Ideas and Feedback

We gave our general ideas of what we were planning to our other peers; at the funeral and then the camera pans down to the coffin and we see that the girl is inside alive, then it cuts to a man smiling at the funeral to say that he knows whats going on, but still a lot of the sequence is inside the coffin. The feedback we received was that there was too many aspects and that we should keep it more simple. We decided as a group to use this constructive criticism and narrow our idea down to more of a simplistic idea but still keeping high tension, which we thought would be better if it was all set in one space as the changing of surrounding could take away from the tension. Our idea which we will carry through to our production is a girl just trapped inside a coffin and the whole sequence will be filmed inside this coffin as we agreed that making it simplistic with a feature that is unknown to the character inside the coffin but that us as the audience are aware of from the beginning.

We also received feedback from our peers and the questioned what is going to happen during the two minutes which made us as a group think more deeply as to the storyboard and consider actual events that will fill the two minutes but also adding to the tension and pace of the sequence.

Story Board

Pitch to and Institution

I have chosen ‘Lionsgate’ as the production company that

would most likely make my film.
They have made similar films, of the thriller genre. American Psycho was a thriller film with an aspect of horror to it which I think our film has in the rest of the planned plot. Other thriller films produced by Lionsgate are the Saw films. They are psychological thrillers which I feel link closely to our film as the go through torture phases, similar to our plot where being in a confined space trapped would be considered a torture.

I think that my film fits into the ethos of the institution as Lionsgate makes micro-budgeted films. I don't think that my film would need a large budget as there is only one main character which would be the focus, so the cast doesn't need to be large, and there don't need to be very many extras. I think that the locations in my film would be limited as most of it takes place inside the coffin. I also don't feel like the main female role should be played by a big named star because I don't think there should be any pre-emptions of the events in the plot given away by a traditionally rolled genre character. I could see my product being on the website as the theme of the most of the films is quite dark as is mine so i think it would fit in with the themes on their website.
http://www.lionsgate.com/
(link to Lionsgate website)
Lionsgate aims most of their films to a younger target audience. I feel that my film fits in with that as my main character empathizes with a young female adult.  I feel like my target audience would be of the younger generation because it involves technical elements and fears that younger girls would have.

Review of Test Footage

In our reccy shoot, we did a rough shoot of how we intended to set out our original idea of how our thriller sequence would look. In this test shoot we filmed each shot in chronological order of events. We did this to see what the sequence would look like if we decided to go with those events in the sequence, how the shots would work with each other and we could think about technical aspects of how we would do some of the things in the actual shoot.

We made substitutions for some of the props and characters. We used a girl instead of a middle aged man as the mystery person in the back of the scene. We didn't have enough of a variety of people to use for the funeral scene so we used only a few teenagers, as the members attending the funeral. We couldn't control the lighting elements we wanted to because we didn't go back and edit the footage and we filmed it in day light, so when we wanted as darker lighting when the camera was focused ion the mystery man, we could only use the natural day light. As we weren't actually in a graveyard, it was difficult to make it obvious where the setting was so we just gathered the crowd in a semi-circle to make it obvious that they were looking at something. We didn't have any dialogue which we were planning to include in the sequence, this made the footage a lot shorter than we expected and we didn't know the shot length; we hadn't prepared any dialogue.

We tested a Mid/Long shot zoomed out to long shot of the people standing in front of 'him' to establish the setting and show where the characters are in relation to each other and to show that he is behind but also a dominant character in the scene.  We tested a close up of the phone of the man and of him sending the text to the girl at the funeral.

I think our whole group found this very beneficial as it made us realize what we needed to work on and that was our overall plot line and setting. We realized that there was too much going on in the first sequence as it was too complicated and we needed to simplify the sequence to build suspense and effect.

