14.12.08

On Sunday night I managed to film my close up sequence. but unfortunatley that is all I did. I couldn't film any of the shots with the Female actress as she is not available until the christmas break. So I am going to get all my filming done in the holidays, then we I get back into college, I will spend the rest of my time editing and maybe re-shooting some shots which I'm mot happy with.

Lauren

Change of actor

I have had to use a different actress. So instead my actress is someone out of college called 'Molly Gladwin'. She fits my character well.

My partner Stevie, who originally was going to be the actress as it was part of her work as well, dropped out of college half way through the project and this has made me change my plans hugely.

I have had to commit most time at home to try and do everything on my own. I have had to find a new actress to be in my sequence and I have had to carry on all the planning on my own.

Lauren

Change of plan

On Tuesday 9th December i successfully managed to shoot all my shots in my storyboard, i was really happy with my work. But, unfortunately I put the tape in the camera to watch my footage back and the camera chewed up the tape with all the footage on. Currently I am behind on footage as i lost most of what I had filmed.

My change of plan now is to take the camera home this weekend (Fri 12th- Sun 14th) and try and re-shoot my footage. I am also planning on taking a camera home over the Christmas break and filming during this time as well.

Lauren

Title of film

I need to decide on a title for my film. I want my title to have meaning towards the plot of the film and to also be short and snappy as these sort of titles stick in peoples minds.

These are some of the titles I have brainstormed:

• SERIAL
• Who's next?
• Meurtrier en série
  
• Are you next?
• Slasher
• Murder
• Targeted
• Final Target!
• Last one

I have decided I like the title ‘Last One’ as I find it catchy and it has meaning.
The meaning behind it is basically the rest of the story.
The basic plot of the story is…

A man (a bit like a ‘Hitman’) and he has been hired to murder 15 certain people. The main part of the story will be about the ‘Last Person’ being a hard target to murder.

My opening sequence is showing the kind of character this man is, and to give the audience an idea that he is a ‘Hitman.’ It also shows a victim being murdered.

9.12.08

Last night I successfully managed to start my filming. I recorded about 6 shots and I am fairly happy with them all. In todays lesson I plan to editing my shots and decide whether any shots are going to need re-filming. I am hoping to film again tonight but this time, the close up shots and blood.

Lauren

8.12.08

Tonight I am filming a few certain shots which contain the silhouette of the man and the dark shots as I think it will make more sense to film the similar shots all at once. Tomorrow night i am planning on filming the rest of the shots, then i have plenty of time to edit my shots and make them better. I will be filming tonight on my own with 'Kris holland.'

Lauren

Soundtracks/Music

On Tuesday 25th November I planned to find music for our opening sequence - I didn't get round to doing this so today I am going to look for some samples of music which creates a tense, creepy atmosphere.

1. Title: Road to Hell
Genre: Soundtrack
Length: 1:51
Instrumentation: Piano and bass
Tempo: 80

A slow dark piece featuring a piano, bass duet. Begins with bass, then immediately piano comes in. Piece has continuous bass with piano coming in and out. Finishes with prolonged bass note. It creates a Dark, Eerie, Mysterious atmosphere.

2. Title: Some Amount of Evil

Genre: Soundtrack
Length: 2:03
Instrumentation: Clarinets, Bass Clarinet, Xylophone, Strings, Piano

Starts at a fast pace, and slows down gradually. It creates an Action, Dark, Intense, Unnerving atmosphere.

3. Title: Supernatural

Genre: Soundtrack
Length: 0:53
Instrumentation: Synths, Choir

A quick little piece to bring out supernatural elements. It creates an Eerie, Epic, Mysterious, Mystical, Unnerving atmosphere.

4. Title: Epic Unease

Genre: Soundtrack
Length: 0:38
Instrumentation: Choir, Marimba, Percussion, Brass, Strings
Tempo: 125

Starts quiet, ends fortissimo brass. It creates a Dark, Eerie, Epic, Intense, Unnerving atmosphere.

5. Title: Decay

Genre: Horror
Length: 4:38

Instrumentation: Cymbal, Bass, Trombone, Bells
A very dark piece heavily featuring cymbal and bells. Frequent Cymbal usage creates unnerving feeling. 3:08 prolonged trombone. Lasts almost 30 seconds. This piece is great for an eerie atmosphere. Dark, Eerie, Mysterious, Unnerving 2008

All these sound clips are copy-right free and were off a website link that was on moodle. Im not quite sure what the website was called.

The music I chose was 'Decay.' This was the music which created the best atmosphere which I had planned.

