In order to make the short believable, I felt as though I needed to actually make the game which the characters would be playing in the short. These are just a few examples of the cards that would be on the different tables throughout the different rooms in "The Club", some cards of which are better than others - 'Next Contestant' for instance would pass on the turn to someone else, taking the tension away from the Contestant who was previously playing. Others for instance are worse than others and will either permanently put a Contestant out of the game or put them in a position where it would be wise for them to quit.
I tried to keep the look of the cards simple and yet somewhat professional, as though somewhere within this universe in the short, there is a street gang who makes the cards, who are then employed by the managers of "The Club", and ship crates of the cards in weekly to use for the various different groups of people who are willing to play.
One of the good things I have picked up on about short films is they only require a limited amount of resources to film and only a few various locations to film on, for a basic short film. My initial idea for my A2 media product being an elaborate story following a character that has been brainwashed by the government to conform to certain stock-character archetypes, would have required a worrying amount of costumes and props, locations and potentially make-up to make that world seem believable on the motion picture.
A film that has always fascinated me is The Blair Witch Project (1999) as not only did it set in motion a new genre of horror (found footage), but the budget for the movie was a mere 60,000 dollars, making over £14 million in the UK box office alone on release. A movie that was put together on such a limited budget for the time, had wrapped filming within a week, was able to gather such a huge cult following years after the film had been made really draws attention to the fact that with a good team working on the project, the budget for props and costumes becomes less and less of a drawback to the overall project.
The Sound Effects I require for the short consists of:
Card Snap/shuffling effect
Gunshot effect
Footsteps effect
Knocking on door effect
Door creaking open effect
Punching effect
Woman screaming effect
I sourced these effects from SoundBible.com, however as the editing phase begins after filming has wrapped I may feel as though some effects don't work as well as I though they would or maybe I didn't need the effect at all.
Directed by Alex Colonna, Black Mask(2014) is a short film about a young daughter who manifests a dark entity, mysteriously being linked to her father's dark past. Upon initially viewing the poster, I immediately though that it was very conventional. It attempts to recreate certain conventions that make up traditional Horror movie stock-characters. one of the most significant is the use of a young girl being used as the catalyst for the 'dark entity' to animate and use to terrorise the father.
In intertextual terms, one of the most culturally striking movies in which this is done is The Exorcist (1973) which pushed the psychological boundaries on the relationship of the father and daughter, the father witnessing this entity destroying and tormenting her daughter's body.
What intrigued me about this product in particular is when the image of what girl was drawing in the trailer was revealed, it wasn't accompanied by a loud sound effect to create a jump scare, it was a slow build to the reveal and then the reveal left the audience with an eerie sound, which I feel creates a more sinister affect than using a loud sound to simply scare the audience. The child like scrawls on the canvas in Black Mask was similar to the book used in the Babadook (2014), when upon first watching this movie, the way it is incorporated into the narrative, creates a simialar tone of unease and tension.
The opening to Bad Romance appears as though it is the conclusion to the video, due to the fact that by the end of the video she has reached the highest point of fame that is fairly comparable to her own fame. Extravagant clothing, her wealth and popularity clearly expressed in product placement (Dr Dre, various jewelry, various alcohol). This editing choice is reflected in various motion pictures (Mission: Impossible III, Limitless and Memento) to the effect of both intriguing the audience with what the possible conclusion could be but also being able to allude through Act 1 and Act 2 of the production of the conclusion. As the light appears through the windows it symbolises in a way that it's time to open up a new batch of artists that the industry can manipulate and exploit. The nonchalant nature of how these key industry members operate creates an underline sinister tone for the beginning of the video. Sinister tones which appear in a majority of Lady Gaga's videos, similar to the underline theme of suicide among Gaga's house tenders in the video "Paparazzi".
The opening shots of the narrative focuses the rising light onto several white pods, one of which having 'Monster' on the front in red, accompanied by the The Christian Cross on the front. Creating connotations of that the people who have her captive are aware of who she is and the title 'Monster' acts as a warning for the people who are about to use, and exploit her. In conjunction with the shots of them leaving their pods in the next scene, the room, the pods and their latex outfits are all pure white. Connoting clearly that these characters are innocent and vulnerable to the world. Each one of their eyes is covered by their latex headpieces, emphasising the point of them being young, so naive to all of the problems in the world at this point in the development, growing into the music industry.
