Permission to leave early from college - Meg

We have decided to film on Monday's double period of media. We're going to Lewes, so we had to get the permission of our teachers. I sent an e-mail to Andy to ask if it was okay and he said it was fine.

Cupboard Experimentation - Laura

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g0aKORR9GI&context=C3f6f291ADOEgsToPDskIsC7Ky5TcFl4sJE-BtnI6L

This is one of the hardest shots that we will do during our scene in the house, so we decided to do a test for it at college so that we know exactly what we are doing on the day of filming.
When watching this as a group, we had disagreements as to which clip we liked the most. Kei and Meg liked the first one, as it was a close up, but it showed the shouldhers, therefore clearly portraying the action and expression. However, Charlie liked the second clip, as she felt that it was good to clearly portray her emotion within the big close up. On the other hand, I liked the last one, as the zoom to the extreme close up created dramatic tension as her eyes are what portrays the most emotion. I also asked Andrew, the media teacher, as he is fully aware of the criteria for Thriller openings. He also liked the last clip, and he agreed that zooming in created more of a connection with the character, also creating more suspense.
As we are all in disagreement, we also thought it would be good to ask our audience which type of shot we should use, as they are who we are targeting.
The lighting was hard to control within this experiment, as we had to stay in the same room with the same overhead light. I think the lighting from above worked really well, because the high key lighting conforms to her high class life, as it is portrayed as this perfect life, and so the low key lighting would not represent this. However, we shall need to be careful with the type of lighting that we use, as the light above made the shot very low quality, taking away the realism.

Openings -Charley

For the opening of our thriller we decided to have the woman turning on the radio and then picking up a photo of a girl. We also have an alternative way of starting our clip, incase our first idea goes wrong, or we could also use the extra footage in our clip too. The alternative idea involves the photo of the girl but doing a tracking shot of photo frames until the woman picks the last photo up.

Permission - Laura

We are filming in a house and on the South Downs. We are allowed to film on the South Downs without any permission, however below I have attached an email asking for permission to film in the house.

Diegetic and Non Diegetic sound- Charley

Diegetic and Non Diegetic sound is a very big part of filming.

Diegetic sound:
Diegetic sound is sound where the sourse is visible on screen.

voices of characters

sounds made by objects in the story

music represented as coming from objects

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRI15yhjeNQ - this is an example of Diegetic sound, in the clip the sound present is coming from:

• The man phone ringing
• The mans voice
• Sound coming from the music stereo

As i have explained Diegetic sound is anything that is seen by the viewer and is present in the scene. The opposite to Diegetic sound is Non Diegetic sound.
Non diegetic sound is:

Sound whose source is neither visible on the screen or has been implied to be present in the action.
 

• narrator's commentary
• sound effects which is added for effect
• mood music
• a sound from offscreen

 Non-diegetic sound is shown as a sound coming from a source outside story.

Diegetic and Non Diegetic sound is used alot in film, to create many different effects for the viewer. For example, in horror films they use Non diegetic sound to create suspence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juVb1SDHWrk - This clip sums up Diegetic and Non Diegetic sound.

The search for the photo- comparison - Meg

In our thriller opening, we have a frantic search for a photo, which is a main part of the story, just like in '28 Days Later'. Although the film is a horror and includes zombies, they still have an opening scene of a man looking for people and society in general. Our opening isn't quite as dramatic, and at first, our character will just be calm and looking through a photo album.
If we compare this to the opening of 28 Days Later, the search isn't as frantic as we want our one to be, but the idea is the same. The takes last a lot longer than the ones we want to put in our film because we want to show the panic of the woman through pace. In 28 Days Later, instead of you seeing him physically searching for something, you see his journey out of the hospital. While he's doing this, the sound is silent and all you can hear is his movements, and this is how you know he's alone. There are shots of what he is doing and these are used in match on action and you can see what he is doing. We want to show this too, and use the same sort of pace of the action and the cuts. This would make her seem more panicked, and even though the man seems calm, the pace in those little shots made him seem panicked and really thirsty. The close ups of his face show the expression and how worried he is, and then go follow him so you can see how alone he is. We will be using close ups as part of our piece to show how she's scared of where her picture is.