Lauren

Filming Schedule

On Tuesday the 25th November I planned to start filming at home. Unfortunately I didn't manage to do this, as I didn't realise how long it would take me to adapt the room into the 'Bedroom' style I wanted to achieve. But I am hoping to make a start filming on Monday 1st December.

Lauren

25.11.08

In our filming schedule we planned to add to our blog - which we did. We also said that we would make a start at finding a soundtrack. Unfortunately we did not succeed in doing this. Instead we decided on scenes that we would like to film first, and we are making a start on this tonight.

Lauren

Risk assessment

Final storyboard

Lauren & Stevie

Fake blood recipe research

We have decided to research different types of fake blood, to find out which recipe will work and look the most effective in our opening sequence.

1. Corn Syrup Blood

16 oz. White corn syrup (Karo syrup - this is a US product, but adding golden syrup does the job just as well, alternatively just mix sugar and water and reduce on the stove until it becomes syrupy)
1 oz. red food coloring
1 oz. washing detergent
1 oz. water
Add a drop of blue food colouring to create a more realistic colour. Remove the washing up liquid if you want to make edible blood. Adding condensed milk makes it less transparent and more like real blood.

The blood is extremely sticky and can stain skin and clothes so makes sure its washed off quickly. Use a stain remover on clothes.

We feel that this recipe is good, and will look realistic. We are reluctent to use this recipe, however, as it can stain skin and clothes. This is where we will be mostly using the blood, therefore it is inconvenient.

2. Lo-Cost Blood

Add a few drops of red food colouring to the cheapest washing up liquid you can find. Add a drop of blue colouring or some coffee concentrate to create a more realistic colour. Produces a runny blood that has a slight tendency to foam. Great for those bucket of blood effects on the cheap. Washes off reasonably well but tastes foul if you accidently get it in your mouth.

We feel that this is a good recipe, but we feel that because it is runny and has a tendency to foam this could look unrealistic.

3. Gore Blood

2/3 cup Oriental 'Cherry' Dipping Sauce
1/3 cup Water
1/2 Teaspoon Red Food Coloring
2 or 3 Drops Green Food Coloring
Mix the Cherry dipping sauce with water, thoroughly enough to thin down the sauce into a gooey consistancy. Add food coloring. Stir again, and let the sauce sit, preferably in a fridge. When needed, take it out and spoon it onto areas where 'gore' effect blood is needed. The blood will drip in glops & globs, but doesn't puddle out like watery blood does.

We feel this recipe is good as it drips in globs which will look great for the type of genre we are following. But we do feel that it will be harder to find the ingredients to make this blood.

We are going to experiment all these blood recipes and see which one looks the most realistic. We will then decide which we are going to use.

After trying out all these fake blood recipes, I have decided to use the corn syrup recipe, but adapted it slightly and use more cornflour and water and food colouring than anything else. This worked well, although it did dry quite quick and then the red colouring faded when dry. it is also quite thick and sticky, but it did the job.

I also used just standard red food colouring, splashed straight onto the bed sheets, this looks effective and didn't lose its colour.

All the other recipes didn't work as well, the lo-cost blood foamed and didn't look realistic, the Corn syrup blood stain clothes so I decided not to use that and for the Gore blood I couldn't find the ingredients anywhere!

Lauren

Filming Schedule

Lauren & Stevie

Final decisions

Props:

• Knife (already bought)
• Fake blood (look in fake blood research)
• Vodka bottle (already bought)
• Cigarettes (Lauren will buy these)
• Lighter (Stevie will buy this)
• Mobile phone (Use our own)
• Chair (at Lauren's house)
• Bed (at Lauren's house)

Location:

• Bedroom
• Doorway

Setting/Lighting:

• Dark room, only street light through window visible.
• Flashbacks of killing; red tint

Actors:

• 'Kris Holland'- Murderer (A friend out of college)
• 'Stevie Walmsley'- Victim

Lauren and Stevie

Video preliminary task.

This was a continuity task involving filming and editing a character. We had to include:

• Opening a door
• Crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with which she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue.
• This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.

As we are only in a group of two, we joined up with another pair, and used them as actors.  

Evaluation of clip:

  Whilst editing our footage we deleted and changed quite a lot.  To start with we had two shots of Dec (The male in the clip) walking down the hall, in an over shoulder shot.  We watched both and decided which shot was steadier and worked better with the rest of the footage.  

  We also think that the gap between the shot of Dec walking, and the shot of his hand is quite big.  If we were to do this again, we would of added a shot between these two, of him reaching for the handle to make the editing smoother.  

