'Clean, shaven' Deconstruction 3

Point 1

Camera Angles:
There are close-up panning shots across titles of document files. It is being panned quickly as if to mimic the POV of the main character looking at the titles as he walks past. This is then followed by a close-up of the main character's hands as they run across all the files, again giving a POV effect and also focusing on how the character is made to seem childlike in his illness. This is followed again by another POV shot of the main character looking outside his car window as he has a flashback. This really puts the audience in the main character's eyes and we see things as he thinks of them.

Editing: 
The two different shots of the close-ups of the files, the first one closer and not featuring the hand of main character are edited together through a fade-in transition which gives a dreamlike effect and therefore adding to the POV effect. A flashback is also used to show how he is haunted by past things that have happened to him.

Sound: 
The sound of footsteps and hands running past the files is emphasised by the non-diegetic silence. We can also hear the breath of the main character which sounds ragged and shows off his daily distress. When we see the flashback, the hushed non-diegetic sound of murmurs and whispers becomes louder, which shows how he is becoming occupied by his condition.

Mise en Scene:
The colours are predominantly grey-toned and there is a lack of bright colour, showing how his life is drained of joy. The density of all the shots is extremely stark, showing hardly anything at all, which coupled with the POV shot shows the simplicity yet complex nature of his life.

Point 2

Camera Angles:
There is a close-up of Peter's hands as he comes across a file named 'Exceptional children' and we see him hover over the file and then attempt to take it out but failing and become distressed. The close-up allows the audience to see the name of the file which gives the impression that Peter may have had a distressing or traumatic childhood. We then see a close-up flashback which shows someone scratching their own skin, but the close-up doesn't allow the audience to see who it is and therefore it is very disorientating. There is then a close-up shot from behind Peter, showing the back of his head.

Editing: 
The flashback within the two shots of Peter in the library is fast-paced and therefore disorientating, which mimics the state of his mind and allows the audience some insight into what Peter is going through, what is happening in his mind and why he is reacting the way he is.


Sound:
There is the non-diegetic high-pitched static noise which is used as an indicator to show when Peter's condition has worsened, or he is going through an especially unstable time. It is discordant and uncomfortable for the audience, replicating how Peter himself must be feeling.

Mise en Scene:
The gory purplish colour of the man's injuries in the flashback shot as well as the black from the grime give an unsettling, disturbing edge to the scene. There is diagonal composition in the shots of Peter in the library where the camera angle is slightly canted gives the impression that something is going wrong and it is unnerving.

Point 3

Camera Angles:
There is a long shot of a car come down the road which gradually comes closer to the camera and then goes past. It contrasts against the POV shot inside the car earlier on. We then see a medium shot from a profile angle of another character as he violently kicks something. Finally there is a full shot of Peter in the library as he hits his head against the shelves, which contrasts to the other close-up intense shots of him and through featuring his whole body emphasises the fact that he is an adult and makes his behaviour seem unnerving and bizarre.

Editing:
The use of flashback cross cut with the shots inside the library again successfully conveys what is in Peter's mind and then how it is effecting him in a cause and response type of way. However, the fractured fast-pace feel in the flashback scenes using the short shot lengths really helps to put the scenes across in a way which replicates someone's mind.

Sound:
There is the diegetic dialogue of the character in the flashback screaming "No way!" aggressively again and again, which makes him appear violent and shows us how this behaviour makes Peter feel unsettled. There is the diegetic sound of the wind as the car comes down the road which somehow emphasised the sense of isolation. As we see Peter smashing his head against the shelves, the noise is emphasised to show the extent of his violent behaviour, but also we can hear a sound bridge of the character from the flashback scenes still shouting, showing how it stays in Peter's mind. The static noise is still used to show the fogginess and unsettling nature of his consciousness.

Mise en Scene: 
The lighting is high-key but this contrasts against the unnerving behaviour of both Peter and the other character featured, thereby emphasising it. Again, diagonal composition is used in the library.

