Capture explores the theme of entrapment. The audience are placed beside this helpless teenage girl who is being held captive for something completely out of her control. During this time the audience will ‘slip in and out of consciousness’ just as the girl does to experience the same sense of disorientation and fear. The end, however, will break this format. The audience will get to experience something the girl does not and this extra knowledge will heighten suspense and tension. The questionable morals of one of the characters will also provoke an interesting argument in the audience, similar to that to of the torture dilemma of today.
Capture begins with a teenage girl who is being held captive by two mysterious men. This raises several enigmas. Who is this girl? Why is she being held captive? Who are these men? What do they want? Slowly information is revealed through dialogue overheard by the girl. The girl is going to be traded for drugs, which her father, a police officer, found and impounded. As the film reaches its climax a twist occurs. The girl comes into harms way forcing the undercover cop to reveal himself. He explains that he works with the girl’s father and that it was her father’s plan to tag the drugs they were going to trade and track them back to a larger evil.
The film’s narrative feels like it is apart of something much larger than the short story the audience get to consume. This idea was inspired by Drew Goddard’s (writer) Cloverfield and more aptly, Simon Hynd’s short film, Virus, both of which deviated from the conventional
In short films, I feel that narrative devices, such as flashbacks, can convolute the storyline if not used well. Therefore seeing as I have already a fairly complicated back-story to convey to the audience, I have opted for a linear narrative structure.
David Fincher’s Panic Room largely inspired Capture, as it very effectively explores the theme of entrapment, even though it doesn’t feature a kidnapping. However, Fincher’s directing along with Darius Khondji’s (Cinematographer) input has been a much larger influence to me in terms of visual style. Together they create an astonishingly heavy and dark atmosphere in all their films. My aim is to convey a similar dark atmosphere visually and aurally to connect the audience to the main character who is experiencing this atmosphere first hand.
In Fincher’s work the dark atmosphere is a visual expression of one of the character’s psychology, usually the antagonist, and a sinister look at the human mind. It is by exploring the human mind in this way, that Fincher is able to manipulate his audience and have the intended disturbing effect in films such as ‘Se7en’ and ‘Zodiac’.
Fincher and Khondji comprise their trademark mise-en-scene using a number of techniques. The most obvious feature is the extreme use of low key, high contrast lighting. This technique is clearly influenced by German Expressionism and its harsh contrast heightens suspense and tension within the audience. Another feature to the mise-en-scene is the almost surreal use of colour temperature. Fincher and Khondji achieve this effect in both production and post-production. In production different lights are used to gain a different colour temperature, Fincher’s most common being UV lights for a blue colour temperature and fluorescents for a green colour temperature. In post production the colour temperature is enhanced to a near ‘super-real’ or surreal level.
Many of Fincher’s films share a similar structure to Capture and are slow yet tense and suspenseful until the end, when a fast paced sequence takes place. To successfully keep the slow pace interesting and tense, Fincher very slowly moves the camera. Sometimes this is by tracking characters or by tilting and panning to reveal something important in the scene. This technique has the ability to keep the pace of the film flowing and can be much more stimulating for the audience to watch.
Sound and music is an extremely important aspect of a film and when utilized correctly can heighten suspense much more successfully than visual style and narrative. One of my biggest inspirations in music for films is the composer Michael Giacchino. Giacchino very effectively adds a lot to the tension through slow crescendos, eerie strings and thunderous brass. His work has inspired me to use a similar epic ‘sound’ in Capture.
In Capture I plan to have a similar effect on the audience, using ideas influenced by these techniques, to the best of my budget and ability. For lighting I will be using whatever resources I can get hold of. This includes using make-shift dampeners to create filler lights and using strong torches for the key lights. Key lights will be very important in Capture as it will feature low key, high contrast lightning. The dark shadows created by the strong lights will invoke fear and tension in the audience as it plays with human’s fear of the unknown. This technique is being used as it manipulates the emotions of the audience to parallel that of the main character.
As I do not have access to UV lights or fluorescents I will be changing the colour temperature in post-production. This, however, suits the visual style I am aiming to achieve which will slightly deviate from the common colour temperatures. I have chosen this technique as it will have a disorientating effect on the audience and signify something is wrong with the situation in the film.
Capture will also feature slow camera movement in many of its shots. This technique will be used to keep the pace flowing effectively and make the final piece much more interesting to watch. It will also be used in combination with high, low and dutch angles, in certain places, to convey the disorientation the main character is experiencing.
While a live orchestra is not an option for Capture, I have access to people who play both the drums and violin, therefore I will be able to work with them and produce an original score for Capture. The score is aiming to increase suspense and slowly build up to the climax of the film. The score will be using a similar eerie strings effect inspired by Michael Giacchino as well as underlying sound effects and tense percussions.
In Capture I aim to create a heavy atmosphere that will keep the audience in suspense for its entire duration or perhaps even longer, through an impressive visual style, an epic sound and original narrative.
