Feedback From Presentation

When we showed our draft version of the film to our class they gave us the following feedback:

- They thought some of the slow motion we used was effective.

- They think that when we were running on the stairs we need to make the speed continuous to make it flow more.

- We also need to make the drumming music in time with the film so that it fits better and makes our film more appealing to the audience as it will be more intense.

- They thought that the black and white effect was good as it made it more stylistic and interesting.

- The liked all the different shot types, for example the low angle and high angle shots on the stairs.

- Our teacher doesn't think that our music fits well with our film so we are reconstructing it to make it fit to our film and the thriller genre.

- They said that the colour of our titles was good as the red contrasts with the black and white colouring of our film. However, we need to make the actual title of the film bolder and bigger.

Practice shots

We did some practice shots of some scenes in the film we need to re-take to make them look more realistic and so we have a plan and know what we have to do, which will save us time when we actually come to film as it will mean less shots.

We have chosen to show all the practicing, not just the shots that went right as it shows are development and progress.

The first shots are of Maria doing a fall. She found it hard at first as she felt awkward and embarrassed and found it quiet hard to let loose. However she managed to over come that after a couple of takes and by the end managed to create a fall that look genuine.

The next shot is of Kate kicking Maria. Kate had to fake a more powerful kick into Maria to show her real anger and Maria had to flinch to it looked really realistic and as if Kate had actually kicked her. This after a few takes looked really good and effective.

Kate and Scarlett's fight scene is showing the struggle of Scarlett trying to get away. Scarlett tried to make it an actual real struggle for Kate to restrain her to make it look more realistic. What we learn't we need to improve on is not laughing or smiling.

First day of filming

On our first day of filming we were really optimistic and eager to get started as we had done so much planning and had loads of ideas. Also the weather was as we wanted in our film to create the perfect atmosphere.

One set back we had was that we could only have the camera for one lesson (1hr 30mins) so we did not get a chance to film as much as we had wanted to. Also Jed could not come so early so we had to film without him. However we have decided that we are not going to use Jed in our film, but instead we are going to improvise by using just Kate who will be both the kidnappers. She is going to bring a change of clothes and is going to wear a balaclava to hide her identity to show a distinct difference between the two characters. This would make it easier to film as Kate is in the group and has an idea of what we want the film to look like.

We didn't manage to film the whole film like we would have hoped to have, so we plan to film the rest on Friday. We think we will have more than enough time.

Watching our footage back we have discovered things that we need to add in and some bits we need to film again for example, when Maria gets tied up we need to make it look like she is desperately struggling , as this will be more effective and make the audience feel sorry for her.

We also noticed small things like our bags in the shot, and give aways of our location. When we next film we are going to be more aware of these things and look to avoid them as it makes our film look less professional and a bit messy.

We already have 1min 8seconds worth of footage as we did not want to film too little and also we re-shot quiet a lot of scenes so we would have a choice of them in case something went wrong and we would have a range of shots to choose from.

Call sheet for planned filming

When we are going to film: Friday 26th Feb

9.00 till 2.40

Scarlett, Kate and Maria are going to take the camera into town on the bus and then Scarlett will bring it back and return it at 2.40

We are going to film at the Grand Arcade car park (level 6) as it is the top level so therefore are not many cars there. It also adds tension as it is high up and makes it scary. We are getting to the location by bus as it leads to the centre of town where Grand Arcade is. It is a public location but there are not many people there thats why we chose to film as we will not get any interruptions however we still need to take health & safety into consideration, for example keeping away from the edges and not carrying fake weapons.

Lighting: As we are filming during the day we will not need to take lights with us. Ideally we would like the weather to be cloudy but not raining so it gives an eerie atmosphere which we would like to create. If not when editing we will change the lighting on final cut to give us the same effect.

Actors: Our whole group (Kate, Scarlett and Maria) and then we are using Jed as an extra character.

