Shooting Schedule and Official Storyboard

EDIT: Changed to suit the readjusted shooting schedule

This is the schedule for our film opening. We planned it so each of us are not busy on any of these days.

Friday 22nd January: Filming at coffee shop in Grounded
Friday 29th January: Filming in abandoned building in Redcliffe
Tuesday 2nd February: Filming in abandoned building in Redcliffe
Friday 5th February: Thursday 4th February: Filming in new abandoned building in abandoned Mercedes Benze garage
Saturday 6th February: Forest filming in Leigh Woods
Sunday 7th February: Forest filming in Leigh Woods

This is the official storyboard that was based on the draft storyboard:

We made a much more thorough plan for most of the shots we will use for our film opening which is why we didn't stick to the original draft because we felt it was too vague and didn't give us a clear idea of what we wanted. This official storyboard is much more accurate and will give us a definite plan of the shots we will take. Of course, the shots, sound, duration and order will be subject to change as we begin to film and having a variety of shots would be ideal but since we are restricted to 2 minutes, it's almost impossible to make a solid film opening in that time since most film openings are much longer.

Film Equipment

The equipment we are using is:

• Camera
• Tripod
• Steadicam
• Fake blood - If we get caught with this and the gun, we may get arrested
• Old casual clothing
• BB Gun - If we get caught with this then we may get arrested

Finished Continuity Task

We finished the continuity task, here is the video below:

• Based on the continuity task, use of shot reverse shot is effective at doing conversations in a scene
• The 180 degree rule is incredibly difficult to keep consistent
• Use of silence is incredibly effective at building suspense and giving the audience a jump when something loud happens
• There will be continuity errors if you don't have multiple cameras to film simulataneously
• Tyler is good at acting

Questionnaire about Thrillers

I started a poll for some of the questions online to some of my friends on StrawPoll. Also, I asked five people who are at least 16 years of age in my class with questions about thrillers and here are their responses combined:

Q: What is it about thrillers that you enjoy?
A: Action, suspense, adrenaline, plot twists, good plot, clever storyline, tension



Q: Name thrillers you think are great
A: Live, Die, Repeat. Fight Club, Pulp Fiction, Se7en, Orphan, Drive, Reservoir Dogs, The Ring



Q: What aspects of these films do you enjoy?
A: Suspense, shock, eye-gripping, use of camerawork, music, plot line, twists, excellent acting, well developed characters, fast pace storyline



Q: Do you prefer mainstream films or indie films in the thriller genre?
A:

Mainstream films have a bigger budget and can be more impressive however indie can be just as effective. Independent storylines are less predictable.



Q: For us to make a good thriller, what aspects do you think we should include?
A: Good music, good storyline, good camerawork, psychological, not much talking, use of silence and sudden calm, strong lead characters, balanced cast and realistic plot



Q: What kind of camera/editing techniques do you think would be good for thrillers?
A: Mixture of still and sudden movement (running with GoPro), fast pace, juxtaposing, straight cuts, nothing too intricate



Q: Do you think it would be better to include restricted narration or an unrestricted narration?
A:

Restricted narration as you are more easily thrilled by the plot and allows the audience to be surprised.



Q: What do you think is a good target audience to use for a thriller?
A: Answers

Q: Would you be more inclined to go and see a thriller if it was multi generic? Eg. Comedy
A:

 Mostly no. But some think thrillers are more effective combined with other genres.



Q: What director do you think has influenced the film genre the most?
A: Answers

Q: What is the most important aspect for thrillers to have?
A: Answers

From the audience research feedback, I feel like we are going on the right track by having most of what they wanted in a thriller such as suspense, good storyline and some action. I think we have a diverse range of camera shots in our film and will definitely capture the audience's attention. Our thriller is not multi-generic which works well with the audience research since thrillers are effective on their own. The restricted narration that we have appeals to our audience. Ultimately, I think the most important factor we need to work on is sound since it's an vital part of thrillers and the use of silence needs to be used at the right time.

Storyboard draft

This is the storyboard for the film opening that we are making. It's a thriller with a hint of horror in it because it starts with a man waking up in the middle of the forest with bloodstains on his clothes. He finds that there is a corpse infront of him which leads to a jump cut to a flashback where he and his friend are in a cafe. The happiness and bright lighting in this scene is juxtaposed to the present day in the forest where it's dark and gloomy. The man finds out that the corpse is infact his friend who was in the cafe which leads to another flashback. In this flashback, he and his friend are about to enter an abandond building. His friend refuses to go in but the man insists that they enter the building. There is a jump cut back to present day and the man looks at his blood-stained hands and runs off deeper into the forest. Another flashback shows a mysterious person shooting his friend whilst they are in the building and there is a cut to black with the title.