Match on Action - Laura

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKjlGqdWGm4&noredirect=1

This is our demonstration of Match on Action. Within our Thriller opening we will be using this. One example where we will use it is within the shot where we see that her hand is turning up the radio, then the next shot will be a close up of her turning this radio up. This conceals her identity, as this is the first shot and so we can only see her hand, therefore creating mystery as to who she is. Furthermore, the music she is turning up is classical, therefore raises even more questions as to who the character is. Additionally, turning up music usually signifies that someone is sad, as they are 'drowning out their sorrows'. The use of match on action therefore emphasises the way she is sad, therefore raising questions as to why they are doing this.

Theories - Laura

In preparation for our task, we did lots of research on the conventions of Thriller Opening's, in order to familiarise ourselves with this genre. One of the aspects that I researched were theories.

Todorov Theory
- Equilibrium
- Disruption
- Resolution
This is the order that most Thriller's follow, and so therefore usually they start a film with a sense of equilibrium. For example, one Thriller that uses this is Johnny English Reborn. This starts with English at an abbey where monks live, learning how to fight like them. This represents the life that he is living now.
However, some Thriller's manipulate this chronology in order to create variety, as this moves away from a stereoptypical setting of a Thriller, thus providing more entertainment for the audience. An example of this is Salt. This uses two disruptions as we start by seeing that the protagonist has been taken hostage; clearly a disruption. This intrigues the audience, and then we see an equilibrium back in her life and her job. However, then there is another disruption when she is accused of being a spy; raising lots of questions as to why there are so many disruptions in her life and what they mean. Another example of a film that manipualtes the chronolgy is Inception. This clearly starts with the disruption as we see the protagonist is in an unknown location, surrounded by men with guns. However, after this scene we do not see an equilibrium; it does not have a clear order. This intrigues the audience and gives an idea as to what the plot is about: as the lack of order shows the way he jumps between dreams.
We are going to start our opening with a disruption, where the woman is frantically looking through her photo albums. This jumps right into the action, and allows the audience to ask lots of questions as to what she is doing. The next scene is not an equilibrium either, rather a man standing on the edge of a cliff. This is also a disruption, and puts the audience on edge, wondering if he will jump. Therefore jumping right into the disruption allows the audience to be more entertained and intrigued.

Roland Barthe - 5 Codes
One of these codes is the Enigma Code. This means that the audience are constantly asking questions. This is extremely important within the opening, as this is what intrigues the audience into watching the rest of the film. For example, we can see this within the film 44 Inch Chest. Lots of questions are raised, as we see a modern looking apartment that has been burgled: Who burgled it? Why? We then see a man lying on the floor: Is he dead? However, then we see a close-up and he is breathing, but lookd injured: Is he alright? Who did this to him? He is quite sweaty, was there a fight? Then we see that the door is open: did the burglars jsut escape? Then a new scene introduces a new setting, where there is quite old fashioned furniture, contrasting to the modern apartment: what relation do these characters have to the man in the previous shot?
We must raise questions within our opening in order to keep the audience entertained and intrigued. Some of these questions that we pre-meditate that the audience will ask are: What relation do the two characters have with each other? Why is the photo so significant? How is the photo related to the charcters?  

Vladimir Propp Character Theory
This sets out the stereotpyical characters within the Thriller's so the audience then know what their relation is to the plot.

1. The villain (struggles against the hero)
2. The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)
3. The (magical) helper (helps the hero in the quest)
4. The princess (person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)
5. Her father
6. The dispatcher (character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off)
7. The hero or victim/seeker hero, reacts to the donor, weds the princess

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Character_theory_(Media)

Though not all of these characters usually appear, they do have main stock characters. I can relate this to Johnny English Reborn. We know that Johnny is the hero, as he is the one that figures out the last assasin within Vortex. Tucker is the assistant as he helps figure this out and helps the hero fight the villains. The villain is Ambrose, as he is a secret agent within MI7, except he is really the last assasin within Vortex. Kate Summer is the Princess as she goes out with the hero at the end. The dispatcher is Pegasus, as she is the one that sends Johnny off on a mission.
Within our opening, we are not following the stereotypical characters. We are using symmetry within shots, for example the similar over the shouldher shot that is used with the photo is used for the woman and man. This conveys a connection between the characters, but does not distinguish which character types they are. This again raises questions in the audience's mind as to how they are connected, and how they relate to the forthcoming plot.

Active Theory
It is stated within this theory that the audience put themselves in the role of the hero when watching this film. This enables them to achieve the aim of the Thriller, as it puts them on edge being involved within the hero's plot.

Audience interaction- Charley.

