My Iconography

I could only write my Iconography after i had filmed and edited. Most of my work is ideas and they kept coming into my head and i couldn’t write them down in different blogs as this would have caused a lot of confusion when looking through them all in a random order. Here is everything in one blog talking about the meaning behind all props, costumes etc…

I will be using this part of my blog to show the props and costumes used in my film as well as linking my points to iconography.

Props

The first prop which I am going to use in the office scene is a note pad. This will be used by Brandon to show his professionalism in his job role by looking more formal in the interviewing scene. The employer (Brandon) will be making notes whilst interviewing Thomas, which will make this prop essential for the scene, It will also be an important part helping Brandon’s character. The notepad is the main iconic part of this character because this differentiates Brandon and Thomas. Thomas is a laid back student and Brandon is a professional employer. Both of these characters are similar ages, however, Brandon has a more superior role as he is in the position of employing Thomas. Even though the notepad has a smaller relevance to the story, it is essential for Brandon to use as it shows the dissimilarity of the two characters.

Thomas will also be wearing a Runshaw College lanyard which shows the audience the approximate age of the actor. I want to give the impression that he is a young, naïve college student who is mischievous, cocky, immature and lacks concentration. These adjectives describe Thomas well due to him doing unordinary stunts in his past. He will show a lack of interest and ambition because he doesn’t bother taking his lanyard off for the interview. He will show boredom in his face, be careless and be completely disinterested in the job interview. This prop is iconic to his character because it shows how overly confident he is and his lack of care for the job position.

This leads me to my 3^rd prop which is the basketball. In the first flashback, Thomas will throw a ball into a net. He will do this in a unique fashion because he will throw it backwards, which again shows his cocky side. It will show that he can be cocky and talented at the same time which is the main reason why he thinks that he doesn’t need to make an effort for the interview. This scene is important as it will reflect on the character and will show the over-confident side of him. I feel this scene is a good base to start the film. The basketball is my own prop which my brother let me borrow for my film. This is a somewhat important prop because it shows the beginning of his happy-go-lucky attitude. This is an iconic prop due to it being part of a scene where Thomas is showing his obscure talent for stunts. Thomas is still unbeknown to the audience at this point because it is still the start of the film which is why the basketball scene will need to be iconic to his character. This scene will show the start of Thomas’s mischievous and devious side which is why it is essential that this scene is shown to the audience.

There will then be the second flashback of Thomas walking with a pizza box. I asked our local takeaway shop, Mama Mia, if they would let me buy an empty box off them. I explained what I wanted it for and they let me have it for free as they know this could be some free advertising for them. The pizza box prop is important because it shows Thomas doing his former job as a delivery boy. He will be discussing this job role at the interview. In the background, whilst the flashback is happening, it will show the audience what Thomas is thinking about at that time whilst delivering a pizza. This scene is important to show the audience because this is when the dangerous side of Thomas first occurs. The audience needs to see this prop being used so that they know he was working during this incident. This is an iconic prop to use because it shows his previous job and the sort of things Thomas gets up to when he is working. His cockiness during the first scene is especially shown during this flashback because he knows he is untouchable and basically immortal to any danger that comes his way. The whole story is about Thomas trying to get a job and showing this flashback whilst using this prop is iconic because it will show that there could be potential dangers wherever Thomas goes.

Another prop will be used in that same scene. Thomas will be using a mobile phone which is Thomas’s own phone. The mobile is the one reason why Thomas was hit by a lorry due to lack of concentration. A prop will be needed in this scene to show Thomas’s distraction leading up to the ‘hit’. This prop will again show Thomas likes to live life on the edge and is an excellent way of showing this. Another way which shows Thomas’s character will be shown as he pulls out his mobile in the middle of the road when he could have waited a few more seconds until he reached the path. This impulse links to the ending flashback shooting scene because he will shoot a customer. This will be when the audience realises more of his bold cheekiness because he checks his phone whilst trying to cross a road. This prop will be important for this scene because this could have potentially killed Thomas but it didn’t. This dangerous stunt is when the audience will realise that Thomas isn’t just an ordinary student, he has something/someone protecting him from death and other issues which makes him invincible. I decided that the phone will be the most iconic prop used out of all of them because the phone is used every time there is a possibility of something going wrong. This prop is iconic to the film and to Thomas’s character because it is the phone that allows Thomas to rewind and delete his mistakes. The phone creates the irony of the story because he checks his phone causing incidents but then uses his phone to delete the incidents that have occurred to go back in time.

The mobile and pizza box prop will be used again in another scene of the film. He will learn from his last incident and drop to the floor rather than be run over. This again is another impulsive moment which could have ended badly. But this young man proves again he thrives for adrenalin. His charisma will shine through just to prove that even though he is not a pleasant character you can’t help but like him. He is very enthusiastic in certain ways because he is confident that he can remove any accidents that he makes. These two props are the reason why Thomas is put in death-defying positions and he knows that he can repeat the same actions and iconically never die.

