Buying the props

 

This is england Title squence

Time	Text which appears	What that person or persons role(s) is/are
0:05	Film Four and the UK Film Council Present	Co-financiers
0:10	In association with Em Media and Screen Yorkshire	Co-financiers
0:16	A Warp Films Productions	Producers – Institution that made the film
0:21	In association with Big Arty Productions	Production company owned by Shane Meadows
0:25	A Shane Meadows Film	Director
0:36	This is England	Title
0:43	Thomas Turgoose	Actor
0:49	Stephen Graham	Actor
0:56	Jo Hartley	Actor
1:05	Andrew Shim Vicky McClure	Actors
1:12	Joe Gilgun Rosamund Hanson	Actors
1:29	Andrew Ellis Perry Benson George Newton	Actors
1:36	Frank Harper Jack O’Connell Kriss Dosanjh	Actors
1:42	Kieran Hardcastle Chanel Cresswell Danielle Watson	Actors
1:49	Sophie Ellerby Hannah Walters Michael Socha	Actors
2:07	Script Supervision Diarmid Scrimshaw Casting Louise Meadows Des Hamilton Hair and Makeup supervision Donald McInnes	Script Supervisor Casting Director Hair and Makeup supervisor
2:14	Costume Designer Jo Thompson Makeup and Hair Designer Catherine Sloble Production Designer Mark Leese	Costume Designer Makeup and Hair Designer Production Designer
2:24	Music Supervisor John Boughtwood Original Music Cudorico Einaudi	Music Supervisor Musician
2:35	Director of Photography Danny Cohen	Director of Photography
2:47	Editor Chris Wyatt	Editor
2:53	Line Producer Julia Valentine Co-producer Louise Meadows	Line Producer Co-producer
3:07	Executive Producers Tessa Ross Peter Carlton Paul Trijbits	Executive Producers
3:04	Executive Producers Kate Ogborn Will Clarke Hugo Heppell	Executive Producers
3:15	Produced by Mark Herbert	Producer
3:25	Written and directed by Shane Meadows	Writer and Director

Gary McKinnon Research

 

Another aspect of reality that inspired my group to pursue the idea of an autistic boy hacking into the FBI mainframe is Gary McKinnon.

 

Gary McKinnon systems administrator and hacker who was accused in 2002 of perpetrating the "biggest military computer hack of all time". McKinnon has a case of Aspergers Syndrome and claims that he was looking for evidence of free energy suppression and a cover up of UFO activity and other technologies potentially useful to the public. He was faced extradition to the USA but this has recently been withdrawn by the Home Secretary Theresa May.

 

McKinnon is accused of hacking into 97 United States military and NASA computers over a 13-month period between February 2001 and March 2002, at his girlfriend's aunt's house in London, using the name 'Solo'.

 

 

The US authorities claim he deleted critical files from operating systems, which shut down the US Army’s Military District of Washington network of 2,000 computers for 24 hours. McKinnon also posted a notice on the military's website: "Your security is crap". After the September 11 attacks in 2001, he deleted weapons logs at the Earle Naval Weapons Station, rendering its network of 300 computers inoperable and paralyzing munitions supply deliveries for the US Navy's Atlantic Fleet. McKinnon is also accused of copying data, account files and passwords onto his own computer. US authorities claim the cost of tracking and correcting the problems he caused was over $700,000.

 

While not admitting that it constituted evidence of destruction, McKinnon did admit leaving a threat on one computer:

 

 

 

"US foreign policy is akin to Government-sponsored terrorism these days … It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand down on September 11 last year … I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels … "

 

US authorities claim that McKinnon is trying to downplay his own actions. A senior military officer at the Pentagon told The Sunday Telegraph: "US policy is to fight these attacks as strongly as possible. As a result of Mr McKinnon's actions, we suffered serious damage. This was not some harmless incident. He did very serious and deliberate damage to military and Nasa computers and left silly and anti-America messages. All the evidence was that someone was staging a very serious attack on US computer systems."

Gary McKinnon

Prop's list

Props for 'SOLO' thriller

PROPS FOR 'SOLO'

This aerial shot shows an accurate image of the boy’s bed in the title sequence. His duvet will be of blue striped material.

The pyramid of rubix cubes is an aspect of the boy’s bedroom. This is a signifier of the Asperger syndrome he has as his mind works quickly to solve puzzles as he thinks differently to us.

The airfix models of aeroplanes will be laid out on the boy's table as if he has his own workshop of airfix models. Aeroplanes are one of his obsessions which is another signifier of his Aspergers.

This poster of aeroplanes reinforces the boy's fascination with aircraft as a result of his Aspergers which links to the message he leaves on the FBI mainframe about 9/11.