Scarlett- Victim 1 (Jessica)

Maria- Victim 2 (Emma)

Kate- Kidnapper 1 (Pavlo)

Jed- Kidnapper 2 (Limbado)

We will not have sound that it is spoken in our opening, Scarlett is going to scream at one point but there will not be a script for our piece. We think it will be more effective like this.

Film Crew: The people that are not needed in the scene being filmed will be behind the camera. This means everyone will get an equal opportunity to film.

Props: Rope, Masking tape (coloured in black) and a balaclava.

Scarlet will bring the masking tape. Kate will bring the balaclava and Maria will bring the rope.

If the weather disrupts our filming we will use level 5, although it may not be as effective as using the outside area it will still give the same eery effect, as we are still in a car park that is quite secluded.

We are capture as much as we can in this filming slot so that we can get started with the editing and see if there is more filming that needs to be done. We will not be using lots of diegetic sound, therefor we will not need to worry about the sound during our filming session.

Top Tips for Filming

-Have a clear idea of what filming and what we want to achieve

- Continuity

- Have back up plan

- Keep the camera steady - tripod

- Always capture extra footage

- Capture variety of shots

- Beware of your surroundings

- Get consent of public

- Make sure the tape is in correct place

- Don't do anything that a passer by may be offended by

- Don't film in a dangerous place

- No swearing

- No weapons in a public place

- Be respectful to the public

FINAL IDEAS

First there will be a 10 second pan of the top of the car park, this will be the establishing shot so it will be a long shot showing the whole location.

Next will be a flash of Scarlett the (victim) running across the car park. This will just be a quick flash and will last only 2 seconds it will be a tracking shot.

Then there will be a cut back to the kidnapper (Jed) who will be wearing a balaclava who jumps up and the camera will freeze and his name will come up. This is be a semi-mid shot.

Next we will show a clip of Maria tied up and the attacker (Kate) will be putting masking tape, that looks like duct tape over her mouth. This will last for 4 seconds and it will freeze and our names will come up. We will use a medium shot and then a close up of Maria's mouth.

Mid shot of Scarlett looking back at Jed who is now catching up with her. At this point Scarlett will be frozen and her name will come up. It will then go back to the action and Jed grabs her arm. This will be a close up of Jed's hand on her arm.
A flash of Maria's hands which are tied up will be an extreme close-up and will last only 2 seconds.

It will then cut back to an empty car park with a scream over it. Then there will be a mid shot of Scarlett who is struggling against Jed, she punches him in the face and then there will be a long shot, to show Scarlett scrambling away.

There will be a flash of Maria and Scarlett both tied up, then a quick flash back to the fight between Scarlett and Jed, then cut back to an extreme close-up of Maria and Scarlett's eyes, which we will put on a split screen

Analyze credits.

Analyzing credits in 'Panic Room' and 'Six Feet Under.'

The credits in 'Six Feet Under' are unusual because instead of filming the opening credits they use a selection of photographs. This shows time passing and makes us think that the program is about death. The use of contrapuntal sound is effective, as the music is quite upbeat it gives the impression that the program is not all about death which is typical of a TV drama, as there is usually more than one story line.

The images in the opening credits show parts of dead bodies, such as the foot, but also shows people washing their hands, which could imply that the program is about murder.

The font is quite plain and simple, this contrasts to the images behind it, making the audience focus on the photos behind it and not on the font.

Panic Room

The credits in 'Panic Room' are unusual as they do not really relate to the film, or give an insight into what it is about. However, the shots of the big buildings show that the film is set in the city, which is typical for a thriller genre. The lighting gives the impression that it is the morning and that the story happens over one day, which means the story line would be action packed.

The music started of eerie and then build up and became really dramatic, this could be a reflection of the actual film.

Storyboards and shot lists

Storyboards and Shot Lists

The storyboards hold information about what each scene will contain and what kind of camera shot/camera angle is in it. It will help us on the day because it will show us what the shot will contain. This will help it all run smoothly and the filming will then be quicker because we will all know what we have to film. Doing the shot list has helped us know what props and costume we will need for each shot.

