Filming schedule- Miss Georgiou

Filming schedule

It is important to have a filming schedule because everyone needs to know what is happening and it also keeps everyone organised. It also tells other members in our group where and when we are filming which helps them prepare for that specific day. This also makes people in our group make those filming days available so that they don't plan other activities for that day.  

We started off following the filming schedule but overtime we had to change certain things. The first day we filmed it was already dark and we couldn't see the two characters very well on the camera.  This problem meant that we had to do all the scenes we did that day again. This was the first reason for not following the schedule. The second reason for not following the filming schedule was the weather. We noticed when reviewing our scenes that one day we rainy and another one was sunny and clear. We had to change this because it was obvious that the two scenes were filmed on different days even know they were supposed to be on the same day. These two things were the main reasons for not following our film schedule. We had to change the schedule for the greater good of the film and to also make it safer to film. If we would of carried on filming in the dark then the risks associated with filming could have increased.

Having a filming schedule is very helpful because it keeps everyone organised and it makes sure that no one has plans for that specific day. It also helps us plan for that day so that we don't become disorganised or become behind on work.

Production roles- Miss Miller

Production roles

Producers- Hannah, Ollie, Ella

Directors- Hannah

Actors- Ollie and Ella

Director of photography- Hannah

Music producers- Ollie

Screenplay writers- Ella

Mes co coordinator- Hannah, Ollie and Ella 

Editors- Ella

We decided to allocate people individual roles because it mass it very clear what everyone is doing. Also if something goes wrong in the film then we can easily identify who messed up and then we can fix the situation. Each person in our group needs to have at least 2 roles each so that each role is fairly distributed.

During our group discussion we talked about who will take charge of the different production roles. We looked at each others experience and knowledge of the different roles and then we came to a final decision. It was important to allocate these roles to make sure that everyone new what they were doing and also to make our thriller the best it could be.

Producers

The producers of our opening scene is going to be Me, Hannah and Ella. Film producers prepare and then supervise the making of a film before presenting the final product to the audience. We have chosen to have everyone in my group producing because it will be a team effort and it will let everyone put there ideas forward to help make the film the best it can be.

Director

The director of our opening scene is going to be Hannah. A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. A film director normally has complete control of the films artistic and dramatic aspects. They normally visualise the script while guiding the technical crew and actors in the direction of their vision. We have chosen Hannah as our director because she has taken Media in GCSE so she already knows the basics of directing. She also knows the storyline really well because most of her individual storyboard ideas were included into our group storyboard.

Actors

The actors who are going to feature in our opening sequence is going to be Me and Ella. Actors are used to portray characters in a film sequence. I think that me and Ella did well when acting because we kept the characters true to the thriller genre.

Director of photography

The director of photography for our thriller sequence is going to be Hannah. The director of photography is the person who gives the visual identity of a film or the look. They work with the director, camera crew and lighting apartment to do this. They also oversee the equipment used and they review the footage used. We chose Hannah to take up this role because she previously took Media in GCSE so she knows the main things that come with this role. I think that she was very god at this role because she kept everyone organised and she also kept giving us ideas to help improve our film.

Music Producer

The music producer we have chosen out of our group is going to be myself. The music producer has the overall control of the music used in the film. They also are the one who have the vision or ideas of types of music to place into the sequence. I have been chosen to be the music producer because I had clear ideas of what music to use that will suit the thriller genre. I think that I have done well in this role because the music will create a tense effect on the audience throughout our thriller sequence.

Screenplay writer

The screenplay writer in our group is going to be Ella. A screen play writer is someone who practises the craft of screenwriting for mass media such as films, television programmes and comics. We have chosen Ella as our screenplay writer because she was the one who came up with the idea of basing the film in a forest and she also had a clear idea of what she wanted to happen within the sequence. Ella has also studied Media in GCSE so like Hannah she has a clear idea of what a screen writer has to do.

Mes en scene coordinators and editors

Our mes en scene coordinator is going to be Me, Hannah and Ella and our editor is going to be Ella. The mes en scene coordinators look after everything from costumes to iconography. The editors try and make the different scenes link perfectly and they also add  lighting and sounds into the scene. We are all going to help out with the mes en scene side to our sequence because all of us are going to have ideas of what costumes to wear and also what iconography we should use.

As a group we decided that Ella was the best choice for editor and screenplay writer because she had the best understanding and background knowledge of these jobs. Straight away Ella stood out in the group at being good and very interested in editing. This gave me and Hannah the confidence to say that she could be leader of this role. We gave Ella the screenplay writer role as well because she was the main one in our group who came up with the storyline. After giving Ella these roles she has shown real dedication and work ethic to try and make our film sequence the best it can be. Looking back on it I still think that Ella was the best person for these roles.