 

 

Continuity Update

A lot was achieved in this week because we did most of the continuity task and all of the scenes in the abandoned building for our film opening which puts us incredibly ahead of schedule.

We managed to complete most of our continuity task including the editing process. Firstly, importing the clips onto iMovie was a huge pain because we needed to get the three cameras that we used for filming but other groups kept having to use it for their continuity task so we had to wait a couple of weeks for them all to finish it.

The editing process proved to be fairly easy but it only totaled up to 1 minute 25 seconds after editing. We hope to film more shots for the continuity task to finalize it. There were some problems with the editing because there was a small stutter when the Interviewee opened the door but we will fix it ASAP. I really liked the build up and the suspense that leads up to the major rage in the interview. The use of silence during the build up added to the awkwardness when we watched it and the sudden outburst makes some people jump at first. The acting from Tyler is phenomenal and it's surprising how he can keep in character throughout without laughing. We had to cut away from Dan's face when Tyler did his tantrum because he couldn't keep it together but I think it works well because the camera should be focusing on the Interviewer at that point. iMovie (which was the editing program that we used) proved to be tedious and frustrating at times because it refused to do what we wanted like putting on a black and white filter whilst mirroring the shot. We may have broken the 180 degree rule in one shot of Dan sweating but it was unavoidable due to iMovie. We were also missing one of the angles that we were using for the match-on-action sequence therefore we could only use two of the angles which still looked good but I don't think it's a good match-on-action without three different camera shots. Unfortunately, the room in which we filmed our continuity task is a room that is occupied by another class. The reason why we were able to film there in the first place was because they weren't there for that one lesson. As a result we might have to hope that they aren't there when we film again or we will have to find another classroom which will risk continuity errors. We still need to film a couple of more shots for the rest of the continuity task and hopefully there won't be continuity errors.

First draft of Film Opening

The first draft of the film opening shows a rough description of what is going to occur in our opening. There is alot of mystery in the opening to leave the audience alot of questions about the film. On top of that, there is a variety of locations where we are going to film such as a cafe, forest and a derelict building.

Classification

Since the Video Recordings Act 1984, all 'Video works' (films, TV Programs, Video games, etc) are to be classified by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification), unless they fall within the definition of an exempted work.
I got information from IMDB and BBFC and posted the classification outlines below:

'Universal'

This film should be suitable for all aged four years and over. They should be set within a positive moral framework. Offering counterbalances to any Violence, Threat or Horror.

'Parental Guidance'

Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. Parents are advised to consider whether content may upset younger or more sensitive children. Mild use of language only, Sexual activity may be implied but infrequent.

'Aged 12 or Over'

Video works classified at '12' may upset children under 12 or contain material which many parents will find unsuitable for them. Brief and discreet use of nudity, Sexual activity and infrequent use of drugs or reference to drugs.

'12' only exists for Video Works, no one younger than 12 may rent or buy a '12' rated video work.

'Aged 12 or Over'

12A is a category only exists in cinema films. No one younger than 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. The viewing is the responsibility of the accompanying adult.

'Aged 15 or Over'

The Video work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behavior. References and use of drugs is aloud but must not promote or encourage drugs, Sexual Activity can be portrayed although without strong detail. Use of strong language 'Fuck' and the strongest term 'Cunt' may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repetition of the Terms is unacceptable.

'Aged 18 or Over'

Material is in breach of the criminal law, created through the commission of a criminal offense, a risk or harm to individuals through behavior or society and the use of explicit images of sexual activity which can not be justified.

'18 Restricted'

Classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults. Films may be shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas or sex shops. The infliction of pain which causes lasting physical harm, portrayal of any sexual activity or material which encourages sexually abusive activity.

From what I researched, I believe our film would be a classification of '15'. The classification states that moderate violence is allowed although not dwelling on the infliction of pain or injury. Therefore our film would be suitable for 15 since there is hardly any violence and although there are signs of pain or injury, you never see it being inflicted.

Sources: BBFC & IMDB

Thriller Film Conventions

There are a lot of thriller films that are each unique, we need our film opening to stand out from the others too but still part of the thriller genre. To keep it in the genre, here are some list of conventions in a mindmap that we would need to stick by for our film to be a thriller.

