(Research and Planning) Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

The comedy genre is highly enjoyed around the world. This would be because of the humorous antics that take place within the film.

Austin Powers is a very popular film in the comedy genre, this would mainly be because of the main character Austin Powers. In addition to being a parody of James Bond and clearly being heavily influenced by Peter Sellers, Austin Powers represents an archetype of 1960s Swinging London, with his constant advocacy for free love.

People find this a fun film to watch because Austin although being the most famous agent in England he has many weaknesses, mainly being women. All together he is a buffoon but somehow manages to get his job done, though having a lot of problems throughout the way.



Another reason for this being such a popular film would be because of Austin's arch nemesis Dr. Evil. Like Austin Dr. Evil is a buffoon who's plans to take over the world never seem to work. This would be because his plans are extremely eccentric and and altogether just plain stupid. He is always wanting to have new devices made for him one of which being sharks with lasers on their heads. This is a very good example of just how stupid he is, he always wants things that would work if he had them and knew how to use them. But unfortunately he doesn't have them and when he does then he rarely knows how to use them. Even when they are as simply as an electronic rotating chair.

Another factor about him would be the way that he says "Laser" he seems to always put a unnecessary pause before saying it and includes finger movements to euthanizes what he is saying when there is no need to.
As shown here





Opening two minuets of Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery


Within the opening two minuets we begin with seeing Dr. Evil talking to a room filled with highly trained assassins. He continues to say that he is very annoyed because none of them have managed to kill the famous agent Austin Powers. He tells them that when he gets angry then his cat gets annoyed and that when his cat (Mr. Bigglesworth) gets annoyed then people die. Besides the fact that a man of pure evil has named his cat Mr. Bigglesworth he uses him as a reason to kill some of the assassins.

After seeing him kill some of the assassins we then cut to where we see Austin Powers for the first time. dressed in a blue stripy suit and dancing in a very eccentric way, we are based with the idea of flower power that would explain most of the moves, but Austin takes them to a whole new level by making the moves even bigger then what they were originally.

From this we also learn the tune to Austins theam song. A catchy song that will obviously get stuck in your head. Austin continues to dance his way down the street to this song while trying to get as many people to join in as he can.

The audience would be amused by this because we have already learned two of the main characters and how they obviously don't like each other. Also how the villain of the film owns a cat named Mr. Bigglesworth. We then conclude by meeting the main character and in extreme dance moves.

People who enjoy comedys are looking for a film that is going to make them smile, they don't want a subject that is too serious because that just takes the amusement out of what they are watching.

Music Research (Light)

In a previous post I said that I wanted an up beat rock song for my opening two minuets. After doing some more research and looking through YouTube I have also found another type of song that I could use instead. It is once again Rock genre but instead of it being up beat and agressive this song is slower and calmer with lyrics that fit to the situation that my main character will be in.

In some cases an action film has used a soft song within their film, this allows the audience to connect th music more to the emotion of the character or maybe even what kind of person they are. The songs that they choose normally have meaningful lyrics.



Lyrics:
Another day in this carnival of souls
Another night's sands end as quickly as it goes
The memories are shadows; ink on the page
And I can't seem to find my way home

And it's almost like
Your heaven's trying everything
Your heaven's trying everything
To keep me out

All the places I've been and things I've seen
A million stories that made up a million shattered dreams
The faces of people I'll never see again
And I can't seem to find my way home

Cause it's almost like
Your heaven's trying everything
To break me down
Cause it's almost like
Your heaven's trying everything
To keep me out

Cause it's almost like
Your heaven's trying everything
To break me down
Cause it's almost like
Your heaven's trying everything
Your heaven's trying everything
To break me down
To break me down

To break me down
Your heavens trying everything
Your heavens trying everything
To break me down





Lyrics:
Oh, dear mother, I love you
I'm sorry, I wasn't good enough
Dear father, forgive me
'Cause in your eyes, I just never added up
In my heart I know I failed you, but you left me here alone


If I could hold back the rain, would you numb the pain?
'Cause I remember everything.
If I could help you forget, would you take my regrets?
'Cause I remember everything.

Oh, dear brother, just don't hate me
For never standing by you or being by your side
Dear sister, please don't blame me
I only did what I thought was truly right
It's a long and lonely road, when you know you walk alone

If I could hold back the rain, would you numb the pain?
'Cause I remember everything.
If I could help you forget, would you take my regrets?
'Cause I remember everything.