To invlove our audience we decided to ask 20 people which thriller idea they thought worked best, our three ideas were:
- The girl with no end
-Prom night
-Hostage
We explained what each of the ideas were and after asking them and getting the feedback we put our results into a pie chart:
















Overall the idea the audience liked best was 'The girl with no end'
Afterwards we asked the audience why they picked this idea, the response was that they thought the idea was most orgional and asked many questions, which resulted in them wanting to know what happened next.

Locations - Laura

The Cliff

During one of our scenes we need to show someone contemplating suicide. We thought the most intense way to portray this would be to have a man standing on the edge of the cliff, as the height will therefore literally heighten the suspense for the audience. This therefore achieves our main aim: to thrill them and keep them on edge.

However, we knew that this would pose a rather large safety risk and so we therefore have had to judge the first loaction in order to film at a place which will still create tension and we can still get good shots, but that is not dangerous.

We have decided on a place in Lewes, in the South Downs region. This is still a really good cliff as it is extrmely safe but it also has lots of landscape behind it, such as tree's, which emphaise the height of the cliff. However, it is not dangerous, as I have used it when previously filming within Media Studies for my GCSE Music Video. I have included these pictures in order to show the setting that we will be using, and to show that it is very safe as long as we are absolutely careful.

The first and second photo is us sitting on the edge cliff, which is safe as it is made of chalk and so therefore it is very stable. The third photo is our feet dangling down the cliff edge, and finally the last photo is us doing a dance routine for the video on the cliff.

The House

In our second scene we are using a house. The reason we are using this house that we have chosen is because it is also in Lewes, therefore we thought that it would be easiest as it is very near our other location. Therefore, it means we can try and film within similar time periods by having these close locations, which will be most convenient in terms of continuity (e.g weather) and travel for the other members of the group.  Furthermore, this was a good house to use as it holds all of the props that we need, such as photo albums and it has a cupboard so that we can do the shot that we were planning to do where we put the camera in the cupboard, in order to get a close-up of the woman frantically searching. The mis-en-scene will also link using this living room, as we would like to present our female character as very high-class anda perfectionist within her costume, and so therefore the beige an brown furniture signifies a modern look, matching her costume. Also, the living room which we will be using is relatively big, meaning that we have space for any lighting equipment and cameras that we use. Finally, filming in a house is very convenient as it means we can have easy costume changes & make-up retouches if they are needed, and it means we can try and film as much as we can without needing to go out and buy lunch! Here are some images of the living room we will be using.

Man on a Ledge - Laura

We wanted to use a variety of shots to use on the cliff, and so we got some ideas from a new thriller out called Man On a Ledge.
These have helped when making our storyboard as it has given us a variety of shots that can actually be used. Though the last one is too dangerous and there is no way that we would be able to shoot this, the others have given us some good ideas. The first three we shall use. The close-up of the feet is really good as it clearly shows the action (that he is contemplating jumping). Furthermore, as we cannot see his expression this heightens the tension as we don't know what he is thinking, and he could therefore jump anytime; putting the audience on edge.
The second shot is a very obvious shot to use; but it is essential. This is because it shows us the full height of the ledge, so that it then intensifies the fear that the audience are feeling. Moreover, we can use the editing technique of eyeline match if we use this. To do this we can have a close-up of the mans face, and then cut to this shot looking down. This will put us in the point of view of the man about to jump, and so we will feel the same adrenaline that he is feeling; further entertaining them and putting them on edge.
Finally, the third shot is also very thrilling, and so we will alos be using this one. This is because it is a mid-shot, therefore we can see his body language and facial expression, meaning we ask further questions: Who is he? Why is he jumping? Is he being made to jump? The composition also allows us to see the setting in the background, rather than just him alone. This allows the audience to again see how high up he is, by juxtaposing him with the setting.

Our Ideas - Laura

We have three ideas. We have a favourite that we would like to use, but we think we should ask our audience so that we choose the right one that will be most popular. Here are our ideas-

1) The Girl with No End - this is a mystery opening. We have a woman in the first scene frantically looking through her photo albums for a missing picture. It then breaks to the title scene, where there is the title on a black screen. In the next scene, there is a photo flying around. A hand grabs a photo, then we see a man, standing on the edge of a cliff. This raises questions as we wonder why this photo is significant, and how these two characters are connected.

2) Prom Night - in this scene we see three girls getting ready for their prom. Everythign seems normal, they are excited, but then suddenly they get a mysterious phone call. This raises questions as we wonder who it is, and what they want.

