Critical review for The Rune by Zoya Gopal

ZOYA GOPAL »
critical review
ZOYA GOPAL—AS level Media Studies
» AS LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES
t h e r u n e

“The Rune” takes its title from a mysterious and magical symbol, and is
about three teens best friends: Alex, Adam (who believes he’s an orphan)
and Chris.
As the three friends get together for a project at Alex’s house, they
stumble on an old book which belonged to Alex's mother. This book has a
symbol on it, a rune, which Alex and Adam realise looks familiar: they both
have the mark on their backs. This symbol is what unites them and brings
up the question: could they be siblings?
My opening sets the stage for the film to unfold from here. In the scenes
that follow, we realise that Robert (Alex’s father) gave up his other child
Adam for adoption as he felt he wouldn’t be able to raise two children.
This is why Adam has believed that he is an orphan. As for Alex, although
her mother, (who is also Adam’s mother) passed away long time ago, her
father Robert never spoke of her. This veil of silence brings up questions
in Alex’s head about her mother.
ZOYA GOPAL »
about my film
» AS LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES
Y Stills from “The Rune”

1Howdoesyourproduct(film)useorchallengeconventionsandhowdoesitrepresentsocialissue?
the genre:
Walk into your local DVD library or look up a film review and you’ll notice that the genre of a film comes up:
romance, comedy, mystery, drama, animation and so on. But “The Rune” questions this categorisation—
it is a mix of drama, fantasy (without supernatural beings or creatures) and suspense and mystery. The “Rune”
is my attempt at a kind of fusion. My view is that a young audience is more interested in watching a film that
delivers entertainment than in what the genre is. And what ties together the various genres “The Rune”
explores is the emotional connect it tries to makes with the audience.
Z Some typical film genres
Western Horror Film noir War film Action film
ZOYA GOPAL » » AS LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES

1Howdoesyourproduct(film)useorchallengeconventionsandhowdoesitrepresentasocialissue?CONTD
production company title sequence
This is usually an animated sequence with text and background images
and the trend seems to be on making it more elaborate. For instance, Uni-
versal Studios has the earth revolving and then having the lettering rolling
in. Disney’s production logo is introduced after showing the Disney land-
scape and fireworks. Dream Works begins with a boy sitting on the moon
with a fishing rod as the name appears. While conceiving my production
company’s logo, I was more inspired by a simpler look (Warner’s logo
from the sixties) and I opted for text forming on a black screen.

opening shot
Movies usually open with a wide establishing shot whereas ‘The Rune’
opens with a close-up through a peephole showing a boy standing outside.
I decided to open the film this way as it is unexpected, draws the audience
in and creates a sense of drama.
cinematography: colours
What kind of colour palette should “The Rune” have? Many fantasy
films such as “The Mortal Instruments” use a blue tone to create a sense
of mystery and drama, but I felt this tended to be a bit cold. For the “The
Rune” I chose a warm look that doesn't make the film too mysterious.
Y Opening shot of “The Rune”
Y “Mortal Instruments”: a blue tone Y “The Rune”: a warmer palette

flashback:
To differentiate the flashback scenes of “The Rune” from the rest of the film, I opted for a de-saturated look,
and blurred the background. This is slightly different from the technique the director uses in “The mortal
Instruments”. I also used a slow motion shots. The sequence is longer than one would expect, and I did this to
establish the back-story for “The Rune”
Z To evoke a memory of another place and time I chose a de-saturated and blurred look . Slowing down the footage created a sense
of going back in time.

social issue:
My film’s social issue is about the subject of abandonment and how it affects a child emotionally.
Every child needs love and caring; no child should feel alone, certainly he or she shouldn't feel abandoned.
The child's parents may have personal reasons for giving up a child for adoption, but when a child doesn't know the
reason, he or she feels that she’s been left the hands of the unknown.
This message, I feel, is better communicated in way that’s not preachy and hence my decision to weave the story
into a drama-suspense genre. Should parents be also more open about such subjects? Would it have helped if
Alex’s father, Robert had spoken to her about her mother rather than be silent for all these years?
There are no right and wrong answers to the questions my film raises. But I hope to provoke conversations and
debates, especially among young people. Different people may (and indeed will) have different points of view,
but a healthy debate is better than brushing such socially relevant issues under the carpet.