  We then had to cut a few seconds off the start of the shot of Dec opening the door, from the inside.  This was because the match on action of him opening the door from the outside, and then to the inside didn't quite fit.  

  We also feel that the shot/reverse shot was very brief.  If we were to do these shots again we would add another clip, to make the conversation longer.  We would have also sat Dec down across from Beth, rather than him being stood up.  This would have also helped our 180-degree ruling to be more accurate.

  We will keep all of these mistakes in mind when making our final product.

Stevie and Lauren

Typical plots in Crime-Thrillers

This plot is from 'The Others' -

"It's nearing the end of the Second World War and Grace Stewart lives with her photosensitive children in a large and silent house. After her previous servants went missing, Grace accepted the offers of work from three new servants. Since these three have entered the home, strange events occur, and Grace begins to wonder if it's her sanity getting the better of her or if there is something much more in the house with them."

This is typical as it using a vulnerable woman on her own with two children to look after. She's in a large house which she obviously can't control by herself. The sense of 'unknown' is haunting her house. This creates a mystery and an overall scary atmosphere.

This plot is from 'Zodiac' -

"Robert Graysmith is a cartoonist who works for the San Francisco Chronicle. His quirky ways irritate Paul Avery, a reporter whose drinking gets in the way of doing his job. The two become friends thanks to a shared interest: the Zodiac killer. Graysmith steadily becomes obsessed with the case, as Avery's life spirals into drunken oblivion. Graysmith's amateur sleuthing puts him onto the path of David Toschi, a police inspector who has thus far failed to catch his man; Sherwood Morrill, a handwriting expert; Linda del Buono, a convict who knew one of the Zodiac's victims; and others. Graysmith's job, his wife and his children all become unimportant next to the one thing that really matters: catching the Zodiac"

This is a typical Crime-Thriller as the characters have a case to follow and investigate. The cases most often involve a death of a victim with the killer on the loose.

Looking at these to examples, from 'The Others' I can see that they involve the typical characters, ie, vunerable woman and 'unknown' supernatural things occuring. From this I am going to use the vunerable woman idea and possibly use this type of character in my project.

From 'Zodiac' I have been inspired by the drinking addiction aspect as this links back to the crime genre. Drinking usually changes the behaviour of a person and this then sets up a clear line for some sort of danger. I am going to use the drinking aspect in my project.

Lauren

Lighting used in Crime-Thillers

The lighting used is generally low-key, dark, gloomy and shadowy. This is done to create uncomfortable and moody atmospheres. It also makes the audience feel on edge as there could be things in the dark that you can't see, as you don't get that warning from a shadow!

In 'The Machinist' the opening sequence using this stypical style of lighting:



The lighting in this clip is very low-key and was filmed at night as you can tell when the male protagonist acts the sccene outside by the river. The only sort of light that you can see is street lamps outside which shine through the window and the touch light when the male protagonist is faced by an unknown character.

This opening sequence has also inspired me, especially the crime asspect of it. The crime is gradually revealed to the audience holding them in supense and tension. The slow pace and slow feel to the piece sets an awkard atmosphere, but yet a good one. I am going to use this idea in my project but slightly adapt it, i want to slowly reveal the crime and the villian.
Lauren

Typical mise-en-scene used in crime-thriller films.

I have identified mise-en-scene from a popular thriller film "Se7en." The film follows two detectives, trying to capture a murderer who uses the seven deadly sins to kill his victims. I did this to gain more knowledge about crime-thrillers and everything incorporated to make it realistic. I used the trailer to get a summary of the whole film.

The two main protagonists in the film are detectives, they wear suits which hints that they have an important role in society and the film. This also allows the audience to recognise the genre of the film.

We see Morgan Freeman's character, William Somerset, holding a torch which shines directly into the camera. A detective would typically carry a torch. This also creates mystery as he is obviously searching for something, and the torch hints that this is in the dark. the darkness of the scene creates suspense and tension and these are typical features of a thriller- mystery, suspense and tension.

We then see Brad Pitt's character, David Mills, is in a photographic dark room looking at poloroid photos hanging from the ceiling. This creates enigmas- what are the photos of? Do the photographs link to the murders? There is also a red tint of light on the room. The colour red represents death, blood and sorrow- does this link to the murders also? Mill's also has a plaster on his head, why is it there? Mill's tosses his head around, confused and flustered, as though he doesn't understand the content of the photographs. Photographs can be used as clues, so this is another typical feature of a crime-thriller, and a scene that you would expect to find.