Point 4

Camera Angles:
There is a long shot as Peter drives down the road and encounters a stop sign. We can see in the frame the aggressive character swinging on a broken fence and saying "You can't hide from me." We see a close-up of Peter looking unnerved by the character, then a POV shot of him looking at the stop sign. Then, there is a close-up of the aggressive characters lips, emphasising how he is grimy and what he is saying. Then, there is close-up of the stop sign. The close-ups both act to show how Peter is intensely obsessed by his surroundings and the close-ups of his face allow the audience to see his discomfort.

Editing:
After the scene in the flashback, there is immediately a long shot of Peter as he hits his head against the shelves in agitation which gradually zooms out to reveal people in the library staring at him. This is effective as it directly contrasts whats going on in his mind, which is intense shown by close-ups to reality.

Sound: 
The contrast shown through the editing is reinforced by the sountrack. Throughout the flashback, the static noise as well as a high pitched wail is used to unsettle the audience and show how Peter's mind is unstable. This is immediately compared in the next shot to the silence other than the diegetic noise of Peter slamming his head into the shelves. It goes to show how life is viewed startlingly different in the eyes of someone with a mental illness.

Mise en Scene: 
The red in the stop sign is used successfully to show how Peter senses danger in the situation he is in, showing why he is agitated and upset. The tight framing used gives the impression that he can't escape from the life he is living.

Combining research ideas

Combining Research ideas

Social Networking
 Pros:

• It appeals to the vast majority as most of us that own a social networking account e.g. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube. With 1.06 billion monthly users recorded on Facebook.
• Due to the large audience we can easily pinpoint the dangers, deterring them from actions that may be wrong on social media sites.
• There are a lot of cases that can be linked into it (e.g. the lack of privacy we have, the phone hacking scandals)

Cons:

• It may not cater for an older audience (e.g. the use of technology may be too advanced).
• The lack of privacy and safety on the internet is something that we are all reminded about on a daily basis, therefore a lack of originality may come across. 

Social Isolation
Pros:

• It doesn't affect too many people, in the case of Joyce Vincent the case was extremely covered up in terms of details therefore we would be able to illustrate the problem that social isolation creates.
• The are many extreme cases that are censored by the media; by taking social isolation on board we may also be able to link in the censorship of cases that arguably should be heard of.

Cons:

• It's not hugely focused on, even in the media therefore there may be a lack of interest in these sort of moral panics.
• The background of the individual may be too complex to fit into a trailer - in the sense that Joyce Vincent had problems, health, family, relationship and money wise. 

Drugs

Pros:

• It's a worldwide problem.
• Use of extreme cases can be used as a deterrent for those who do use drugs.
• Too, it's also a moral panic that many people are aware of - due to the widespread use of drugs, it would be easy to look into the lack of control that we seem to have over the selling and use of drugs.

Cons:

• As mentioned in the previous bullet point, drugs as a moral panic has been highly evaluated and we are all aware of the increase of it lately therefore the originality of a trailer focused on drugs may be diminished.
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Crime and Punishment

Pros:

• Again it can make teenagers aware of their actions and the consequences that may follow.
• It can highlight the distinctions between countries as some still permit punishments such as the death penalty (such as some states in the US).
• It would open an opportunity to see crime and punishment through the perception of a teenager (e.g. their thoughts/fears etc).

Cons:

• It's a controversial issue: can create an uproar with the audience (discussion of morality within the death penalty, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth")

Mental Illness
Pros:

• We can see the contrast from what they think is acceptable against what we deem to be acceptable - this could be linked closely with the documentary regarding the mind of a serial killer and their motives.
• Similarly, to social isolation, mental illness is too a case that it likely to be censored as either the antagonists motives may have been beyond their control so the verdict of the case could be extremely controversial.

Cons:

• It also can be seen by some as being controversial as the killer may be unaware of their actions.

CCTV & Privacy

Pros:

• CCTV is everywhere as we are all aware but the fact of us being watched every moment is something that we don't tend to remember half of the time. Therefore the lack of privacy that we don't have may be a shock to some, although we know it's for our protection in most cases.
• We can make teenagers more aware of their duty to behave morally right and take into account their responsibilities as young adults.