As a group we also decided to give Hannah the roles of director and director of photography. We chose Hannah for the director role because she is very good  at keeping everyone in line and also at making key decisions. Hannah was also the one who straight away knew where she wanted to film and how it would be filmed. The photos in the scene being burn to a crisp and the mask idea was also thought up by Hannah so this is why we chose for her to have the director of photography as well. Since the day we gave Hannah these roles she has not let us down. She really helped pull our group through rough patches where we didn't know what we were going to film next and what time we should consider filming at. To this day I still think Hannah was the best person for these roles.

Overall I think that the filming process went very well. It helped massively that we each had our own jobs to sort out because everyone was taking part in the process and not just one person doing everything. It also helped make our thriller sequence better because we could all contribute towards ideas. In hindsight however I would have more then one person on editing because everyone in the group can help contribute towards that. Except from that I think that giving everyone different roles was a really good idea.

Group storyboard- Miss Miller

Group storyboard

The purpose of a group storyboard is to make sure your whole sequence has been clearly planned and thought out. We first looked at each others individual storyboards because we wanted to see what ideas everyone else had come up with. We then picked out different ideas which were best and then included them into our group storyboard. By doing this we made our storyboard better because it now includes the best ideas from everyone's individual storyboards.

Group storyboard Part 1

In this storyboard we start off with a fully black screen. There is a news report as background sound talking about an abduction that has taken place in the Theydon Bois area. The darkness then fades and we are shown a normal living room. This scene has natural lighting and there are two girls sitting on the sofa in front of the camera. As the camera slowly zooms in we start to see a reflection of a dark figure standing in the corner of the window. This story board is based around Ella's idea. Ella wanted to show the audience the antagonist straight away to try and build a relationship with the audience and the characters early on in the sequence. This idea will also keep the audience on the edge of their seats because the audience will want to know who the antagonist is and what he wants with the two girls.

Group storyboard Part 2

In this storyboard we see the two girls leave the house for the first time in the sequence. Although there is a change in location, the lighting will be the same because there will still be day time light. The camera then changes to show the antagonist crossing off names in a dark room. We see him burning pictures of characters within our film. This storyboard was based around ideas from Hannah's storyboard. Hannah wanted to show the element of mystery to really emphasis that our film was of the thriller genre. This is clear from the dark lighting and threatening actions. The fames burning the pictures show that the antagonist is planning out how he can harm the victims in the pictures.

Group storyboard 3



Storyboard 3 had four different scenes within it. It started by showing two girls walking towards a dense forest. The second scene then flashes back to a picture (slowly burning) of one of the girls. This scene has low-key lighting and a mid-shot camera angle was used to shoot it. The third scene is a long shot of an isolated forest whilst the camera is focusing on a tree.  Again this scene used low-key lighting to achieve the image of tension. In this scene eerie, diegetic music was being played in the background.  The forth and final scene showed the image of one of the girls in the centre of a circle of flames, giving the impression that the girl had been targeted by the antagonist. There is high key lighting in this scene, due to the flames and a fade out shot was used to close the scene.

Storyboard 4

Storyboard 4 was thought of as a group. We came up with new ideas for our lighting, sound effects and editing. We tried to really emphasis the thriller element in these two scenes so that we could engage the audience as much as possible. We had the idea of having the girls wondering around the forest because this made them look more venerable and helpless. The scene then changed quickly to show the antagonist setting pictures of the girls on fire. This scene is used to show that the killer will stop at nothing to get the girls which in turn makes the audience feel closer to the two girls because they are about to become in danger.

Group storyboard Part 5

In this final Storyboard, the first scene shows a panning shot of the forest. There is natural lighting in this scene with slow-paced, eerie music being played in the background. We then notice a shadow appearing just as the scene is ending. In the next scene we are shown a close up of an outline of the antagonists head. No face can be seen clearly to identify who it is, as the face has been covered by a mask. The camera angle used for this scene is an extreme close-up. The third scene shows a collection of eyes staring towards the camera. This scene is used to build tension on the audience to engage them into the scene.  The forth and final scene of the opening sequence is a fade-out shot of a forest with the sound of echoes of screams. This creates a sense of mystery with the audience because they want to find out who the screams belong to - creating intrigue and mystery.

Opening scene narration- Miss Miller

Opening scene narrative

Our opening scene has to be at least 2 minutes long. Our opening sequence starts off with a black screen with only the sound of a news report in the background. The darkness then fades and a shot of a family living room is shown. The camera will be zooming in on the sofa positioned in the centre of the room. The lighting in the room will be natural and there will be a quiet sound of a tv as background sound. The actor in this scene will just be Ella. The camera then starts to pan across the room showing a figure in the corner of the window. The lighting in the room will then become dim as low key lighting will be gradually included. The audience will soon notice a dark and mysterious figure pass the window and slowly look in at Ella who is still watching tv. Tense eerie music will also be playing in the background.

