Editing Our Footage

Today we began to edit the footage that we had filmed from the previous weekend. We noted down which shots we had to re-film, what shots we would like to include, and also the shots that worked well.
When piecing the clips together, we tried to achieve a continuos flow, even though we were using a wide variety of shots.

Sound Effects

Today I decided to look at several sound effects. Sound effects can be useful when creating an atmosphere, and for developing suspense and tension. I think that some sound effects would be useful for our thriller, such as the crackling of fire, and the sound of footsteps. I think sound effects would be a useful addition to our thriller opening, and will certainly be a consideration for the future. Below is an example of sound effects I found on Youtube.

Filming

This weekend we began filming. It took a considerable amount of time to get the first few shots set up, but we soon got to grips with our equipments, and began to set up and film the shots quickly.
Half way through filming, we realised that the battery of the camera was extremely low. Consequently, we had to stop filming. This could prove problematic as we need to have continuity throughout our film. Originally, we had hoped to complete all the filming over one or two days. However, we will have a roughly a weeks gap between filming.

On the Saturday, we had organised to film, but our main actress did not show up, meaning that we were unable to film. Instead of wasting time, we set up the camera in various ways, and experimented with angles and shots.
On Sunday, our main actress arrived, but was considerably late. As a result, we only managed to film for roughly an hour, meaning we did not get to film as much as we would have liked. Consequently, we are now behind schedule, as nearly two entire weekends have been wasted.

Scream, 1996.

Scream is a well-known horror movie, that uses tension and suspense extensively. The movie documents Sidney Prescott's attempts to aviod being killed, as well as her personal journey of realising the truth behind her mother's murder in the year prior to the one the movie is set in.The director, Wes Craven, has made a name for himself from his masterful use of tension. Craven also makes several references to other horror movies in the film, which not only help progress the plot, but also make the project feel less detached like other horror films.In my opinion, the best part of the movie is either the beginning, in which Drew Barrymore stars, or the climax. The opening scenes set the tone for the movie, and introduce us to the antagonist. We meet the protagonist later, when the antagonist is already in the middle of his killing habits. I also like the ending, as there is a fast pace carried throughout, and the plot is unravelled. 

The Dark Knight, 2008

The Dark Knight is the latest instalment of the Batman franchise, and is different to the other movies. In my opinion, the main attraction of the film is the character of the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger. The Joker is depicted as a crazed and deadly villain, who is ruthless and detached from sympathy.

I think watching The Dark Knight will help me portray our antagonist better, and will consequently allow us to create a high quality piece of work.

The Dark Knight benefited largely from the character of the Joker, who was seen long before the film through an extensive marketing scheme. The scheme involved posters, newspaper and 'Harvey Dent' support kits, which were released twice; the second time, they were defaced by the Joker. This added an increase degree of realism to the fictional Gotham City and its inhabitants.

Garageband Experimentation

During her free time, a member of our group began to experiment with the application Garageband. Using the software, she wanted to create a piece of music for our ident. She created a piece of music, but we could not transfer it to another computer, meaning that we were unable to use it.
As a result, myself and Sarah created a new piece of music; this piece matched our ident better too. However, the music is eight seconds in length, whilst the ident is only five. Therefore, I will re-create the ident, making it roughly twenty seconds in length. This will allow us to be able to change and alter the music at any time, without any problems or complications.

Art of the Title

Today I visited the website 'Art Of The Title' in order to gain an insight into the making of a title sequence. Whilst there, I began to look at various title sequences, such as 'Days of Heaven' and 'Scott Pilgrim vs the World'. Another title sequence I found interesting was for the movie 'The Dog Problem'.

I thought this sequence was interesting as the graphics used were simple but effective. Moreover, after reading the interview attached with the video, I discovered that Gnarls Barkley's video 'Crazy' is similar.

Titles and Credits Order

Below is the order of the credits. These will be placed over the film, as we only have two minutes of filming time. 

1: Panoptic Productions presents

2: A film by: Connor Murray 
                 and Sarah Warnock

3: Starring: Hollie Tuvey

4: Gera Zaharov

5: Also starring: Georgia Wigley
                      Ashleigh Hay

6: Music by: Connor Murray

                 (possibly mention names of bands used)

7: Edited by: Ashleigh Hay
                 Connor Murray
                 Hollie Tuvey
                 Sarah Warnock

8: Directed by: Connor Murray
                    Sarah Warnock

9: Assistant Directors: Ashleigh Hay
                               Hollie Tuvey

10: NAME OF FILM

Cast

Above is a video showing the actor and actresses will we will be using in our thriller.