Cons:

• Charlie Brooker's White Bear focuses introduces the lack of privacy that we have but it's taken to an extreme, as all bystanders monitor one individual as she is released from prison. Therefore some ideas may have been pitched already through this series.
• It would be hard to not illustrate high authoritative figures (e.g. the police) in a negative light therefore posing some difficulties. 

Overall, our ideas all lean towards a large target audience, with a moral panic of say, mental illness we can open our ideas to a younger audience as well as an older audience as it's a relatable subject. On the other hand, we can choose one target audience and suit our trailer to their tastes such as the moral panic of drugs, similarly, we can always take drugs as a social issue but apply it to an older character subverting viewers' expectations. In terms of a final idea, narrowing our research ideas to an issue that has already been heavily documented on may seem a bit too repetitive, so perhaps choosing an issue that has not been touched on a lot by the media will be a better alternative.

Research: CCTV and privacy

CCTV and privacy

Statistics

The UK is the country with the most CCTV cameras per person in the whole world. We therefore thought we could comment on the current situation at the moment, as many people are realising that we have less and less privacy. This is because according to the guardian 'CCTV increases people's sense of anxiety' and actually doesn't make people feel safer.

We are also getting less and less privacy through the fact that we can also be tracked through social networking.

Our idea

The idea of constantly being watched is a particular favourite to the group.

In order to exaggerate this idea we were thinking of using other means such as having cameras on mobile phones and computers/laptops always on, giving the impression that the government or the police have completely taken away our privacy in order to maintain a safe country.

The development of our idea

We thought of this idea very early on and since then it has adpated. To being with we thought we would just track a girl through different means (CCTV, mobiles, laptops, cameras) however we soon realised that this would prove to be a rather boring movie. Therefore we are now building on a different idea by creating an exciting and crime related plot line for this girl to have, combined with her every move being tracked by the police. We all quite like the idea of having her realise at the end that she has always been watched through technology, with this the idea of zooming out of the frame she is in to reveal more people around her was another favourite as we'd be able to show that everyone was being watched.

A final thing we were considering was including social networking and showing how the girl was traced through that, there were many ways we were thinking of doing this, one being a timeline of all the different websites she had joined and all the activity she had done on them. This would show that nearly all the gaps of her life would be filled in by using technology.

Research: Mental Illness

Since 1982, there has been at least 62 mass murders across the USA and acute paranoia, delusions and depression have been common mental illnesses among these killers, with at least 35 committing suicide on the scene. So what leads one mentally ill person to violence but not another? It may be the stigma of mental illness that provokes it, by increasing the existing symptoms of delusion, disconnection from reality and social withdrawal.

Symptoms of Schizophrenia

1. Delusions and auditory/visual, hallucinations.
2. Disordered thoughts and speech.
3. Sloppiness of dress and hygiene, and loss of motivation and judgment.
4. Pattern of emotional difficulty, for example lack of responsiveness.
5. Paranoia.
6. Social isolation.
7. Substance abuse.
8. Stigma of Schizophrenia

Discrimination 

A survey of attitudes towards schizophrenia showed that:

• 80% expressed discomfort with the prospect of dating someone with schizophrenia.
• 77% would feel uncomfortable working with a schizophrenic person.
• 60% think that violence is a symptom of schizophrenia.
• 71% would be afraid for their safety around a schizophrenic person.

This leads to the exacerbation of the symptoms of schizophrenia, increasing social isolation and worsening paranoia and delusions.