There are also various shots throughout the entire video which emphases the imagery of Lady Gaga doing a Feline styled dance move or with camera tricks or special effects makes herself look like a feline. In comparison with a shot later of her looking very animistic and inside of a cage connotes feelings of her being an animal locked inside of a cage, the cage perhaps representing the unequal power struggle in the music industry. Gaga using this video to make a statement on the music industry being equal to that of various mistreatment of animals practices that occur all over the world.
Another character which Lady Gaga portrays in this video is that of a Ginger haired woman in a bathtub. It can be seen that this is the purest version of Gaga we seen in the entire video and in conjunction with her emphasised wide eyes, it connotes feeling similar to what was shown before of her naivety to this world being the most prominent message expressed here. The bathtub in particular can be placed specifically to symbolise messages of Cleansing of values or washing away any past beliefs before the character is given the drink which conforms her to become tainted and operative in this world.
The significance of women making her conform to the music industries demands could be that even though these women are given a degree of power in the video, they still work for men (which is shown not soon after this shot), which reflects also the concept of the Glass Ceiling which is argued to be the most opposing force against in today's society against women. Again Gaga is trying to create multiple statements in her video about people's mistreatment, people's perception of fame and even challenging her own fans and asking why they should support this inequality.
Having her arms stretched out as she is stripped by the women gives clear symbolism to religious imagery of Jesus being on the cross; Persecution, Inequality and injustice are all prevalent here in this shot. These shots of this character being converted to work for the industry are interspliced with smaller shots of another form of Gaga who is crying in front of a high angle shot. This can be interpreted as being Lady Gaga's inner voice crying out for help and presenting a darker interpretation of the term 'Bad Romance'. One which emphasises the points of oppression and inequality in this hard career.
Throughout the entire video there are constant comparisons between Gaga willingly appeasing to what she's told to do (her duties) and her clearly showing an unwillingness to go through with them. This is another obvious toned down version of how sex slaves who are forced into sex-work are drugged to be easily manipulated and abused by who ever "owns" them.
Each man who is bidding thousands to win Lady Gaga can be interpreted as being a CEO of a different music company who wants Gaga, trying to outbid each other after seeing how much Gaga is showing how much she wants to be bought. Another strong message can be interpreted from this as Lady Gaga may be trying to challenge actually who is to blame for this "bad romance" between the artists and the music industry, and if by the artist doing everything they can to appeal to a particular record label, is it actually their fault when news is released about controversies of inequality or abuse.
I want your ugly (What Lady Gaga may be trying convey here is some self awareness to he situation. She is aware that she's a sex slave for the industry and yet she wants everything the industry she has to give to her, no matter what it does to her or other people's perception of why she wants it.) I want your disease I want your everything As long as it’s free I want your love Love-love-love I want your love
As the music video reaches its final Act, Gaga rapprochements her buyer to have sex with him on a bed that is overlooked by 2 animal heads. In conducting research into my AS movie project "Solemn Silence", I noticed that in this shot in particular that the animals heads in the background, conveniently placed each above Gaga's hands are in fact Gazelles, and is commonly a representation of the 14th century deity Baphomet. This same symbolism is seen in the videos "Paparazzi" above the lovers' bed, and in "G.U.Y" she represents herself as Lucifer, the fallen angel.
In conjunction with the next series of shots as she seemingly willingly goes to the man to have sex with him, ultimately giving herself up to him, it appears as though this shot is supposed to convey that she is sacrificing her buyer to Baphomet who is then consumed by the deity, not herself. The ending cross cuts between the fire behind Gaga and her dancing in red clothing, obvious connotations of; blood, sacrifice, love, passion, poison. All of which have been explored in this music video. By the end of the video, Gaga and the Gazelle heads are the only things in the shot not to be burned, and her buyer is a burnt skeleton next to her who was merely a tool for her to achieve fame, which is what she wanted and did so by turning to system against itself.
The opening and story specific moments in this music video are shot almost like a short movie. This is the beginning of the artists, Lady Gaga, experiment at blending elements of music video and movie together. The opening shot appears as though the audience is looking at the sky through a camera lens, giving us a forced perspective of what to look at. The various shots of the luxurious villa and the expensive interior draw heavy attention to the basic point that Lady Gaga is successful and wealthy, very similar to Johnny Cash's "Hurt", in the sense that the artist is at the end of her rope so-to-speak, and her fame is in fact on the decline, but done in a less somber tone.