There will be aeroplanes hanging from the ceiling, as shown above. The planes are his obsession as a result of his autism and also highlight the childish streak of his personality.

The digital clock will be on the boy's bedside table. A close up of the clock is shown at the time of 3am.

The boy's bedside table will have a digital clock and a lamp on it.

There will be a lamp on the boy's beside table and a close up of the clear light bulb will be filmed showing the filaments of the bulb to light up consequently over exposing the shot.

The boy will be wearing aeroplane pyjamas which will reinforce his obsession with aeroplanes.

The boy will make his way over to his desk and turn on his computer to find the code and break it.

Shot by shot guide

SHOT BY SHOT GUIDE

1.First we see a bird’s eye view of the tidy boys room, with the boy in bed asleep. The room is covered in posters of aeroplanes and Air fix models neatly placed on a desk next to his computer. This aeroplane theme runs throughout the room and is an occurring feature to the boys persona.

2.Next we see a medium shot of the boy sat on the bed, looking wide awake. The abrupt movement of him sitting up connoting he had a troubling dream.

3.We then see a close up of the boy leaning over and turning the bed side light on. He flicks the switch, then the shot changes too….

4.A close up of the filament in the light bulb. The filament then exposes to a bright white colour which feels the screen.

5.The white screen then zooms out to reveal a poster and continues to zoom out until we are back to the previous shot of his profile.

6.The camera then rotates around the back of the boys head, using the back of his head as the rotation point.

7. The camera zooms into the Rubik’s cube to show he has focused his attention onto it. Then the camera zooms into a single square.

8.The colour that is focused on the Rubik’s cube fills the screen, the colour then changes, sliding on a colour scale.

8. a) After the screen has gone through the colour scale and the titles have been shown, the final colour will be light grey.

9. From this shot of the whole, grey, screen, we slowly zoom out to reveal that the grey is the colour of a cartoon plane on the boy’s pyjama bottoms. The camera keeps zooming out until the boy’s feet and calves are in view.

10. This shot continues into tracking shot of the boy walking across the room until he is in the left of the frame. The camera follows his feet and, to do so, rotates 90 degrees and also reverses under a table and we see the table leg come slightly into view – out of focus. The tracking shot is from an inferior level so when he walks to the other side of the room to the computer and desk, the perspective makes him look smaller than the table leg. From this view we also his hand reach to the left.

10. a) Here will be a match on action shot of his hand picking up the unfinished Rubik’s Cube and his hand moving back towards his body.

10. b) We then return to the previous shot and see the rest of this movement.

11. The camera then tilts/pans up the table leg to reveal a model plane on the table. Here, because of the perspective, the plane looks life-size compared to the boy.

11. b) The camera then pans along the table and as it looks through a magnifying glass, the boy’s head is warped and magnified – signifying his intelligence. The pan finishes with him on the right of the frame. We see his arm start to reach out…

12. Match on action of his hand putting the completed Rubik’s cube down and moving his hand away – we don’t see the surface the puzzle is placed on… (the colour we see from the front of the cube is red, to signify danger.)

12. a) until the camera zooms out to reveal that the completed Rubik’s cube has been placed on top of an organised pile of around 8 other Rubik’s cubes. The screen then snaps into black.

13. Then, with the black background, a green ‘1’ is typed on to the screen. Then slowly, a ‘0’ and then, with increasing speed, green binary code fills the screen. The black background is then replaced by the image of the out of focus silhouette of the boy typing.

14. Then, the camera rotates 90 degrees and, through editing, will go through the layers of the computer and come out the other side to show…

14 a) a medium close up of the boy’s profile, lit by the light of the computer. The camera then tracks behind his head, suspends for a moment and then appears to fly into the screen and delves into a world of numbers.

Narrative

Narrative of 'SOLO' thriller

Narrative of ‘SOLO’

The title sequence is an introduction to our thriller we have created called ‘SOLO’. The main structure of the thriller follows the idea of an autistic boy discovering a hidden code on a website on his computer. This intrigues him, especially as he has Asperger syndrome, therefore his mind has a different way of thinking. After solving the code he manages to break into the FBI mainframe. When he has succeeded in doing this he leaves a typed message on the FBI workstation after discovering certain problems and information that the organisation had been keeping from the public.

The message reads: ‘"US foreign policy is akin to Government-sponsored terrorism these days … It was not a mistake that there was a huge security stand down on September 11 last year … I am SOLO. I will continue to disrupt at the highest levels … "

The hacking scandal attracts a monumental amount of speculation on the verdicts and movements of the FBI and also the teenage boy. The film then follows the life of the boy focusing on the consequences of his actions and the legal prosecutions he faces. The underlying decision of whether the teenager will face extradition from the USA or whether the legal charges will be dropped still stands thereby altering the storyline to be one of a legal thriller.