I feel like running away
I'm still so far from home
You say that I'll never change
But what the fuck do you know?
I'll burn it all to the ground before I let you in
Please forgive me, I can't forgive you now.
I remember everything.


If I could hold back the rain, would you numb the pain?
'Cause I remember everything.
If I could help you forget, would you take my regrets?
'Cause I remember everything.

It all went by so fast;
I still can't change the past
I always will remember everything
If we could start again,
Would that have changed the end?
We remember everything, everything.

Questionnaire

Age?
[  ] 10-15   [  ] 16-20   [  ] 21-25   [  ] 26-30   [  ] 31-35

[  ] 36-40   [  ] 41-45   [  ] 46-50   [  ] 50+


What film genre do you enjoy most?
[  ] Action   [  ] Comedy   [  ] Horror   [  ] Adventure   [  ] Crime/Gangster 

[  ] Drama   [  ] Historical   [  ] Musical   [  ] Si-Fi   [  ] War

[  ] Western


What do you like about action films?
[  ] Fight scenes   [  ] Chase scenes   [  ] Plot   [  ] Characters   [  ] Gun fights


Within the first 2 minutes of an action film what do you expect to see?

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Casting Change: Lee Davidson

I have chosen Lee to play the part of 'The Boss' this is a very small role but essential.
Lee has been a friend of mine for many years now and I know that he will be willing to help in any way he can. He stared in the Preliminary Task of Nick Ashurst and Philip Smith.


For the role of 'The Boss' the audience will only see the lower half of his face. This is so they don't know who 'The Boss' is. He will answer a phone, once the brief phone convosation is over he will hang up and crack a small smile.

Casting Change: Jack Matthews

I have chosen to cast Jack as the target. This is because I feel that I can trust Jack to fill the role which I need him to play, Jack's role will require him needing to trust that I can do what I want to show in the opening 2 mins.

We have rehearsed the scene which will require him to trust me a few times to make sure that it is possible for us to do, this scene is where I kill Jack's character by breaking his neck. Jack has been a good friend and knows that he can trust me, the feeling is the same from me to him.

I have done acting with Jack for 3 years now so I feel comfortable with Jack doing this role. He feels comfortable doing a scene where his neck is broken for he has done a similar scene before, I feel confident that we will be able to do this scene in a convincing way.

Jack's character isn't given a name, only referred to as '59' (his 59th target).
We start of by seeing him leaning up against a tree looking up at the sky talking to someone on the phone, he will then hang up and turn and look at Jacob. Then will move on to telling him how he has been a pain in their business for many year and he is going to enjoy killing him, while in this rant he will turn to face away for Jacob. Jacob at this point will break free from his bonds without '59' seeing. Turning back around to see that Jacob is gone will invoke fear and panic. Forcing him to remove a gun from his belt.
We then move to where Jacob apears from the side of '59' and kills him, the body of '59' will be placed in a bush out of sight.

Casting Change: Matthew Beacham

I wanted to have Jack as the main character Jacob Frost because I know I can get the job done, I know that I will take the role seriously and will be willing to do what I need for the scene.

I have been acting for a about 5 years now so I think I will be able to handle the type of character that I have given myself. I know what I want to do with the character and know that I can do what I need.

My character is a highly trained Hit-man who within the opening 2 mins we see tied up, this will give the audience the idea that the film is not focused on him but focused on the person who made him like this, he will be a little 'roughed up', gagged and hands and legs tied behind him. The scene will then carry on to have him breaking free of these bonds and disapearing, only to then appear behind his caprivator and then killing him.
The body will then be hid in a near by bush, I will pull out a phone from the body and continue to call someone (My Boss), he will have a very small covosation with the person on the other line, hang up and place the phone in his pocket. The continue to walk off into the nearby town.

Music Research (Heavy)

Action film seem to contain more of a rock genre. This would be because they have a sense to them that would get the blood pumping.
The inclusion of music within a film is a great way to fill a silence that doesn't need to be there but more importantly they help us see what the character is like. The music that they play when focused on one character will in some form of way relate to that character, it would look weird if you were looking at Batman and in the background could hear Taylor Swift.
This means that time has to be taken to think about what music would suit each character.

Another thing about music would be that it allows the film to build tension, when there is a tense scene you will normally hear a very on edge form of music playing. This is a way of making the audience feel anctious about what they are watching, they will be on the edge of their seat and want to know what is coming next, this music will either be followed by a sudden even happening or with the music dieing down and the scene carrying on normally.



