Evaluation- in parts

Evaluation- Part one

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Evaluation- Part two

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Evaluation- Part three

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Evaluation- Part four

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Evaluation- FINAL

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Draft Evaluation

Survey

Click here to view our survey for our thriller: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?formkey=dERMQmJGUi15NWJjU0VRZkdXbWF1UlE6MQ

Final Cut

Here is our final improved product -Stolen. I am very pleased with our final product as we have worked very hard to acheieve our goal.

First Cut

Check-list for final editing:

• Fit clips to size
• Make sure continuity is thorough throughout
• Create pace and tension
• Work on ending- needs to be really dramatic
• Add in Charli's breathing
• Add title of film

Narrative structure

As we have reached the final chance to edit our film we have to think carefully about our narrative structure. We have to think about the meaning and how the audience will easily understand what is happening in the film. So, as a group we have decided to put our footage in this order:

1. Detective scene
2. Introduction to Charli
3. Inter cutting with titles
4. Introduction to Luke- newspaper scene
5. Tiles appear of actors names
6. Back to Charli- handcuff noise of bed
7. Back to Luke- hears noise and gets up
8. Charli wakes up and tries to free herself
9. Luke walks up stairs
10. Charli hears someone coming up stairs and panics
11. Luke enters door
12. Charli asks for his name and what he wants
13. Luke gets annoyed and approaches Charli
14. 2 minutes has been reached

We have come to this decision by having the detective scene first as it contrasts with the next scene. Charli's scene also begins with music and this adds tension and meaning as her life is filled with dread and suspense. Thus, the reason we didn't include the music in the detective scene was so it showed the mother as lonely and scared- and this choice focuses on her emotions. Moreover, we have decided to include the titles to inter cut with Charli as it adds drama by slowly revealing who the person is. The pace of editing soon picks up after this when we are introduced to Luke and this is when the titles stop. This is reinforced through the shot of Charli trying to free herself. The next scene is where Luke enters which is where the music slows down making the action focus on what is happening between the two characters. 

Filming: 29th March

This filming was our last chance of the re-shots with Luke and Charli. It was also our first time to produce the new scene of Luke and the newspaper. I believe this particular went well as each time we filmed we shot it from different angles and distances. We also did this with the Charli and Luke scene until we couldn't film any more shots of the scene, again from different angles and distances. Moreover, this filming went according to plan as we knew we had to be proactive to finish the filming. On top of this, the acting was also very good, adding drama to our thriller opening. Now we have to plan we were are going to edit the footage in order to finish by our deadline which is 12th April.

Editing 28th March

Today our group edited together the clips of the detective scene. With the use of three cameras, we had to make sure we didn't break the 180 degree rule with our editing. So far the editing of these clips looks really good, as the flow and use of distances add to the intensity of the interview. What's more, this footage really contrasts the next scene, adding more drama to the kidnapping. The music also adds to this as it begins as soon as the next scene starts. This adds the 'thriller' convention to our film as other groups have also said the idea and filming add a tense atmosphere.

We have also (with the help of our teacher) come up with a new idea for our titles. Our choice in music has occasional thuds, so we thought we would make the titles judder to add to the chilling tone. At the moment however, we have to think carefully about the time we have left to add this in. Hence, this idea is very time consuming as we would have to add separate key frames making the movement more clear and realistic. Nevertheless, we are still going ahead with this idea due to the titles lacking excitement and meaning. An example of this is the film Se7en:

Summing up, the editing so far is going well we just need to make sure with our filming tomorrow we complete the following:

• newspaper scene with Luke in study
• new footage of Luke walking up the stairs (not wearing socks- makes his character more cold)
• adding dialogue in the Luke and Charli scene
• filming Charli's leg and upper body for the beginning titles

Preparation for survey

Here are some of the questions we may consider when asked for our survey:

1. What do you think the genre is?
2. Why do you think this?
3. What type of media institution might distribute our media product?
4. Why do you think this?
5. Who do you think is the target audience?
6. Did this media product target you?
7. Did you connect with the characters?

