Thursday 10 February 2011

Title Sequence Research

Before creating our title sequence we will first need to carry out research into title sequences of the same genre. By doing this we will be able to create a more suitable title sequence.

We looked at two different opening sequences which fit into the thriller genre; Psyco (1960) and Panic Room.

Psyco
The title sequence for the film Psyco is a very simple sequence. This could be because the film was made in 1960's. The background of the title sequence is black, it then fades into the first scene of the film. the duration of the sequence is approximately 50 seconds. The text comes into the shot in simple animations sweeping across the screen vertically and horizontally. Although the animation for the title sequence is very simple I think that is still effective.


Panic Room
The title sequence for Panic Room is quite an advanced sequence. There is a computer animated scene of a city from a birds eye view. The camera is panning around the city. The text appears over the buildings and it is white and 3D. The text does not move, however the camera pans across the city.

Tuesday 8 February 2011

What we learned from Amar

From having carefully analyzed Amar's presentation, we now have a better understanding of just how important it is to consider any problems with a location. For example, it helps to look at weather reports to give you an idea of what the weather will be like so that whilst you are filming, the weather doesn't mess up the continuity of your production or provide any serious hazards for your group in the location(s) you've chosen to film in.
It is also important to consider other commitments that your group members have besides your filming, because from this presentation it has been made obvious to us that you have to think about this if you are filming during a weekend or after a day at college.
We also learned the importance of planning ahead by using new methods of planning that we were shown in the presentation such as a script and a location recce. Before we saw the presentation though, we didn't think that a script could have anything else in it apart from the actors lines or actions, but in actual fact the main purpose of a filming script is that it contains a completed narrative with different words coloured differently according to what shots will be used in that part of the film.
This can help groups to be much more efficient when filming, because not only do the actors know exactly what they are doing, but so does the person working the camera.

Mind Map for final thriller production

DSCN1018

Monday 7 February 2011

Shooting schedule

This is our plan for our filming over the next week;

TUESDAY 8th February
10:50 to 11:20 - walking over to Bentley Road
11:20 to 11:50 - practice shoot
11:50 to 12:20 - walking back to Long Road

THURSDAY 10th February
1:05 to 1:35 - walking over to Bentley Road
1:35 to 2:05 - real shoot
2:05 to 2:35 - walking back to Long Road


Friday 11th February
2:40 to 3:10- walking over to Bentley Road
3:10 to 3:40- real shoot
3:40 to 4:10 walking back to Long Road

Tuesday 15th February
10:50 to 11:20 - walking over to Bentley Road
11:20 to 11:50 - real shoot
11:50 to 12:20 - walking back to Long Road

location recce

The two locations that we are going to use are Bentley Road in Cambridge and Jolyon's house at Bentley Road.
Having checked both of these locations thoroughly, it is safe to assume that there will be no problems with filming on Bentley Road because it is a small street where there are not many cars going by, which means that the location is very safe.
It is important to make sure that a key to the house is with us when we go to the house; otherwise we obviously can't enter the house and one of our locations would be more difficult/impossible to get to, so a key is essential.
We must make sure that when we are taking shots of the cops walking along the street that continuity is maintained by trying to avoid cars in shots, because if a car drove by in one shot and disappeared in another, it messes up the continuity of the thriller.
We must also make sure that there is no-one at home when we are doing the filming. If however a person is still at home then we must make sure that they are in a location that is out of the shots we take, as this would mess up the thriller.
To make the house darker, it is important to make sure that all the curtains on the ground floor of the house are closed, as this will help to portray a sinister mood in our thriller.
We must also make sure that we take care when we are running through the rooms in the house because the floors can be slippery when they have just been cleaned and this would obviously be hazardous to the actors in our production.

Friday 4 February 2011

Why Thrillers Thrive worksheet analysis

In this worksheet, there are a lot of facts in it that are very informative about how thrillers are made to entertain their audience, as there are some examples of scenes from thrillers that follow this criteria, such as the scene in Hell's Angels where a character is about to crash his plane and there was even a sideshow where the audience was "thrilled" but in a way that made them feel like their security was being threatened.
Other examples of useful information that it provides relates to ideas such as "playing God" where the audience knows the terrible fates that are facing each of the characters, and "shocks" where films such as The Crusades used the idea of shocking their audience using falling horses. Overall, the worksheet is very informative of the various aims of thriller film sequences and examples where they have been used. It was also states that horror films are losing to the thriller films in terms of their popularity because most horror films make the audience feel uncomfortable and disgusted, whereas thrillers just aim to surprise and shock their audience.

Thursday 3 February 2011

Digital storyboard

DSCN6153

DSCN6154

DSCN6158

DSCN6159
DSCN6160
DSCN6161
DSCN6163DSCN6172
DSCN6164
DSCN6168
DSCN6169
DSCN6176

Mise en Scene

In such shots like, Establishing shot, Bentley Road will be the location of our opening sequence. We chose this because we deemed it suitable and necessary for our production.
The props used for the 'Police Officers' will be a smart/casual wear. It won't be the actual uniform but will consist of:
- Dark smart trousers or jeans
- A shirt, preferably darkened of colour
- Smart shoes, also dark.
- Any tie will suit but not a novelty tie.

The lighting will be dark in order to portray a sense of inevitability of the coming doom. ( Low-key lighting will be the KEY to our success. ) We shall put dark lighting on police officer 1 so it shows that something bad, and merciless will happen.

Shot List

DSCN6184

Risk Assessment

DSCN6182

Tuesday 1 February 2011

Script for our thriller film; "Last Words"

 Script for thriller film; "LAST WORDS"

A cop is typing into the keyboard quickly trying to find out where the killer will strike next. He searches 
                    (establishing shot)
on Google Earth for the location of the house where the killer will strike next. The cop then teams up
(close-up)
with another cop and they head off to Bentley Road in Cambridge. They walk along the street towards
                                                                                                                      (master shot)
the house attempting to stop the killer before he kills someone else in the area. They soon arrive at the
(tracking shot)
house and discover that it's been left open, so they turn the handle and kick the door open. The cops then
                                                                                                                  (master shot)
split up as one cop runs upstairs and the other cop searches the ground floor. The cop who ran upstairs
                      (long shot)
rushes to the door and opens it, then he suddenly hears the other cop calling him from the study
       (mid-shot + panning)
shouting, "Hey, I found something", so he runs down the stairs and along the hallway towards the study. 
                                                                          (tracking shot) 
He finds the door closed and opens it, then he looks across the study floor and sees the other cop dead on
              (close-up)                                              (over-the-shoulder shot)
the floor with another dead person.
      

Story Board

DSCN1178

DSCN1177