Filming

Both today and yesterday, the group had organised to film. Unfortunately, the main actress did not attend both times, meaning that we were unable to film. This makes it crucial for us to begin filming next week at the very latest. Doing so will allow us enough time to edit the film and possibly re-shoot some footage if we need to.

Survey Analysis

Today I decided to check the data from my survey. Below is just an example of the data collected; as you can see, I had 25 people participate in my survey. I think this is a nice, round amount, and will give me a clear indication as to what people would like to see in our thriller opening.

What is your gender?

The majority of our audience is female, meaning that using female characters would be effective, and the audience could relate to the characters on-screen, and will become more immersed in the world of the film.

How old are you?

All of the participants were under twenty years of age, and most of them were between sixteen and twenty. Once again, it would be effective to cast an actress that is around this age, as the audience will find it easier to relate to them.

With regards to movies, do you like the Thriller genre?

88% of participants stated that they do like the thriller genre. This means that the film opening we create should be appealing to many people, especially those within the age range stated above.

Which sub-genres of a thriller do you enjoy the most?

Horror was the most popular option, and is easy to re-create. Therefore, we hope to install horror conventions into our thriller. Another popular option was the disaster genre. However, this would require a lot of Special FX, time and money, all three of which are scarce. Thus, it would be awfully difficult to create a film in this genre. Our film will also include codes and conventions from the psychological sub-genre, which gained seven votes out of a possible twenty-five.

Why do you like the sub-genre(s) you have selected?

Some of the answers for this question included:

• "As they can be both scary and exciting."
• "I like watching things that people have put a lot of thought into, things no one would ever think of."
• "I like the rapid pace associated with the thriller genre, especially in the horror and supernatural sub-genre."

One participant gave a long and interesting answer, which was more specific than the others.

"It's hard to say why I like them. I think they are each interesting for there own reasons. 
Crime: is kind of like a mystery, and you pick up the clues as the movie goes along and makes you want to find out more to solve the mystery. 
Disaster: they often make people think that these things could happen, therefore we watch it and it makes us think of what we would do in this situation. It makes you want to watch on because you want to see their decision. 
Horror: Blood and Gore, enough said. 
Psychological: it's very interesting, and at times confusing, therefore we want to watch it more to figure out what is going on. 
Supernatural: is different to every day life. I like to watch it because it lets you explore a totally different world to your own.
Techno: i like futuristic movies because it's strange and different which makes it even more intriguing."

On average, how many Thriller films do you watch a month?

The majority of people watch two thriller films a month. This indicates that there is stiff competition for the audience's attention, and that our thriller will have to stand out.

What is you favourite component of the Thriller genre? (Suspense, mystery etc.)

Some answers include:

• "Death, and usually the gory ones."
• "I prefer mystery as its something that you can get involved in and try and solve the mystery in some films."
• "The suspense right before a scary bit that you know is going to happen!"

Aside from the word 'Thriller' itself, what 3 words come into your head when you think of the term 'Thriller'?

As there were 75 words/phrases for this question, I decided to make a wordle. As expected, some of the answers were immature, but the vast majority were very useful.

Filming - Preparation

We decided to film during our lesson, but realised we hadn't yet organised and prepared the set. We then headed to print off many images of Hollie (our protagonist) and began cutting and sticking them to the wall in the shape of a heart. Afterwards, we removed the bed from the room, and left the mattress, and scattered around several 'manly' items. The room now looks masculine, and ideal for the character of the stalker.

Script - Discussion

We checked over the script with our cast, and they were all happy with it. We hope to start filming as soon as possible, as we want a large amount of time to edit and have the option of re-shooting.

Script

Below is a small extract of our script, which is now complete and has been given to our actors/actress to look over and be comfortable with. We will be speaking with our cast soon, to make sure they feel comfortable with the script, and that it feels natural to read. The group have also been given a copy of the script, so that they are aware of what will be happening, and are familiar with the events of the thriller opening.

