29. Health and safety during filming/Risk Assessment (Day 2)

The scene we shot on day two, the main character commits suicide. The scene involves Penny going under water for a short amount of time. We had to be careful with how long she was under water to prevent her from drowning/choking and inhaling any water. Whilst being underwater, to give the impression that she couldn't breathe Penny had to blow bubbles out of her mouth. This could have been dangerous because if she breathed in she could have choked - we had to practise this shot several times.

By Tanzila Salam, Penny Horsnell and Katherine Scott

28. Diary Of A Day Shooting - Day 2

On Tuesday 27th March we continued to film for the 2nd day for our thriller opening.

The following picture shows the location of where we were filming which is Penny's bathroom.

The following picture shows us testing out the camera angles to see what works best for us to film.

The next picture shows the main characters thriller make-up, showing self harming.

The next two pictures are behind the scenes shots, the first shot shows the main character cutting an onion trying to make herself cry for the mirror shot, and the following pictures shows the results.

Finally another behind the scenes shot to show the main character after filming the suicide.

Here's some videos from the day ...

By Penny Horsnell

27. Diary Of A Day Shooting - Day 1

On Monday 26th March we had our first day of filming for our thriller opening.

The following two pictures are loctation pictures, taken in Bishops Hall Park, Brentwood.

The following two pictures are of our two main characters.

The following picture is of our characters costumes and props.

The clothing that is worn is casual and the make-up is natural.

The following three pictures are behind the scenes filming shots.

By Tanzila Salam, Penny Horsnell and Katherine Scott

26. Shooting Schedule

This is our Shooting Schedule, a plan we are going by however there might be changes made along the way.

By Penny Horsnell

25. Influences

At the start of this project we had to think of clips that influenced our thrillers, most groups were influenced by well known, successful films that have been released in the cinema, such as 'The Black Swan' & ' The Orphan'. However our group had an alternative idea, searching on YouTube for Music Videos and AS Media students Thriller openings to give us some idea's. Now we have finished filming, it's clear that we have kept to our main two influences which are the following:

Colette Carr Music Video - Back It Up 

This clip influenced our Make-up for our Thriller, in sections of this the singer Colette Carr has very gaunt and ghostly looking make-up, with a pale face, and black eyes, giving her a scary look just right for our Thriller. Our storyline is about a girl commiting suicide (drowning), we thought this make-up would be suitable alongside wet and backcombed hair, this would be used in a montage of shots of the girl in a forest in present time, the pale face contrasts with the black eyes giving her that ghost and death like required look.  

 Euan Baker Music Video - A2 Media Studies - Wyke Sixth Form College

This clip has been our main influence, with Mise En Scene, Cinematography and Editing when we start. There has been many influences from this clip that have been used and replicated in our own way, firstly the Location is set in a forest, with the boy walking along the footpath, this has inspired our clip and we have copied this in our thriller with the main character doing the same. There is alot of rapid editing throughout which we thought was great as it gives off a jumpy effect. Even while the boy is walking along the footpath it has been used and we beleive that it looks much more effective rather than him walking slowly or at a normal pace.

By Penny Horsnell

24. Analysing/Marking someone else’s work

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jg04EODG5D8&list=PL30467CA7324EE381

This thriller opening starts off with no music/soundtrack and has a female character laying in the bath, still. The next scene is a short pan of some kind of landscape which then fades into the next scene where you see a character walking from the right of the screen to the left, from waist downwards. Also, on the top left hand corner, a name is exposed.  The next shot is from a diagonal shot of the same female character continuing to walk whilst looking to the ground.  Again we see the same shot the thriller opened with, a female character laying in the bath still. There is then a quick cut to the next scene where we see a female character walking up a hill in slow motion. Again, another name is exposed. The scene then fades into the next scene where the female is on the left of the screen, kneeling on the floor, facing away from the audience then turns to look to the right of the screen into the distance. Again we see the same shot the thriller opened with, a female character laying in the bath still. We next see a quick cut to the next scene where the female character is walking towards the see in a weird form. A dissolve and close ups show the female character sitting by the sea with blood on her face. There then are quick shots/cuts and dissolves of a female laying the bath still, the tied rolling in and the female playing in the sea. A few scenes/shots later, we see close ups and mid shots of the female touching and sitting next to a hand covered in blood. There is then a close up of the female looking towards the audience with smudged make-up, bloody across her face and red eyes. Again we see the same shot the thriller opened with, a female character laying in the bath still which then goes back to the same scene bit with the female pushing away the hand covered in blood. The female then walks away from the location where the blooded hand has been hidden in a slow motion. As the female walks away, in the top left hand corner the title of the thriller is revealed. The screen then goes black and then shows the thriller opening being replied in reverse, ending with the opening shot. 

