Christian Ortiz: Assignment 2

Film Research

Norwegian helicopter chasing husky.

Norwegian man holding his rifle, looking for the husky,

Unknown suicidal man found.

Burned remains found Mac and Dr. Copper.

Imitation of Husky.

Dog imitation examination.

Alien spaceship located.

Hole in the snow found.

Garry trying to stop Windows from getting a firearm.

Imitation of Vance Norris.

Mac is holding everyone hostage to test their blood and see who is human and who is not.

Facility blown up.

Essay

John Carpenter’s 1982, The Thing takes place at a research facility in Antartica. The opening scene of the movie is of a Norwegian helicopter in hot pursuit of a Siberian Husky. Frantically the Norwegians in the helicopter try to kill the dog using firearms and bombs. Eventually giving into a chase on foot they suffer failures as they inflict self injuries in the haste. At the research facility something else horrific is taking place, the Husky that the Norwegians were chasing is morphing into grotesque deformed creature of a mutant nature, it is becoming monstrous.

The dog is torched and examined, only to reveal that the culprit for the terrifying changes is an alien that possesses and imitates anything that is living. One by one the men at the facility find themselves at odds in the battle with the alien and among themselves after losing faith in each other as they struggle and put forth their best survival instinct to make it out alive.

The overall tone of this film is panic and terror. You can see this throughout the entire film, from begging to end. The color palette for The Thing is partially bright due to the daylight and snow, but is overall filled with a dark color scheme. One color that appears during the movie is a bright blue that you also see in the opening title of the film.

Words to Idea + Thesis Statement

Five words: Isolated, horrified, unknown, mutilate, destroy.
Thesis Statement: The thing takes place at an isolated research facility with twelve crew members who are horrified upon discovering an unknown force that mutilates any living form and leads to destruction.

Visual Research (Inspiration Board/Collection)

Exploration/Formulation (Style Board/Examples/Studies)

Exploration/Formulation (Motion Tests)

The Thing Motion Test One from

Story Board

Sequence will begin with a black background and the production company name will gradually appear(fade in).

A large corner of a letterform(N) that is texturized will enter the screen and as this occurs lettersform the production company will fade away leaving some of the letters still showing.

The large letterform will continue to move throughout the frame and "Produced by" will fade in. The existing small letterforms will move and rearrange into a new position.

As the large letterform moves throughout the frame, "Produced by" will fade away. The exiting small letterforms will move into their final place and other letterforms will appear filling in the gaps between and around the existing letterforms. This will reveal the names of the two individuals who produced the film.

Again the large letterform will move through the frame and small letterforms will fade away from the existing name, leaving some still in frame.

The end of the first letterform will start to appear but attached is another large letterform(H) that will create an unusual form. The small letterforms will be moving and rearranging intro their new position.

The large letterform(H) will continue to travel throughout the frame revealing another large letterform(I). "Edited by" will then fade in and underneath it the small letterforms will find their final placement.

Large letterforms will continue to exit the frame and "Edited by" will fade out. The small letterforms will be in their final placement and new letterforms will appear revealing "Todd Ramsay."

The large letterforms will continue throughout the frame and only a few letterforms from "Todd Ramsay" will be show as the others fade away.

Attached to the "I" is another large letterform. The existing small letterforms will move and rearrange . "Starring" will fade into the frame.

As the large letterforms move through the frame, the small letterforms will fall into place and "Kurt Russell" will appear.

The large letteforms will continue to move and some of the small letterforms will again disappear leaving only a few behind.

As one large letterform exits a new large letterform will enter the frame. The existing small letterforms will rearrange and move into their final placement.

As more large letterforms appear in the frame new small letterforms fade in revealing the name "Keith David."

Large letterforms will move more into the frame small letterforms will disappear from "Keith David," and a few will be left.

The large letterforms will exit the frame and the small letterforms will move behind them finding their new placement. A corner of another large letterform will enter the frame.

When the large letterform(s) reach the other side of the frame "Directed by" will fade in as the small letterforms will slowly rearrange underneath it.

As "Directed by" fades out of frame, more letterforms will be added to the existing letterforms revealing the director "John Carpenter." The large letterforms will continue to move out of frame.

A black background will be show for a few seconds.

The black background fades away intro a white background and as this occurs, large letterforms from the title will appear. These letterforms will be overlapping one another.