3) Hostage - in this scene we see a boy in his bedroom. He wakes up and everything is different, his room is dark and there is a briefcase waiting at the end of his bed. There is a picture of his girlfriend who has been taken hostage, and there is a lsit of things he must do to get her back.

Our favourite idea is The Girl with No End, as we feel it raises the most questions and it could be the most mysterious. We felt that Prom Night, was very stereotypical, as it is like certain films such as 'Scream' with the mysterious phone call. We liked the idea Hostage, however, this was similar to the plan that Kei did for his idea within his film in another class, and so therefore we felt this lacked originality. However, we are going to see what the audience vote for.

Costume and make-up - Charley.

Synopsis - Laura

Synopsis

We have two scenes within the opening, each scene is split between a shot of the title scene. In our first scene we have a woman in a house. She is desperately searching through her photo albums, and at the end of the scene she realises she has a photo missing. In the second scene, we see a man at the edge of a cliff, holding the photo that the woman is missing.

We have decided we will have no dialogue, and will rely on non-diegetic music, sound effects, lighting and editing in order to make it more dramatic and enigmatic as the dialogue doesn’t answer any of the questions that are forming in the viewer’s mind.

One location is a house and the other is a cliff.

Props: we will need a photo, as this is what is most significant within both scenes and is what will raise most questions. We also need lots of photo albums in order to signify that there is a missing photo.

Costume: we would like to show contrasting characters in order to raise more questions as to how these characters are linked; therefore we will portray this through costume. The woman will have neat, sophisticated clothing. We got our idea for the woman’s costume from the Desperate Housewives (see photo on blog) where she has pearl earrings with a matching cardigan and top set, to build this image of a stereotypical housewife. However, the man will be wearing a hoodie and jeans, to give the effect that he is not as privileged, making their connection more confusing for the audience.  

We are filming on a cliff; therefore the lighting will be hard to control ourselves. However, we would like to use low-key lighting and so therefore we will make the shot dimmer whilst editing. In the house though, we can control lighting. We would like to use high-key lighting to create realism.

Our roles within the group:

• Director : Shared role
• Camerawork: Shared role
• Stylist: Charley
• Location & Casting Director: Laura
• Lighting: Kei
• Actors: Kei & Kei
• Sound & Editing: Shared role

Thriller Openings - Kei

Law Abiding Citizen

Camera work

- we first see a father and daughter making jewellery together, the camera shots are mostly CU and some are ECU. showing that the father and daughter are having a nice time with each other and bonding.

- at first the pace is rather slow and relaxing untill we get to the shot after the tracking shot where the man is hit with a baseball bat. Then the pace quickens and becomes more frantic showing that something is quite clearly going on.

- we then have a jump cut when the man is tied up to show his wife screaming for him.

- then there is a close up of the attacker showing his crazed facial expression 

- then after that there is a CU of a knife entering the man's stomach 

- Finally there is a good use of field of depth showing the little girl standing there in the back ground 

Mise en Scene

-The home looks like a typical family home, the lighting is all bright showing that the home is nice and the family atmosphere is calm and happy.
-When the intruders come in the lighting suddenly fits with the mood as it gets all dark, 
-The intruders are wearing typical burglars clothes, however  the family are dressed in normal, casual  clothes.

Sound

- there is a radio playing off screen. this is 'Non-diegetic' this makes the house seem normal and like nothing is going to happen.
- when we get to the door knocking each time the person knocks the Foley gets louder and add emphasis and makes you wonder what is going to happen.
- when the man gets attacked we go from this normal 'happy' music playing to this tense and dark music. also there is an effect on when the woman screams to add to the tension.

  

44 Inch chesthttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgk16prXZsE&feature=player_embedded 

Camera work
-There are very few cuts in the first scene with the torn up house, this is so the viewer can get a good sense of what has happened although it still raises questions 
-focus pull at the beginning of the intro which takes us immediately into what has happened, as we see broken glass and then more broken items appear to us..

Mise en scene
-Modern day house, rich owner. we can see this due to the decorations 
-Dim lighting is used within the house to show that it is at night, and to create shadows throughout the house.


Editing
-The pace is extremely slow in the first part of the scene so the viewer can take in what has happened and listen to the soundtrack playing over the top that is an insight into what the film is all about.

Sound
-The music being played in the intro is contrapuntal as it’s showing a ruined house and a man who might be dead but playing a love song. 
-The music is non-diegetic as the characters can’t actually hear it only the audience.






