Our Final Thriller Opening

Here is our groups thriller opening 'Deceptive'

Evaluation Question 7

'Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?'

When I look back at our preliminary task it is clear to me that a lot of improvements and progress has been made due to being able to gain more experience when filming and editing, whilst also looking out for mistakes that we may have made in our preliminary task, and we want to avoid when producing our thriller opening.

When beginning to plan our thriller opening we did a lot more research into other films this time in comparison to our preliminary task, this is because we wanted to make sure that what we were choosing as our storyline would be engaging for our audience and they will be intrigued by what they are watching. I researched into the codes and conventions of a thriller e.g. and adapted them to our groups ideas of what we wanted to do and film. We came to the conclusion that our thriller would be about a girl who was recently kidnapped by an unknown person, she is now trying to move on with her life but is struggling with the fact that she is frequently getting flashbacks of that traumatic time. Now has to face her worst fears as the flashbacks get more intense and the return of her kidnapper is daunting over her. We chose this as our storyline as we felt it would be gripping for our audience as they try to figure out who the mystery villain is and what they want from 'Lydia'. When doing the storyboard this time around I made sure it was much more detailed, this is because I wanted my group to be able to understand in more detail the outline of our idea for our opening, so when it came filming it would be easier for us to know what we were doing and what we had to film next.

From the practise we gained from our preliminary task we were able to improve our filming and editing skills, especially when it came to specific shot types. In our preliminary task we were able to film and edit a successful Match on action shot however it was clear that improvements could be made e.g. the shakiness of the camera. We had the opportunity to make these improvements as we had included a Match on action shot at the beginning of our park scene. Before filming this we made sure that the lighting was bright and directly shining on 'Lydia's' face as she walking through the gate. We still made it three individual shots that made up the whole Match on action shot however this time we used a tripod which solved our issue of the camera being shaky in our preliminary shot. In addition to this we made sure we kept to the 180 degree rule and whenever we did change what side we were filming from we would make a clear transition from one side to the other, e.g. at the beginning of the opening we see a pan, into a track across the from one side of the room to another, into a montage of shots. This would allow us to be able to change the side that we wanted to film on without confusing the audience. During our filming time we also found that a lot of shots we either changed or added as we felt it would be the most effective option for our thriller opening. We sure we had a variety of shots, this included; long shots, close ups, extreme close ups, two person shots, view point shots, mid shots etc. This is something I found would be important for our thriller in order to draw the audience in and make it more unique. Moreover, whilst filming we made sure to look out for small yet silly mistakes that were made in our preliminary task, for example; making sure my hair was kept the same throughout as in a lot of the scenes I our preliminary task my hair is different to the previous shot.

To conclude I believe that our end result of our thriller opening was successful because we were able to use a variety of shots to keep our opening interesting for our audience. In addition our editing was effective because we made a variety of slow cuts and shots for less intense scenes, we also have a lot of fast cuts for our flashback scenes as they are more suspenseful and intense for the audience. 

Evaluation Question 6

'What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?'

During our production of our thriller opening we used a variety of technology in order to get the most effective opening as possible. Whilst producing our product we also were able to improve some aspects of our opening which helped it look more effective. Here are some of the technologies we had used;

Camera:

The camera we used to film our opening was my camera and it is Canon 1300D. I chose this camera over the school cameras because my camera had much higher quality, allowing us to get clear and crisp close up and extreme close ups of 'Lydia's' face and the props she was using, for example; her phone, her artwork etc. As it was higher quality it made the opening look more realistic and effective, the sound quality was also a high quality, meaning we were able to hear clearly what our characters were saying to each other, in order for the dialogue to make sense for the audience. In addition to this my camera is quite light for a DSLR this meant that it was portable, which made it easier to take it from location to location; The two different lenses, actual camera and leads all fit in my camera bag which was easy to carry around with me. Moreover, as it was my own camera I felt more comfortable using it as I knew how it worked and how to change the lenses. Throughout the filming of our opening I learnt that the use of different lenses made an effect on the quality of the shots, for example; when I filmed a shot in the park of 'Mia' walking towards ('Lydia') the camera I used the larger lens, this is because it was able to zoom in more onto 'Mia' as she is a further distance away. This was effective because it allowed the audience to have a better view of the 'mysterious dark figure' that is walking towards them (the camera).