DISSOLVE IN:
MUSIC FADES IN:

MID SHOT
A character is sitting in a chair at a desk. The computer, which is situated on the desk, is switched on and the internet browser is open. There are many cosmetic products around the area the character is in, and a mirror is placed on the left of the computer screen. The character’s back is facing away from the camera, and the mirror shows a reflection of her face. The character is Georgia Wigley, a small figure, and is dressed in an oversized black dressing gown. The only light is coming from the computer screen; Georgia is sitting in shadow. Georgia is typing, and the sound can be heard.

DISSOLVES TO BLACK:
DISSOLVES FROM BLACK:

CLOSE UP: POINT OF VIEW SHOT:
Georgia clicks on her notification and is taken to a picture of herself.

            DISSOLVE TO NEXT SHOT:

WALL OF PICTURES: MID SHOT
The camera is zoomed onto one picture and zooms out, revealing a wall full of pictures of Georgia. The camera begins follows the character that placed the pictures there. The character is Connor Murray, a tall, skinny individual. He is dressed shabbily in a blue hoody, and black jeans.

            DISSOLVES TO BLACK:
            DISSOLVES FROM BLACK:

CONNOR’S ROOM: MID SHOT
Connor is seen standing next to a wardrobe, with a laptop placed on top. The laptop is switched on, and the internet browser is open.

Note: This is the revised and updated version of the script. The script had to be altered to accommodate the new cast.

Location Research

Two of my group members decided to take some photos of our chosen location. As you can see, the area is practically deserted meaning that there will be few disturbances when filming. Moreover, the setting looks ominous, and will create the atmosphere we want for our thriller.

Storyboard

This is the storyboard for our thriller. As you can see, it is very detailed, which allows us to easily set up and film shots.

Se7en, 1995

This is the film opening for 'Se7en'. The font used is very jagged and irregular, and makes it seem as though someone has scribbled the text. Additionally, the text intersects various shots of odd things, such as flicking through a book, and writing. The film itself sometimes blurs, and two images can be seen.

Script Research

A script is needed for our thriller opening, even if the opening only contains a small amount of dialogue. To gain knowledge of how to write a script, I looked at a few examples.

In class, I looked through the script of North by Northwest and was surprised to see an extremely detailed script, with lots of accurate and precise description. I decided to look at other scripts too, to see if there was some sort of trend that would run through out.

I then looked at the script for The Manchurian Candidate, which was laid out in a similar fashion to North by Northwest.

To see if there was any change between animated and non-animated movies, I looked at the script of Toy Story, and that there was very little difference.

As our production is only for the opening two minutes, I decided to look at the script for the pilot episode of Prison Break. The pilot episode would have to catch the attention of the viewer in the opening scenes, as well as introduce the characters. Therefore, I thought it was appropriate to look at the script.

The link to the scripts can be found below.

Manchurian Candidate

Toy Story

Prison Break

Panic Room, 2002

Below is the film opening of 'Panic Room', which was released in 2002. The font used is bold and dense, and looks metallic. It therefore fits its surroundings, as aesthetically, it matches the buildings.
The font is placed in line with the buildings, and looks ominous. This is an effective way of placing the credits into the film, as it sets the scene by using various of landscapes shots, and the text does not detract from the film.

Thrillers - Text

The thriller genre can span many different entities, including both film and text. A recent thriller text I read was 'Enduring Love', by Ian McEwan. The text centers around Joe Rose, and his new found stalker Jed Parry.

Joe tries to find the solution to Jed's obsession, and consequently enters many tense arguments with Jed. Other scenes also include a shooting, and a scene where Joe's girlfriend is taken hostage. Overall, the text is classified as a thriller, even though it ventures into several genre.
The novel has been made into a film, which is also put into the category of a thriller.

Opening Credits

After creating our ident, we will now begin to look at the opening credits of certain films in order to gain an idea as to what we need to include and how to include it.
Some of the films we will look at include 'In The Cut', 'Panic Room', and 'Se7en'.

After filming our thriller opening, and editing it, we will then see how we can place our credits into the film without distracting the viewer from the action happening on screen.

Storyboard

Today we all met up as a group and finished our storyboard. We now have a good idea as to what our thriller opening will consist of, and can work on gaining the licensing of certain music.
Tomorrow, one of us will create the animatic of our storyboard.

Visual Mind Map

Below is a visual mind map we created. We decided to do this to gain inspiration for our thriller, and to help us gain a better understanding of the genre.