I think for our first idea that we did a test shoot on, the zoom movements when showing character positioning worked well. I think we could take this to our developed idea of having the camera zoom from inside the coffin to an establishing shot at the end of the sequence when revealing that it is in a graveyard. I think the location didn't work so well, in terms of having the whole sequence set in a graveyard, there's nothing very unsettling in that as a location. I think that with our developed idea, as it is mostly set inside the coffin rather than above ground it works better to build suspense and make a successful thriller.
When watching the footage back, there was definitely a lack of tension built throughout the sequence which we worked on to come up with our new developed idea.

By doing this test shoot, it has definitely helped our group to conclude that the original idea didnt work so well and didn't build enough suspense. We thought about the logistics of how our original sequence would be filming. we thought that the acting of the people at the funeral would add too much drama and wouldn't be as realistic.

Minute Meetings

17/11/14

What have you done?

We planned locations and angles for scenes. Decided what props we need. Decided how much time we will spend shooting at each location.

Targets:

Tom: To ask if you are allowed an hour out of the music video. Freddy: Think in more detail about the Pavilion scene. Claudia: Make a Facebook group and add us all so we can share pictures etc from the lesson.

What went well and why:

Decided where we want to film and how we will film scenes in the classroom.

What went bad and why:

Didn't discuss fully what we are going to film at the Pavilion & the angles we will use. Didn't have enough time as we thought of the idea at the end of the lesson.

18/11/14

What have you done?

Today, we focused on our thriller length and complexity, and decided it was too long for an introduction sequence. We completed our story board for tomorrows practice lesson. We created a Whatsapp group so we could communicate more easily. We fitted our sequence into around two minutes and finalized the locations and props for tomorrow.

Targets:

Tom: To find time from the music video to go and take part in the practice film session. Eliza: Finish the storyboard drawings. Freddy: Check over the original idea, make sure we haven't missed anything that could make our sequence more thrilling. Claudia: Contact each of the group to make sure Whatsapp works.

What went well:

We established a way of contacting each other easily, so we can organize things when we are at home. We also managed to decide on a story that will fit roughly into the time-span.

What didn't go well:

We wasted a little time deciding on ideas that would fit into the time-span and still be tense.

20/11/14

Today we filmed the reccy shoot filming each shot in chronological order, each in one take.

Targets:

Claudia-upload videos onto laptop so we have back up copies. Tom-catch up on what missed and go through what problems came up. Group- discuss ways to lengthen the sequence. Maybe we could write some dialogue so that there is more substance to the shots so they don't seem as long.

WWW- it was useful to see how the shot pieced together and it helped us to get a more visual idea of how our thoughts worked together, therefore making it easier to adapt and add in ideas to our sequence to improve it.

WWB- we need to discuss in more detail how to extend the sequence as it only came up to a minute. so that held us back as we were running out of ideas and we need to discuss in more detail how to adapt our idea.

21/11/14

What has worked well:

To increase the tension we positioned 'Claudia' in the background to show a hooded figure in the background which the girl cant see. this worked well we thought as it shows the thrilling side of the opening scene opening the question of "who is the person in the background?"

Another thing that worked well we felt was the camera angle we used to show the girls face expressions of fear and vulnerability. we used a closeup which worked really well to show these emotions to the audience and increase suspense of whats going to happen to her.

What didn't work so well:

We felt the general pace of the opening scene wasn't quite right and we maybe need to work on that to make it quicker and therefore more tense or slower and slower. This definitely is a weakness of the piece at the moment as it isn't flowing very well with the pace we used in the tester film.

Also to improve the piece we think that we could add more to it whether that's more sound or another twist or even cut things out and replace them with other ideas because most of the group agree at the moment the story line isn't strong enough to create that thrilling effect on its own but needs more to be successful.

24/11/14

What have you done:

Noticed our idea was still too complex and we were trying to channel too many ideas into one, Decided final idea, of being at a funeral, we see a lot of sad people and then the camera pans down to the coffin & we see the woman is alive. It then cuts to a man laughing. We also talked through a few points for the pitch

Targets: Eliza: prepare pitch for tomorrow. Freddy: create a story board for the pitch tomorrow. Claudia: inform tom on what he missed in today's lesson.