The next scene we see Ella taking her dog out for a walk. The lighting in this scene will be slowly getting darker as the scene goes on representing the sun going down. The camera then changes to show the antagonist crossing pictures of soon to be victims. The scene will be very dark to try and emphasis the fact that this man is dangerous. There will also be a visible knife in his pocket as well. There will be no sound in this scene, just diegetic sound of the pen moving across paper. The scene will then transition to show a close up of another picture being slowly burnt by a candle. The picture is of one of the girls (Ella)  which will indicate to the audience that she is in trouble.

The scene after will show the girls still walking down the road but this time a forest will be in view. There will be a fade in transition to this scene and the lighting will almost be completely black. We then switch back again to the picture of Ella which has no completely been burnt to a crisp. Like before there will be eerie music in the background and the lighting will be low key. A fade out editing technique will be used to transition to the next scene. The audience are then taken into the forest where a young boy has been tied up to a tree. The boy will not look up but the audience will clearly be able to see that he is scared for his life. The lighting in this scene will be low key and there will be diegetic sound of the wind blowing through the trees. a fade out shot will then take the audience back to the antagonists lair to show that the other girl in the scene (Hannah) has had her photo circled by the antagonist. In this scene there will be eerie music which will be fairly loud for the audience to hear.

In the 4th main scene we are shown a shadow of the antagonist up against a tree. The music in this scene will slowly build up as the camera moves in closer and closer. The lighting will be very low key and there will be a fade out editing technique to link in to the next scene. The scene will then quickly change to show an extreme close up of the antagonists face. This will be used to try and scare the audience when they least expect it. The mask will then disappear to show a bunch of montage clips of picture of his past victims. There will be a build up in tension in this scene by the use of sound. The pictures then link into a sweep of the forest shot, showing the two girls surroundings. This shot will then fade out to the final scene.

The final scene will consist of a final visual shot of both the girls pictures lying on the ground completely burnt. This will show the audience that both the girls are dead and that the antagonist has succeeded in his plot to harm them. The sound of rustling paper will be heard in the background as deigetic sound. The screen will then start to figure and then will go completely black. This will show that the opening scene has finished.

Risk assessment - Miss Georgiou

Risk assessment

It is very important  to consider risks before filming because you need to make sure that there are no hazards and if they are you know how to deal with them. If you didn't have a risk assessment then there could be a accident and your group wouldn't know how to deal with it.

The first hazard we could encounter are loose wires. This is could be a risk because someone could trip and seriously hurt themselves from falling. We could stop this issue from being a risk by placing Matt's over the wires on the ground to stop anyone tripping.

The second hazard we could encounter is rainy weather. This is a hazard because we are using electrical which if get wet can electrocute someone. We can stop this from being a hazard by bringing an umbrella to shelter the camera and other equipment. This way the camera cant get wet.

The third hazard we could encounter is darkness. If we stay out too late then we could lose day light. This could be an issue because we would trip over logs or shrubs in the forest. To stop this from being a hazard we are going to bring flash lights to help us see where we are walking.

The fourth hazard we could encounter are sticking out or falling branches. This is a hazard because someone in my group could walk into a branch which could harm them or a dead branch could fall on them. To stop this from being a hazard we will chose a suitable location which is safe enough to film.

The fifth hazard we could encounter is fire. My group are using lighters which can cause a fire if wrongly used. To stop this from being a hazard we are going to bring wet towels with us in case a fire does break out. It someone does get burnt then we will place the burnt area in cold water immediately.

The sixth hazard we could encounter is animals in the forest. Animals could become distressed and scared if we approach them which cause them to become aggressive. To stop this from being a hazard we will not approach a animal if we see one and we will back off if one starts to become aggressive.

The final hazard we could come across is people. People could walk into our scenes if they are curious or confused about what is going on. To stop this from being a hazard we will warn people before that we are filming.

Individual storyboard- Miss Miller

Individual story board

The purpose of a storyboard is to get a real idea of how you are going to carry out the filming of your opening sequence. It helps you plan your cinematography, camera angles, iconography, editing and the overall narrative of the film.