The 1940s noir style titles that appear through the opening are reminiscent of Golden Age Hollywood movies, which is done to convey again that Lady Gaga is experimenting with the genre of video she has created. The constant emphasis on trying new things and experimenting is very prominent in Lady Gaga's life as she encourages her fans (The Little Monsters) to be freaky and try new things, as expressed numerously in her fashion. Again, close ups of spilled jewels and her own currency thrown over her bedroom is done to convey that she is a very successful artist. The lack of care and safe keeping of her items can also convey that the artist is portraying what happens to any artist when they've been successful for a time and are almost on the decline, both in fame and in the media, as a sort of open question like - "So what's next?" The "Dr. Dre Beats Headphones" in the same shot is just one of the examples of product placement throughout this entire video. Done simply to promote a fellow artists product for a large sum of money. The same placement being shown in earlier videos such as "Poker Face"Dior being another that the artists wears almost throughout the entire video. The blue and white colour scheme allude to the location being in Sweden. Alexander Skarsgård is Swedish also, and they are talking in Swedish. The location of the villa is actually in Los Angeles, called Villa de Leon, but first impressions from the audience would show us that she's in an exotic setting with her exotic setting, when in actual fact she's in the same place where it is very popular for celebrities to live. The hidden paparazzi is able to take shots of the two on the balcony as they are kissing, and the boyfriend quickly notices them. He may have allowed them to take photos of them because if anything was to come of it, he would be able to get his face out in the media and get noticed by someone. As the situation becomes increasingly tense with both characters becoming erratic over the paparazzi, the pitch and speed of the shutter on the camera effects becoming higher and faster, reflecting the rise in tension. However when Lady Gaga sees the camera she freaks out and ultimately falls from the balcony. Sparking headlines such as 'LADY GA GA HITS ROCK BOTTOM', which in terms of the narrative begins her descent into not being relevant in the media. However, it also begins her assent to becoming relevant again as she tries different tactics throughout to gain media attention and get her fans back, which is resolved at the end of the video.
As a creative decision, she customises her neck brace and contorts herself to appear as though she is near disabled after the accident. The metallic gold leotard she wears which is seemingly a homage to the 1920s movie "Metropolis", crafting Gaga herself as the character Maria, who in the movie aims to bring the two opposing sides together in unity. the two sides in the video are perhaps allusions to the Paparazzi and Celebrities, or Celebrities and their fans etc. It is most likely that her "impression" of disability would cause a high amount of controversy, but it did not cause any. In fact coming up to the release of another one of Lady Gaga's song releases "Lovegame" was deemed to controversial due to it's lyrics and music video. Gaga instead released "Paparazzi" which was acclaimed for it's popularity and 'good club nature song'.
Her latex attire she dons as the song reaches the chorus is perhaps done intentionally to engage some media reaction and ironically make headlines, within a song about making headlines. After the chorus ends there are various shots of supposedly Lady Gaga's assistants around her house who having seemingly died or committed suicide. An interpretation of this could be that with Gaga taking a hiatus away from the spotlight, those who used to help her now have no purpose in life now that they can no longer serve her and so they commit suicide, or it may be that the boyfriend killed them all. Both being dark interpretations of these dark images already in this video. Close to the finally of the song, quick flashes from cameras have Lady Gaga backed into a corner which clearly represents how at times she may feel as though the media and paparazzi, as their livelihood depends on her, force her to stand and pose for her. Creating both a visual representation of how Lady Gaga may feel with all the media attention she gains leading it to sometimes become to overwhelming, representing her as a victim of the media and fame.
The ending to the video sees Gaga back at some kind of estate with her old boyfriend, in her hand she reads a magazine with the headline 'THE NEW IT GIRL' and NO MORE LADY GAGA'. Acting as a representation of how the media attention can be all over a star one day and then gone the next. Similar to how Lady Gaga portrays she feels hounded by the media in the segment just before, she explores how the complicated relationship between balancing fame and love, or if she can only have or the other.