In the first two shots we don't need any props as it is only panning the car park and victim 2 (Scarlett) running.

Shot three is Victim 1 (Maria) being tied up and in this shot we will need a rope, masking tape (to put over the victim's mouth) and a balaclava for the Villain 1 (Kate.)

Shot four is just the kidnapper chasing victim so the only thing really needed in the shot is the kidnapper's balaclava.

The rest of the shots have the same props in.

Why we think Thriller's thrive.

According to the article people go to the cinema because it provides them with a sense of security while watching something that is exciting and dangerous. "The cinema can leave the spectator with a subconscious assurance of absolute safety and yet, surprise his imagination into playing tricks on him"

The audience can also relate to the character and put themselves into that particular role, so they can enjoy something that is not an everyday experience. Because of the diversity of the thrillers the audience never really sees two films which are identically alike. "In order to appreciate what the characters on the stage are going through, we have to project ourselves into their consciousness... Watching a well-made film, we don't sit by as spectators; we participate."

The typical characters in a thriller, always capture the audience's inner hero. And at some point come close to peril. Which adds the thrill element and the audience can put themselves in the position and experience it artificially in a safe, secure environment.

Mise-en-scene

The mise-en-scene in our opening is very specific to our thriller genre.

Location

The choice of car park is to sure it is set in a urban environment, the city which adds to the whole thrill as it is almost like a secret world, which is a scary thought for the audience to imagine things like this do take place.

It is also a public place however it is very secluded, but it adds tension to the story line as a member of the public could intervene at any point.

Lighting

We have chosen to film outside and set it in dim afternoon light, to give at a mysterious, more eerie atmosphere to our scene.

Props

We are not going to use many props, only rope, masking tape, and balaclavas. We didn't want to bring too many props into it as it would make it harder to film. We just decided to use our surroundings and work with what we had.

Costume

The victims are going to wear casual everyday clothes, that a young adult would wear to show their age. And the Kidnappers are going to be dressing in tracksuit trousers, and dark clothing also balaclavas to make them look scary and also to add to the thriller convention of hiding the antagonists identity to add mystery to 'who did it'.

Sound

We are going to add a soundtrack over our captured footage. Are track is going to be dramatic and action, but match the action happening in the film and create suspense and tension for the audience. We may also have some diegetic sound to make to setting seems more realistic.

We are not going to have a lot of long dialogue as we feel it would be more effective without, however we are going to have some screaming, to show the victims terror and struggle.

Feedback from our pitch

People questioned us on costumes and although it was in our blog maybe it wasn't clear. The criminals are going to be wearing dark colours, such as black tracksuit bottoms and a balaclava. The victims will be wearing typical teenage clothes.

We are going to keep our film a thriller as we will not actually show the violence but the kidnapping is what our film will revolve around.

We also got asked about our shot types and we said we would mainly be using long shots to show the chase, close-ups to show the character reactions and shot-reverse-shot to show both the chase and the kidnap.
And we were asked if we would all be in the shot at the same time but we explained that we would be taking it in turns to film by shooting the two scenes at different times, but embedding them in the editing.

The feedback generally was that it was going to be visually interesting and artistic.

We were also told that we had to ask permission to film on the car park, but it is owned by the council so it should be fine, but however if it is not we will have to find another location to film.

Sub-Genres: Political Thriller- Munich

"Munich is a 2005 historical fiction film about the Israeli government's secret retaliation attacks after the 1972 Munich massacre of Israeli Olympic athletes by Black September militant group. The film stars Eric Bana and was co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg. It was written by Tony Kushner and Eric Roth.

The film shows how a squad of assassins, led by former Mossad agent Avner (Eric Bana), track down and murder a list of Black September members thought to be responsible for the eleven Israeli athletes' murders. The film was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture.

