In the Daily Mirror on Sunday there was a magazine about Britain's worst serial killers, the magazine had a double paged spread on Jack the Ripper. I found the article very interesting and I learnt many facts about Jack the Ripper from the magazine. Above and to the side are pages from the magazine which I scanned about Jack the Ripper.
More than 120 years ago Jack the Ripper murdered five women, all prostitutes in their 40's they are the known victims though the suspected total is 7-11 women in three months, even though during the 1800's there was no modern technology like we have now but it is surprising that Jack the Ripper was not caught, as there was police and vigilantes that patrolled London's East End. Also, I found out about the injuries e.g. Mary Ann Nichols died on the Friday night of August 
31 where her body was found with a four inch and eight inch gashes from her throat to neckbone and the inquest recorded that the "lower part of the person was completely ripped open", Annie Chapman was next to die at 6am on Saturday the 8th of September her throat cut to the spine. Part of her intestine had been thrown over her right shoulder and her womb and bladder was "entirely removed". Three weeks later the killer struck twice in 45 minutes, Elizabeth Stride's body was not mutilated because the killer had been disturbed by a man leaving a political meeting. Isreal Schwartz who later told police he saw a man assault Stride but he ignored the incident believing it was a domestic dispute, I found this really shocking as he did not even try to stop the abuse. Jack the Ripper then found an alternative victim who was Catherine Eddowes who was a mother-of-four, Constable Watkins who saw Eddowes body said she was "ripped up like a pig in the market". Eddowes face and chest had been mutilated, her intestines cut out and thrown over her shoulder, her womb and left kidney removed. The killer had sliced of her nose and earlobes and slashed her checks too. Again, there was a witness. Cigerette-Seller Joseph Lawende's description of a shabby man, aged around 30, with fair skin and peaked cap which was almost the same description as the first witness of Jack the Ripper. On Friday the 9th of November Mary Kelly was murdered, Jack the Ripper slashed her neck to the bone, front, back and sides, hacked at her face and cut off her breasts. He then emptied Mary's abdomen and placed her womb and kidneys under her head. Police found her intestines and spleen on the floor and the skin and muscle which had been carved from her thighs on the table. More women were murdered in Whitechapel and the cases added to the Ripper file up to 1891. The mystery of Jack the Ripper has never been solved though Sir Robert Anderson, assistant commissioner for CID, who claimed to have solved the crime wrote "I am almost tempted to disclose the identity of the murderer... but no public benefit would result from such a course" I found this statement very weird as he says he knows who the murderer was but he will not say. Jack the Ripper is still well known to this date as there are hundreds of books have been written, policemen published memoirs, dozens of DVDs produced and there are guided tours and unbelievably Jack the Ripper toys.
There was information about the suspects and Jack the Ripper as well, Dr Edward Bond who examined the final victim, Mary Kelly, wrote of the killer: "The character of mutilations indicate that the man may be in a condition sexually that may be called satyriasis. It is possible that the homicidal impulse may have developed from a revengeful or brooding condition of the mind, or that religious mania may have been the original disease". It will never be known if Jack the Ripper had "satyriasis" - permanent sexual arousal - but the nature of his mutilations were plain to use.
The suspects who were thought to be Jack the Ripper were Aaron Kosminski a Polish Jaw, aged 33, who suffered from from "mania" "delusions" and "hallucinations". He once threatened to kill his sister and was declared insane by his family in 1888 on grounds of "self-abuse". Scotland Yard chief Sir Melville Macnaughton said Kosminski had a "great hatred of women". Francis Tumblety an American doctor who was gay, hated women and was a notorious "quack". He was in London at the time and had an obsession with female reproductive organs. Tumblety fled to France in November 1888 following his arrest for homosexuality then returned to America. James Maybrick a Liverpool cotton merchant who confessed in his diary. Historians questioned its authenticity and the published admitted forging it. Forensic analysis showed the inks used were not available until the 1970s and the handwriting does not match his will. Seweryn Klowoski who was a Polish barber who later poisoned three wives and was hanged in 1903. He was known for his hatred of women and could have been capable. But modern criminologists are doubtful about his guilt as serial killers rarely change a successful method of killing. The last suspect was Prince Albert Victor the son of King Edward VII who has been the subject of many conspiracy theories. In one, the Prince went mad after contracting syphilis from a prostitute. Others suggest he had an illegitimate daughter with a Catholic shopkeeper and Government agents killed those who knew.