WWW: Today we discussed what was bad in our idea and what we could do to make it better, we finally decided our final idea & everyone is happy with it. Decided who was going to present the pitch & who is going to write feedback.

WWB: Left it quite late to decide our final idea, which made our overall summary & opening sequence suffer. We didn't really have a clear pitch, we just talked through a few ideas of what we want to include, as Eliza is presenting the pitch, she is going to finish it at home



 10/12/14
What have you done:
Today we discussed the props, costume and set.
Targets:Eliza:describe and make notes on the costume. Try and find some possible and affordable dresses that we could use.
Tom:Try and find a set where we can film the graveyard establishing shots.
Claudia:Catch up on new ideas about costumes and props.
Freddy:Think more about props needed.



13/01/15
What went well?

We researched wedding dresses and decided on the look we want, we also finalised our idea for the coffin, which should be made later in the week.

 What went wrong?

We didn't manage to finish a scene outline.

 Targets

C: Research wedding dresses

E: Catch up on the things you missed

F: Come up with ideas for our scene outlines

T: Ask Adam about using Peaslake graveyard 

 

15/01/15

WWW: we narrowed down the exact look and style of the dress which we are all going to look for for Friday
WWB:we didn't find the dress that we originally wanted online
 targets:
Eliza- got To Cranleigh ad look for a dress in the charity shop.
Freddy- make sure we have all the props listed and together so we know if we need anything else.
Tom-make sure all the minute meetings are covered from this week and last so we know if were missing anything and to ensure all the targets have been met my the group.
Claudia-buy a dress if Eliza cant find one.


18/01/15
WWW: we discussed further the exact sequence of events for our thriller and the scene outline
WWB: cant agree on an order
everyone- write down the order of events you want


21/01/15
WWW: we decided on the order of events for the scene outline
WWB:  we didn't manage to finish the story board
Claudia: write up the exact actions in the specific order for the scene outline
Freddy: write up the different potential camera angles and movements that would be suiting for each of the actions.
Eliza + Tom: in an enigma set aside the slot to draw up the storyboard for the shooting day.

Mood Board

I made this mood board by finding images which I thought would help give a clearer theme idea to our introduction sequence. I used images of a graveyard and images which gave the effect of being trapped to set the tone of our film.

Genre, Audiences and Institutions

Genre is a relevant concept for audiences because they will know what genre of film they prefer therefore know what to expect from the films and they'll be more likely to watch it if they have a brief idea of what to expect.

 If a film production company has a reputation for making good quality films, the audience are more likely to go and watch that film. If a director or producer is known for making a specific genre of film, for example Richard Curtis is known for directing Romantic Comedy films, therefore the audience are more likely to watch it because they can predict and rely on the quality of the film they are paying to see. This will impact the production company because if they build a good reputation, the films they make in the future will be more successful. If they choose to produce a film that is not a typical genre of that company, the audience will be more intrigued.

Genre is useful for the film distribution companies as when it comes to advertising the film, they can include the conventions of a stereotypical specific genre. Some actors are known specifically for specific genres, the distribution companies can use these by when they're constructing posters and other media texts they can make the better known characters specific to the genre more dominant within the text to intrigue fans of those characters.

Sub Genres

Within the thriller genre there are many differnt themes within the films which make the seem completely different to one another in terms of mise-en-scen characters and narrativfe. To differentiate these differnt types from one another is to have sub-genres.
Sub-genres are a genre within a genre that helps classify the specific themes of that film. 
Some examples of sub-genres within thriller are psychological thriller. 
The similarities of these two films that both come under the psychological thriller genre is that in the narrative events they both towards the end come to the realization of disturbed thoughts and alteration of reality to themselves. both these characters are the main characters within the film therefore we feel empathy towards them so when, at the end, the come to realization of mental problems is shocks the audience and adds surprise to the original pre-emptions of the events in the film. This is my favorite sub genre of thriller as it shocks you and makes you reconsider previous events watched in the film therefore changing your thoughts and making you re think you feelings created originally by the other characters.