Music decisions

During my search for music, I have found it difficult to find a piece that fits our criteria. Our music has to be:

• Scary yet quiet- builds tension
• Piano, violin, flute sounds (thriller convention)
• Music that fits in with the editing

So far the music I have researched is either too fast or too loud. Our group wanted something that set a dark tone but also create meaning with a tense atmosphere. Recently I have found some music, however my group member said this choice was too heavy. However, previous groups have already used heavy music in their thrillers: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zr3-UV2DYjU&feature=player_embedded This type of film also is similar to our thriller through the choice of characters: male having dominance over female. Therefore, this could be something to consider for music choice. However, we are still searching for our music.

Filming: 26th March, Detective scene

In today's filming in Mr Michie's office we used three cameras to film each possible shot of the actors. The actors consisted of Mr Smith being the detective, and Miss Wilson being the mother. We picked these actors as they teach drama and thought this would be ideal as they could play the role perfectly. We asked them how to act, for example we wanted the police detective to be sensitive but focused on the job, and the mother to be frighted and worried for her missing daughter.

During filming, we gave them the script:
Detective: So. I need to know exactly when you last saw her. Do you remember?
Mother: [pause] Of course I remember. She looked so lovely. [staring at the floor, not concentrating]
Detective: Mrs ___, we need to know. It's vital in this investigation.
Mother: It was Sunday 18th. She left at 2 O'clock to meet her friends, that's all I know.
Detective: Thank you. And don't worry, we'll find your daughter.
Mother: Please, you have to. 

and starting to film them from different shot distances and different angles ranging from mid shots, close ups and extreme close ups. Each of us had a camera and filmed these distances from different places. However, one person had to be out of the shot each time due to someone else seeing someone in their camera. Obviously they had to wait otherwise this would ruin the continuity.

Overall we believed this filming went well as we managed to complete each shot in the time given: 1:10-2:00. After this we then uploaded the shots onto the computer which one of us we edit into our film. Hopefully this footage should add 30 seconds to our film, giving us the opportunity to cut some of the long shots of Charli and take away some of the static shots too.

Here are pictures of the script and the shot list:

Solutions

Today after talking to our teachers about our problem with filming, we decided a new deadline in the Easter holidays. This way we'll be able to film and edit all our footage on time. Even though we are the only group doing, this wasn't our fault due to the uncertainty of the actors. Our re-shot was going to be filmed on Thursday, however the actors aren't available again so we are filming on Saturday instead. Obviously this coursework isn't the actors piece of work and we understand they have their own commitments, however this has pushed us back in the process making us change deadlines. Nevertheless, we are hoping to filmed by Saturday and we are also taking home a laptop mac as the media room won't be open for us to edit on the computer during half term. This way by taking home a laptop we can edit in our own time and give our teacher the copy of our finished product at school on the 12th April.

Dilemma

Yesterday we were due to film our final re-shots of Luke and Charli, however, Luke pulled out after we arrived at the location giving us the only option but to cancel. Annoyingly, this means we will have a tight schedule in our editing and filming as the next time we can only film is Thursday, the day before our deadline. This has put extreme pressure on us (which wasn't our fault due to our unreliable actors) and made our group late in editing for our final piece. We just have to hope that we will be able to finish in time due to one of our actors being extremely unreliable.

Filming schedule: re-shots

Saturday 24th- Afternoon  CANCELLED DUE TO UNAVAILABILITY OF ACTORS
Luke (kidnapper) and Charli (heroine)

• Luke and newspaper
• Luke going upstairs
• Luke and Charli- reactions

Monday 26th- Lunch time
Mr Smith (detective) and Miss Wilson (mother)

• investigation continues scene

New Schedule for 24th:
Thursday 29th

Luke (kidnapper) and Charli (heroine)

• Luke and newspaper
• Luke going upstairs
• Luke and Charli- reactions

Evidence of communication between teachers for scheduling filming:

Preparation for filming: detective + luke/charli scenes

In today's lesson we planned many tasks such as:

• Possible locations for the detective and mother scene
• Script for detective and mother
• Shot list for detective and mother 
• Shot list for Luke/Charli
• New font and logo of 'Upside Down Productions'

Possible locations

We looked around school for ideas of where to shot the detective scene and came to the decision of shooting our footage inside Mr Michie's office. We moved the table into the middle of the room and put two chairs either side to make it seem like a detective's offlice. The mise-en-scene in the room also refletcts a typical police office as there is a file cabinent and a telephone. Most importantly though we have made a name for the detecive on  a piece of paper to establishes what type of character he is.