Lady Gaga herself described the song as being 'a real, genuine, powerful message about fame-whoring and death and the demise of the celebrity, and what that does to young people. The video explores ideas about sort of hyperbolic situations that people will go to in order to be famous. Most specifically, pornography and murder. These are some of the major themes in the video' (Chorus) I'm your biggest fan I'll follow you until you love me Papa-paparazzi (This line in particular is as though it's from the perspective from the Paparazzi themselves. Claiming how they will follow her until they love her. Creating a subtle sinister tone to the meaning, and in turn a sinister tone back onto the Paparazzi) Baby there's no other superstar You know that I'll be Your papa-paparazzi Promise I'll be kind But I won't stop until that boy is mine Baby you'll be famous (Although similar to the line earlier, this focuses on a 'boy', which could be calling back to the boyfriend in the video, and Lady Gaga herself is represented here as the Paparazzi. Reflecting the same sinister tones in following someone behind the lens of a camera) Chase you down until you love me Papa-paparazzi
After Lady Gaga's fall near the beginning of the movie she is spiralling down with a mesmerising spiral behind her, perhaps foreshadowing that by the end of the video we will all be mesmerised by her. The spinning mesmerisation and other themes of paranoia and suspicion are very similar to the opening of the movie "Vertigo" by Alfred Hitchcock. The segment of paranoia and stalking shown at the start of the music video also is representative of John Ferguson stalking Madeleine Elster. The final scene follows similar conventions of early thriller motifs in the sense that the character has been shown going through their struggle and problem, established in Act 1, they have battled in Act 2, and Act 3 ends with the revenge.
In particular, this last scene focuses on Gaga herself murdering her boyfriend to gain that same fame she had and thus stabilising the Theory of Equilibrium, which was broken in the beginning of the video. The controversial fame behind Gaga leaving to go to jail is comparable to the same controversial fame that followed Marilyn Monroe for years. The various sex scandals, sex symbol and dark past always kept her in the spotlight until her death.
Directed by Alex Colonna, Black Mask (2014) is a short film about a young daughter who manifests a dark entity, mysteriously being linked to her father's dark past. Upon initially viewing the poster, I immediately though that it was very conventional. It attempts to recreate certain conventions that make up traditional Horror movie stock-characters. one of the most significant is the use of a young girl being used as the catalyst for the 'dark entity' to animate and use to terrorise the father.
The opening to Bad Romance appears as though it is the conclusion to the video, due to the fact that by the end of the video she has reached the highest point of fame that is fairly comparable to her own fame. Extravagant clothing, her wealth and popularity clearly expressed in product placement (Dr Dre, various jewelry, various alcohol). This editing choice is reflected in various motion pictures (Mission: Impossible III, Limitless and Memento) to the effect of both intriguing the audience with what the possible conclusion could be but also being able to allude through Act 1 and Act 2 of the production of the conclusion. As the light appears through the windows it symbolises in a way that it's time to open up a new batch of artists that the industry can manipulate and exploit. The nonchalant nature of how these key industry members operate creates an underline sinister tone for the beginning of the video. Sinister tones which appear in a majority of Lady Gaga's videos, similar to the underline theme of suicide among Gaga's house tenders in the video "Paparazzi".
The opening shots of the narrative focuses the rising light onto several white pods, one of which having 'Monster' on the front in red, accompanied by the The Christian Cross on the front. Creating connotations of that the people who have her captive are aware of who she is and the title 'Monster' acts as a warning for the people who are about to use, and exploit her. In conjunction with the shots of them leaving their pods in the next scene, the room, the pods and their latex outfits are all pure white. Connoting clearly that these characters are innocent and vulnerable to the world. Each one of their eyes is covered by their latex headpieces, emphasising the point of them being young, so naive to all of the problems in the world at this point in the development, growing into the music industry.
There are also various shots throughout the entire video which emphases the imagery of Lady Gaga doing a Feline styled dance move or with camera tricks or special effects makes herself look like a feline. In comparison with a shot later of her looking very animistic and inside of a cage connotes feelings of her being an animal locked inside of a cage, the cage perhaps representing the unequal power struggle in the music industry. Gaga using this video to make a statement on the music industry being equal to that of various mistreatment of animals practices that occur all over the world.
Another character which Lady Gaga portrays in this video is that of a Ginger haired woman in a bathtub. It can be seen that this is the purest version of Gaga we seen in the entire video and in conjunction with her emphasised wide eyes, it connotes feeling similar to what was shown before of her naivety to this world being the most prominent message expressed here. The bathtub in particular can be placed specifically to symbolise messages of Cleansing of values or washing away any past beliefs before the character is given the drink which conforms her to become tainted and operative in this world.