From the thriller conventions above, we cover a majority of the conventions such as using guns, close ups, dark locations, sinister locations, arguments, silences and many more. Therefore we feel like we are qualified as a thriller film.

Sources: Adam Holland

Dark Knight Rises Opening Sequence Research

Also I watched Dark Knight Rises which has an incredibly good opening scene that really grasps the audience's attention.

Representation/Target audience: Like Inception, the opening scene is full of males in their 30s to 40s which suggests that the film is aimed at teenagers specifically males because of the male dominated characters. There is also extreme violence within the first 5 minutes of the opening so this obviously doesn't appeal to younger viewers.

Micro analysis of the film opening including mise and scene and camera: Dark Knight Rises starts with a car driving through some tall grass with a high angle which immediately conveys that they are isolated combined with the Hanz Zimmer soundtrack building up, seems like there will be a showdown coming up. The high key lighting contrasted to the darkness of the car suggests that the people inside the car are not particularly nice people. The scene then straight cuts to five men standing outside a plane. One of which is standing infront of everyone else in a dominant position. His costume is different from the other four as he is not wearing military garb. This implies that he is the boss of the soldiers because he knows that he is protected well. The black colour of the plane has connotations of death which foreshadows what is about to occur. It is a long shot which shows that those five men consider themselves to be equal to one another despite one of them displaying a position of power. Another straight cut shows three men sitting at the back of the car with bags over their heads with guns pointed at them. The plain clothing that they wear show that they are powerless against these armed men but if you look at their physique, you can infer that they are physically strong. The bags over their heads hides the facial expressions and makes the audience question who these people are. There is a medium shot of the prisoners which displays that they are all equal in position at this point in time. Although judging from the body position of the middle prisoner, he is more relaxed compared to the other two prisoners which suggests that the middle prisoner has probably some experience of this situation.

Diegetic Sound: There is a sound of the car engine that is played throughout the scene.There is also some speech and the mode of address suggests that they are American.

Non-digetic sound: The non-diegetic soundtrack score of Hanz Zimmer playing in the background seems like its building up to an event.

Titles: Again, the titles are CGI and appear at the start of the film so that they do not interfere with the rest of the film and block any important information.

Restricted/Unrestricted Narration: Restricted Narration.

Dark Knight Opening Sequence Research

I also watched the Dark Knight for comparison.

Representation/Target Audience: Like the other two films, the opening scene is full of males in their 30s to 40s which suggests that the film is aimed at teenagers specifically males because of the male dominated characters. There is also extreme violence within the first 5 minutes of the opening so this obviously doesn't appeal to younger viewers.

Mise en scene and camera:

The scene immediately jumps straight into action with a glass being broken. We are given information of that this takes place in a city in America and the mask has connotations that a heist is taking place. A high angle is used to show the indoors of the building whilst also showing the height of which this is taking place by the window. The man is entirely shrouded in darkness with his body facing away from the camera which shows that he is not a nice person. This carries on throughout the entire sequence. A dark lighting is used that also implies death that will be coming up. This is contrasted to the light of the city which is contrasted and shows the purity of the city. An eye-level long shot is used to show the Joker facing away from the camera to add to some mystery since the audience are unaware at this time that it is him. The camera tracks forwards and starts to focus on the mask that he is holding as it will be important later on. The next shot is of two criminals on a zip wire travelling across the city. A high angle is used to show that they are incredibly high and also shows that they are irrelevant to the overall story because of how small they are. They travel from a completely black building to a white building which shows that they are about to induce havoc upon the building which is a bank.

Diegetic sound: Glass breaking, gun shots and speech are all synchronous and parallel sound that match the scene. The speech and dialect shows that they are American.

Non-diegetic sound: There is a beat that occurs throughout the first 7 seconds of the scene and switches to a loud crescendo when the shot changes to the Joker. The music goes more upbeat the later the heist goes on to show that they are nearing their objective.

Titles: The titles are CGI and appear at the start of the film so that they do not interfere with the rest of the film and block any important information.

Restricted/Unrestricted Narration: Restricted Narration.

Inception Opening Sequence Research

Today I watched the Inception opening scene. I filled out a table that covered some criteria about what I'm looking for.


Representation/Target audience: Everyone in the opening scene except the two children are males in their 30s and over which suggests that the film is aimed at teenagers and adults who can grasp the complex concepts in the film.