Props and mise-en-scene

For this detective scene we need to make it seem as realistic as possible. So we need:

Police dress

• A notepad and pen for the detective
• Correct smart clothing
• Desk- telephone, computer, papers

Police desk

Script (developments)

Detective: So. I need to know exactly when you last saw her. Do you remember?

Mother: [pause] Of course I remember. She looked so lovely. [staring at the floor, not concentrating]

Detective: Mrs Blank, we need to know. It's vital in this investigation.

Mother: It was Sunday 18th. She left at 2 O'clock to meet her friends, that's all I know.

Detective: Thank you. And don't worry, we'll find your daughter.

Mother: Please, you have to. 

Shot list- Detective and Mother

1. Establishing shot of room
2. Mid shot of detective (showing name tag)
3. Shot reverse shot of mother, mid shot (perhaps hold this shot and use detectives voice over?)
4. Shot reverse shot to detective
5. Shot reverse shot to mother
6. Shot reverse shot to detective
7. Back to mother- hold close up
8. Black screen- role on titles

Shot list- Luke and newspaper

1. Establishing shot of study
2. Point of view shot of newspaper
3. Close up of face- smirk
4. Point of view table- putting down newspaper
5. Close up of face- hold, hears noise
6. Back to long, Luke gets up and walks out

New logo: Upsidedown productions
 

Music post continued

Debussy: I found this music sheet on the internet: PDF Music Sheet. We could either use the real song in out film through this website, or use me playing the flute myself.  If we use the real piece it would sound more effective, however we'll have to cut a huge piece out of the music and keep replaying it (due to us only using 20 seconds) If we use my playing however, I could create some notes to add on which will hopefully come across more atmospheric because the feel of the piece is too flowing and melodic. Through our research, we've found that thrillers use more cold sounds, however this piece could work all the same.

Possible non diagetic sound: http://www.grsites.com/archive/sounds/category/4/?offset=24
The police radio's could be used during the detective scene

Music ideas: me playing debussy

listen to ‘Debussy- Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun’ on Audioboo

Storyboarding possible footage

The first picture shows a policeman at a table with the mum sat on the other side. The policeman will start talking to her and asking questions about when she last saw Charli. The next picture shows a close up of the mum, expressing her sadness over the disappearance of her daughter. The shot after that, will show again the mid-shot of the characters sitting at a table. The final shot will then show the mother in a mid-shot close up talking to the camera/policeman about finding her daughter.

We will use this footage either through a TV which Luke will be watching or just extra footage at the beginning of the film creating meaning and setting the tone. If we decided to film it through a TV we would show it as news and create a headline showing 'Breaking News'.

Feedback from teachers

From today's lesson we gained feedback from our teachers to help with the progress in filming. We realised that we needed dialogue during the end, so in our re-shots we are going to make Charli say something like: "Who are you?" or if she does know Luke: "What are you doing?!" This is shape the meaning of our film and add narrative too. We also need to re-shot the shots of Luke walking up the stairs as we feel if he didn't wear socks, it would make an impression to the audience that he is cold blooded. With our new footage we also need to organise when the teachers can film. We also need to work out whether we want to include the newspaper, so this means will have to either re-shot or add certain shots of Luke discarding the newspaper.

New ideas

In today's lesson while we were editing we came across some new ideas. Feedback from teachers showed that we needed more reaction and a storyline to help shape our thriller. This made us think of additional footage. We need to include more titles and put in a new shot of Charli's feet in the opening. These will help shape the timing and opening. However, we also came up with having a completely new opening which consists of a police man and the girl's mother and father being interviewed. We thought of having them on the news and showing this through a TV. We would then film Luke paying no interest to the TV, however the missing girl is upstairs (Charli). We have been inspired by this type of footage through Doctor Who:

Skip to 3:07 and the use of a TV in the room is shown. We thought of using this idea by the mother talking desperately to the camera to help find her daughter. This would show a close up of her face but also include a slight fuzziness as this will be filmed through a TV. Luke would then turn off the TV so show that he doesn't care about what happens to her as he a psycho. In addition, by adding this footage it will mean it will add more time so we'll be able to cut down on the static shots- making our film more interesting and flow more.

