Test Filming

After the test filming we have had a few more ideas on how to go about filming the opening to our thriller and have also learnt how to create some effects through the editing on Final Cut.

We have also realized some problems we  may face when we are filming in the forrest/field area, as some shots which require the dolly to film a well framed shot may become shakey if we film the shot hand held becuase of the uneven surface. We have also noticed that we need to make a few shots longer due to some of the dialogue in our shot list

Font Ideas For Credits

This is the poster for Shutter island,  the font is all in red, bold and in capitals to make it stand out to the audience.

 This is the poster for SE7EN, the font is all in capitals and quite plain in itself, however, it repeats the same font in the background, however slightly darker and faded.

 

This is a poster for the film 'Gothika',  it uses rain to create a dark and sad atmosphere, and has been made to look like the girl is trapped behind glass. The text saying 'Because someone is dead, doesn't mean they're gone' is small and hard to read from a distance, this may be to tell people that the ideas explored in the movie are subtle yet important.  Also, the hair on the girl is blended into the streaks on the window which is used to emphasise that the girl is dead and is not really there.

Target Audience

For our thriller opening we are looking to attract a teenage / young adult audience as this age group are most likely to be interested in the genre and are who watch more television compared to other audiences.

Se7en (1995)

The genre will attract our target audience due to other similar television programmes such as Midsomer Murders and CSI that are currently popular in they're genre. Films such as Se7en and Law Abiding Citizen are films i believe attract this current audience due to the violence in both films so we should look to learn something from both films and take features from the films aswell as similar films and corperate elements into the opening of our thriller.

Law Abiding Citizen (2009)

We will look to enage our audience by making the opening mysterious as possible by not giving any clues as to who the murderer is or why he is killing. The film will be shot near nightfall to help create an atmosphere and help to build the tension leading up to the murder. The shot types we use will also not reveal much of the murders identity, so shots will consist of close ups of things such as the murder weapon and silowette effect of the murderer. The opening will feature and character at walking alone at night time on a walkpath near a line off trees so this will enage the audience by putting them in the victims shoes and if done correctly scare the audience.

Convections for Thriller - Sub Genres

Crime Thriller

Murder By Numbers (2002)

In a crime thriller such as 'Murder By Numbers' the introduction introduces the protangonists of the film which generally are an Investigator and their partners through a scene of a crime.
Questions are usually raised straight away in the viewers mind such as 'Who is the criminal?' and 'What motive does the criminal have?'
Use of flashbacks in common in crime thrillers as they are usually used to unfold the story as to how things hav happened and why. In the case of 'Murder By Numbers', the flashbacks are used to show something in the past that is effecting the investigator personaly.

 Action Thriller

Action thrillers are introduced at a fast pace by going straight into an action sequence and are sometimes more violent compared to the typical thriller.

Bangkok Dangerous (2008)

The main characters in action thrillers are generally difficult to understand at the start of the film and are usually skilled in fighting / combat.
Action thrillers generally have a high budget to work with, and many films take place in a foreign country. These convections are shown in the film 'Bangkok Dangerous' where main character Joe is a hitman on a month long job to kill four people.


Political Thriller

Valkyrie (2008)

Political thrillers usually feature a main character who tries to ensure the stability of a country or government. An example of this is 'Valkyrie' which follows the main character Stauffenberg and his followers plot to kill and overthrow the government in order to stop the war.
Political thrillers are generally slow paced and do not feature as many action sequences as other thrilelrs  due to the plots are more focused around the ruling of a country or organisesation.


Psychological Thriller

Shutter Island (2010)

Psychological thrillers vary with different themes such as: Reality - Existence - Death - Mind - Perception - Identity

Psychological thrillers like to play with the viewers mind throughout the film and builds up the question that are being asked by the viewers. In 'Shutter Island' the film all unfolds at the end of the film and features alot of twists in the story which is very typical of the sub genre.

Shot List

What is a Call Sheet?

A call sheet is a schedule of what will take place during the filming of the sequences.  Call sheets usually include contact information and scheduling information.

Reflection of childrens film

3 things we did well:
 good use of music and sound affect.
 the camera work was sturdy
 shos were well framed

3 things we need to improve on:
the film needs to be longer
the editing needs to be more fluid
the script needs to be better written 

Script for our piece

first scene; monologue:

Victim: Wh...wh...where am I? How did i get here? What's going on? The last thing I remember was walking through the woods...... then i felt an immense pain on the back of my head, like something.... or someone hit me there...... I remember a feeling of fear as I was struck... and now i'm alone... No.. I.. I can't be alone, no one to talk to, no one to listen to.... I CAN'T BE ALONE!!!!

White flash  
Diagetic music plays 
 

Storyboard

 

 Complete darkness.

 

 

Shot one fades into shot two, which is a man standing in bad light.

 

Flash to white to represent a flashback

 

Person walking along listening to up-beat music in his headphones, which the audience can hear clearly.

 

 Shot of person walking in the distance, while seeing the murderer walk out of his house, hidden in the shadows.

 

 Person walking along while murderer is hiding in the shadows watching him.

 

 Murderer hiding behind a bush

 

 The bush rustles so the person takes out one earphone and looks behind him.

 

 The murderer hits the person with a walking stick, still hidden by the shadows.

 

 Slow-motion shot of the victim falling over, both his earphones fall out and the audience can only hear the tinny music through the headphones, as they would if they were really there.

 

 Quick fade to black for half a second.

Shot 11 quickly goes into shot 12, for dramatic effect.  A title montage will take place.

health and safety concerns when filming

Area; fields, lots of rocks and trees. We would need to take care of where we step or if we decide to film from up a tree we would have to take lots of care not to fall from the tree.

Filming: we have to make sure that if we film outside, the camera does not get wet as we could get an electric shock from it.