Having her arms stretched out as she is stripped by the women gives clear symbolism to religious imagery of Jesus being on the cross; Persecution, Inequality and injustice are all prevalent here in this shot. These shots of this character being converted to work for the industry are interspliced with smaller shots of another form of Gaga who is crying in front of a high angle shot. This can be interpreted as being Lady Gaga's inner voice crying out for help and presenting a darker interpretation of the term 'Bad Romance'. One which emphasises the points of oppression and inequality in this hard career.
Each man who is bidding thousands to win Lady Gaga can be interpreted as being a CEO of a different music company who wants Gaga, trying to outbid each other after seeing how much Gaga is showing how much she wants to be bought. Another strong message can be interpreted from this as Lady Gaga may be trying to challenge actually who is to blame for this "bad romance" between the artists and the music industry, and if by the artist doing everything they can to appeal to a particular record label, is it actually their fault when news is released about controversies of inequality or abuse.
As the music video reaches its final Act, Gaga rapprochements her buyer to have sex with him on a bed that is overlooked by 2 animal heads. In conducting research into my AS movie project "Solemn Silence", I noticed that in this shot in particular that the animals heads in the background, conveniently placed each above Gaga's hands are in fact Gazelles, and is commonly a representation of the 14th century deity Baphomet. This same symbolism is seen in the videos "Paparazzi" above the lovers' bed, and in "G.U.Y" she represents herself as Lucifer, the fallen angel.
The 1940s noir style titles that appear through the opening are reminiscent of Golden Age Hollywood movies, which is done to convey again that Lady Gaga is experimenting with the genre of video she has created. The constant emphasis on trying new things and experimenting is very prominent in Lady Gaga's life as she encourages her fans (The Little Monsters) to be freaky and try new things, as expressed numerously in her fashion. 
Again, close ups of spilled jewels and her own currency thrown over her bedroom is done to convey that she is a very successful artist. The lack of care and safe keeping of her items can also convey that the artist is portraying what happens to any artist when they've been successful for a time and are almost on the decline, both in fame and in the media, as a sort of open question like - "So what's next?" The "Dr. Dre Beats Headphones" in the same shot is just one of the examples of product placement throughout this entire video. Done simply to promote a fellow artists product for a large sum of money. The same placement being shown in earlier videos such as "Poker Face"Dior being another that the artists wears almost throughout the entire video. The blue and white colour scheme allude to the location being in Sweden. Alexander Skarsgård is Swedish also, and they are talking in Swedish. The location of the villa is actually in Los Angeles, called Villa de Leon, but first impressions from the audience would show us that she's in an exotic setting with her exotic setting, when in actual fact she's in the same place where it is very popular for celebrities to live. 
The hidden paparazzi is able to take shots of the two on the balcony as they are kissing, and the boyfriend quickly notices them. He may have allowed them to take photos of them because if anything was to come of it, he would be able to get his face out in the media and get noticed by someone. As the situation becomes increasingly tense with both characters becoming erratic over the paparazzi, the pitch and speed of the shutter on the camera effects becoming higher and faster, reflecting the rise in tension. However when Lady Gaga sees the camera she freaks out and ultimately falls from the balcony. Sparking headlines such as 'LADY GA GA HITS ROCK BOTTOM', which in terms of the narrative begins her descent into not being relevant in the media. However, it also begins her assent to becoming relevant again as she tries different tactics throughout to gain media attention and get her fans back, which is resolved at the end of the video. 
The ending to the video sees Gaga back at some kind of estate with her old boyfriend, in her hand she reads a magazine with the headline 'THE NEW IT GIRL' and NO MORE LADY GAGA'. Acting as a representation of how the media attention can be all over a star one day and then gone the next. Similar to how Lady Gaga portrays she feels hounded by the media in the segment just before, she explores how the complicated relationship between balancing fame and love, or if she can only have or the other.
After Lady Gaga's fall near the beginning of the movie she is spiralling down with a mesmerising spiral behind her, perhaps foreshadowing that by the end of the video we will all be mesmerised by her. The spinning mesmerisation and other themes of paranoia and suspicion are very similar to the opening of the movie "Vertigo" by Alfred Hitchcock. The segment of paranoia and stalking shown at the start of the music video also is representative of John Ferguson stalking Madeleine Elster. The final scene follows similar conventions of early thriller motifs in the sense that the character has been shown going through their struggle and problem, established in Act 1, they have battled in Act 2, and Act 3 ends with the revenge. 