With further editing, we also need to make the ending more dramatic and we can do this by making more shot reverse shots. This will occur when Luke walks into the room as we need to make it clear whether Charli knows Luke or not. This will add suspense to to film. If we can't get hold a the policeman we have a back up idea, or use it as well. This will be of Luke closing a newspaper with the headline of Charli missing. We will gave to design the newspaper so it will look something like this:

Editing: 27th Feb -1st March

Last week we started to edit for our rough cut for our thriller. We found this task quite easy, however we have some problems at the moment as our footage doesn't exceed 2 minutes. Nevertheless, we haven't finished our titles, nor have we added our new footage for the opening. (This will be of Charli's legs as we have to re-shot what we already had). Hence, I don't think editing will be a big stretch for our group.

In lesson we have already made our production company animation/logo which is called 'Upside Down Productions' and this will consist of the 'upside down' words to rotate from being upside down. We have decided that this font will be different compared to our titles for our thriller as usually production companies and titles are in different style and font. (I have found this out from my research).

I have also gone in by myself a couple of times either during my free time or a free period to help keep the process moving. For example last week I researched some production companies so I could try and become aspired with the logo etc. I completed this task on Photoshop, however I have left this so the whole group can input and decide.

With our titles, we haven't decided exactly what the font and colour etc will be as we just wanted to see what our film looked like with text and footage. We have also changed the opening to have pace- each clip lasts for 4-5 seconds and so does the titles. This adds pace and style to our opening however we need to figure out whether this fits with the rest of the thriller.

Another thing we need to think about is music. So far with my research into finding music I have been unsuccessful. This is either due to the music being too dramatic or basically because it won't fit/too short. This means I will have to research deeper into the music to help shape our thriller perfectly.

Preparation for evaluation

As we have completed our filming for our rough cut, I am going to revisit the questions we will be asked on our evaluation. This will prepare me for the evaluation as I will be thinking about what to include.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?
Our media product represents the sterotypical girl as we have dressed Charli in a white dress to connote purity, and made her blonde hair flow to signify femininity. This is reinforced through the fact she trapped in a room by a tall man. The man also represents a stereotypical man through his height and dress. We used dark clothes however to connote sinister qualities.

What kind of media situation might distribute your media product and why?
At the moment I would say our media product best suited Film 4 as similar films such as Shallow Grave compare to our thriller. However, I need to research further into this when I am in my evaluation.

Filming: 20th-23rd February

Due to unavailability of actors and unscheduled snow, we had to film on the last week.  This was stressful, however we managed to stay focused and complete what we needed as our footage. On Monday 20th, we filmed all of Luke's parts and all of Charli's. However, we when came back the next day to show Mr Ford, he didn't like one shot of Luke going up the stairs. This meant we had to re-shot this. This didn't bother us, as we were still scheduled in to film on Wednesday and Thursday. When we filmed on Wednesday we redid shots of Luke entering the door and going up the stairs. To enable success on these shots we filmed from loads of different angles to see which one would suit best.

On Thursday we showed out teacher's what we produced, however they didn't like the lighting of Charli. Due to us wanting a dark room, it meant the camera was struggling to pick up footage. This meant we had to re shot everything of Charli but in different lighting. To overcome this issue we put a light shining on Charli's face. Even though we didn't originally plan this, we liked the effect of the shadows coming off from the bars of the bed.

Now we have finished our filming, we need to produce our rough cut to show to our teacher on Thursday. I believe our group is ready and prepared for this as editing won't take as long than filming. We acted calmly throughout the filming, (even though we had one week) which enabled us to work together well, producing good footage.