I am going to make my own storyboard first before making a group one because I want to put my own ideas forward and also to see what parts of my own storyboard my group would like to use in our final storyboard. It will also help my group incorporate everyone's ideas into the sequence which will help make our opening sequence the best it can be. In my storyboard I have included the camera angles I will use, the location, the iconography used, the characters, the editing carried out and the overall description of the specific scenes.  In most of the forest scenes I have gone for low key lighting to try and make the audience fearful of what is going to happen in that certain scene. I am also going to use the reaction shot for scary scenes to show the audience how truly terrified that character is. Both of these techniques are to try and make the relationship between the audience and the characters stronger. I expect the audience to find my sequence really jumpy and mysterious because they wont know who the killer is and also the antagonist in my sequence will be masked and in a black cloak which will make him look really threatening. The main film that inspired my ideas is the shinning. The shinning is famous for its built suspense and also it original camera angles. From watching the shinning I have been able to copy some camera angles and also come up with new ideas of how I can scare the audience. Films like the shinning are really helpful because they help give me ideas to how my group can make my opening sequence the best it can be.

After finishing our individual storyboards my group will need to look at each others storyboards and pick good ideas from each one. After picking out good ideas from each others storyboards we will then need to decide as a group on our final storyboard. This group storyboard will be the final decision on how we want our opening sequence to pan out. From looking at each others ideas we can then chose the best ideas from each to include in our final. This will help make our storyboard the best it can be. We should also help each other by saying what is good about their storyboard and what they should improve on.  

I think that my own storyboard was well thought out and that it had clear thriller conventions. It also has good camera techniques that are typical of the thriller genre. It has an engaging narrative which will keep the audience on the edge of their seats for the whole sequence. It will also create the three thriller conventions: Shock, Suspense and surprise. I feel that my group will take a few ideas from my storyboard because they are creative and effective.

I have found this very helpful because it has given me ideas to take forward to the group narrative which are going to help make my opening sequence even better. Without doing the individual storyboards we wouldn't be able to compare our ideas which means that any good ideas that someone in my group thought of could be lost.



Planning opening credits- Miss Georgiou

Planning opening sequence 

The purpose of opening credits is to establish the theme of a thriller and also to introduce the main characters in the film. An opening credit also indicates the mood of a film and it also provides the title. Without the opening credits the audience wouldn't know what actors are in the film and also what genre the film is.

We looked at examples of credits and we looked closely at Sevens credits. These credits were very dark and gloomy. It started off with names of the most famous characters first and then it gave us the name of the director and producers. There is a black and white theme in the credits which is a clear indication of good and evil. The size of the writing was very small and jagged. The font changed throughout the credits which shows the emotion of the character who is shown on the screen is changing. The font used is conventional of a thriller film because it is small and the colour of it is black. The font flickers as well indicating that the man on screen is mentally unstable.

My opening credits takes the form of blood flowing down the page from corner to corner. At the end of the credits there is a puddle of blood with the name of our film above it (Obscurity). It is very conventional of the thriller genre because blood is known as being linked with death and harm. My title is going in the centre of the page to draw the attention of the audience towards it and also to make it bold and protruding. The colour of my font will be red which is very conventional of the thriller genre because red links to blood and murder. My background is black is to show death which again is conventional to the thriller genre.
(Insert pic of Credits here)

Hannah has gone for the same style of credits as me with the blood effect. This is a very good effect because it portrays the thriller genre very well. Hannah's design contains three colours black, red and white. These colours are conventional to the thriller genre because they can represent danger and death. I think that the use of these colours is a good idea because it links into the film very well.

However on disadvantage of Hannah's opening credits is it is a bit too fast and it wouldn't link cleanly into the rest of our opening sequence. This is the only disadvantage I have with Hannah's opening credits.  

Ella's opening credits have the same colours as Hannah's. Again I think this is a good idea because the dark colours like black and red can represent the antagonist and the lighter colours like white can represent the protagonist because white represents purity and innocence.  
The disadvantage of Ella's opening credits is there isn't a smooth transaction into the first clip. This would be a problem because it will stop our opening sequence from flowing.

Overall all of our opening scene credits are very similar in style and colour. This has made it easy to pick our final opening scene credits as a group. The final style will include white and black colours to indicate innocence and death and it will smoothly link into the first scene. Looking at each others posts have been really helpful because we can each take advantages and disadvantages from each others work. This will help make our opening credits the best they can be.

Planning Mise-En-Scene

Planning Mise-En-Scene

Mise-en-scène is an expression used to describe the design aspects of a theatre or film production, which essentially means "visual theme" or "telling a story"—both in visually artful  ways through storyboarding, cinematography and stage design, and in poetically artful ways through direction. Mise-en-scene include things like iconography and setting, facial expressions and body language, lighting and colour and costume and make up. Some of these conventions can be typical of a thriller film for example a knife is a typical thriller weapon and is placed in the iconography section. 

