Prop List - What we are going to use

this is the scarf and gloves that luke will be wearing

This is the jacket that Luke will be wearing

This is the ipod we are going to feature at the beginning of the opening.

After looking back at our idea we realised that we were not going to use the ipod because the day we filmed it had been raining and we also realised it would have been too hard to incorporate the ipod sound into the filming. When we planned the filming the temperature at the time was extremely cold (Even snowing) so that is why we decided to add the coat and gloves and coat but now realising the temperature has gone up we decided to use different clothing.

Initial Planning

We decided that before thinking about any ideas for our opening we needed to decide on sub or a hybrid genre for the thriller, we watched examples of a few ideas we liked to come to a conclusion. We worked together and did research to make a mind map of the different variations of the thriller genre and then to choose one. We decided to go for a mystery/phsycological thriller, the reason why we went for this sub-genre is because after looking at what genre is popular at the moment and what the audience want to see we came to the conclusion that this sub-genre was it but not too cliche. Now that we have decided on a sub-genre we can now look at what the film if going to be about to we can plan the opening of it.

Planning the Continuity task

To help us produce our continuity task we made a storyboard. This was our first attempt at making a story board and I think it shows, after it was made and we set out to film we didn't really follow it that much because the lack of detail. When we make our next storyboard that is something we defiantly need to consider. We had to work together and plan what types of camera shots and angle we were going to use and how long each shot would last, here is what we finished with. To improve i beleive we need to add more detail in the drawings and descriptions. The drawings need to show more what the actuall footage is going to be like and also show more about the movement that is going to happen so we have a clearer idea of what we are actually going to film. When adding more detail to the descriptions i beleive we need to be more specific how long each shot actually as and what happens in each shot. Now that we know these problems we can vastly improve on them when we next make another story board.

Questionaire analysis

I gave out 20 questionaires to my piers and people at my drama club. Every single one of my questionaires that were given out came back with the same age range which was 15-17. However the data I collected was sufficent to finalise this piece of coursework. Amazingly enough when the questionaires came back it was split half between females and males. The questionaire asked wether they prefered 15 or 18 rated movies the evidence shows that for the age group of 15-17 they prefered 15 rated movies this may be due to two contributing factors. Either they have not watched many 18 rated movies due to thier age, or due to thier age their brains are less developed so may find 18 movies, too scary or too physcological for them to understand the full codes and convetions of what the movie is about or what it consists of.

Next the audience was asked what sub-genres they like to see on the big screen.
Action- 14
Western-0
Crime-9
Film noir-0
Religous-1
Gangsta-4
Physcological-12

From this we can see that action and physcological thrillers were the favorited so from this we can make our
opening of a film shaped to fit the criteria the audience like, however we can put our own mark on it and make it unique.

Next the audience were asked what films they most enjoyed, the choices were:
Jaws-8
Paranormal activity-14
Godfather-4
Inception-10
Pulp Fiction-1
Dark knight-14
Physco-2
Se7en-2
Memento-0
Silence of the lambs-4

From this we can see that mostof our target audience liked Paranormal activity and Dark Knight. These movies are extremly different since one focuses on good triumphing evil and bringing hope and peace to Gotham city, however Paranormal activity is showing a possesion of a human and them killing their loved one. Paranormal activity is not gory however it gives u the chills and definatley makes u check your room before you go to sleep. Whereas Dark Knight focuses on a genric goody and baddie. This reinforces that our audience want to be scared and have that thrill but they also want a generic goody and baddie instead of a force that cant be explained.

Next we asked our audience to rate 8 fields that a thriller genre could cover:
Suspense-80/160
Fast paced music-79/160
Plot twists-87/160
Action-90/160
Gore-98/160
Science-62/160
A sense of reality (Not too farfetched)-82/160
Clever Storyline-120/160

This data shows me that this age group doesn't want any sort of science related in the movie, wether this is becasue of the age or the group that filled in the questionaires just don't like science movies so dont want directors to incorporate science into thriller movies.
A clever storyline, gore,plot twists,reality and action all ranked higher than half in the questionaire so this to me looks like a genreic thriller movie which is fine however we need to make sure we surprise our audinece and surprise and give them a shock when they see our opening of a movie.