Preparation for next filming: additional storyboard

For preparation for our next filming I decided to go over our storyboard. I redid some shots that I didn't think created a good enough effect, and changed some slightly as well. This has helped me visualise my storyboard even better now as I will know exactly what we will be filming. I did this by drawing out smaller versions of our storyboard which I will take round to the place where we are going to film. Hopefully by changing some shots and creating a different variety of camera angles, our group will be prepared and ready for our next filming so we won't make the same mistakes we made last time.

Preparation for next filming

As preparation for our next filming schedule, I have decided to briefly take a look at some of the past students work. I looked at things such as camera, as this was our main fault in our first filming. This is because we either panned too much, zoomed too much or generally didn't hold the camera straight. To learn from this and prepare ourselves for filming next time, I will note what they did.

• From 0:08-0:21 they have filmed the character walking 3 different times; but the camera stays still the whole time. This is something we need to work on- keep the shot static to avoid jumps
• From 0:54 they move the camera to track characters movements, but keeping the camera steady the whole time- we especially need to work on this as most of our pans turned out unprofessional

• From 0:10 the camera stays still to show character's movements
• 0:10-1:16 the camera also stays still to show the character moving up the stairs- this is something we need to think about when we film Luke walking up the stairs

This next clip has helped me think about how to film someone walking up the stairs:

Deadlines and problems

Due to my other group members going away in half term, we decided we would film most of our footage before we break up. However, due to unreliable actors, we were not able to film today. This has caused a huge step back in our filming process as we needed to re-shot some shots. We have now decided on a filming schedule that will take place in one week consisting of after school sessions and weekend dates:


20th Monday- 4:00- 7:00 pm  Charli and Luke
21st Tuesday- 4:00- 7:00 pm Luke
22nd Wednesday- 4:00- 7:00 pm Charli and Luke
23rd Thursday- 4:00- 7:00 pm Charli and Luke
24th Friday- 4:00- 7:00 pm possibly Charli and Luke


25th Saturday- 9:00 arrival with Charli- Luke arrives at 3:00
26th Sunday- 9:00 arrival with Luke- Charli arrives at 12:30


Days if needed:
27th Monday
28th Tuesday


Deadlines:

February 29^th Filming to be completed. Post-production should have started.

March 16^th: Rough Cut in Full to be presented

March 30^th Projects to be completed: Final Cuts

April 16^th Blog completed with finished Evaluation

Anamatic

*There is supposed to be music over the top... will edit this soon*

Evaluation

With our anamatic I feel we produced a basic understanding of what our thriller is going to include. By producing an anamatic it helped us to see how long our shots would have to last for. It also helped us through choice of music as we were stuck of what to include in our final piece. I feel we have worked hard on producing this, however next time we could have worked more on the transitions and used real black screens instead. This has pushed us forward in the filming process as now we can visualise our film when we are going to film.

Music and sound ideas

The songs titles Behind The Looking Glass, Dark Nightmare, Demented Dreams, Eerie Angle and Dreamscape:

• Dark Dimensions music ideas  - CLICK

I believe these songs could create the thriller effect we want. However, these songs fall into the stereotypical cliché role of thriller films which we have tried to avoid. So our group came up with the idea of using my flute to create eerie sounds, thus hopefully producing something original. 

After browsing through music ideas for our anamatic, I also came across some sound effects. Things we things such as human noises like a woman coughing. Therefore, I thought this might be a good idea to include in our thriller film quietly over the footage- when Charli is strapped to the bed:

• woman coughing - CLICK

I also found some sounds of babies and thought this could be an idea to use as sound in the background when Luke walks up the stairs as there is a built up of tension. While looking through these I also thought of Luke talking really fast- like his mind is spilling out all his thoughts. This could also be used over the top of the baby noises:

• baby noise 1 - CLICK

Q Magazine presentation

Q Magazine

View more presentations from hannahcoxy1

Filming: 21st January

On 21st Saturday our group got together to film our thriller. Before we started doing this however, we had to make sure the room was set up exactly how we wanted it. This including things like: lighting- making sure we could see the actress but have low key lighting at the same time, props- making sure we could use the handcuffs and deciding where abouts we could use them on the bed, costume- getting the dress ready to make sure it fits the stereotypical conventions and make up- to make sure the actress had life-like bruises and blood stains/cuts on her skin. This meant that we also had to take pictures of everything to make sure next time we filmed we got the continuity right.