In another flashback, Thomas will be shown taking his phone out again and managing to dodge a car. He throws the pizza box, jumps underneath the car and catches the pizza box again. He will overcome this experience because he already knew how to prevent the same thing happening again. Last time Thomas got his phone out, he was hit by a lorry and he manages to avoid this from happening, the second time. Thomas knew that anything can happen to him and he can still rewind time and undo what happens.

This will be the ending flashback, which, is the shock of all the other stunts that were made. I will use a gun. I knew that I wanted some sort of gun for my shooting scene. I decided to look in my local charity shops to see if there were any toy guns and to keep the cost to a minimum. The previous scenes will show his childishness, however, this scene will show a serious side. His fun side will vanish and a darker side will show. He clearly has a temper and aggressive issues and will show this to the consumer. It will show how short his temper is and how quick he can ‘snap’. He is definitely a danger to society. This is a very serious scene because when immaturity coincides with violence it can lead to anything. For example, the murder that happens in the flashback. The gun is one of the most iconic props because it is too unexpected that it is almost a hallucination that such a normal boy could do something so horrific. This is when the audience will realise that Thomas isn’t who anyone thought he were because he manages to have a deeper side of him that nobody knew about. The gun is iconic because the other props were somewhat innocent and harmless for there then to be a gun towards the end, it is shocking.

I am going to refer back to the mobile for one final time because, in the last scene, Thomas will realise that the interview isn’t going to plan. He’ll take his mobile out and will say ‘Right, sick of this, start this again’ then everything will start again at the interview. This is when the audience will realise that whenever Thomas uses his mobile, he will be going back in time to try and undo his mistakes. This is a memorable prop as it’s used throughout the film therefore, making it the most iconic prop used. A prop that people use everyday, can have such a power that literally turns back time. This part of the film is important because it is the official realisation of why the phone is used in the flashback scenes.

The final prop I will be using is the clock in the office.

This prop is essential because it will represent the time going backwards. Therefor restarting the interview. The time is the same at the start and the end of the film. This prop was also another prop that I already had at my house and I knew it would be a great addition to the film. It is important that the clock is shown at the start and the end because this is another part which makes the audience realise that the time has actually gone backwards and it will be a confirmation that the phone genuinely does make the time go backwards.

The audience will be left wondering whether Thomas is a good or bad character due to the different situations which he comes across.

Costumes

The costume Thomas will be wearing Hugo Boss t-shirt, glasses, lanyard, jeans and trainers. Thomas will also be wearing a black coat in some of the flashback scenes.

I chose this outfit because it is casual and modern aiming to the younger audience. This outfit is something that the average teenager would wear in our society which is why I want Thomas to look like a normal, average boy.  Teenagers can relate to this as they are probably wearing similar clothing. The designer t-shirt reflects his character of being young and trendy. He is quite bold and confident which is why he knows he can wear designer clothing and show that he takes pride in his appearance and this top is iconic to Thomas’s character. It is an iconic piece of clothing because it reflects on Thomas’s personality of being a fun-loving adrenaline junkie and isn’t afraid of wearing whatever clothes he wants to in whatever situation he comes across. He wasn’t too bothered about the interview which is portrayed through his outfit. He should wear something more formal at an interview but he doesn’t because he is laid back. Thomas already wears glasses but again, his glasses adds to the somewhat innocence of Thomas’s age and that he is just a normal boy looking for a job. Also, the clothing was comfortable so that Thomas could carry out his stunts safely and easily. Thomas wasn’t too bothered about his interview because he knew that if anything went wrong, he will be able to pull his phone out and rewind to undo whatever mistakes he makes. He wore the same clothing that he wore when he was a delivery boy, showing that his attitude was less than determined to get this job position.

The second outfit/costume that I will be using is Brandon‘s. Brandon will wear a hooded jumper, a coat and jogging pants.

Brandon’s character is very laid back and he doesn’t want to be doing the interview. This is portrayed through his outfit because even Brandon hasn’t bothered to dress smartly, he is wearing comfy clothes which shows his lack of care for the interview. Brandon’s outfit is the most iconic part of his role because it shows that he is clearly depressed with his own job and he really doesn’t care about Thomas’s interview. Brandon’s character is also young like Thomas’s which shows the similarity between the two characters even though they’re different in other ways. They both wear comfortable clothes because they both think that they could be doing better things rather than this interview. The first thing Brandon says to Thomas is ‘what are you staring at?’ which automatically tells the audience that he is a rude and unmotivated worker at this place. Even though the story is about Thomas, Brandon’s costume had to reflect well on his personality to show the iconic role that Brandon plays. The audience will rarely see much of Brandon because it is about Thomas but he still had to look the part straight away due to him not being in the film as much as Thomas. Brandon shows a lack of professionalism because of his outfit and even though he can wear something smart and formal, he chooses to wear the complete opposite which is iconic for this character to do. First impressions are very important and both of the characters didn’t care about this otherwise they would be wearing formalised clothing.

The last character is the homeowner which is played by my dad. This character isn’t in the film for very long but he is still a very important character due to him being the victim of a very serious crime, murder. His outfit/costume consists of his work uniform.

I decided that it would be a good idea for the homeowner to be in a work uniform because it shows that he is just an ordinary person who has finished work and decided he wants a takeaway. This outfit is iconic because it shows how this man is just a normal person.