Setting and iconography

Our opening sequence is going to be filmed in two location. Our first and main location is a forest. We have chosen a forest as one of our settings because it is typical of a thriller film and it is also very eerie and mysterious. This makes it easier for our antagonist to blend into the background and to watch the victims. Our second setting location is a house. We have chosen this location because it makes the audience relate to the characters because they are just normal people living in a normal house. This makes them feel comfortable with the characters and it also builds a relationship between the audience and the characters. This makes it easier for us to scare the audience because they wouldn't expect something bad to happen at home. The iconography we will be using is a knife. This is typical of the thriller genre because a knife is normally always used. The knife won't appear much in our opening sequence but were only using it to show power. By the antagonist carrying a knife it shows that he has the upper and over the other two characters. We are also using a mask in our sequence. This mask will be worn by the antagonist and it will symbolise danger whenever his around.

Lighting and colour

The lighting of a film is very important. Lighting sets the scene and it also makes the setting clear. Thriller films typically have dark lighting to try and scare the audience into thinking anything could be lurking beneath the shadows. My group have gone for the same idea. Our opening sequence is set in a forest which I genuinely dark anyway. We are going to wait till dusk so that there is some light to show the antagonist but not enough light to clearly show his identity to the audience. This way we keep the audience wondering who the killer is. We are not going to only use dark lighting though. Some of our scenes are set in locations where there is going to be lots of light like the house scene. We are using this technique to try and trick the audience into thinking that nothing bad will occur in the specific scene because it is light. We will add in a jump scare to catch the audience unawares. Colour is also a key aspect in films. The colour a person is wearing can indicate what there emotion or personality. Our antagonist is going to be wearing all black with a white mask, These dark colours are used to make our antagonist look dangerous and mysterious. We want our audience to be afraid of him but also curious of who he really is. Our victims (Hannah and Ella) are going to ear bright colour to indicate there innocents and vulnerability. This will build a relationship with the audience because they know that they could get themselves into danger.

Facial expressions and body language

The facial expressions and body language a person has can clearly indicate there mood. Our antagonists face is going to be covered up by a mask so the audience wont be able to see his facial expressions. This means that they will find it hard to know his mood or how he is feeling. This emphasis the element of mystery because they don't know what his thinking. This in turn breaks the relationship between the antagonist and the audience because they cant build a bond with him. Our antagonists body language is going to be tall and stern. This indicates power and authority because he is bigger then the other characters in the film. Our two victims are quite small which indicates vulnerability because they would be helpless against the giant killer. The makes the audience feel protective of the two girls because they are no match to tall figure who lurks in the forest.

Costume and make up

Costumes and make up are used to hide the identity of characters. The antagonist in our film is hidden behind a mask and a black cloak. The black cloak makes it easier for the killer to move in and out of the shadows without being noticed until your close to him. This makes it easy for the killer to scare the audience and to take victims easily without anyone noticing. The white mask is the only thing visible when the killer attacks. The white mask symbolises death and is known in the area that when someone see it , they disappear a few days after.

Planning editing- Miss Georgiou

Planning editing styles

Editing styles are important to include in thriller sequences because they add to the conventional thriller elements: Shock, Surprise and suspense. They also engage the audience into the film and they also help build a relationship between the audience and the characters. Without editing, jump scenes would not be as scary because there would be no suspense in the build up to them. Editing helps bring the whole film together and it also helps bring the characters and audience together.

The first editing style we would like to include in our opening sequence are Reaction shots. Reaction shots show us the emotions on a characters face in a key scene or event. This helps the audience understand how they are feeling and it also indicates what they might do next. Reactions shots can also be used when two characters are talking. We will use our reaction shot when the two characters first spot the antagonist/killer. This shot will show the pure horror on there face when they see the tall cloaked figure move amongst the trees in the background. This shot will help make our thriller film conventional because it will show shock. Shock is one of the thriller conventions to do with a thriller film. Due to this shot being performed it will build a relationship between the audience and the characters. This is because the audience will feel protective over the two girls because they are alone in a forest with a killer on the loose.  

The second editing style we would like to include in our opening sequence is panning. The panning shot is commonly used in chase scenes and fast car chases. The camera moves across a setting following a character or prop. We would like to use our panning shot when the two girls are running out of the forest. This will show the emotion on there face and it will also show that they are frantically trying to get away. This editing style will show the convention suspense because the audience wont know why they are running. This will build a relationship between the audience and the characters because the audience would like to know what they are thinking and understand what they are running from. It also makes the audience scared because they aren't sure what is chasing the two victims.