Lastly we asked our audience wether they liked seeing the actors, producers and directors in the first two minutes of a movie:
Yes: 3
No:5
Don't mind:11

As a group we are going to decide to keep the cast and crew names in our opening because we feel this is what an opening is for to introduce the movie and the people in the movie and helping out in the movie.

Planning our final idea

Schedule for filming- November 24th-Individual planning 25th-Show initial ideas 26th-Blog ideas 27th-Blog ideas 28th-Day off 29th-Lesson 30th-Lesson December 1st-Put pictures of props on blog 2nd -Day off 3rd-Lesson-Talk about filming etc 4th-Day off 5th-Blog 6th-Lesson 7th-Lesson- look at storyboard make final adjustmnets , scan it to computer 8th-Set up filming 9th-Day off 10th-Get camera and start setting up 11th-Film at 8-9am at black park 12th-Day off 13th-Lesson 14th-Lesson- look @ footage 15th-Blog wat we did 16th-Day off 17th- Make sure blogging is complete 18th and onwards - Christmas Holidays after we return we will edit and put in the soundtrack to the footagge and make sure it is good enough to be presented to examiners and the class.

Conventions of the Thriller genre

I looked into the conventions of the thriller genre so I have a background knowledge of what I am trying to create, this is help me out greatly as i know what devices to use to get the right effects.

• Quick, choppy camera angle changes


• Music that is dramatic and builds tension


• Strong lighting and the use of darkness and shadow


• A lot of quick paced action to keep it interesting and buzzy


• A feeling of hopelessness or desperation – looking like theres no way out


• Dramatic irony – where the audience know more than the characters


• Titling – dramatic build up before the movie even starts


• Camera s shoot close and personal distance of the characters to create a feeling of involvement and make it feel like you are there, rather than watching form afar.


• Props and symbols that set the scene and are common to thrillers – guns, weapons, police, time.

Target audience research

When we make our opening for a thriller we will need to consider what rating it will be, this will determine who can watch our opening. This plays a big part in making our opening because we cannot include somethings in our opening if we want to make it a 15 rating. We decided to look more into the 15 to 18 ratings because the majority of thrillers where in this margin.

Info from the BBFC – British Board of Film Classification
Suitable only for 15 years and over
No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.
Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.
Drugs
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.
Horror
Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.
Imitable behaviour
Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Language
There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex
Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.
Theme
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.
Violence
Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.
Suitable only for adults ( 18+)
No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema.
No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video.
In line with the consistent findings of the BBFC’s public consultations and The Human Rights Act 1998, at ‘18’ the BBFC’s guideline concerns will not normally override the principle that adults should be free to choose their own entertainment. Exceptions are most likely in the following areas:
where the material is in breach of the criminal law, or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence
where material or treatment appears to the BBFC to risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society – for example, any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health or morals. This may include portrayals of sexual or sexualised violence which might, for example, eroticise or endorse sexual assault
where there are more explicit images of sexual activity which cannot be justified by context. Such images may be appropriate in ‘R18’ works, and in ‘sex works’ (see below) would normally be confined to that category.

After looking at what goes into making a 15 or an 18 film we decided to go for the 15 clasification. We decided this because although there are some restrictions we can put alot of what we need in the film and not restrict our target audience too much. There have been alot of other famous and succsessfull films that have been rated 15 so we know that it will not restrict our sucsess, these films include Se7en, The butter fly effect and final destination.

Thriller genre - Research

Thriller is a certain type of genre that is known for suspense, tension and excitement. The main sub-genre's are mystery, crime and psychological thrillers. They normally rely on plot twists, cliffhangers and breaking the rules of the genre to keep each thriller different and new.

"Thriller is a genre of literature, film, and television that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as the main elements.^[1] " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thriller_%28genre%29


Crime thriller: This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes

Physological thriller: In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical


Mystery thriller: Suspense films where characters attempt solving, or are involved in, a mystery.