This thriller opening is extremely a high quality final piece, due to its incredible Cinematography, Mise-en-Scene, Sound and Editing. 

The thriller openings Cinematography

The group that produced this thriller opening used a number of different angled shots which suited their opening very well. They used shots such as: closes ups, mid shots, long shots and pans. 

The thriller openings Mise-en-Scene

The group had clearly thought out the setting and location of the thriller opening, the costume and make-up and non verbal communication for the opening. Even though the group’s setting and location were in normal, ordinary places, the beach and the bath, it suited the story line very well and created a mysterious atmosphere. The costumes were everyday outfits, pumps, leggings, skirt and a shit. However they managed to make mystery out of it. The make-up was brilliant, the smudged mascara and eye-liner with the smeared blood looked very realistic. 

The thriller openings Sound

The music/soundtrack to the groups thriller opening was a perfect match, suited the opening very well and gave the audience that spooky awkward feeling.

The thriller openings Editing

The group did a fantastic job with editing their thriller opening, making quick cuts, dissolves, fades .ect. in the right places, making the story line realistic and spooky.

Overall view

Overall the group that produced this particular thriller opening did a grand job with it, the story line was clear and everything fit really well.

By Tanzila Salam

23. Focus Group

By Tanzila Salam, Penny Horsnell and Katherine Scott

22. Immolation - The Title Of Our Thriller

By  Katherine Scott

21. Choosing our locations

By Katherine Scott

20. Pitch/Brief

By Tanzila Salam, Penny Horsnell and Katherine Scott

19. Thriller Storyboard

In the first scene/shot, it’ll be a close up shot of a water drop dropping in a slow motion. During this scene there will be no sound except for the water drop hits a surface of the bath. This will take place in the bathroom.

In the second scene/shot, it’ll be a long shot, side on view of Penny walking across the bridge and over a lake in a slow and weird way. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will start and continue through the rest of the clip. This will take place in King George’s Forest/Woods. 

 In the third scene/shot, it’ll be a long shot, front on view of Penny walking across the bridge and over the lake in a slow and weird way. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place in King Georges Forest/Woods.

In the fourth scene/shot, it’ll be a mid shot of Penny having a flash back of her looking at herself in her bathroom mirror and wiping her hand across face, smudging all her make-up. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place in the bathroom.

In the fifth scene/shot, it’ll be a close up shot of a water drop dropping, like in the first scene/shot but the water drop will be a little bigger and will drop a little faster. This will take place in the bathroom.

In the sixth scene/shot, it’ll be a long shot of Penny walking along in a slow and weird way with a photo in her hand, form the back. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place in King George’s Forest/Woods.

In the seventh scene/shot, it’ll be an aerial shot of the bath tube full. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place in the bathroom.

In the eighth scene/shot, it’ll be close up shot of Penny holding a photo, from the back. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place in King George’s Forest/Woods.

In the ninth scene/shot, it’ll be a long shot, side on view of Penny sliding in to the bath. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place in the bathroom.

In the tenth scene/shot, it’ll be an over the shoulder shot of Penny burning the photo. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place in King George’s Forest/Woods.

In the eleventh scene/shot, it’ll be a mid shot of Penny sliding into the bath, with her head under the water. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place in the bathroom.

In the twelfth scene/shot, it’ll be a close up shot of Penny gripping onto the side of the bath with the photo under her hand, as she’s struggling. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place in the bathroom.

In the thirteenth scene/shot, it’ll be a mid shot of Penny in the bath, under the water with bubbles coming out of her mouth because she’s struggling. During this scene the non-diegetic sound will be continued. This will take place in the bathroom.

In the fourteenth scene/shot, it’ll be a quick shot of Penny having a flash back of her and her friend laughing and having a good time. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place at home/in a house.

In the fifteenth scene/shot, it’ll be a wide shot of Penny having a flash back of her and her friend walking a dog and being happy. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place in King George’s Forest/Woods or in a park or the roads/paths.

In the sixteenth scene/shot, it’ll be a two shot of Penny having a flash back of her and her friend talking and having a laugh which will then turn into a photo. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place at home/in a house.

In the seventeenth scene/shot, it’ll be the photo falling out or Penny’s hand and flouting to the ground. There will also be blood stained on the side of the bath, from where Penny’s arm/wrist. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place in the bathroom.

In the eighteenth scene/shoot, it’ll be a clos up shot of the photo laying on the ground and blood dripping onto it. During this scene the non-diegetic sound track will be continued. This will take place in the bathroom.

By Tanzila Salam

18. Make-up

Heres a mood board we created for the makeup in our thriller opening.