Genre Difference, Repetition and Similarity

Films withing the thriller genre can be very different from one another with he content of the actual film. Examples of this are Shutter island and Taken. They both classify as thrillers but they are very different in terms of mise-en-scene as in shutter island it is set in a mental asylum where most of the lighting is dark which gives an eerie atmosphere. In Taken, the mise-en-scene is a modern setting where it is more familiar to an audience.
The characters in shutter island are doctors, mental patients and detectives, where as Taken has more criminals and policeman, so again it is more relatable to most audience as it includes normal everyday people that you come across.
The narrative events of shutter island are that two detectives come to an island to look investigate the a missing patient, and encounters many problems with himself and his unfamiliar surroundings. In Taken the narrative events include and ex-police officer whose daughter gets taken when she is traveling by a group of sex traffickers who he is trying to hunt down to find his daughter and save her.

 These films come under different sub genres within the thriller genre. Shutter island is a psychological thriller and Taken is just a thriller.
They also have a lot in common as they both aim to have the same effects on the audience. A thriller builds suspense, tension and excitement. This gives a high level of suspension to the audience and gives them something to create anticipation and expectation of the events within the film. The characters roles in the films are still similar. In Shutter Island you feel an empathy and trust within the main character and trust him to solve and save the problems encountered. I some sense this is very similar to the main character in Taken. You feel connected and entrusted in the main character and as the conventions of a thriller go, you expect them to succeed even though they are not necessarily to succeed outside of the film world.

Introduction to Genre

Genre is used to categorize films to target specific audiences and to use the conventions of the genres to advertise specifically.   

Some examples of film genres are Romantic, Horror, Comedy.

Films within each genre share conventions which help to differentiate between the genres. Conventions can be sound. For example, in horror films they could have contrapuntal sound where there is a typical children's nursery rhyme contrasting with the images of violence.
Another convention could be editing. In action films the shot length is short so the shots switch quickly between angles. This increases the pace and adds movement.

Editing Preliminary Investigation

Editing 

 In our first editing lesson we learned the basics of Adobe Premiere.
We learned how to make new "bins" and "rushes" to organize the raw footage filmed. we then learned how to place the information onto a timeline and we learned how to use various tools on the program such as Trim Handles, Blade and In / Out Points and how to cut to make a clean continuity edit.
 In our second lesson of editing we continued working on cutting and piecing together the footage of the preliminary investigation shoot, ensuring all the sound matched the action and the switching between shots was clean and the continuity worked between shots.

I felt that within our editing group we had a good combination of people as i think members of the group were better than others at different aspects of the editing which made it easier to contribute abilities to do the different tasks. I felt that I was stronger at choosing the angles to use for each shot. I think I need to work on the physical aspect of the piecing together on the timeline of the shots. I think towards the end of the task I improved my skills of the timeline editing but there is definitely room for improvement because I don't think i completely got the hang of it.

Original ideas discussed within my group (Freddy, Claudia, Tom)

Idea 1

A psychopath who was abused as a child and when he was younger he would try and signal to people about his troubles at home. when he grew up he was obviously messed up so and he would stalk children he suspected to be going through the same situation as he did when he was younger, even if they weren't he would try and save them by kidnapping them and keeping them abandoned in a locked cabin in the woods. it was going to be in first person on his behalf so we could see why he was doing it but we knew it was wrong but we empathised with him as he was just trying to help.

Idea 2

We see an extreme close up of a man sweating, looking stressed and nervous, the background is entirely black, the camera switches and we see that he is taking a penalty, he shoots and scores the penalty, there is a fade to black, and cheering is heard, and is synchronous to the fading screen. There is a newspaper on a table with the front page being about the famous penalty shootout and how it won the mans team the cup. We see the player pack his bags, and leave his apartment, he arrives at training to find a figure in the goalposts, he walks up to the figure to find that it is his coach hanging by his neck, with white letters painted on him, saying 'You're Next'.