Micro analysis of the film opening including mise en scene and camera: Inception starts with an extreme close up on the main character's face as he washes ashore on a beach looking confused and tired. He is lying down on the sand which represents a position of weakness. This confusing opening is common with thrillers as it creates many questions for the audience as to how the main character (Cobb) got on the beach and why he is there. Also the beach's have connotations of happiness and joy which is contrasted to Cobb's dirty scruffy appearance. A POV shot is used to show Cobb looking towards a couple of children playing on the beach which again implies a contrast and seems as if there is a window separating Cobb from the children and that he is distant. However this still leaves alot of questions for the audience because they wonder what the significance of the children is. Also, there is a long shot of the children which conveys that they are very distant and can show Cobb's goal is trying to get to the children. This foreshadows the fact that the children are actually his kids. Afterwards, there is a low angle of a military guard with a rifle which represents dominance and power. This also contrasts to the children earlier and clearly shows that this scene is definitely not normal at all. He pokes Cobb with the barrel of his rifle and there is a POV shot of the guard revealing that Cobb has a gun. The costumes of all the adults wear dark uniform which shows that each of them are dangerous in a certain way whereas the children wear bright colourful clothing which portrays their innocence.


Diegetic sound: There is diegetic sound, synchronous sound of waves on the beach and a very quiet gasp from Cobb as he is washed up onto the beach. But then there is asynchronous sound since there is children's laughter.

Non-diegetic sound: Non-diegetic sound is very limited and we hear the score as very quiet strings are used whenever the camera is focused on the children which implies some sadness that Cobb feels when he looks at them.

Titles: The entire title sequence is at the start of the film and therefore is not shown in the opening scene. This is typical of a high budget film because titles can obscure what the camera is looking at. However since I am doing a low-budget film opening, I won't be able to make a CGI title sequence.

Restricted/Unrestricted Narration: Restricted Narration.

Film Opening Research and Continuity Task

Today in Media Studies, I watched Fight Club and Good Fellas and Se7en for ideas for my film opening. They are both part of the thriller genre along some action, crime and comedy. Both films are targeted at a large demographic of 18+ year old males due to the lack of females within the first 10 minutes. The themes of violence, foul language and adult humour are prevalent in both and are established within the first few minutes. They are very similar to each other and have an interesting non-linear restricted narrative for their openings whilst also providing a voiceover from the main character. Furthermore, the use of flashbacks have a small comedic element as it gives the audience some insight of how the character ended up in that certain predicament. The title sequence of both films are also unique in that they are used to convey what the films are about. For example, the Good Fellas title sequence has the names of the cast zooming across the screen like they were cars, hinting towards the fast-paced nature of the film and the gangster theme.

However Se7en relied solely on multiple montage extreme close up shots that hinted towards religious and dark themes. This may be difficult to show our knowledge of camera techniques because of how limited it is for filming. Also it would have to capture the audience's interest immediately or it will look tedious and repetitive.

We were given a table to fill out whilst watching the first 10 minutes of the films that cover different criteria such as mise-en scene, sound, camera, narration, titles, representation, multi-generic elements/sub-genres, target audience, and form order. We were only able to watch 5 film openings in this lesson but there we were going to watch more film openings of different variety to broaden our knowledge. This task aimed to give us some ideas for our film opening that we will act out in groups of 4 for our coursework. My team consists of Tyler, Ewan and Dan. In the lesson before, we were tasked with making a short 2 minute film of a person opening a door, sitting down on a chair to talk to another person on a table. We needed to use camera techniques of match-on-action, shot-reverse shot and continuity.

We came up with an idea of a parodic, over the top, dramatic interview with a spagehetti-western feel that has the most extreme camera angles and shots to exaggerate how intense the interview is. This would be a mixture of a comedy/thriller type of scene. The interviewee would be nervous and sweating trying to cope with the interview. Stuttering as he tries to answer the interviewer's questions. The interviewer himself is a cold-hearted powerful and stererotypical interviewer who is displeased with the interviewee's application. This is overexaggerated to the point where he tears the application in half, this will be where we will perform our match on action and as a result will cause the interviewee to faint. The extreme close ups will capture the facial expressions of the individuals and they will be edited in a way that contrast each other to show a difference in power and control. The desk in which the interview will take place will be mostly empty to avoid any distractions that the audience might look at.


These were the roles given out for the continuity task:


- Hoiman - Cameraman 1
- Tyler - Camerman 2/Interviewer
- Ewan - Camerman 3
- Dan - Interviewee