I found the article really interesting and I did not know this information before. I find it amazing how Jack the Ripper remained unmasked still do this day and there are theories that Jack the Ripper had died after the murders or perhaps he emigrated or was committed to an asylum. I think that Jack the Rippers identity will never be discovered.
Wednesday, 5 May 2010
Serial Killers Book
Music Programme
For our music Emilys Dad created the piece, the piece is not copyrighted and we got permission so that we could use the music. The software we used was Cubase Essential 5 which is a music editing software, with the music we was able to mix numerous amounts of different sound like horse shoes, foot steps and different instruments.
Epilepsy Warning
In the beginning of our opening we have flashing lights when our production company appears on the screen, when I showed my sister our opening she bought to my attention that we may have to have an warning sign in the beginning of our movie to tell the audience that flashing lights do appear in case of people who may suffer from epilepsy. I knew that some movies had warning signs and some TV programmes like E4. Then I decided to research to see if it was necessary to have the epilepsy warning and what causes an epileptic fit, I used the national society for epilepsy http://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/AboutEpilepsy/Whatisepilepsy/Triggers/Photosensitiveepilepsy Can TVs, computer screens and computer games trigger photosensitive epilepsy? The organisation Ofcom regulates material shown on TV to avoid causing photosensitive seizures. Ofcom restricts the flash rate to 3 flashes or less per second, and restricts the area of screen allowed for flashing lights or alternating patterns.
Because of the size of the screen and the low intensity it is rare for seizures to be triggered by watching films in a cinema, or by hand-held miniature screens.
Interactive whiteboards, sometimes used in schools, have not been found to be a particular trigger for photosensitive epilepsy, although triggers can be individual.
A seizure can sometimes happen by chance while someone is watching TV or playing computer games or watching television, and may be a coincidence. Tiredness brought on by watching the screen for a long time, or excitement when playing computer games, may also be a factor.
Common triggers for people with photosensitive epilepsy include:
-TV, video games or computer graphics - the images that are on the screen;
-a TV or other screen that flickers slowly - the flicker rate of the screen itself;
-strobe lights;
-sunlight coming through a line of trees;
-sunlight on water;
-looking out of the window on a train; and
-looking at a moving escalator.
I found this information very interesting when seeing if the epilepsy warning was necessary, after researching about photosensitive epilepsy I think that our film will need to have a warning as the flashing light appears twice. Above is the Epilepsy warning that we have included in the beginning of our film which lasts for four and a half seconds.
Picture in Picture Transition
In our opening we wanted to add a fade transition to add interest in our opening, though when researching finding a fade in transition appeared to be harder than w
e expected. Whilst researching we found a video explaining picture in picture which I really liked though we had to drag the picture to the from corner to the opposite corner. On the right hand side is an example of the picture in picture transition, I was very happy with the picture in picture technique as I thought it worked well with our opening as we have a shot of the victim screaming and the newspapers were the headlines are 'Murder' so both of these shots work well together as they tell the audience the victim was murdered.
The video below is what we used to help us to do the picture in picture transition as we did not know how to find it. The video explains where to find the transition, how to do the transition and how to make the two clips work well together with the timing.