When we started filming we took many shots of the opening scene to make sure we got it perfectly. This is because we either made the camera jumpy or made it pan too slow or fast. We found this happened to many of our other shots throughout the day so each time we had to repeat it to make sure it was good. Due to Charlie leaving early, we filmed her and Luke's parts separately- so we couldn't film them together.

When we put our videos onto the computer we found that most of our shots didn't look good as they were either too fast or too jumpy. This means that next time we film we have to make sure that we film accurately; we can see now that filming is a hard task so we must practise to enable good results.

Things to consider next time:

• getting mise-en-scene perfect to enable good continuity
• keeping shot steady and accurate

Planning for props

Today I tested out red food colouring on my skin to act as blood in our thriller. I did this by adding the dye and cornflower in a bowl then rubbing this on my skin. It produced a good result and this is why I think we should use this technique in our thriller.

Filming Schdule

21st January Saturday- all day
10:30 arrive, 11:00 onwards shooting Chari's scenes until 3:00, 2:00 Luke arrives: shot his scenes onwards
Link to blog post


28th January Saturday
This date was cancelled due to actors being busy.


5th Sunday
This date was cancelled due to unexpected snow.


20th Monday
4:00- 7:00 pm  Charli and Luke


21st Tuesday
4:00- 7:00 pm Luke


22nd Wednesday
4:00- 7:00 pm Charli and Luke


23rd Thursday
4:00- 7:00 pm Charli and Luke


24th Friday
4:00- 7:00 pm possibly Charli and Luke

25th Saturday
9:00 arrival with Charli- Luke arrives at 3:00


26th Sunday
 9:00 arrival with Luke- Charli arrives at 12:30

Lesson summary and checklist

In today's lesson, we listened to Josh talk through his presentation which was about how to use Premier Pro. It discussed issues such as format, layout, importing, timeline and editing, transitions and texts and effects. This presentation has helped me understand more about the works of Premier Pro, which has made me feel more confident when editing. I now understand how to make viewing of a clip during editing less jumpy and how to add text successfully. Therefore, this has helped me progress in the filming process (editing) which shows movement.

At the end of the presentation, my group got together and decided what we needed such as props and clothes for our first filming next Saturday. We came up with this checklist:

• Dress
• Appearance
  -wavy hair for Charli, subtle dark eye make-up for Luke
• Make-up
  -brown eye shadow for bruises, brown mascara, pale foundation
• Charli's and Luke's clothes
  -white dress, black trousers/track suits, dark jumper or shirt

My presentation on mise-en-scene

This is my presentation that I did in class about mise-en-scene. It shows the slideshows and information, but not my actual speaking notes. Below the presentation shows the notes that I spoke while presenting:

Mise-en-scene

Mark scheme

I have gone through the mark scheme and looked at what we need to achieve to get a level 4 in...

Video
There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

• holding a shot steady
• framing a shot
• using a variety of shot distances
• selecting mise-en-scene- colour, figure, lighting and setting
• using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately
• using sound with images and editing appropriately
• using titles appropriately

Audio

There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:

• recording voice(s) clearly in studio or confined setting
• recording voice(s) clearly in a location/outdoor presentations
• accurately using language and register
• integrating recorded material where appropriate
• editing and mixing sounds properly

By going through what we need to include helps me and my group decide exactly what we need to design in the story boarding process to visualize our film. This also helps us set targets- for example using varied shots.

Audience feedback to storyboard

In order to see whether our storyboard is going in the right direction, I asked a few questions to my target audience on what they think so far. The first question was asking if they could see this film working (through reading the storyboard), the second question asked about the positives and the third question asked about the negatives. Below shows the feedback from each person that I asked:

Audience 1:

1. Do you see this opening working through looking at the storyboard?
   Yes.
2. What do you think is good about it?
   The opening is quite confusing as you don't know anything about the characters- why they are there, why they have been drugged and why there is a killer. This makes me curious as to why this is happening, so it makes me want to see the rest of it.
3. What do you think is bad about it?Even though it's a good thing knowing nothing about the plot (making you want to know what is happening and why), it makes the opening quite confusing. You should make a point as to why this is happening.