Phone Booth

with this opening you can tell that you are in New York due to the establishing shot that shows the tall buildings  and the traditional yellow taxis.

at first we think that the sound being played is non-diegectic (played off screen) but however then there is a close up of a group who are actually singing the song so therefore it is now diegectic .

then there is close up of a mobile phone which is ringing and the ring has been amplified to make it stand out. and then there are fast paced cuts to show all the people on their mobile phones. then the camrea slowly pans around to focus on the phone booth.

( i could not find this opening on youtube)

Casino Royale

In the opening of Casino Royale, the diegetic sounds of wind used are quite eerie so it feels mysterious and intriguing. The whole opening is in black and white, and the setting (Prague) is revealed with a caption at the beginning. The reason it is in black and white is to suggest that these events are taking place in the past. It doesn’t specifically refer to a year though.  This shot is on screen for a long time, allowing the audience to get used to the surroundings. The location looks very cold, and this is due to snow on the ground. The smoke which is in the bottom-right hand corner of the screen adds an air of mystery to the surroundings. The misé-en-scene in this film helps add realism to the surroundings and situations.

The Day After Tomorrow

The music is quiet, with a choir member singing a few notes backed up by some brass instruments. Captions fly over a cold sea. The music is non-diegetic as the sounds are not created by the surroundings which we’re in. The deep blues on the sea and the ice caps which are shown when the camera pans around the location, help set up the situation as the audience can feel the coldness of the location.



 The music dies down as a caption reveals where the setting is. The caption is in front of an American flag, revealing what nationality the characters are. Trumpets start playing music, to suggest boldness and bravery. The caption fades away and the camera moves towards the action.



The music dies down as the characters start to interact with each other, and we focus on the mission they’re trying to do. When cracks start appearing in the snow/ice, the music starts building up again to create tension. As the diegetic sounds of the ice cracking are heard, the camera looks down on the camera as he starts to look worried. The camera movement is very slow, which is typical of the thrillers to build suspense just before something dramatic happens.



Then, the ice breaks and the music increases in power and volume – the characters don’t say anything as they struggle to save their friend. During the sequence the editing is very fast in order to create tension, which is an attribute of thriller films – so suspense can be created and the film is exciting to watch. There are numerous close-ups of their faces as their panic is shown.





Deadline Two – Pre-Production Planning

A completed storyboard for the entire opening (preferably having used ‘post it’s), including initial ideas about title placing. 

This needs to be made into an animatic of approximately the same length as the final film will be (shots to be timed carefully) with a voice-over explanation and embedded onto the blog.

Also: 

- a synopsis for the whole film narrative from which this will be the opening (about 100 words),

- the script for any dialogue,

- list of roles (see pre-production planning advice)

- images of locations and decisions about locations,

- prop research and justification in terms of character and story

- health and safety, including risk assessments for filming and use of equipment.

- lighting decisions. 

Blog Heading “Pre-Production Planning”(clearly label which group member has taken responsibility for each of the various posts). 

Again, consider blog format – images, text, screen grabs, embedded video, hyperlinks, etc

If you want to film over half term, this needs to be handed in earlier in order that we can check it through and grant permission.

Lighting Exercise

We got this effect using one light which was at level with the person in the frame. We positioned the light to the left of her and didn't put it on the brightest so there's still elements of darkness to her face and body.

This shot was achieved by using a light in front of her and shining heavily onto one side of her face. The lighting from the actual lights also helped to create this effect.

This silhouette effect was used by shining a very bright light from behind him and making the whole of the background white, and just the character in black. The light had to be up very high to make sure the whole of him was dark and contrasting to the background

The frontal key light was achieved by putting a bright light in front of the person and using only this light to show the whole of her face in brightness, and the corners of it in darkness because they're not important.

The key and fill light were used in this to make the character have no shadows on her face and look realistic. It was difficult because we were taking the pictures by a door and people kept walking through it and letting in the naural light from outside.

This was achieved by having one bright light lower than the subject so it creates a massive shadow behind her and a shadow on her nose. The problems were this was the light wasn't low enough so the face wasn't distorted.

This top lighting creates a downward shadow and the light on her face which makes her face really bright and distorts her face. This makes most of the frame really bright, and leaving the rest very dark.

This side light highlights one side of her face, and leaves the rest in a shadow, this creates a really dark shadow on the wall. This shows us that we can distort the face by only showing the one side. If we were to do it again, we should use a darker room to make the other side of her face pitch black.

The back light effect creates a bright silhouette behind her and gives her head a halo. It is a nice shot because she is darker than the others, but you can still her face. It creates mystery and distortion.