For my opening 2 mins I would like to include a bit of music so the audience get a sence of who the character is, but this is difficult due to the fact we are not able to use any music that has been created by an artist, this causes a lot of problems from the music because it is difficult to find non-copy righted rock music.


The music which I would like to include would sounds something like this.



Lyrics:

Listen up
There's not a moment to spare
It's quite a drop from the top
So how you feeling down there

It's a cold, cruel, harsh, reality
Caught, stuck, here with your enemies

Who do you think you are?
Tearing us all apart
Where did you think you could go?
'Cause everyone already knows
It's 20 to 1
Yeah, so you better run

You got the world on it's knees
You're taking all that you please
You want more
(You want more?)
But you'll get nothing from me
You're like the burden we bear
You're all the hate that we share
You want more
But you'll get nothing from me
But enemies!
Enemies!

You started something that you just couldn't stop
You turn the ones that you love
Into the angriest mob

And the one, last, wish is that you pay for it
And there's, no, way you're getting out of it

Who do you think you are!
Tearing us all apart
Where did you think you could go?
'Cause everyone already knows
It's 20 to 1
Yeah, so you better run

You got the world on it's knees
You're taking all that you please
You want more
(You want more?)
But you'll get nothing from me
You're like the burden we bear
You're all the hate that we share
You want more
But you'll get nothing from me
But enemies!
Enemies!
Enemies!

Where did you think you could go
'Cause everyone already knows
It's 20 to 1
Yeah, so you better run

You got the world on it's knees
You're taking all that you please
You want more
(You want more?)
But you'll get nothing from me
You're like the burden we bear
You're all the hate that we share
You want more
(You want more?)
But you'll get nothing from me

You got the world on it's knees
You're taking all that you please
You want more
But you'll get nothing from me
You're like the burden we bear
You're all the hate that we share
You want more
(You want more?)
But you'll get nothing from me
But enemies
Enemies!
Enemies!


 

Lyrics:
You walk on like a woman in suffering
Won't even bother now to tell me why
You come alone, letting all of us savor the moment
Leaving me broken another time
You come on like a bloodstained hurricane
Leave me alone, let me be this time
You carry on like a holy man pushing redemption
I don't want to mention, the reason I know

That I am stricken and can't let you go
When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know
That I am crippled by all that you've done
Into the abyss will I run

You don't know what your power has done to me
I want to know if I'll heal inside
I can't go on with a holocaust about to happen
Seeing you laughing another time
You'll never know why your face has haunted me
My very soul has to bleed this time
Another hole in the wall of my inner defenses
Leaving me breathless, the reason I know

That I am stricken and can't let you go
When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know
That I am crippled by all that you've done
Into the abyss will I run

Into the abyss will I run

You walk on like a woman in suffering
Won't even bother now to tell me why
You come alone, letting all of us savor the moment
Leaving me broken another time
You come on like a bloodstained hurricane
Leave me alone, let me be this time
You carry on like a holy man pushing redemption
I don't want to mention, the reason I know

That I am stricken and can't let you go
When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know
That I am crippled by all that you've done
Into the abyss will I run

Into the abyss will I run
I can't let you go
Yes I am stricken and can't let you go






Lyrics:
The secret side of me
I never let you see
I keep it caged
But I can't control it
So stay away from me
The beast is ugly
I feel the rage
And I just can't hold it
It's scratching on the walls
In the closet, in the halls
It comes awake
And I can't control it
Hiding under the bed
In my body, in my head
Why won't somebody come and save me from this?
Make it end!

[Chorus]
I feel it deep within,
It's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster
I hate what I've become
The nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster
I feel like a monster

My secret side I keep
Hid under lock and key
I keep it caged
But I can't control it
Cause if I let him out
He'll tear me up
And break me down
Why won't somebody come and save me from this?
Make it end!

I feel it deep within,
It's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster
I hate what I've become
The nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster
I feel like a monster

It's hiding in the dark
It's teeth are razor sharp
There's no escape for me
It wants my soul,
It wants my heart
No one can hear me scream
Maybe it's just a dream
Or maybe it's inside of me
Stop this monster!

[Chorus]
I feel it deep within,
It's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster
I hate what I've become
The nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster

I feel it deep within,
It's just beneath the skin
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster
I'm gonna lose control
Here's something radical
I must confess that I
Feel like a monster

I, I feel like a monster
I, I feel like a monster
I, I feel like a monster
I, I feel like a monster

(Research & Planning) Neck Break Sound Effect

Within my 2 min clip I want someone to be killed by having their neck broke, this will mean needing the sound effect of a neck break. After looking through YouTube for a realistic neck breaking sound I decided to have this one.