engaging with the audience
My film sets up the mystery to come with it’s opening shot: it’s not the typical establishing shot, but a peephole
shot that draws the audience in. The movie unfolds with the scene where the characters are walking up the
stairs—this draws the attention of the audience as the introduction to the main characters is done in a gradual
manner. The film also uses a non-linear device (a flashback) to hold the audience’s attention as the scene shifts
from the present to the past. The flashback introduces Alex’s father, and her as a child, along with the book that
belonged to her late mother. The significance of the shot of the mark on the child’s back is revealed later as it
appears as a symbol on her late mother’s book. The film leaves the audience at a point of mystery as Adam tells
Alex that he has a similar mark on his back.
distribution
“The Rune” is targeted at a younger audience: teens and young adults. As a real media text, “The Rune” would
be promoted through new media—the trailer, teaser and sneak peaks would release on all social networking sites
such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The film would be distributed in all theatres, and after the theatre run,
on Netflix.
2Howdoesyourproductengagewithaudiencesandhowwoulditbedistributedasarealmediatext?

getting started
This was my first attempt at making a short film, and first off, I made a rough
storyboard of the idea. I then learnt about camera shots and angles: how to
breakdown a scene into an establishing shot and close-ups; and other camera
movements and compositions such as pans, tilt-ups and mid-shots.
tripod versus a hand-held look
I learnt and practiced how to hold the camera steady as I wanted a hand-
held look to the film and felt that using a tripod wouldn’t communicate the feel
I wanted the film to evoke.
Originally, I planned to shoot “The Rune” on my Nikon DSLR. I did some test
shots with available light, but the footage’s resolution wasn’t to my liking. I
then did some research on the web and discovered that a Panasonic Lumix
DMCFZ 1000 was a better bet for the kind of lighting and texture I had in mind.
X The Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ1000
I used to shoot “”The Rune”
Y An early storyboard with
stick figures
3 Howdidyourproductionskillsdevelopthroughoutthisproduct?

editing
I learned how to edit on Adobe Premier Pro CC, add sound effects, the voice-overs and match it
to the footage and use different transitions.
I also learned to design my production logo and create other effects. I created my production
company logo using Adobe Illustrator CC 2014. I first sketched it on paper before rendering it on
my laptop. I learned how to create my own font using the pen tool and added new points to change
the way the font looked.
Y Editing the film on Adobe Premier Pro CC Y Creating the logo on Adobe Illustrator CC
3 Howdidyourproductionskillsdevelopthroughoutthisproduct?

editing —and then a reshoot
The film was edited on Adobe Premier Pro and the transition and effects were done using Adobe After Effects.
Editing took longer than expected, as matching the dialogues to the clip was turned out to more difficult than I
had imagined. Rendering the whole clip also took a while as I had added effects for the flashback. Once the rough
cut emerged, I realised that I could do with a shot that set up the story better. So it was back to a quick reshoot—
of the peephole. This was posed quite a technical challenge to me . At first I was not sure how to go about it. With
a little bit of research and trial and error, I found a solution: I cut out a circle from a black A4 sheet of paper and
made sure it was not neither smaller (nor bigger that the camera lens). I rehearsed the shot at home several
times, so that I on the shoot date my movements were smooth and I knew at what height to hold the camera.
W My cast Alex and Adam, and a behind-the-scenes
still of me positioning the camera to Adam’s height (left)
and making sure it fits the frame (far left). I did need a
little help (someone had to hold the sheet),so Alex lent a
hand. On the far left ,Alex holds the sheet as I shoot
Adam through the circular cutout .
4 Howdidyouintegratetechnologies—software,hardwareandonline—inthisproject?

opening credits, sound and music
I used Final Cut Pro for the titles and opening credits. The title sequence wasn’t difficult as I used a template
given in the software; the opening credits however took some time, as I had to figure out what font size would
look visually right.
The sound was edited using Garage Band, (a programme I am familiar with) and I used the software to add
effects and to change the voice over. Music interest me a lot: I have been learning to play the piano for some
years now and I came up with a score (and sound effects) that captured the mood of my film.
Y The titles were done on Final Cut Pro Y The music and sound was done
on Garage Pro

opening credits, sound and music
Adobe After Effects CC and Adobe Illustrator CC is what I used for the production logo. It took about four
hours just to get the placing and order right and about two hours to get the font, timing and colour right. I used
different background and font colours, and kept experimenting until I found a suitable one. At times I did get
confused on what was going wrong, but my blog helped me keep track of my progress.

post production
The film was completed, but I felt that there was some post work still to be done. The Panasonic Lumix I had
used to shoot had given the footage a yellow cast. I wanted the colours to be graded better and for the flashback
sequence I wanted a de-saturated look and a blurred effect. I couldn’t do these effects in-camera, so I used a
specialist software called Da Vinci to get the look right.
Y Before
Y After
Y Before
Y After
Y Before
Y After

Different technologies
(both hardware and software)
came together in the making of
“The Rune”: in its journey from
glimmer of an idea in my head, to
some frames rendered on a paper,
to finally as a two-minute opening
sequence.
t h e r u n e

Critical review for The Rune by Zoya Gopal

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