We see police crime tape, also clearly showing the audience the genre of the film.

The film uses an urban setting, which is also typical to a police/crime film. We see a flat with an untidy interiors, and an unmade bed etc. In the flat we see a dead body- which is again typical.

  

  We can use this research to identify common mise en scene of crime-thrillers.  This will become very useful when we are producing our final film, as this has helped us to become familiar with typical settings, props, clothing and lighting.

Stevie

Inspiration

"The Hills have Eyes"




I felt that towards the end film (around 4 minutes and 39 seconds into this clip) included a great point of view shots from the killer, without revealing his identity. I feel the shot gives a good effect because they create suspense and tension, and would be easy to acieve something similar to these. Although these shots are shown at the end of the narrative, I think they will create the same effect at the begining and create enigmas.


Stevie

Opening sequence - Final Destination 3

(I've analysed the clip from 0.00-3.10 minutes)


This opening sequence works well and uses all the conventions of a good opening sequence.

It establishes time and place clearly : Night time/Evening due to the dark sky and this makes it eery as there is a sense of forboding something bad is going to happen. The place is established clearly; at a fairground this is ironic as you expect young children at fairgrounds and wouldn't expect anything bad to happen. This place is clearly established due to the close ups of all different rides, stalls, the mise-en-scene and the pinball machine which the camera follows at the start.

It introduces and establishes characters/protagonists : Four main friends, two boys and two girls. The camera shots/angles are mainly focused on these four characters, but mainly on the main protagonist; the girl with camera who isn't on the ride at first.

It sets up an initial equilibrium which is disrupted : The follow of the pinball which then falls into the 'Death Hole' sets up a story which is going to involve death. Four friends out at a fairground, having a laugh, everything seems normal. Then the female protagonist takes a picture on her camera, which she then looks back at and find something weird has happened; the camera had blanked out the word 'V' in 'DIVE', leaving the word 'DIE'. We then see the girl confused and slightly on edge. This hints to the audience that something is going to die and starts to create a mystery.

It reassures the audience of the typical Genre : The dark/night-time atmosphere which forbodes something bad, the pinball falls into the 'Death Hole' letting the audience know that there will be death involved in this film, there's a shot close to a graphic match from the Death Hole to the top of the ride, its not exact but there's some sort of match, the eery fairground music which creates a tense and uncomfortable atmosphere, the paralellism editing form the pinball to the fairground images.

It sets up enigmas which can be answered later :
Who's going to die?
Why they going to die?
Why has the camera blanked out the 'V'?
Was it the camera that blanked it out?
Why did the pinball fall into the 'Death Hole'?
Why didn't the female protagonist go on the ride?
What will happen next?

From this sequence I have learnt a good way to set up initail enigmas which will leave the audience thinking, also I have looked into more detail the typical codes and conventions that a good Crime/Thriller will need to consist of. All these codes and conventions will hopefully be used in my project.

Lauren

Target Audience

Our target audience would be, most obviously people who enjoy Thrillers and a scary atmosphere, or at least people who don't get scared easily.
Thanks to the history of Thrillers, this Genre attracts target audiences of both gender, due to the stereotypical protaganists; the male villian and the female victim.

The fans of Thrillers need to see a good mystery that they can work out for themselves to keep them attracted to the film, they want to be able to relate to the film by seeing the typical characters; hero, victim, villian. This way the audience become good predicters of these types of films, but in our opening sequence we want to use these codes and conventions but we don't want to make it too predictable, we want our audience to feel they need to watch more to find out the plot.

We decided that the age range Thrillers targeted was from 15-35. But if we were to go along the certificated age it would be 18-35. It tends to be this age range as people at this age are more matured against the nudity, swearing and violence which may occur during Thrillers.

OUR FILM WOULD NOT APPEAL TO...
- People who don't violence in films
- The Elderly
- Children
- People who have phobia's of certain situations
- People who are against nudity,swearing and violence.

The Thriller film 'What Lies Beneath' followed all the codes and conventions of the Genre and turned out a very successful film.

• It won the ASCAP Award for the 'Top Box Offfice Film in 2001.
• It was nominated for the SATURN Award for the 'Academy of science fiction, horror and fantasy films' in 2001.
• It won the 'Blockbuster Entertainment Award' in 2001.

This information on awards etc, tells me that there could be a space out there for my Crime/Thriller as they have a wide target audience and with all the correct codes and conventions my project could be very successful.

To add to our research we looked at some BFI stats from cinema going stats in 2003. We found that 85% of people between the ages of 15-35 watch crime or thriller films at least once a month, so we are confident that our film will be successful and popular.