Camera Shots & Angles (Done)

Types of shot:
ECU: (Extreme Close Up) So close that the camera is usually only focused on one important thing.
CU: (Close Up) Usually used to focus on someones facial expression and normally only includes the face and nothing else.
MS: (Mid Shot) This includes peoples head, neck and half their torso, if you include two people it would be called a "Two shot".
LS: (Long Shot) This normally includes the whole length of a person but with not too much room above or below them.
ELS: (Extreme Long Shot) So far away that you can see the whole of the subject and alot of its surrounding, this is normally used to establish location.


Types of Angles:
WEV: (Worms Eye View) This is an extremely low angle, from below looking up as if you were looking from a worms point of view.
Low Angle: This makes the subject look bigger and more significant, this is filmed form below.
Eye Level: This is neither high nor low and is a neutral camera angle.
High Angle: This makes the subject look smaller, this is filmed from above.
BEV: (Birds Eye View) This is an extremely high angle, from above looking down as if you were looking from a birds point of view.

Camera , Sound and Editing (Done)

Camera: When filming there are alot of different things the camera can do to give different effects. Other than types of shots there are also different types of movement.

• Crabbing shot

  The term crabbing shot is a less-common version of tracking, trucking and/or dollying. These terms are more or less interchangeable, although dollying tends to mean in-and-out movement whereas the others tend to mean side-to-side movement at a constant distance from the action.

• Dolly Shot
  
  A dolly is a cart which travels along tracks. The camera is mounted on the dolly and records the shot as it moves. Dolly shots have a number of applications and can provide very dramatic footage.
  In many circles a dolly shot is also known as a tracking shot or trucking shot. However some professionals prefer the more rigid terminology which defines dolly as in-and-out movement (i.e. closer/further away from the subject), while tracking means side-to-side movement.
  
  
• Dolly Zoom
  
  A dolly zoom is a cinematic technique in which the camera moves closer or further from the subject while simultaneously adjusting the zoom angle to keep the subject the same size in the frame. The effect is that the subject appears stationary while the background size changes (this is called perspective distortion).
  
  
• Follow Shot
  
  The Follow shot is fairly self-explanatory. It simply means that the camera follows the subject ot action. The following distance is usually kept more or less constant.
  
  
• Camera Pan
  

  A pan is a horizontal camera movement in which the camera moves left and right about a central axis. This is a swiveling movement, i.e. mounted in a fixed location on a tripod or shoulder, rather than a dolly-like movement in which the entire mounting system moves.
  

• Camera Tilt
  
  A tilt is a vertical camera movement in which the camera points up or down from a stationary location. For example, if you mount a camera on your shoulder and nod it up and down, you are tilting the camera.
  
  
• Zoom Shot
  
  A zoom is technically not a camera move as it does not require the camera itself to move at all. Zooming means altering the focal length of the lens to give the illusion of moving closer to or further away from the action.
  (http://www.mediacollege.com/video/shots/movement.html)
  

Sound:

• Diegetic sound
  
  

  Sound whose source is visible on the screen or whose source is implied to be present by the action of the film:

• voices of characters
• sounds made by objects in the story
• music represented as coming from instruments in the story space ( = source music)
  
  Diegetic sound is any sound presented as originated from source within the film's world Digetic sound can be either on screen or off screen depending on whatever its source is within the frame or outside the frame.
  
  
• Non diegetic sound
  
  Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen nor has been implied to be present in the action:
• narrator's commentary
• sound effects which is added for the dramatic effect
• mood music
  
  Non-diegetic sound is represented as coming from the a source outside story space.
  The distinction between diegetic or non-diegetic sound depends on our understanding of the conventions of film viewing and listening. We know of that certain sounds are represented as coming from the story world, while others are represented as coming from outside the space of the story events. A play with diegetic and non-diegetic conventions can be used to create ambiguity (horror), or to surprise the audience (comedy).
  (http://filmsound.org/terminology/diegetic.htm)
  

Editing:

Video Transitions - The most common transition is the cut, in which one shot changes instantly to the next. The next most common transition is the crossfade (AKA mix or dissolve), where one shot gradually fades into the next. Advanced transitions include wipes and digital effects, where shots whiz about or do complex changes whilst leading into the next.