The third editing style we would like to include in our opening sequence is slow editing. We will use slow editing when the black figure walks slowly past the window where the two girls are staying. With slow editing it will be made clear that the figure is stalking the two girls. This editing style will make my thriller film conventional because it brings the element of surprise because the audience don't expect to see a dark figure walk past the window. Slow editing is a convention and it also shows the tension from the characters and what emotions they are showing. This scene will keep the audience on the edge of their seat because they want to know what will happen after the figure walks past. This helps build a relationship with the audience and the antagonist because they want to know what he is thinking and also what his next move will be. 

In conclusion planning editing has really helped me understand the concept of editing and also how it can be performed well. It has helped me come up with ideas to use in my opening sequence and I have also compared films to see which editing styles would work the best for my film. It has given us insight to what we need to do to make our opening sequence the best it can be. 

Planning characters- Miss Miller

Planning characters

Characters are key in films. Without characters the audience wouldn't be able to build a relationship within the film. When the audience build a relationship with a character it makes them more interested in the narrative and gets them involved in the storyline.

Amy (Ella)

Amy is a typical teenage girl who is very involved in her school work. She has blonde/brown hair and has a very good relationship with the other character Chloe. Amy is the more confident one between the two girls and she is always getting herself in trouble. Amy's character is stereotypical of the thriller genre. You always have girl who is very curious and that always get themselves into trouble. This makes it easier for the antagonist to strike and it also sets up the rest of the film very well. The audience will be able to build a relationship with Amy very easily because she is a young girl who can be seen as venerable in a thriller film. Also her age helps build a relationship because she is very young so the audience feel like they have to nurture and protect her from any harm that might be brought on her. Young females are typical of the thriller genre because it is an easy way to get the audience to build a relationship with the character.

Chloe (Hannah)

 Chloe is a teenage girl who is currently studying at the same school as Amy. She has ginger hair and is quite short. She is very involved in her friendship group and she loves spending time with her best mate Amy. Chloe is the quiet one of the two girls and she is constantly telling Amy off for getting them into trouble. Chloe rather be by herself then in a big group and she doesn't like attention. She is just a innocent girl who wants to get on well in life. Chloe's character is typical of the thriller genre because there is always a sensible character who starts off the quiet and towards the end of the film builds confidence and takes charge. The will audience find it easy to build a relationship with Chloe because she is quiet and small making her look very innocent. The audience will also like it when she starts standing up for herself because they will feel proud about the fact that she wont be scared to get her point across.  Out of the two girls I think that the audience will like Chloe the most because they can relate to her more.

Antagonist (Me)

The antagonist in our opening sequence is a Male who is very tall with brown hair. The anatomist is unidentified and very mysterious. You often see him lurking in the shadows or running amongst the trees. His face is never shown so that it creates the sense of mystery and suspense. He wears dark clothes with a clear stand out white mask which is easily visible for the audience and the victims. Our antagonist is typical of the thriller genre because he is very mysterious and elusive. The audience will find it hard to build a relationship with him because he isn't around a lot and even when he is he is disguised. This will make the audience wary of him and also make them scared of him because they don't know what he is capable of. Overall the antagonist will be key in our opening sequence because he is going to be the one who will make the audience immersed in the film because they will want to find out his true identity.

I think that our characters are very conventional of the thriller genre and I also think that they will emphasis the genre in our opening sequence. Planning the characters has been very helpful in preparation for our filming because it has given us clear ideas on what we want to happen in our opening sequence. Without planning our characters we wouldn't be able to decide how they will be able to build a relationship with the audience.

Planning sound - Miss Miller

Planning sound

Sound is really important in films because it helps build tension and it also makes it easy to recognise what sort of atmosphere is trying to be created. Sound is especially key in thriller films because it is mostly used to build tension towards a jump scene which helps scare the audience. sound can either be used on screen or of screen in the form of diegetic and non diegetic sound. It is normally the background music (non diegetic sound) that scares the audience the most because it is normally loud and sharp when there is a jumpy scene. Without sound in thriller films, the film itself wouldn't be half as scary because the audience would be able to guess whats going to happen. 

Non - diegetic sound

Non diegetic sound is going to be the main sound technique which I am going to use because it is the best sound technique to help me scare the audience. It also builds tension and helps give affect in chase scenes. I am trying to make the non dietetic sound make the victims look more venerable and also make the antagonist more threatening. I will do this by having fast sound in the background when the victims are around and slow gloomy sound in the background when the antagonist is lurking to make him seem slow and aggressive. Non diegetic sound is very conventional of the thriller genre because it is always used in the build up to important scenes. This is because it makes it clear to the audience what is trying to be portrayed and it also is a good sound technique for building tension. I other reason i am using this sound technique is because it makes it easy for the audience to build a relationship with the characters because they are clearly shown how the victims are feeling so they can relate to them more easily. 

