Production roles - Miss Miller

Within my opening scene there are several production roles. These are important in the film making, as it makes sure people are focused on their task. It helps allocate people individual parts which helps make the task in hand much swifter and less time consuming. Therefore we have included a production role to insure that we are organised.

The main roles in a production are:

• Producer - Film producers prepare and then supervise the making of a film before presenting the product to a financing entity or a film distributor.

• Directors - a person who is in charge of an activity, department, or organisation.

• Actors - a person whose profession is acting on the stage, in films, or on television.

• Director of photography - A cinematographer is the chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, and responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image. The study and practice of this field is referred to as cinematography.

• Sound technician - They prepare, operate and maintain technical equipment to amplify, enhance, mix or reproduce sound. They work on audio recordings, films, radio and television programmes and live performances.

• Screen play writers - A screenwriter or scriptwriter or scenarist is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media such as films, television programs, comics or video games are based.

• MES co-ordinators - Someone who is in control of all props, costumes and make up. They can work on films, tv and stage.

• Editors -Film editors work in the post-production process of filmmaking. They take all the shots from filming, and edit them until the finished product matches the director's vision of the film.

When discussing about the roles of production within my group, we made sure that Jodie and Noah were originally written down as the main two actors. Therefore on our opening scene after the productions name, they will be the first two names that the audience see. This is as we believe that they are supposed to be our main characters and therefore the most important.  However there is still one more character who will be added in towards the end as it is a role is not as important as the other two actors.
Next we discussed who would be the producer, this would have to be someone who could be at every step of the film to over see the making of the film and also make sure that everyone keeps on schedule. Therefore, we chose Noah to be the producer, as he is sensible and can take control of a situation. 
We then chose who would be the director, we thought that whoever took control of this part should also be in control of the camera, therefore we chose Alex, as he wanted to be the director of photography as well. With Alex being the director of photography, he has to make sure he understands the different types of camera angles, that is why we have chosen him, as he seems the most confident out of everyone in the group. 
When choosing who should be the sound technician, we decided to include Heather Everingham as she has experience in music and making sound tracks. She takes advise well, therefore we thought that she would be a great contribution to the group.
Next, we had to decide who would be the screen play writer, as I had already written over half of the script, we thought it would be a sensible to put me down as the screen writer. 
Finally we had a long discussion who would be the editor or editors,  we chose that we would all play a part in editing our opening scene. This way we could all put our contribution into the scene. It will also hopefully stop any arguments, as we can all decide what should be inputted into our film. 

Narrative theory - Miss Georgiou

To find out what the difference between a narrative and a story is I decided to look at several different theories, these included the thoughts of Aristotle. However to determine what a narrative and a story are, I found definitions.

A narrative is some kind of retelling, often in words (though it is possible to mime a story), of something that happened (a story). The narrative is not the story itself but rather the telling of the story -- which is why it is so often used in phrases such as "written narrative," "oral narrative," etc. While a story just is a sequence of events, a narrative recounts those events, perhaps leaving some occurrences out because they are from some perspective insignificant, and perhaps emphasising others. In a series of events, a car crash takes a split second. A narrative account, however, might be almost entirely about the crash itself and the few seconds leading up to it. Narratives thus shape history (the series of events, the story of what happened).

 While a story is defined as normal a tale that is made up and is not real. These come in many different forms such as folk tales, child books and adult books.

Theory 1

Vladimir Propp

The ideas from Propp is that he believed that a good story has to have these characters to be successful.
The hero, this is someone that has been sent on a mission and has something to gain.
The villain, this is doing something against the hero or has taken something from the hero, this person is normally disliked by the audience.
The donor this is someone that has given the hero something that makes them special or extra.
The dispatcher,
The False hero, this is someone who pretends that they are good and helping others but they are just taking the credit of the hero.
The Helper, this is someone who help the hero though out the mission
The Princesses this is someone that the hero is fighting for because they cant defend them self
Her father this is someone who has send the hero on the mission and gives them a reward



Theory 2

Tzveten Todorov's

The ideas from Todorov's is that he thinking that characters are to complicated so a clear story with structure is the best way for a story to be interesting and successful. He narrative is seen as a circular one. The narrative is driven by attempts to restore the equilibrium but it is shown at the start and is not the same as the one at the end.