Manipulating Time -

There are three possible ways to present time in a video or film sequence:

1. Time is expanded, i.e. slower than real-time. For example, you might have a fight sequence that is shown in slow motion and/or from several different angles. An action sequence that only took a few seconds in real time might take half a minute on video.
2. Real-time. The time in the video is exactly the same as the time it was recorded in. Examples: Live music video; sports event; a walk-through of a scene without interrupting the recording.
3. Time is compressed. This is by far the most common situation. The story takes place over a longer time period than can be used in the video so various tricks are used to compress time into an acceptable duration. Virtually all feature films use time compression — stories can be set over weeks, months or years but still fit within a few hours of film time
   (http://www.mediacollege.com/video/editing/)
   

Analysing previous media openings

We watched a few opening of movies from previous years at different levels to give us a clearer look and what we need to do in our openign and what we do not want to do. We marked them using the official mark scheme to see exactly what criteria needs to be hit to get certain levels. I think this was very benificial because it gave us a better understanding of the task.
Opening one - Room to Breathe
Level: 3

• The opening felt like a trailer, as it had an ending and too much happened.
  
• It had good use of camera angles, from below, above, over the shoulder, eye level.
• It had music that fit the mood (set the scene).
• The editing let it down as it wasnt smooth and some of the sounds didnt quite flow.
  
• The end title was misspelt

Opening two -Unrequited Love
Level: 2/3

• Wasnt an obvious thriller - Not much of a genre within the opening.
• The camera use was quite repetative, hardly any variation.
  
• Typography - The opening credits were too fast and I was unable to read some of them although the want was interesting.
  
• The editing was average/below, the shots did not flow together.
  
• The colour red was used a lot - Connotes dange.
• The storyline was very chliche - Paper cutting (Like the movie Se7en?)
  

Opening three- Root Cause
Level: High 3/Low 4

• Clear genre- Film Noir.
• Interesting variety of camera shots and angles establishing the setting.
• Good music - fitting.
• Good mis-en-scene props, costumes, to make the genre work

Questionnaire (done)

We decided to carry out a questionnaire to see what the audience likes and what they dislike, so we can see specifically what we should be focusing on. The reasoning behind the question of gender is so that we can see if there is any differences or patterns between male and female. We asked what age they are so when we decide on an age rating we can see what that age specifically wants to see in a movie. We wanted to know what sub-genres the audience like the most so that we can base our desicion on this. The rest of the questions are there so that we can get a genreal knowledge of what the audience wants to see so that we can give it to them.

Are you male or female?

Male □ Female □

Tick the age category that you fit in to –

15 – 17 □ 18 – 25 □ 26 – 35 □ 36 - 45 □ 46 – 55 □ 55+ □

do you prefer 15+ or 18+ thriller films usually, if you are under 18 you may still vote for 18+

15+ □

18+ □

What type of sub genre within thrillers do you enjoy? Tick as many as apply

Action- thriller □

Western-thriller □

Crime-thriller □

Film noir – thriller □

Religious thriller – such as Da Vinci code □

Gangster thriller □

Psychological thriller □

Please tick the thriller films that you have really enjoyed from the list below – as many as apply

Jaws □

Paranormal activity □

The godfather □

Inception □

Pulp fiction □

The Dark Knight □

Psycho □

Se7en □

Die hard □

Memento □

Silence of the lambs □

What do you feel is very important in a thriller film? Rank from one to eight with one being least important and eight being most

A feeling of suspense □

Fast paced music □

A plot twist □

Action □

Gore □

Science □

A sense of reality – not too farfetched □

A clever storyline □

Do you like to see credits in the opening of the film?