Onscreen sound

Onscreen sound is sound you can see that is happening in the film. This can be like a phone ringing or  a glass smashing. Onscreen sound helps the audience understand what is happening in that specific scene which helps them engage in the film more. In my opening sequence i am going to use on-screen sound like rushing of leaves and the wind whistling. This is going to help build tension in my sequence because the audience will feel like they are actually in the forest with the killer on the loose. This will make it easier to scare the audience because they are put into the victims shoes so they are made to feel how the victims are feeling. This will help build a relationship with the audience and the characters because they will know how they feel so they will then start to feel sympathy for them.

Offscreen sound

Offscreen sound is sound you can her but not see. This is like a scream in the distance. You can hear it but you don't know where it is coming from. In my opening sequence i am going to use footsteps and a heart beat as my offscreen sound. The footsteps are going to be used when the killer is approaching the victims. This will make the audience tense because they will be able to hear the killer but they won't be able to see him. This in turn will build a relationship between the audience and the characters because the audience will feel nervous for the characters because they know that the killer is approaching. I will use the heart beat offscreen sound when one of the victims is alone in the forest. The victims heartbeat will increase in speed when they notice the antagonist lurking in the shadows in the forest. This will show the audience that the victim is truly fearful for their life. The audience will then feel very protective of the victim because they will want to try help and protect them.

Parallel sound

Parallel sound is sound that is happening in that screen and it is used to help compliment what is happening. I am going to use a gasp as parallel sound when the victim spots the killer for the first time. This will show the audience that the victim is truly terrified and that she is uncertain of what she has just seen. By using this parallel sound it makes the audience understand exactly how she is feeling and this in turn helps them build a relationship because the audience know that they would react in the exact same as the victim is. 

Evaluation

From using all of these sound techniques it will make my opening sequence more effective and interesting for the audience. It will help show the emotions of the characters and help build bonds between the audience and the characters. The sound used will also help make our opening sequence more conventional of the thriller gene which will make our overall sequence better. From looking at sound it has also helped me with preparation for filming because i know have a clear idea of what i am going to do know. 

Group Planning- Miss Georgiou

Group planning

In my group I have Hannah Hobbs and Ella Sawtell. My group are going to have group meetings to keep each other update with what we are all supposed to do. Meetings are essential because we need to keep each other up to date with what we are doing and we can also swap ideas that we have thought of. Group meetings can also let all of us pick the best ideas that have been put forward so that our opening sequence be the best it possibly can.

Our first group meeting consisted of discussing our first narrative ideas. All of us swapped our ideas and discussed the advantages and disadvantages of each others post.  We also told each other how we came up with our ideas and our inspirations behind them. This was very useful because it helped us come up with our final narrative and it also helped us think on new ideas for our narrative.

We wrote all of our ideas onto a A3. My group and I discussed our ideas which included the miss en scene, cinematography, soundtrack, editing, target audience, research carried out, thriller conventions and character representations.

In our next meeting we spoke about sound. We spoke about non diegetic sound, diegetic sound and parallel sound. We chose to include these three sound techniques because there are very conventional of the thriller genre. sound is key in thriller films because it is the easiest way to build tension and also add effect to that scene. We chose to use diegetic sound in the from of rustling leaves and the wind. This makes the scene really eerie because it will be so quite that all the audience can hear the quiet murmur of the wind. We also decided to use non diegetic sound by playing music in the background and also screams. The screams will be heard by the characters in the scene but the characters wont be able to see where the screams are coming from. This adds real tension to the scene because the audience will be on the edge of their seats because they will want to know who is screaming. Finally we will use parallel sound in the form of a heartbeat. The heartbeat will increase in speed when one of the girls first spots the anatomist. This will show the audience that the character is truly scared for their life which will in turn make the audience feel sorry for with them. All of these sound techniques are conventional to the thriller genre because they are all used to create tension on the audience.

In the meeting after we discussed mise en scene which is everything within the scene. Mise en scene includes lighting, colour, costume, iconography and characters. For our location we have chosen to base our location in a forest because it is quiet and isolated. It portrays a conventional thriller location. The location will make it easy to build tension and scare the audience into thinking the characters are truly in danger. The forest location will also make it easy to scare the audience because they will know that anything could be lurking beneath the depths of the trees. We have used two female characters because they are conventional of the thriller genre because females are more venerable and the audience also find it easier to build a relationship with them. The girls are also young (aged 16) so this will make the audience feel very protective of them because they know that the girls are too young to protect themselves. We will use a knife as our iconography because it is the most conventional thriller weapon.

