story, even though we are not Hollywood directors I feel that we can make the story come to life and make it special. Maybe by adding the shot of the knife and it being red or use many flashes and quick shots.

The Day the Earth Stood Still

Last night I watched the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still I was dissapointed by the lack of a solid storyline in the film. I was drawn to the film due to the actors in the film like John Cleese who is one of my favourite actors and Keanu Reeves. I did not know that it was a re-make to a 1951 film, which I found very interesting. By knowing this I want to watch the original to compare both of the films to see if the special effects makes the re-make a better movie and difference in the story lines.
I decided to watch the film due to the actors who were appeared in it and I remembered the trailers for the film which made it look amazing with the special effects. However, I was left confused in some parts of the film due to they did not explain the story and I found that they kept reminding the audience of unnecessary stories for example, the young boy in the film father died and when they were suppose to be saving the world he went to the graveyard and tried to bring his father back to life. Even though it was emotional I thought it did not need to be bought up then.
There was not a variety of camera shots in the film but there were many mid shots to show that the one character is in focus, two shots as most of the conversations throughout the film are only two characters and wide shots which showed the background. I was disappointed in the lack of camera shots as I feel that different shots have different impacts, I think low angle shots could of been used to show 'the alien' power as he controls the future of the human species. In my opinion they should of included a variety of close up shots as when they mentioned a scientific chemical I did not know the importance of the chemical in the story as I did not pay attention to it.
In the beginning I thought that it was a sci-fi which it was but it soon developed in to a story of love, compassion and death, which I thought ruined the story as it lost focus on the earth ending the audience also focused on the development of the relationship towards the alien and lead women. I feel that they added the relationship to accommodate for peoples different favourite genres and to reach to a wider audience, even though it is understandable I think it would of made it a better movie if they did not include that aspect.
Even though the film is not suppose to be reality, it is suppose to make the audience think about the possibility's of the story happening. Which is why I did not understand why the leading women in the film ran through forests in torrential rain but her hair is still in a perfect pony tail, the clothes are dry and her make-up is still the same. This really annoyed me as it shows that the women in films are also made to seem beautiful, when the situation is opposite.
Watching this film I have became very interested in special effects even though it has nothing to do with my two minute film, I think its interesting to know if special effects make a film. This is a website about special effects which I found interesting.
----> http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/question295.htm
I do recommend this film as it has good special effects and good actors but it is very confusing. This is the website which has people's reviews about the film, most of them are negitive but they are worth reading.
-->http://www.themovieblog.com/2008/12/the-day-the-earth-stood-still-review

Problems with the Editing

In our two minute film there is a close up of the murder weapon which is a knife which is suppose to be dripping blood. When we got the audience opinions on our film they thought that it was water on the knife dripping, which made them think that J the R was cleaning the weapon. In our storyboard we loved the idea of having a close up of the knife dripping the victims blood as it is implied horror and it shows the audience that the victim did die.
Whilst we were thinking of ways of showing that there is blood on the knife we thought of adjusting the colour scheme on that shot and turn it red. Although, we knew that it may not fit in with our opening due to the fact it is filmed in night mode, the colouring is black and white we thought it may have an impact on our film. However, maybe we could use the shot as our final shot but developing the colours for example, the shot of the knife being black and white but gradually progessing to blood red.
When we changed the colour adjustments to make the shot red it even turned the background red which we did not want as we only wanted the knife to have colour. We discussed our problem with the colour adjustments with another group and they suggested that we upload the older version to our Mac and then we can get the colouring on one object. Even though, it is a very long and difficult process.
We then thought of using a print screen and saving the shot as a picture so we then use iPhoto to change the colour adjustments. However, with the shot being a picture in a film it would make it lifeless as before we have slight movement which made it seem like beating. This is a video of the iPhoto colour adjustments which I found that could be useful if we do decided to use this option:

iPhoto '08 Colour Adjustments

When watching this video it gave me an idea that maybe iMovie an effects and adjust option inwhich we may be able to saturate the shot, we could try darkening the brightness and contrast to see if that will work. However, whilst watching this video it did not change one subject which did not help me significantly.

The next video is showing the iMovie '09 colour adjustments, this video helped me more than the video before, as we have the use of this programme and it shows alot of experimentation with the colouring such as, the saturday, brightness, contrast and exposure:

iMovie '09 Color Correction Tutorial

When watching this video I understood alot more about what we could achieve with the colouring. Even though, it did not say how I could change the colour of only one object, but watching this video has given me the idea of maybe filming the shot and have the knife against a black background, which will only change the colour of the object. Also, watching the video the tutorial man said that it was better to have the sound and the editing of the clips done first and then the colour adjustments which I think we should do.

Ideas from Songs

When I was researching songs that our group could use as inspiration to our 1888 themed story, I came across modern songs which I feel will help us to create drama with music, music which will suit our storyline and music which will match the actions in the film such as the we have long shots of the victim walking and Jack the Ripper following her, so I think that it will be a good idea to have peaceful music like a piano and then as the anticipation is rising louder instruments such as a violin or a violin playing on a blunt chord.
Here are two music pieces which I really like and has given me ideas about our music.