Audience 2:

1. Do you see this opening working through looking at the storyboard?Yes.
2. What do you think is good about it?I like the cutting back each time to the black screen to show the titles- I think it's really effective as it adds a dark tone to the film.
3. What do you think is bad about it?Perhaps add some music when they are alive- when they are killed take it away to add drama.

Audience 3:

1. Do you see this opening working through looking at the storyboard?
   Yes- could do.
2. What do you think is good about it?I think a positive would be good thriller content- murder and drug use.
3. What do you think is bad about it?Maybe there is too many black screens. That cutting away from each scene could be annoying- however text against a black background would show the titles more clearly.

How has our research informed our planning?

As we are designing/finishing our storyboard, we have been reflecting on the research that has informed our planning. Our planning has been majorly influenced through our audience research as we based our findings on what we should create. People generally wanted a psychological thriller that was set in realistic locations. This gave us an idea to create a spooky and twisted story that was based around the sub-genre of a crime thriller. This is because it includes suspense and tension and our audience wanted something new and exiting. They also quoted: " We want a film hat unravels and has a gripping story". This made us go back to the genres of thriller and we decided that crime best suited our audience research. As we looked into the genre crime thriller we were influenced to base our opening around a murder or kidnapping, which has now evolved into our storyboard of a girl being trapped in a man's house.

Development of ideas: practice storyboard animatic

This is a video of the storyboard I made today. This animatic is  a practice so the fades won't appear.

Working with the camera and effects: titles and blinks

In today's lesson we filmed the idea of the blinking effect through three different ways. The first idea was by using a piece of paper to act as a blink. Looking back at our footage however, we can see that this doesn't work as it makes our film look bad. The other idea was also with a piece of paper but in a different technique, but this also came out with a bad effect. So we then tried to use the computer to add a blink with the background in a soft focus. This technique also against didn't work and we all felt that it wouldn't meet our expectations. We then decided to change our concept of the blinking method by using slow fades instead. This will not only help accomplish a good outcome, but it also makes it easier for us as well. Here is the link to our video:

In this video we also practiced using titles. While we story-boarded our ideas, we thought of leaving the titles on to the next scene, instead of fading out on the black screen. We like this effect as it looks good but also shows a different way into filming which doesn't make our thriller cliche.  Overall, by practicing with the camera and using the titles we have become more confident in the filming process. We have also developed our ideas which shows that we are going forward in planning.

Development of ideas: new location

When we were interviewed by our teacher about our thriller opening, we were initially going to film in a field.  However, after the discussion our idea was influenced to film inside in one room that was dark and small. Nicole has taken some pictures of her spare room which we all think we be good to film in:

     

I think this room will fulfill our needs for our thriller film as the curtains will make the room dark, thus making the room more atmospheric. We will move out the furniture, except for the bed, pushing the bed on the other side allowing us to film from the outside the door too. This room also fits perfectly into our storyboard and shot list.

Male antagonist

Our group has also decided on which actor is going to be playing the male character. We feel that Luke Stanley will fit the role as a murder perfectly due to his height. We won't show much more his face as the point of view shots from Charlotte will show him in a soft focus. This means we will dress him in black clothes reinforcing his sinister personality. Even though this is extremely cliche, our group will film it in an different way therefore making our thriller unique. 

Black clothing

                                                           

Female protagonist

Our group has decided on which actress is going to be playing the female character. We feel that Charlotte Moody would suit the part best as she fits into the stereotypical role of a girl in a thriller movie. With her long blonde hair, we can make her seem beautiful and pure by spreading her hair across the bed. This will give off an angel like quality thus making her character seem more innocent and the antagonist more demon like. We will also put make upon her to enhance her beauty through pale skin foundation, faint red lipstick and soft black eye make up. This will bring out her character more showing a stereotypical women. What's more, we will also dress her in a white flowing dress (gypsy like) to make her seem even more pure and innocent. Her clothing and make up will contrast to the room which will be dingy and dark. This will make her seem as though she shouldn't be there, making the killer seem more threatening and powerful. Below are some pictures of her appearance: 

Female actress and white dress