Idea 3

Man is leading a double life. He is a police officer but has also committed a lot of very bad and serious crimes. He has raped and murdered 3 women in his other life, but 5 years later he is at work and is now investigating the crime as one of the bodies has just been found. Will people find out it was him?
For the opening sequence, I would like to use several clips from different news channels about the 3 girls going missing. The clips would cut from one channel to the next and eventually the sound from the clips would play over each other and then it would cut to black. Next we would see the back of a man dragging some bodies, but we don’t ever see his face. Next it cuts to the policeman at work and we hear a voice over of a news presenter saying that a girl who went missing 5 years ago, body has been found. We see the man at work trying to investigate the incident. An image of a wrist tied to a bed flashes on the screen and then we cut back to the man talking at work. We then see another body revealed with a voice over, it quickly cuts to a woman with hands around her throat. The speed of the cuts get quicker and we see a lot more shots of violent things. Then it cuts straight to black and there is a big bang. Finally we see a man slowly walking towards the camera with his hood up but we cannot see his face.

Preliminary Investigation Final Edited Piece

Thriller Genre

Genre

• A genre= a category that a film can fit under, that shares similar conventions to eachother. 

• A sub-genre= a genre within a genre that helps classify the specific themes of that film. 

• A hybrid-genre= a combination of different types of genre. 

Genre is used to categorize films to target specific audiences and to use the conventions of the genres to advertise specifically.  

What are genre conventions ?

• Genre conventions are things which people naturally associate with different types of genre that separate them from one another. They are used to let the audience establish the genre the film they are watching is categorized under so the have more of an idea what to expect from the film. 

Thriller:

What is a thriller genre?

• A thriller is a film genre that includes suspense, tension and excitement.  

• some examples of thriller films are 'Taken', 'Inception' and 'Se7en'

Conventions of a thriller

What are the main conventions of a thriller?
The main convention of a thriller are suspense.

Sub-genres of thriller?

Give the different types and include examples of texts within each sub-genre.
Some sub-genres of thriller are psychological, crime, mystery, espionage, conspiracy.

Filming Preliminary Investigation

 Filming

For the preliminary investigation, in groups, we filmed a basic storyboard scene. we were given five shots which we had to use: wide shot, close up and over the shoulder. we could use any other shots which we thought would be suitable to the sequence and would add more versatility within the sequence. we used a close up of the telephone which the character picks up. we also used some other variations of the over the shoulder shots.we had to consider that when it came to editing we had to have a match on action to convey the continuity within the sequence. we had to use the 180 degree rule, so it was obvious to the audience where the characters were position to one another.
 The preliminarily task involved a character opening a door, crossing the room, then the two characters exchange a couple of lines of dialogue. 
The first shot we used was a wide shot, to set the scene, including the mise-en-scene of a sofa and table. we used the close ups of the two different characters so when it came top editing we could focus on the dialogue and emotion from each character when necessary. We decided to use different variations of over the shoulder shot so when it came to editing, we could have a variation of uses for this type of shot. we used an over the should of the character walking through the door, with only seeing the responding characters face, so we knew where the dialogue was coming from but focused on the other character so er emotion was clear. We used an over the shoulder shot of character 1, including character 2, so we could show the interaction of emotions between the two characters. we did a close up of the telephone so that it was made clear when she picked it up and put it down, so it could make more of an impact and the movement was more purposeful.
i think, what we could have done better was using more of a variation of more complex shots, so when it came to editing we had a wide variety of different shot to choose from even if we didnt use them they were there. Also we could have done more takes of the same type of shot, so that there were more to choose from if there were any continuity errors.
In our preliminary task, I was the director and I filmed most of the shots. I enjoyed doing this because I could contribute my ideas for which types of shots would work best for each section of the sequence.