Madonna- Frozen Instrumental

I really like the beginning of this piece as there seems to be several violins playing and the music is very peaceful but with the use of the Xylophone it still has a beat. As it is a modern song I had to think which piece could help our group, 0-0.52 seconds of this piece as I feel it will suit the walking scene and it gives the audience a feeling of the personality of the victim. For example, when she is walking she seems very peaceful and her mood expressed on her face suits this piece. However, there are drums used which we will not be able to use as drums used in this piece which is very modern.

Rob Dougan- Clubbed to Death

I love how dramatic 0-0.26 seconds of this song is has many violins and in the beginning the violins are quiet but gradually as the song develops so do the violins but then it goes quieter again. I feel the use of this effect on the audience will be useful as they know that the victim is going to die and I feel that it suits the storyline but we would have to stretch the music for longer for example, The victim coming out the house will be quiet violins, J the R following her and capturing her which will be the build up of the violins and then after the attack will be the violins dying down. Also, it seems like a heartbeat.

I love part 1.32-2.03 as the use of piano gives a tranquil and a fairy tail feeling as the notes are played altogether and then the violins are played which are firstly quiet and then they get louder. I love this piece and I want to try and learn aspects from it which we could possible use, like the use of the piano to give a calm feeling and then the violins could be used as J the R gets nearer but I do not know what we could use after that point.

Editing- Implied Assault

Whilst we were filming we decided to add an assault scene which consists of stabbing which is not graphic as it is a point of view shot from the knife slashing the throat, we also had a rape scene where Jack the Ripper put his hand up the victims dress as it was believed he also raped some of his victims and some abuse shots where Jack is slapping, strangling and he also trips over the victim so she falls on the floor. Whilst filming we thought that adding these shots will be good and useful as it will give our film drama and we had in mind that horror and thriller films always have gore and horror.

Se7en- Trailer

However, after watching Se7en we realised that you can make a good thriller movie which does have implied horror. Whilst we were editing we decided that we would not have the assault shots as we believe that the shots were too graphic, which would make the viewer feel uncomfortable and I think it will make the viewer dislike the film as well if in the opening their is a rape and assault scene it will seem that the film will only get more violent. Also, if we did include the assault scene I feel that we would not have stuck with our storyline which was J the R stalking a women and he then murders her which was going to be implied. Also, the rape scene contradicted our research as their has never been proof of Jack the Ripper raping his victims and we only focused on the murders which we are suppose to be re-create the story of J the R and making it come alive on screen.

However, even though we decided not to use the rape or assault scene and make it implied we have decided to add a shot where Jack the Ripper is on top of the Victim and he picks up his knife and it looks like he is cutting out her internal organs. Even though this is not implied we feel that it gets the audience sitting on the edge of their seat, with the fear and the vulnerability of the victim is radiating of the screen which makes it so effective. With the use of this shot if the audience imagine how the victim is murdered it is horrible and spine chilling.

The ending of the film shows a photograph of the 'next victim' I originally thought that it was a good ending as we could carry on the story. After researching other movies I am going to discuss with my group that instead of ending our film like that we should use our shot we filmed of the close up and point of view of J the R shot of the victim screaming as I feel that it will be a good ending and it will be memorable as the audience would not be able to forget about it. After the victim screaming we could use the opening title of the film like Scary Movie as in my opinion it would be a very dramatic ending.

Ideas for the Name of our Film

In our group we have been trying to think of names that suit our Jack the Ripper themed two minute film. We came up with many ideas such as The Silver Knife which Jack the Ripper was known for. However, I am not sure about this name as I do not think that the viewer will know it symbolises Jack the Ripper and in our film we have a shot of the knife and 'blood' dripping of it we edited that shot so it is red, so Silver Knife would not fit in to the opening. Also, we came up with 1988 which is the year that the murders took place, but with this title I do not think it is catchy and I feel that if we named our film after the year we would need to explore the year more in depth to show how crime scenes were handled and we would need to get the historical context to do the name justice.
I recently watched Scary Movie it is a comedy film which mocks horror films as I was watching it I was amazed by how brilliant the title shot was and as I showed my group they also liked it.

Scary Movie

The film title is shown on 4.22 - 4.28. I like how there is a low angle shot before the titles of the murderer which shows his power in this stituation and a high angle shot of the victim showing her vulnerability. I like how the slash of the knife fits in with the sound which is a knife slashing. I love the editing of the shot as the titles are immediantly after the slash and the jump cut. I also like how the colouring of the text changes such as the text is white, then the red border over the white text and then red text. Also, I think how atmospheric the titles are and they also seem 3D when the text blurs and goes closer to the screen.