Cast list

 

 

 

Casting List

The character of the autistic boy should be played by an actor who is:

• Able to act vulnerable yet mature
• Good Actor
• Appealing to a young audience
• Able to be tried in America for an adult

We decided on the actor, Andrew Irving.

Chosen Actor: Andrew Irving

We decided he was right for the role as he is acclaimed as a talented actor therefore he could easily act with the symptoms of autism, which may be quite challenging for other potential actors. Therefore he will also be able to act in a vulnerable yet mature way. He may appeal to a younger audience which may attract younger viewers to want to see the film as the storyline may not necessarily attract them to want to see the film. Andrew also looks the right age for the role and he could also be tried for an adult in America.

Costumes for our thriller

Costume



We only need one costume, as we only have one character on camera throughout. We had the idea of using a set of airplane pyjamas. to add to his interest air fix showing planes as an obsession.
We thought having our main actor in his Pyjamas would put the audience more on his isde and make them feel vulnerable and sympathy towrads him. As there is no dialogue this would help get the audience to identify with oyur main protagonist.

Background Research On Thriller

in this clip Roy a character in the clip aged 18, in our thriller we didn't want a young child. i think Roy is a good example because he has the same characteristics that we would like our actor to have, even though our actor is speaking the body languge and behaviour will be this same.

After watching this and many more videos I have picked up on
 some specific habits that are noticed.

. not making eye contact
. stuggles to express and except emotions
. similar to having O.C.D ( Obssessive compulsive disorder)
. playing with the hands
. states of twitching or sharpe movement

shot by shot video clips

 

 These videos show a rough guide of the shots our group will film for our thriller.

This video shows the aerial shot of the person getting out of bed but the viewpoint is chosen carefully so the face of the person is not seen directly.

 

This video shows the person turning to the side and turning on the bedside light.

This video shows the close up of the person turning the bedside light on.

This video shows the brightening of the filament bulb as the shot becomes over exposed.

This video shows the transition from the light bulb to a white wall and then the slow backwards tracking shot from the wall to stop at the view of the person's head, still not exposing the person's identity.

The reason for completing these pilot shot by shot videos for our thriller was to gain a rough idea of how the film would pan out and take formation. The benefit of doing this was that we soon found out that the bedroom we were filming in was too small for our group to film in as a result of it being a students bedroom with three beds already in it. Therefore these pilot videos consequently helped us to decide on changing the location of filming for the shoot to the media studio which would be a lot more spacious than this bedroom and our group could additionally customize the set accordingly to our main character, being a boy, targetting our audience specifically, whereas in the bedroom we were previously filming in was a girl's bedroom therefore not matching our desired mise-en-scene of our thriller.

Lydia.Hansen

SHOT BY SHOT GUIDE 1.First we see a bird’s eye view of the tidy boys room, with the boy in bed asleep. The room is covered in posters of aeroplanes and Air fix models neatly placed on a desk next to his computer. This aeroplane theme runs throughout the room

12:02

 

 

 

Research for Mise-en-Scene of 'Solo'

 

In our thriller our group will attempt to recreate a teenaged boy's bedroom. Since the boy in our thriller is obsessed with gadgets and technology this means the room will consequently have computers and iPads on display. But the pictures below give a rough idea of the desired mise-en-scene. The colour scheme is also key as this signifies the male character of our thriller, with blues and greens as the dominant colour.

disablilty in film Research

 

For our film sequence idea we decided to research films which deal with Autism.
Here are the following that deal with the disability:

-Gray Sunset (1985)-Iris (2001) by Richard Eyre
-The Notebook (2004) by Nick Cassavetes
-A Moment to Remember (2004)
-Thanmathra (2005)
-Black (2005)
-Away From Her (2006) by Sarah Polley
-My Name is Lisa (2007)
-Lovely, Still (2008)
-The Alzheimer’s Project (2009)

Amnesia:

-Memento (2000) by Christopher Nolan 

Leonard Shelby, a man with anterograde amnesia sets out to avenge his wife’s death.

Autism Spectrum Disorders:

-Rain Man (1988) by Barry Levinson
-A is for Autism (1992)
-The Station Agent (2003) by Thomas McCarthy
-Autism is a World (2004)
-Mozart and the Whale (2005)
-Autism: The Musical (2007)
-Her Name is Sabine (2007) by Sandrine Bonnaire
-Adam (2009) by Max Mayer
-Mary and Max (2009) by Adam Elliot
-The Magic of J-Mac (2009)
-Temple Grandin (2010)


-The Color of Paradise (1999) by Majid Majidi

 

Rory O’Shea Was Here (2004) by Damien O’Donnell