Lauren

Flow chart

This is the first plan of our opening sequence:

Dark room with heavy breathing in the background.

(Morning) Close up shots of different objects on the floor, ie, Knife, Empty vodka bottle, Cigarettes, etc.

(Night) Flashback to a man buying vodka and cigarettes (not showing face)

(Morning) Find a trail of blood on floor, camera follows it.

(Night) Flashback Man washing hands (not showing face)

(Morning) Dead body with several wounds led on bed in blood

(Night) (Point of view shot) Man sat in corner rocking back and foward looking at women.

A opening sequence should establish time and place, introduce us to protagonists and other characters, set up enigmas that can later be resolved, take on the typical codes and conventions on the genre and set up an initial eqilibrium that will be disrupted.

Our flowchart shows that it will establish time and place, it will be introduced to the main male protagonist, it will set up lots of enigmas and it conveys the typical Crime-Thriller structure.

Lauren & Stevie

Crime/Thriller Genre

Thrillers often overlap with mystery stories, but are distinguished by the structure of their plots. In a thriller, the hero must thwart the plans of an enemy, rather than uncover a crime that has already happened. Thrillers also occur on a much larger scale the crimes that must be prevented are:

• Serial
• Mass murder
• Terrorism
• Assassination
• Overthrow of governments

Jeopardy and violent confrontations are standard plot elements. While a mystery climaxes when the mystery is solved, a thriller climaxes when the hero finally defeats the villain, saving his own life and often the lives of others.

Thrillers don't just come in one style; there are lots of different Sub-Genres, Such as:

• Action
• Crime
• Disaster
• Drama
• Eco
• Horror
• Medical
• Spy
• Supernatural, etc.

The sub-genre we are going to recreate is 'Crime-Thriller.' We have choosen this because we like the idea of making a mystery to the target audience and making them think about the enigmas created.

The typical codes and conventions in Crime-Thrillers are to hear and see the story from the villians point of view, to be made to feel sorry for the victim, to be told the story through flashbacks and quick paced editing, to see low-key lighting and shadowy effects, to see the use of stairs, mirrors and hidden locations, plays with your mind; confusion with twists at the end, suspense music that creates a moody atmosphere, etc.

We are going to be using most of the codes and conventions above during our opening sequence.

Lauren

Crime/Thriller - Characters

There is most often a 'Villian' or a 'Baddie' in every Thriller. The villain usually is the antagonist, the character who tends to have a negative effect on other characters. The villian can be either human, superhuman or even creature.

There is always a 'Victim', the person who is being terrorised or targeted by the villian. These are normally women as they play a more vunerable character.

The 'Heroes' in most thrillers are frequently "hard men" accustomed to danger: law enforcement officers, spies, soldiers, seamen or aviators. However, they may also be ordinary citizens drawn into danger by accident. While such heroes have traditionally been men, women lead characters have become increasingly common.

For example in the film 'What Lies Beneath' there is a confused, vunerable women who thinks she's losing her mind but really ghosts are haunting her. Her husband therefore is the hero who tries to help his wife see sense and keeps her safe. Leaving the ghost being the villian; the person/thing who is making the disruption.

These two characters out of 'What Lies Beneath' are stereotypical of the victim and the hero in Thrillers. The victim is blonde representing the 'dumb' nature of blonde which makes her vunerable against the villian. The hero is dark, tall and handsome which is stereotypical of a perfect man which any women would like to be saved by.

These two conventions of typical characters in Thrillers are a good influence and we are going to take this idea and use it in our own opening sequence.

Lauren

Our choosen Genre

We have choosen CRIME/THRILLER as our Genre. As research we will investigate the Genre in more depth and find out a little more about crime/thrillers. We will look at the different codes and conventions of this Genre, i.e, Style of Characters, Mise-en-Scene, Lighting and Sound, and settings.

Lauren & Stevie

What an opening sequence should do.

The codes and conventions of an opening sequence are:

• Firmly establish time and place.
• Introduce and establish character.
• Set up enigmas (That are resolved.)
• Set up the initial equilibrium which is disrupted (Now or later.)
• Reassure the audience by demonstrating the conventions of the chosen genre.
• Follow the typical narrative structure.

Lauren & Stevie

Initial ideas

We are going to create an opening sequence for a film with a Genre of 'Thriller'. We decided to take this Genre on as we feel we could create a good enigma, to leave the target audience in suspense. Our main aim is to make the audience want to watch the rest of the film, because that is what we feel the main convention of a opening sequence should be.

Lauren & Stevie