Experience of Schizophrenia

• Here is a quote from someone's experience of having schizophrenia in a discriminative society which does not understand the symptoms. After the school shooting in Northern Illinois University on 14th February, surrounding areas and also the nation as a whole increased their suspicious attitude towards schizophrenia sufferers. He documents the behaviour which was conducted towards him, all of which explains why schizophrenic people can feel isolated:
• "I was diagnosed with schizophrenia just a month after Steven Kazmierczak (quickly identified as “schizoaffective”) shot six people to death on the campus of [Northern Illinois University] … Undoubtedly primed by this shooting, wary, uncertain, without enough time to think, my doctoral adviser suspended my graduate assistantship, banned me from the university, and alerted all faculty, graduate students and staff to forward all emails [from me] to her and, under no circumstances, respond."
• This quote portrays the thoughts and feelings of a schizophrenia sufferer after finding out about their illness. This explicitly shows how the stigma of mental illness can have the effect of worsening one's own perception of their illness, and how it can cause sufferers to feel as though there is no hope for them. I thought the language in the passage could be used in our trailer to express the sheer hysteria and depression of someone after being diagnosed with a mental illness:
• "Everything I have ever been told was a lie. My one way out — of poverty, desperation, madness — was never more than an illusion. And then disbelief. And then, how will I ever explain this to anyone, to family, to old mentors? And then betrayal. No language this time, no thoughts; crying, crying for hours. Alcohol, unconsciousness, unbidden dreams.  Even there: repeating their words, over and over and over again. Isolation so intense, there is no way I will ever bridge it. I am lost. Days go by, weeks."
• The quote goes on to explain how they are forced to feelings of violence and murder, using graphic imagery which we could replicate in our trailer to display the harrowing thought process:
• "I fixated on a single vision, me, sometimes hanging, sometimes with gun in hand and a pool of blood on the floor, outside [her former adviser's] office. Suicide, yes, obviously, but also something more: revenge."

Living with schizophrenia

• Watching this documentary, named "Living with Schizophrenia" helped me understand fully the illness and many aspects surrounding it. It featured four characters, three with Schizophrenia and one with schizo-affective disorder who each in turn spoke about their experience of the illness. It taught me many different things which previously I may have not thought to explore. Firstly, the interviewees spoke about medication. They discussed how the usual perception of society is that by taking medicine one is instantly "cured" however, one character in particular discussed how mediation was only one answer for her, and that many other processes had to be undertaken before she was able to feel stable in her daily life. They also expressed how they felt that doctors and psychiatrists did not understand them, and how they felt too insecure to ask questions about their medication and the side effects attached to them, which were abundant.
• Many of them spoke too about how the stigma surrounding their illness was almost as horrific as the symptoms themselves. One discussed how the internalisation of stigma was extremely dangerous and that it caused incredible despair, confessing to the audience that he has had a multitude of schizophrenic friends who have been led tocommitting suicide. In fact, 15% of schizophrenia sufferers will commit suicide in the first five years of being diagnosed. The character said how he believed that the lack of someone to talk to was one of the major causes of this.
• The many stages of acceptance after diagnosis, including anger and denial, were discussed profoundly in the documentary. One showed the audience how drawing was a  method of catharsis for him, allowing himself to express his complicated and sometimes dark emotions. Another spoke about the negative social effects the illness caused, saying that the memory problems which came with it meant he had increasing trouble getting jobs. It was also obvious that sufferers found getting back into relationships and work a lengthy and enduring process as isolating themselves from society seemed a much safer and more appealing option to them.

Child Schizophrenia

• This documentary was about a rare case of childhood schizophrenia, found in seven year old Jani. The illness causes the young girl to hallucinate, and she is constantly telling her parents about her imaginary friends "Wednesday the rat" and "400 the cat", both seeming scarily real to her. These delusions and also voices inside her head cause her to be violent and sometimes disturbed.
• The illness is very rarely found in children, and a doctor from UCLA psychiatric hospital claimed to have only come across a handful in his lifetime. However, it is extremely crippling for Jani's family and forced the parents into buying two apartments, one for Jani and another for her younger brother in fear of the violence she could be capable of inflicting upon the toddler.
• The parents were insistent that they did not want Jani taken away from them, and put into special care. However, Jani's illness makes her incredibly tiring as her parents must engage with her at every moment during the day or else she may slip into psycosis and her hallucinations will overwhelm her.

Ideas for our trailer

• We could include many aspects of this research in our trailer for instance by having:
• One main character with a mental illness.
• Character suffering from discrimination.
• Character forced to violence by stigma replicating that quoted earlier.
• Complex fractured editing to illustrate the mind of a schizophrenia sufferer.
• Graphic dramatic shots to mimic the horror of mental illness.
• A Link with social isolation research on Joyce Vincent and give character a morbid end somehow.