These are our inspirations for our main character. The white eye contacts will create the 'super-natural' feel whilst the dark eye-makeup will be a contrast to the white.

By Penny Horsnell and Katherine Scott

17. Suicide Research

By Katherine Scott

16. Results for our Questionnaire

After creating a questionnaire we gave them out to 25 different people to fill out.

What age rating do you expect a thriller to be?

 Out of the three age ratings we gave options for, 17 out of 25 people said that their preferred age rating would be a 15. As a group we also decided this would be suitable as an 18 could be too extreme when it comes to blood and violence, and a person who is 12 would be too young.

 When do you prefer thrillers to be filmed?

Although the majority of the people we asked said their preffered time for a thriller to be filmed would be at night, because of the equiptment we will be using we will be unable to do this as it would be too dark and we wouldnt have a light to see whats going on.



What is your preferred location for a thriller?

Apart from the abandoned house and the city location, most of the answers had similar numbers of who would like to see a thriller in that location. At this stage of our film project we are still deciding on the location and the questionnaires we gave out will help us decide.

What style of thriller do you prefer?

The majority of the questionnaires we recived said that their preferred type of thriller would be a horror thriller. A close second was a supernatural thriller. This is ideal for our group as we want our film to be based around ghosts/suicide.

By Katherine Scott

15. Questionnaire

I created this Questionnaire to find out what the audiences opinions were on Thrillers, this way our group could make the Trailer as suitable as possible.

By Penny Horsnell

14. Demographics and Psychographics

Demographics

Targeting people according to their wealth and well-being is called Demographics. However, because the film industry is suitable for everyone, it’s much harder to construct a film which is based on a certain of group people giving their wealth and well-being. This is due to the fact that there are different social classes and any can like a certain film and/or have the same taste in thrillers. This means that the film industry needs to be more selective when they target a spercific audience and this is when Psychographics come in to it. 

Psychographics

 

Psychographics examines people's interests, activites and opinions called the IAO variables, this will help us categorize a specific target audience for our Thriller trailer. After reasearch our group have concluded that our target audience is in the 'Reformers' catagory. We think this is suibtable as they are socially aware, age ranged between 15-24 and attend higher education.

By Tanzila Salam and Penny Horsnell

13. Codes And Conventions

By Penny Horsnell

12. Title Sequence

A good Thriller needs a Title Sequence as this sets the standards for the entire film because a Thriller’s biggest key in capturing the audience’s reaction/attitude is being dramatic. This should not be under estimated by the director and be taken care of.

A Title sequence should put across a certain messages in order to get the audience thinking as films have metaphorical meanings. A perfect example of a Title sequence is in the film 'Psycho'.

As you can see from the photo above, the font for the word 'Psycho' is bold, however it is broken through the middle with a crack in the letter 'C' this could represent the main characters fractured personality. The line above the title 'Alfred Hitchcocks Greatest Shocker' is also a way of selling the film. Alfred Hitchcock was a famous producer/director for the techniques he used in his thriller films.

In a good Title sequence, the actors/actresses names are also displayed along with the director’s and company’s name.  Doing this, gives off a good impression to the viewers because of the reputation that comes along with actors/actresses, director and companies. For example, in the Thriller ‘Inception’, Leonardo Di’Caprio has one of the leading roles, therefore many people in the audience would know him because of his other famous films such as ‘The Titanic’.

By Tanzila Salam and Katherine Scott

11. Cape Fear Analysis

The scene opens with the reflection on a lake of an Eagle which is a bird of prey; this shows the film involves a predator in it. Also at this point the soundtrack changes to a dramatic sound, making it clear this is an important representation of a character.

The film Title font is jagged and distorted representing the genre Thriller. It also may represent the predator’s fractured personality. The lake is showing calm ripples of water, however the mystery to water is we don’t know what is under it which alarms a sense of danger and unknown.

The lake turns red which instantly represents blood and creates a sense of fear and danger in the audiences mind.

The non-diegetic soundtrack stops as the girl uses direct address, this shows what she is saying is important. Her costume she is wearing tells us she is the victim, as her top is white and her buttons are done right up representing innocence and purity.

The shot shows a man in a prison with tattoos on his back, a religious cross representing Christianity and the ‘scales of justice’ representing old fashioned values such as ‘An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth’ this shows us he always takes revenge.

This show the man being let out of prison, the fact he is walking in front of the prison warden shows he is the dominant character and shows his control. Everyone is the cells are silent and staring at him showing they are scared and feel threatened by him.

The long shot shows the man walking out of prison with the storm in the background which shows the audience is going to do bad things and represents his nature is dangerous and unstoppable. He then breaks the 4^th wall and walks straight through the camera showing us his dominance and power.

By Penny Horsnell