In our fourth meeting we discussed editing styles. We looked through the lesson that we had on editing styles and we pulled out editing techniques that were conventional to the thriller genre. After looking through the lesson we pulled out high angled shot, low angled shot, jump cut, montage editing. We chose these 4 editing techniques because they build tension on the audience and they are also very conventional to the thriller genre.

In the next meeting we discussed characters. We talked about what they will look like, there age and their overall background. We did this to make sure we were completely sure we knew how the characters were going to fit into out film.

Overall I think that group meeting is a good idea because it keeps everyone up to date with what's going on and it also helps us think of ideas to use within our thriller sequence. We can then expand ideas so that we can pick the best ideas possible to add to certain scenes. Without having group meetings, one member could be left behind because they might not know what we are doing.

Date	Meeting	What We Discussed and Achieved	By Who	Discussions
17/10/2014	1	Ideas & Plan our intial Group Narrative	All	Discussed ideas for narrative on a group mindmap.
24/10/2014	2	Ideas and Planning for Cinematography	All	Mindmapped & finalized Cinematography on A3 paper.
06/11/2014	3	Ideas and Planning for Sound	All	Mindmapped & finalized Sound on A3 paper.
07/11/2014	4	Ideas and Planning for Editing Styles	All	Mindmapped & finalized Editing Styles on A3 paper.
07/11/2014	5	Ideas and Planning for Opening Credits	Individual	Planned Individually our Opening Credits
13/11/2014	6	Ideas and Planning for Characters	All	Mindmapped & finalized Characters on A3 paper.
14/11/2014	7	Planning and Finalising Group Storyboard	All	Mindmapped & finalized Storyborard on 5xA4 paper.
17/11/2014	8	Planning and Finalising Filming Schedule	All	Planned our Schedule on Edexcel to follow.
23/11/2014	9	Planning Risk Assessment	All	Planned our Risks to avoid them during filming.
01/12/2014	10	Filming our Opening Thriller Sequence	All	Took into account all of our planning & filmed sequence

Planning cinematography - Miss Miller

Planning cinematography

Cinematography is really key in films because it shows the audience the characters emotions and highlights what is occurring in that specific scene. Without camera angles, the audience wouldn't be able to understand the emotions that the characters are showing. It also wouldn't look right if a film had no clear camera angles or shots. 

Panning shot

We are going to use this angle to show the depth and eeriness of the forest. In the scene where we use this camera angle, the audience will be able to see a dark figure lurking in the background. This camera angle will clearly show the structure of the figure and the audience will be able to clearly see what he is wearing. However his face is never shown. This is to build a relationship between the figure and the audience by making the audience fearful of this dark figure. This way the audience get dragged into the plot more because they want to find out his true identity. This camera angle is commonly used in thriller films to show the location of a place. This way the audience get a good idea of where they are.

Long shot

 This camera angle is going to be used when Ella and Hannah are walking through the forest and they notice that someone is following them. This angle is going to be used in this scene because it will show their body language clearly which will indicate to the audience how the characters are feeling. This will build a relationship between the audience and the characters because the audience will be able to see how venerable the characters are. This camera angle is very conventional to they thriller genre because it is normally used in chase scenes to show the direction that the victim or antagonist are heading.

Point of view

This camera angle is going to be used when Ella and Hannah start to hear whistling. It shows the girls looking round but seeing nothing. When this angle is used we will be able to see Hannah's and Ella's facial expressions. This will then indicate to the audience that they are feeling scared and alone. It also shows what they can see. The audience are placed in their shoes and they can experience what they are seeing through the characters point of view. The makes the audience really involved in that specific scene because they feel like they are really there and that they are experiencing what is happening. This builds relationship between the audience and the characters because the audience can relate to what there going through. This camera angle is conventional to the thriller genre because it is commonly used in chase scenes to show what its like to be the character.
High angle

This angle is going to be used when the two girls are walking through the forest. Its going to show Ella and Hannah walking down the forest path in the middle of the day. We will pull off this camera angle by myself sitting in a tree to get the highest shot possible. This camera angle is going to be used to make the two protagonists look small and helpless in a massive forest. It is also used to make it look like someone is watching them. The audience in this scene will be curious of who is watching them from above and they will also feel worried for the two protagonists because they look so small and venerable from that height. This camera angle is conventional to the thriller genre and is normally used to make victim look small and scared and also to make antagonists look big and powerful.

Shallow focus

This camera angle is used when Hannah and Ella are running round the forest. The camera then suddenly zooms in on a dark figure. It shows what the antagonist is wearing but it doesn't show his face. The antagonists face if blurred and out of focus. This camera angle will make the audience question the true identity of the antagonist. This will draw them Into the film because they will want to find out who he really is. This will build a relationship between the audience and the antagonist. This camera angle is conventional to a thriller film because it is used to hide a villains identity.