The Ripper Drafts (part 2)
Final draft to Ripper
Monday, 26 April 2010
Ripper Draft 9 and Audience Review
This is our ninth draft of our Ripper opening, from draft eight we changed the credits and we made the music fit the movie more. This is our eleventh draft.:
I asked my friend whether she thinks if there is anything we could improve on and she said we could improve on the music as it is good towards the murder of the victim however then the music seems to repetitive and the audience get use to the music. Though my friend said that we should keep the strings continuing after the death of the victim, however we should change the volume of the music towards the end so it could either go quieter to make the rest of the film more eerie, though the problem with making the music fade out is that it may seem more like an ending rather than an opening. Or we could make the music go louder and more chromatic this would make the opening seem more intense and dramatic which will bulid the anticipation for the rest of the movie.
This is apart of the conversation where I was discussing with my friend her opinion of what she thinks we should change about the music. My friend said we should make the music go louder in the beginning and then quieter as the victim is walking until she turns around and then when she carries on walking the music will gradually get louder. Until the women is getting murdered the music should be very loud but then the music should suddenly stop. I was thinking about my friends idea I started the imagine how the c
ould make the music go louder or quieter, I then thought when the music suddenly stops as Jack the Ripper is walking away we could have we sound of wind, as the wind is going through his cape. However, my group is now going to have a discussion considering what my friend has said and thinking if the changes would improve our film.
I then asked her what her favourite part was in the opening and she said it was where the victim turns around to check to see if any one was behind her but the camera shows a point of view shot there is no one there and during that shot the music stops for a split second. Then I asked her why that shot was her favourite and she said that the audience could feel her apprehension and she later said that the music worked really well during that shot. Overall, she thought that our opening was really good and she thought it was dramatic, I am very happy that we had a positive feedback through our audience review.The Ripper Drafts
Throughout the process of editing our opening we have changed many things such as we included different shots, adjusted contrasts and shortened shots. I wanted to show the progression of our opening as we have now finished our final of our opening.
The first draft to Ripper
This clip was from our first lesson editing our opening, we later stabilised the establishing shot as it was very shaky though the camera was on a tripod, we also cut the beginning of the opening scene as there was a jump to the shot. We added a shot of Jacks eyes quickly to scare the audience, as the viewer may only see the outline of his body, this will make them aware that he is watching the woman and that he is Jack the Ripper. We kept the shot reverse shot of the women walking, the first shot shows the woman walking, the next shot shows Jack the Ripper following her and then the last shot in the sequence shows the woman walking who is oblivious that J the R is following her. We had a high angle mid shot of Jack the Rippers feet to show that he is following her. Also, during the time we were editing the opening we thought that we was going to call the film The Silver Knife though later on we decided to change the name as we wanted something to make people more aware that our film is about Jack the Ripper and the Ripper has a harsher tone.
The second draft to Ripper
From the first draft we included new shots and we changed and shortened some other shots we used before. We included a flashback when Jack the Ripper was looking at the different articles this shows the audience that the victim was not the first victim and that she will die. After the flashback we had the victim thinking she heard something and turning around, when she turned around the shot is her point of view however in the final we shortened the point of view shot as it was too long. We also included another flashback of a picture of the victim as this shows that the victims murder was planned, we had another flashback of the newspaper articles saying 'Murder' to show the audience that he is a serial murderer, another flashback we included was Jack the Ripper circling and crossing out the victim to show that she is the target and that she died. We included a wide shot of Jack the Ripper stalking the victim and the knife is glistening, I really loved this shot because it is in night mode Jacks figure is really dark so the knife really stands out. The wide shot in this sequence has changed drastically as in this draft the shot showed the H sign which ruins the 1888 feel, however in the final draft we started the shot later on and we cropped the shot. In this draft the assault and the rape was shown, the assault shows the victim being strangled, slapped and then the rape. In the final draft we decided to make the assault implied as we thought it was too graphic for the audience in the opening and they not want to watch the rest of it. There is a close up shot of the knife which is black and white I really love this shot as the blood is dripping, in the end Jack the Ripper is walking away from the crime scene which shows the victim lying on the ground this shows that she did die. We had an ellipsis shot showing later on in the day with Jack the Ripper targeting the next victim. We did not have any music in this draft so you could hear the director and the sound of cars though in our final we had music which suits for time period.