Theory 3

Aristotle

Aristotle believed the characters and it's narrative were not important but it's themes which were successful.
Headings that are used by some producers and screenwriters include:
Inciting Incident
Dramatic Question
Character Goal
Antagonist/Protagonist
Stakes
Resolution
Sympathy/Empathy

Filming schedule - Miss Georgiou

 

The main reason for a filming schedule is for keeping the whole group in time. It keeps everyone on time, also it helps the directors plan out where and what should be happening. There is also another plus to having a filming schedule, as if you are ahead on filming, you'll be able to shorten your schedule — thus, saving time and money.

When it came to filming our thriller opening scene, we found it hard to get everyone in the same location at the same time. Therefore we had to change some of the dates on the schedule. Although, it did help the group, when we had to film the next part. Instead of wasting time planning what we were filming next, we can look at the schedule.

Planning Editing - Miss Georgiou

In this post I will be looking the different editing styles my group has used to create our thriller film.

Editing styles are important as they allow you to create how take control of the audience's feelings. To create a sense of panic within the audience then the editing should be fast and jumpy. However if you wanted to show a scene which was calm you would possibly use continuity editing.

The first editing style, which is used in our group opening scene is the fast fade which leads into a blackout which we use at the end of the scene. We decided to use this technique as it creates a cliff hanger which keeps the audience guessing. This also adds to the overall suspense that the audience are feeling. If your thriller gets people talking after it has ended, its means people are thinking about it and you want that long lasting effect that a cliff hanger created by fade gives you. Films like saw tend to do this often.

The next technique that is used is a shallow focus, this is when the camera focuses from one single point in a frame to another.  For the audience, this allows them to only focus on one object or character without actually being able to see what is going on in the background. This can provoke fear within the audience as they could anticipate something is going to happen. This is used in many thriller films.

Another technique is shot reverse shot. This is when the camera switches from one person to another. This shows the audience that people could be talking to each other but are in different places. In our film, this will be the switching back and forth between me and Lucy. This technique is used to somewhat immerse the audience with the characters. Making them have feelings for the characters leading to a greater shock when something bad happens. A good film this was used in was house on haunted hill. All the characters were in different places however you became to be aware of where each one is thanks to shot reverse shot.

The final technique i would like to talk about is a jump cut. This is where the camera immediately cuts to another frame. This could be used to show panic or importance of the situation that is occurring. This can add a lot of suspense to the audience as constant jump cuts can create panic and tension.  This type of editing can leave people on the edge of their seats. A film this is used a lot in is insidious.
These four editing techniques and more have been incorporated together to make our thriller film. I feel with these now in places we can really lead the audience into thinking they are somewhat part of the whole scene to really give them a fright.

Risk assessments - Miss Georgiou

Considering risks before filming is important as anything can happen from many things can go wrong throughout for example fire alarms will have to be renewed as they could be faulty and could go of randomly. Another example will be props/iconography make sure that the props are suitable to our thriller that they are not dangerous and will not put the crew in danger. We need to consider what risks will be inside the house we are using to film, even small objects around the house that are not needed can be a risk.

A risk assessment will assist us with our filming as it guides us through what could go wrong what risks we could come across whist filming. Our risk assessment will help us prevent these risks and will allow us as a group to work around similar risks. As a group the risk assessment will put our thriller opening in a safer environment.

The risk assessment will also help the film become more of a success as the filming wont be affected by any hazards and we know how to work around those hazards.

Risks	How to avoid
Wires on the ground could be tripped over.	Be aware of wires on the ground make sure you move them away from working area, put a mat down over the wires which will prevent people working from tripping over.
Slippery surfaces again you can trip over and hurt yourself.	To avoid this we will first of all make sure there is nothing on the surfaces that can make it slippery and wearing the appropriate foot wear.
Items that are not needed whilst filming in the house could get damaged or put the filming task at risk.	Remove all unneeded items away from the filming set before we start filming.
Camera falling over when on top of the tripod could damage the camera.	Make sure we are handling the camera at all times so that it will not type and when we are not controlling the camera take it of the tripod and put it somewhere safe.

Planning opening credits - Miss Georgiou

The main-title sequence or the opening credits of a movie can be considered the most important piece in a film. Other than trailers and marketing elements, they are the first images the audience sees when the lights go down in a cinema. These quick clips, which in total last about two minutes, outline the filmmaker's intentions and set up the expectations of those watching. 