Yes □

No □

Don’t mind □

Continuity task

This is our final verson of our continuity task, personally I dont think it was a success and if had the chance I would re-do it all over again. The reason i think this is because of the use of camera, editing, mis en scene and sound, I dont think there was enough variety of shots in this short video. The effect of not having enough variety of shots is that the video may become missleading or not make sense, it also can make the video seem more proffesional. One of the main reason i dislike the mis en scene in our task is that it doesnt really make sense and that one of our actors looked at the camera. The reason i do not think it makes sense is because not all of the shots flow together well and tell the story aswell as i would have liked, the fact that one of our actors looked at the camera completely ruins the task because as an audience we are made to beleive we are actually "in the movie" and by looking at the camera it ruins this illusion (Just like if we broke the 180 rule). As a group I do not think we took sound seriously enough and did not pay it enough attension, due to this lack of attention this is a really poor part of our task and if payed more attension it could have increased the overall quality of the task. Lastly there is the problem with the editing, throught the task i can pick continuity faults which really lower the quality of the task. Looking back I can now see what we have done wrong and what we need to take into account when doing our actual thriller opening. For example; from the lack of variety of shot in our continuity task i now know that i will need to have a variety of shots in my final thriller opening.

Story Boarding

Originally we drew up your story board by hand, the problem with this was that we couldnt get a very clear idea of what exactly our opening is going to look like. We then decided to take pictures of each picture we drew just to get a clearer idea of what our opening would look like.

We think these pictures are valuable and gave us a clearler idea of what we need to film but after this we decided that it would be more benificial if we did the story board again but with more pictures so it is alot clearer and we know pretty much what the end product will look like. http://www.flickr.com/photos/56734761@N04/sets/72157625418080173/ Unfortunatly i could not upload them straight to the blog because there are too many images (64 I think) so i uploaded them to flickr. The only problem with this is that the images are not in order.

Donnie Darko (2001) (done)

Donnie Darko

Genre: Psychological Thriller

Director: Richard Kelly

Writers: Richard Kelly

A troubles teenager is plagues by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes, after narrowly escaping a bizarre accident.

Analysis:

The movie starts with the sponsors being shown as non-diegetic thunder sound starts to play, this creates a pathetic fallacy as we feel on edge and uncomfortable. After the sponsors have been shown the title sequence starts. It starts with a black screen and the typography is in a strange font, this strange font emphases the eerie mood created by the thunder. This title sequence then fades into a tracking ELS of a landscape, this familiarises us the the location of the scene. The same tracking shot then moves towards a man laying in the middle of a road and who seems to be asleep (Donnie) this tracking shot still moves until it is close enough to be a mid shot, this again is establishing us with the location and now also a character (Probably the main character) This tracking shot includes 3 different type of shot, an ELS, a LS and a MS. The non-diegetic sound fo the thunder stopped as the title sequence did and now a piano starts to play, this non-diegetic sound is still building up the surreal eerie feel making us feel uncomfortable. The MS of Donnnie then cuts a an ELS pan of the landscape, again this is familiarising us with the location and it shows us that he is alone. The pan stops then this character that was asleep rises from the bottom of the screen this mid shot is establishing us with the character, he walks out of the shot then the title fades in this shows the audience who the character is.

The use of the strange font mixed with the non-diegetic thunder and the fact that donnie is laying in the middle of the road alone then laughes to himself really gives an eerie feel and makes the audience uncomfortable.

Genre

What do I know about Genre?

• Genre is a set of conventions recognisable usually through iconography, familiar narrative, mise-en-scene, actors and style of representation.
• Genre is not static but constantly renegotiated between industry and audience. A combination of familiar reassurance and new twists.
• Genre offers comforting reassurance in an uncomfortable world, threat is quashed, outlaws becoming civilized gangsters are punished. Genre is a way of tidying up the mess of life.
• Genre functions like language; a set of rules and vocab with which to organise meaning .
• Genre does not have to be fixed as one certain genre, it can be a hybrid of different genres. For example you can mix a Romantic film with a Comedy to make a separate hybrid genre called a Romantic-Comedy.