The second part of the movie, which depicts the Israeli government's response, has been debated a great deal by film critics and newspaper columnists. Spielberg refers to the film's second part as "historical fiction", saying it is inspired by the actual Israeli operations which are now known as Operation Wrath of God. The MPAA had rated this movie R for Strong Graphic Violence, Some Sexual Content, Nudity and Language."

This is wikipedias overview of the film Munich.

http://www.youtube.com./watch?v=NA1CMZALmPc

We analysed the first four minutes of this.

The music at the beginning sets an eerie atmosphere, making the audience feel tension. Some characters are foreign showing it is dealing with different races and cultures. The characters shown are clearly antagonists as they have guns. It is obviously a thriller as it has lots if dark colours. The antagonists are breaking into Olympic grounds which show that they are angry because of something to do with politics as that is what the Olympics is about. The film starts with them breaking the law by trespassing. The American Jocks are the innocent bystanders in the fact that they could have intentionally got involved in something violent and dangerous.

Our presentation pitch

Narractive ideas
Our opening sequence will be a chase, there will be people being chased, people running in balaclavas and also people that have been caught and are tied up. It will be a gripping opening as the audience will want to know why people are being chased and who is catching them and why. It will create lots of questions for the audience so therefore creating suspense.

Character/Actor ideas
There will be two criminals and two victims. One Victim will be running and one already tied up. The criminals are working for someone that has got a grudge against their dad who was a judge that wrongly put them in jail for a five year stretch for an assault. They are back to seek revenge as they were tormented by other prisoners and guards in the prison, making them go crazy. So, they are fighting against the system and higher people in society. This would become obvious as the film progresses.


Kate-Criminal tying up victim
Scarlett- Victim being chased
Maria-Victim being tied up
friend-Criminal chasing Scarlett

Location
Grand arcade level 6 car park and lift. We can create a scary atmosphere up there. This picture gives a rough example of what the location will look like.




Certificate
15 as it is a film aimed at older teenagers and adults. It is violent but the images that are seen will be quite mild violence.



Subgenres
crime thriller - There is a clear antagonist and protagonist and a rivalry between them. There will be an action scene and is all based around the one crime, the kidnapping.

Titles
We are going to have the titles on freezes of each character. Every time there is a climax, just before we will freeze it for 2/3 seconds and have there name. We are going to have the font in a bright colour such as red so it contrasts with the dark background. We will have the font in a font that looks like it has been written by a type writer.

Music/Shot information
We will have dramatic music to go with the action and to help set the mood of tension and suspense. We will have a range of shot distances and types. We will have panning shots to show the loctation and some of the action. We will have a tracking shot to put people in the view of the criminal/victim. We will use close ups on the person that is tied up to show there reaction.

Intertextuality
Our film is slightly based on the thriller film, 'Taken'. With the kidnapping aspect. It is also based around the film 'Sleepers' as the background story of our thriller revolves around the same sort principal in the film as they too are out for revenge due to a horrible experience in prison.

Thriller idents

We choose to have the background as skyscrapers to fit with the convention of a city settings.
And used dark colours because it creates a scary atmosphere and is more mysterious perfect for a thriller.
The helicopter adds to the crime sub-genre of thriller which we were are using for our film

Marking criteria

LEVEL 4
- 48/60
Demonstrate an excellence in the following:
- holding a shot steady
- framing a shot - excluding/including elements as appropriate
- using a variety of shot distances
- selecting mise-en-scene
- editing so that meaning us apparent to the viewer
- using varied shot transitions/effetcs
- using sound with images
- using titles appropriately

Expectations of opening
Introduction to characters
we should be able to see setting/location
music should indicate the genre
themes of your film and narrative structure should be clear.

preliminary task story board

This is a picture of our storyboard. For when we film so we know what he are doing and how long the shots last etc.

Kate- camera
Maria- Sitting in the office
Scarlett- Walks in