 All of the actions within the sequence (book pages turning, making tea, drawings), are in a dull colour tonality. This is a plot giveaway to the audience; that the film is dark, and makes it seem more chilling, as the images used are quite provoking. Especially as he crosses out the eyes on the photograph of a little boy. The actions within the sequence become increasingly sinister looking, as only a pair of dirty hands are shown performing them. These hands imply to the audience that they belong to an odd, and most likely central character to the film; so the audience already feels like they understand this character, without being shown his face, or knowing his name. The actions are not shown in chronological order, and often 'double vision', and flicker across each other; however, the actions seem to focus around making something.

As well as having a dull tonality, there are flashing lights at odd, erratic moments, often coinciding with the screen titles changing. This is an indication that the film is jumpy, and is likely to spook them. The screen titles are also written in the style of a young child's handwriting, which from our other research, we have found that many ghost films include a young child, as they seem to make films seem much creepier. This is probably because most people associate children with innocence and naivety, and reversing that stereotype can evoke some powerful emotions. 

The music follows the action on screen, as it starts off quite slow, then when the hands seem to be creating a plan or an interest in pain, the music picks up pace. It uses slow held on notes, and an uncommon drumbeat, to produce a catchy and listenable, but mismatched soundtrack. 

When analysing a film I decided to look at Insidious, as its opening scene is conventional to a thriller, being dark and mysterious. The Bright red blood like title appears first with a screeching sound over the top. The first scene that the audience see is a house, however the whole scene is dull and colourless, which allows the names in blood red underneath to stand out. This effect carries on into the next frame. This could make the audience think that it is set in a different time, such as the 1920's. The words also split into two, half of it staying red but also the other half fading out like smoke. Also in one of the scenes, there is a dark figure, we cannot work out if it is a ghost or a person as the whole scene is in black and white. 

Another thing that stands out in the opening scene is the editing used, it fades in and out creating suspense and tension.  In the opening scene, they also use high angles and low angles, it reveals the setting to the audience, almost giving away part of the story, but in turn pulling them into the story more.

After looking at several different thriller openings, as a group we decided what to include in our own one. For example we liked the basic colours which we found in Se7en and insidious, 
In our thriller, the order of the title sequence will be:

Production company: LAN production
Actors: Noah Lown and Lucy Mumford
Camera: Alex Flanagan
Music: Heather Everingham
Editor: Noah Lown, Lucy Mumford and Alex Flanagan
Producer: Noah Lown
Writer: Lucy Mumford
Director: Alex Flanagan
The film title: The woods

The style of the writing will be a dull font which looks rushed. The colours will be dark and red. The colour red can connote blood and will entice the audience. The whole credit sequence will be dark slow and obscure.

Inspirations - Miss Miller

To make a convincing thriller, which pulls in the audience with its suspense and tension, its a good idea to look at the films which do this, our inspirations. Looking at other thriller films, it allows us to look at what sounds and camera angles work and make that scene stand out. Over the years, thriller films have created several conventions, which the audience want to see but also helps to create tension. These could be anything from, female victims to the screams and blood. 

My personal inspiration for a thriller was the devil inside, as I was part it the audience it kept me guessing and made me physically sit on the edge of my seat. I think this is key to a thriller as it is what makes a good film, and is also what I wish for my thriller to do to the audience. They used lots of screams and blood which make the film gruesome and makes the hair on your arms stand up.

The devil inside had many conventions of a thriller including blood, victim and a murder. However the writers of the film chose to use exorcism. I found this interesting especially as they filmed the narrative in a different country and that they actually filmed parts of the film inside the Vatican.  

Overall I think the best inspirations are the films that capture the audience and grab them in with tons of suspense, shock and surprise. With out these key elements it wouldn't be a inspiring thriller. After talking to my group I decided to pick out the very conventional parts of a thriller to include into our own. 