I find that this sound clip sounds the most realistic.

Chosen Which Idea Change

I have chosen to change my idea to idea 2.
This is because I fell that the my second idea would work better at keeping the audience entertained for the first 2 mins without the audience getting bored. I plan to give the audience the idea that the person who has been captured seems absolutely helpless, this will then have a bigger reaction when the captive breaks out and kills his captivator.

By starting with having a man who is in a helpless situation it will grip the auience because they will think 'how did this man get like that?' 'what did he do to make people want to do that to him?' and more.

When people watch an action film they want to be gripped by the neck and dragged into the action as soon as possible. I will be trying to do this by having someone be killed in the first 2 mins.

Hit-man films tend to have a sence of mystery to them, I plan on including this by not showing one of the the characters faces, this will give the audience the sence that he is going to be a key character for this Hit-man and by not showing his face the audience will be trying to figure out who the man is who hired him.

Another factor about action films that focus on the sub-genre hit-men is that a lot of the films names link to the name of the hit-man that the film focuses around.


Name of film: Frost Bite

Name of Hit-man: Jacob Frost



Casting
Hit-man: Jack Matthews
Target: Matthew Creasey
Boss: Lee Davidson

Change in idea?

Thinking about my idea I have began to see flaus in my opening to min clip. For instance it will be hard to include both a fight scene and a chace scene within a 2 min clip. Also assassin's don't tend to be confrunted in hand to hand combat.

After seeing the flaus I have decided to rethink my idea.

My change in idea is a complete change in what I want to include, but I can't decied which idea to use between my two new ones.




1.
2 people sitting in a park watching the scenery having a convosation about birds. They talk for a while about the birds and how they are free. The convosation changes to the human sences and how they can be easily decieved. One man points towards a tree and continues to talk, the other man looks over where he is pointing but when he looks back the man is gone, the camera pans to reviel the man standing behind the man then he breaks the man sitting downs neck. Continuing to talk to the now dead body he sits back down next to it. Then pulling out his phone he rings someone. We then cut to see a phone in a dark room ringing and someone pick it up, cut we to a extreme close up of the persons mouth as he awnsers and talks to the assassin. Never revealing who this man is.




2.
A man standing against a tree with a person behind him bound and mouth gaged. The man is looking around to make sure that no one is in the area. After seeing that everything is clear he walks over to his prisoner and begins to talk to them as if to taunt them. He talks about how he is the cat and the prisoner is the mouse and that it was just a matter of time till he was caught. The man then turns to face away from the prisoner for a few seconds then turns back. The prisoner is gone and the rope and mouth gag is on the floor. Looking around in panic the man pulls out a gun ready to defend himself. After looking around for a few seconds the man begins to walk towards the exit, hoping that he is in the clear. When he hears something hit the ground behind him, turning rapidly gun in hand pointing, ready to shoot. But no one is there, suddenly the prisoner appeard behind him, in a swift movement grabs the gun so he is unable to shoot and breaks his neck. he then drags the body over to a opening in a bush. Once placing the body in the bush he pulls out the phone from the dead body, cut to a phone ringing in a room, the phone is picked up, we see the mans mouth but nothing else as he says 'Is it done?' We cut back to the prisoner who replys 'Yes, now let them go.' Cut back to the man who says 'You still have some jobs to do.' Then hangs up. Not revealing who he is.

Chris Harrison

(Not yet confurmed)

I have chosen Chris to play the role of the the assassin 'X'. this is because he does free-running and I thought it would be a good idea that 'X' would be adgile and able to get out of tight situations quickly.

I have been friends with Chris for many years and I know that he will be willing to do what he can to make the scene look authentic.

Rebbeca Steel

Bekky is a close personal friend who I have known for about 3/4 years. She also goes to the drama group which I am involved in. I have been in a few of her short remakes which she posts on YouTube and I helped her last year with her A level media work. I know she will be willing to help me out and will be up for any role I give her.

The role I have chosen to give her isn't a big role but one which I feel is nessercary to get across to the audience who 'X' is. She will play the target. She will only be shown for a short while. She will be tied up and then have her neck broken by 'X'

I wanted to use a female to play the victim because it gives that sence of helplessness. I thought this would be good for the audience to get a sence of the assassin's personality.