The third draft to Ripper
This draft has changed a bit from the last draft, we stabilised the establishing shot so the camera was not shaky, we cut a couple of seconds on both of the newspaper clip as we wanted the shot to be a flash. We added some credits like we included the man who played Jack the Rippers name on his top hat and when the turned his head the name disappeared. The point of view shot showing the lamp has been shortened as if the shot was on as long as it was before the audience may be able to see where Jack the Ripper was hidden. The shot of the photograph of the victim is shorter so it seems more like a flash, the flash could represent the short life span that the victim has as she is young. We cropped the wide shot showing the victim and Jack the Ripper following her so the H sign is not in the shot anymore, this makes our film less contemporary. Also, we made the walking in this shot faster as it could be seen as boring and the audience looses interest. We included a shot of Jack the Ripper looking at the picture of the victim on a wall this makes it seem like he is laughing and remembering the murder. We made the shot of Jack the Ripper crossing out the victim slower to make it more dramatic and the close up of the knife we made the colouring red to represent blood and the death of the victim and the other victims. Jack the Ripper walking away from the crime scene is longer to make the scene more dramatic and intense, after the shot of Jack the Ripper circling the next victim we included a shot of Jack the Rippers eyes which is shown near the beginning of the opening. We included the title at the end of the opening as we thought it suited well though in our final version we placed the credits in the beginning as at the end it seems like a trailer.
The fourth draft to Ripper
In draft 4 we made the credits larger as before the credits weren't very big for the actors name and after researching we noticed that hardly any films have the main characters names small. We made the picture of the victim quicker than it was in draft 3 so if the audience blinked during that shot they will miss it. Also, we made the credits last longer as in draft 3 they usually lasted for two seconds.
Fifth draft to Ripper
In this draft we used a fade in transitions for the newspaper clips and we mixed the screaming of the victim with the newspaper clips this makes the opening more interesting and it reminds me of when people feel faint so it could show the victim slipping in to unconsciousness. In this draft we wanted to experiment with different ways we could use credits, we added black screens with our names in red font in the middle of the screen. However, the black screen was only used for James Mansfields name and the rest of the names were where they were before, we decided to do this as his name was not on the screen for the same amount of time.
Sixth draft to Ripper
In draft six we introduced music in to our opening, I really like our music as I feel it suits the theme of our film. However, when adding the music to our video we noticed that some sounds from filming volume has increased so we will have to mute that in the next draft. None of the editing of the camera angles has changed since the last draft though we will have to fit the music to the opening so some sounds will go well with some camera shots which will intensify some scenes.
Seventh draft to Ripper
In this draft we included the production company which was J.E.D.I Productions, in the background was a logo. From the last draft we changed the mid shot of the feets contrast so the shot is more grey so the audience can see the feet and we changed the credits so our names to do appear on a black screen. I really liked the font as it reminded me of Jack the Rippers handwriting in the letters he wrote though in the final draft we changed the font.
Eighth draft to Ripper
In draft eight we changed the production companies name and the shot, we used extra footage and placed the production companies name on the top of the shot. We fitted the music with the opening to the film, I really like when the victim turns around and the music stop for a split second I think this adds fear to the audience. We changed the font that we used in our credits as in this font the names are clearer, though the title of our film is still in the same font as it was before. We made the credits larger and we got rid of the ending of the last draft as with the title of the film the opening seemed more like an ending to a film. Also, we added jobs above our names e.g. Screenplay by
Dominique Shiells Edwards
We made the close up of the knife shot fit in with the music so when there was a ding when the victim is getting crossed of, I really like this shot as I think the music, the shot, the colouring of the shot and the positioning of where we put the shot fits really well.