Planning sound - Miss Miller

Within many films, whether its rom - coms or horrors, they all include sound which helps set the scene. Such as in thrillers, the main job of sound is to create suspense, shock and surprise. However in all films there are many different types of sound, these ranges from:

• diegetic sound
• non-diegetic sound
• off screen sound
• on screen sound
• parallell sound
• contraversal sound

In our group narrative, we have tried our best to include as many of the above as possible. We have mainly focused on using off screen sound and non - diegetic, as we hope that these will be more effective if the sound will be more noticeable. We are also including a lot of on screen sound as well as we believe it will make everything alot more realistic. For example we are using diegetic sound when the young girl is listening to music in the kitchen, this will show the audience where the sound is coming from making it seem more realistic giving them something to relate too. Non-digetic sound will be used when you can hear deep breathing from the killer at this point a camera angle called point of view will be used to you can only see the feet of the killer. This makes the non-diegetic sound a lot more tension building as you cant see where the sound is coming from, making the suspense rise and the hidden identity of the killer remain a secret.

We will be using sound techniques such as parallel when Lucy is left in the cabin on her own, we wanted to portray her as vulnerable and innocent, that she is is actually oblivious to the consequences and the situations that are about to happen. They will be able to build a relationship with the characters as they will feel many emotions towards them.

They are conventional to thriller film as they will create suspense tension and shock for the audience and make them feel that they are in the movie themselves, hopefully that is what i achieve in my opening scene.

When searching for sound these are the ones that I felt suited my narrative the most.

http://www.freesound.org/people/samule44/sounds/96023/  (Heavy Breathing)

http://www.freesound.org/people/Ephemeral_Rift/sounds/156114/ 

I felt that the second link, which is nearly 20 minutes long, suited our narrative the most. I had an eerie feel which helped set the mood.

Planning cinematography - Miss Miller

Cinematography is important within thriller films as it creates an atmosphere for the audience. The many different camera angles can show different scenes within the film, which then help build a relationship between the audience and the film. Camera angles also help build tension and suspense through out the film which is key for a thriller. As well as helping pace and change the atmosphere of several scenes. It is key to plan what different camera angles will be used within our opening scene, so it reduces any chance of arguments and chances of the camera getting broken. Planning will also keep us on time of our schedule.

As a group we decided to look at many different camera angles and chose the ones that would create shock, suspense and surprise. As well as this we wanted camera angles that would pace the scene well as pull in the audience. The main ones that stood out were, close up's, High angle, low angle, handheld and long shot. 

Planning Characters - Miss Georgiou

Representation is how someone is presented to an audience judging someone by looking at their ound, ude and much more. Within our opening sequence the audience are introduced to two characters, Noah and Lucy, with one mystery killer...

Lucy, who is 17 is on a school geography trip to Scotland. She is Female and is white British. She lives at home with her mother, Carol and her father, Glen. Their marriage is unhealthy and they are talking about getting a divorce. Lucy is concerned that everything in her life is going wrong, therefore on the school trip, she goes off for a walk into the woods with her best friend Noah. Due to the family issues at home she felt like she couldn't talk to anyone apart from Noah. As Lucy is an only child at home, Noah is like her elder brother.

Noah who is 17 as well and who is on the school geograpgy trip with Lucy, has always felt like he has to be the brave one who looks after everyone. After his father left him and his two brothers with their mother, Noah has felt like he has to be the man of the house, that he had to look after is mother and brothers. Since Lucy is having problems at home Noah also feels like he have to take her under his wing and care for her.

Planning Mise - En - scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene is a French term meaning 'what is put into a scene or frame' and can also be defined as the arrangement of the scenery and properties to represent the setting. Mise-en-scene can be broken into several different categories, these are: setting and iconography, costume, hair and make-up  facial expressions and body language, lighting and colour as well as the positioning of characters. These aspects work together to create the right atmosphere for the scene and create suspense and tension in the context of a thriller film. The elements of Mise-en-scene are pointers of what the genre would be and what the audience would expect to see in the film.

First of all, we are setting our opening scene in an forest and an old abandoned building. We are using these as out main two as this kind of setting is conventional to the thriller genre as its an unknown place, which can make the setting an easy target.

Next we focused on the characters, we knew it would be hard to get a big group of actors together and we also researched and found that within an opening scene usually there is only two or three characters. We decided to have the main two characters as a girl and one a boy. A female victim is conventional to a thriller as they come across weak and feeble. However we didn't want to make it out that just woman can be vulnerable, therefore, Noah is first to be killed off. As well as the two main characters,  there is a mystery unknown character, we do not see their face or any colour on them.  