Jack Matthews

I have chosen to cast Jack because he is a close friend of mine who I know I can rely on. we both go to the same drama group and I know he can act and take the job he is given seriously. Me and Jack have known each other for 3 years now and I know I would be able to trust him with my life, this is how I know I can count on him to get the job done.

He has had some training in stage fighting this is why I would like to cast him for the part of Hit-man2. Both Hit-man 1 & 2 have a fight with the assassin know as 'X' I know that Jack will be up for being 'beaten up' for the scene. He knows what he needs to do and is willing to go all out.

Matthew Creasey

I have chosen to cast myself in opening 2 min.This is because I know what I would like and it would be handy to be able to get an inside view at what I am doing.
I have been in a few productions so I have acting experience, I feel that this will come in handy making the scenes look realistic.

I didn't want to cast myself as the main part, I have chosen to cast myself as Hit-man one, this is because within the 2mins I hope to include a short fight scene. I have done stage fighting before and I am not afraid to throw myself around. This also mean I will know where our limitations lie when it comes to the fight.

It also comes in handy due to the fact that I know the area, and it is handy for what I want to do, I need to know where I was the chase to go and make sure that it doesn't interfere with any public events.

Fight Scene

Within my 2 min clip I would like to include a fight scene
This will take preseaison and time, but I feel that with the right amount of percerverance it will look great. I have done some research into fight scenes and have looked at a few clips of them to see how they are done prefessionally. They pake precesion but look great when they have been edited and put together.



Within this fight scene we see a normal fight to begin with. But turns into a fight in which no one would have guessed. After seeing Sherlock get beaten up he then beings to break down his next move and how he will counter the moves of the opposing fighter.
We see how he predicts the moves of his opponent and thinks about how he can win the fight with ease.
Once the break down is completed (After taking about 5 mins) Sherlock puts it into action. We see Sherlock perform perfectly every move which he spoke about this takes a matter of seconds to complete.
This would have taken a lot or refersal to get perfect and good inuf to be included in the film.

Fight scenes are commonly found within a action film and from what I have created sofar with my idea for my clip I think a fight scene would fit in well with the idea.

Film Certificate

Film Certificate

The U symbol stands for Universal. A U film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. However, it is impossible to predict what might upset a particular child, especially at this lower end of the category range.

 













PG stands for Parental Guidance. This means a film is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for younger children. A PG film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. Parents should consider whether the content might upset younger or more sensitive children.















12A means that anyone aged 12 or over can go and see the film unaccompanied. The A stands for 'accompanied' and 'advisory'. Children younger than 12 may see the film if they are accompanied by an adult (eg someone over the age of 18), who must watch the film with them.














No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a ‘15’ rated DVD. 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.
















Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy/rent an 18 rated DVD. No 18 rated works are suitable for children.

(Research and Planning) Gone In Sixty Seconds opening 2 mins

(3:20-5:20)

In the first 2 minds of Gone In 60 Seconds we have already plunged into the the danger, we see 3 men in a car talking about the location to a Porsche. Once they find it an argument begins about how they shouldn't steal a car that is in a car shop, especially one that is on the rotating platform. One man does not care and gets out the car claiming that he needed to get his tools. But pulls out a brick. From this the audience are already beginning to get a sense of the danger that this group of people get themselves into, they have been told to go and steal a car that requires them breaking into a shop, and they do so by throwing a brick against the window. This allows the audience to get the idea that maybe these people are new to the car boosting business. They are yet to be able to confidently steal a car. Although one man shows confidence in what he is doing it also allows the audience to see that this is also his weakness, he is too head strong and sometimes doesn't know when it is time to quit this could cause a problem for the groups later within the film, this will be making the audience want to continue watching and find out what happens to the group and their job.

(Research and Planning) Sound

With our final 2 min clip we are not allowed to use any copy-righted music this means that we will either have to create our own music that will fit in with our clip or we will have to search for music that isn't copy-righted. This is most probable because they would like us to be as original as we can, not relying on a famous soundtrack to take the liking of our audience.


For my 2 min clip I would like to have as little non-diegetic sound as possible, I want the audience to be fully focused on what they see in the first few seconds, this is because it will not make sense to them and that will allow them to think and not get sidetracked by the music/sound. I will include the diegetic sound of the characters talking and what you can hear from the scene around them.

When we reach a certain point within my scene I will begin to include the non-diegetic sound that will begin to make the audience feel that the tension within the scene has risen, this will give the audience the feel that what they are about to see may be a key element within the film that they will need to remember.