I was wondering if we could try and explore how my group could make our own ideas. I was thinking of getting fabric and ripping it for the sound over the titles as we are thinking about naming our movie Ripped or The Ripper, so I feel the sound will fit in with the name. I was also thinking about using the slashing as our opening titles but how we have edited our film so far it will not fit in and our film is also implied.

I will be looking out for other films and how they edit their credits to gain border ideas and knowledge about titles.

Researching Music

With our two minute film being set in 1888 it is going to be hard to find music which we all agree that fits with the drama and the era of our story. I have researched modern songs and artists to try and have an idea to what I think we should try and re-create.
These are some of the songs that I have researched and elements of the songs that I like.

Chicane- Salt Water

The first 0-17 seconds of the song I really like the violins playing in the beginning and the women singing but she does not sing lyrics its just a like a beat. I really love the women singing as it seems really calm and tranquil. However, with the violins it has the dramatical effect. Even though, there are DJ drums in the beginning due to the fact it is a modern song. I would like to try and re-create the beginning on garage band but it will be challanging because of the women singing.

Editing Problems and Solutions

When we edited and watched our film again we noticed that there was a pause in the beginning when the victim is at the front of the house. As the camera shot is wide shot the audience can not tell that the victim is replacing her corset and skirt to imply she has just come out of a 'clients' house as Jack the Rippers victims were prostitutes. We also used the shot of the fake blood on the knife but as the camera is in night mode it looks like it is water which is how the audience saw it. To resolve this issue we are going to change the colouring of the shot to red, however it will look out of place if the film is shot black, grey and white to suddenly have red. But this may add to the effect of a horror film and we may be able to apply out credits on the knife or I was thinking we could do a still shot of the knife and may be able to photoshop it so only the blood would be red instead of the shot. Whilst we were filming we shot the murder scene which implied rape but after editing Michaela and Emily decided it would be best if we stuck to our original plan and made it implied as the rape scene would make the audience uncomfortable. Even though we have still got a shot in the film were the victim is lying on the floor and it is a midshot showing her torso and it implies she being stapped and her internal organs ripped out from her. Even though this may not be implied I really like this shot as it shows how J the R killed his victims and the bulid up of the film is the death of the victim so it is showing the gruesome murder but it is still being left to the imagination.

Beginning of Editing

When we first started editing our video it was a very long and noisy process as the whole class started to edit at the same time. We all decided that we will take it in turns to edit as it was too difficult for all four of us to edit as we all had different ideas. We have decided to edit our film Thursday in our free period and after school. This is what we have done so far.

Re-Filming our Opening

As a group we decided to re-film our two minute movie all over again. We were all nervous about re-filming as we did not want to be dissapointed again but that made us determined to make sure we all work as a team and feel comfortable with the camera shots and to make sure we did stick to our storyboard.
We were all in high spirits and we all knew what camera shots we wanted to shoot first and we all made sure that the continuity was correct as in our last filming it was defiently something we could have improved on. When we last filmed it took us up to three hours due to the rain and the confusion we all had on what we wanted to include. However, when filming again even though it was still raining it only took us one hour and a half to get all the shots we wanted and we also included more takes and more camera angles. I am very pleased with the filming that we produced and the fact that we all worked more as a team this time.

The shots that I loved was the close up of Jack the Rippers hand coming over the victims face as I loved that the audience could tell the emotion of fear and confusion that appeared on the victims face but confidence, dark and twisted happiness that was shown on Jack the Rippers face. I like how this shot also links in to our research of the pictures and comic strips of Jack the Ripper and the anticipation has been rising for this moment where Jack the Ripper has caught his victim and it may make the audience tense and worried for the victim.
I loved our filming of the newspaper articles and the victims pictures in the conference room. I am very happy with these shots as the conference room was very dark and it had a board in there were we could pin up the pictures and articles. We tried many different camera shots and movements when filming this scene for example, we tried over the shoulder shot of J the R standing looking at the articles and victims, close ups of each victim as extra footage, tilt movement showing all of the newspapers and J the R circuling and crossing out the victims. However, we did have a few problems whilst filming these shots as the nightmode on the camera was too dark and it was not showing the articles probabley so instead we decided to use light from a phone but the light may turn off in the middle of a shot, so timing was a huge element in filming this shot. Also, we used fake blood for circuling and crossing out each victim which means we only had one chance to film each victim, but we did not pin the picture down probably so we fake blood got smudged but thanfully we were able to repair it.
I also really like the establishing shot as I feel it sets the story and the audience can see J the R hiding on the corner and the audience are able to see the costumes
Also, I really like when J the R and the victim are walking towards the camera and you can see the knife glint which was just by chance and it makes the audience notice the knife and sends a chill down your spine.
When we was filming the 'murder' scene we used a variety of camera angles such as high angle to make the victim seem vulnerable and powerless. We also shot the point of view of the knife which I personally thought was very creepy and scary.
Overall, I am very pleased with our re-filming and how well we worked as a time and all of our issues with filming before were solved as we used night mode.

Garage Band Video