As we are filming our opening scene in a forest we felt that there was not a lot that we could do with our lighting. However if we were to go to the forest as it is about to get dark hopefully we will be able to have a dull dark low light. I think this is key to our thriller as it creates suspense and a sense of the unknown towards the audience.  

Individual Storyboard - Miss Miller

A story board is a graphic organiser, which consists of two parts, images and descriptions. The purpose of a story board is to organise, time, camera angles and much more. Is also allows people within the group to see how the final product will turn out to look like. A story board can include, graphic revealing of the main action within the scene, Camera techniques and audio ( narration, dialogue, voice over, sound effects and music) Below is a version of my story board.

(STORY BOARD)

By including our own individual story boards before we make a group one will allow us to see, if the scene would turn out better, or how different angles could work. As a group we can look at each others and take the best parts of peoples story board and adapt it into one whole group one. I am hoping that, I have included quite a few conventions which are needed in a narrative and that my group will like my idea's. I am also hoping that Alex's and Noah's story boards will include as many conventions and camera angles that they can.

Within my story board the first scene is focusing on Noah and Lucy walking into the wood's, they are silent and are both looking down. The camera angle is a pan from in front of them to behind. Then with slight dialogue, they walk slightly further on into the woods and come across a building. Next they are inside investigating when they hear strange sounds from outside. Noah goes out to see what it is leaving a scared Lucy left alone inside. After a while of Lucy being left alone, she seeks out Noah. With no luck of finding him she walks around, then feels something dropping on her head. Its Noah's blood. She tries to call for help but then from behind she heard a terrifying sound, and a stranger is behind her.

I used dark and dull lighting through out the whole storyboard to create suspense. As the openning sequence was set in the woods, I thought although the lighting would be quite dull, you do get glimmers of light shine through the branches and leaves of the tree. I thought this could be a good use of light for the killler to stand into build an effect at the end. I have also used a reaction shot for when Lucy does not hear a reply from Noah. I wanted to build to tension and show the shock and fear of the characters face. It will also grab the audience as they want to know what is going to happen next and know why Noah hasn't replied. As well as these, i have used a Low camera angle to show how big and realistic the building is. I wanted to make that moment when both the characters and audience see the building for the first time a dramatic moment.

Target Audience Results - Miss Miller

Within this post I will be talking about the results, me and my group produced from our Target Audience Questionnaire. Our Questionnaire consisted of both open and closed questions, we did this as we felt it give the person answering a chance to give their point of view. 

What's your favourite age certificate? 

This pie chart was very interesting to look at as surprisingly, there isn't a percentage for U age certificates. The majority of the people asked preferred an age certificate of 15, shortly followed by an 18 certificate.  

 What interests you in watching a thriller?

 Even though we left an extra box for people to add in their own idea's, it seems as if the top 3 were already within the questionnaire. Tension which had 37.5% seemed to be the thing which interested the audience the most. I believe this is as people enjoy the feeling they get as tension is building and their adrenaline is rising. 

What do you expect to see in thrillers?

Within thriller films there are several different things that make the film scary and full of suspense. These include, Killers, victims, blood and many more. From the questionnaire we found out that the most popular thriller expectation was Scary music. This relates to the pie chart above as it links into Tension. Music within a film helps build tension, without the music the audience wouldn't have the same experience. The next thriller expectation behind scary music was other. However this had an enormous gap of 10% between the two. 

Do you like sequels? 

The results were 50/50 for this question, which made it hard to figure out if making a sequel would be successful of not. I think that this question has to be a personal one, as within the questionnaire, 20 people answered yes and the other 20 said no.

What type of sound would you like to hear in a thriller?

The people answering my questionnaire chose screams as their favourite sound to be heard in a thriller, I believe that this as it makes the film more realistic.


 

                                                     What type of setting would you like to see?

The majority of people said they would prefer a different setting to the three typical setting which we chose. I think, this is as these settings have been used so fequently that the eerie feeling has been lost. Therefore I think as a group we need to either combine two or three settings or make an orginal one, to make sure the audience are still interested.

Would you enjoy other sub - genres to be used?

Looking at my results, I have noticed that including open questions has allowed the people answering a chance to include their own thoughts. Also I have noticed that looking at the pie charts, the ones which including options saying other, do not allow us to know what these other opinions were.

However my group are going to take into consideration the answers we have gathered, and hope that these will allow us to make a opening scene which suits the majority of peoples tastes.