Editing Software:

After filming our thriller opening we moved onto editing it, for this we used two software's which were IMovie and Final Cut Pro. IMovie was successful because we were able to insert clips, cut them and put them together to make them flow well. In addition to this IMovie also enabled us to insert our titles with a choice of different fonts and sizes, allowing a flexible choice for us. Moreover, IMovie also has a variety of different transitions where we were able to use a fade to black transition several times in order to go from scene to scene or location to location, we also used it to have a smooth transition between the final scene and the showing of the films title 'Deceptive'. Another way we used IMovie when editing our opening was to out our soundtracks to the opening, the soundtracks not only helped pull the whole opening together but they also add suspense, especially in the areas we feel are the most critical, and created a ominous feeling throughout. However when it came to editing the flashback we used Final Cut Pro as we wanted to fast cuts, flash and shaky effects. This is why Oliva edited the first flashback as home as Fast Cut Pro allowed us to achieve this and have the tension at its most critical. We all contributed to this part in order to get an clear idea of what we wanted and then we added a green effect over the top in order for it to be obvious it was a flashback.

YouTube:

Throughout our project YouTube has been helpful for us not only for uploading our products (preliminary and our thriller opening) but also for doing research. When our project began I did some research on YouTube where I watched previous AS Media thriller openings to give me inspiration for our own opening. Some ideas it gave me included unique shots and angles we could use in our project. In addition I also did research on different soundtracks that we could use for our opening through YouTube, there are many different movie soundtracks that I had the opportunity to listen to until we found the most effective ones; Gone Girl and The 5th Wave. 

Blogger:

Blogger has been a success in showing our groups plans, progress and final outcomes of our project. I was able to present my research, filming progress, editing progress, final outcomes etc. Moreover, I have used other medias to present my work and then uploaded them to blogger, for example; Prezi. This enabled me to present my work in a completely different way to just blogger.

Evaluation Question 5

'How did you attract/address your audience?'

As a group we made sure that we had a variety of different ways we could attract the audience in order to get the most success possible from our work. One of these ways was to make a questionnaire for our audience to answer where we were able to gather a variety of data in order to not only please our audience but to get more excitement out of the opening.

Evaluation Question 4

'Who would be the audience for your media product?'

Before we produced our product, as a group we discussed and considered what age and gender our 'Deceptive' will be targeting. In addition to this before we made a decision we made a questionnaire which we shared on Facebook, and one of the questions was 'How old are you?' and more people picked the option of 16-30. With the addition of independent research I found out that making the age rating of our opening a 16 was the most appropriate age. This is because they are more likely to enjoy a thriller film as a thriller is usually quite intense and gripping which would please someone of that age and/or older. Moreover, due to the bloody and violent scenes that can be seen in the opening and possibly throughout the rest of the film it makes sense to make it an older age rather than it being a 12. Next, we discussed what type of audience we are targeting in terms of Gender (through our opening/film). Another question we asked in our questionnaire was 'What is your gender' and more than half said female, this revealed to us that the Gender that our opening will be most likely targeting is a female audience. This is also because our opening (so far) is an all female cast, meaning they will relate to the characters more than the males. Overall, I believe that targeting a younger audience is an effective choice for our group and the success of our opening because the younger generation are more connected to social media, meaning we could promote our film on sites like Twitter and Facebook whilst also selling our film on popular sites and companies like Netflix.

Moreover, I believe that our opening/film 'Deceptive' will attract a lot of attention and success because there are similar movies in the industry that are very popular and appeal to a wider audience, one example would be Gone Girl which was a very successful and thrilling film. One aspect of this film that we do have in common is target audience (Gone Girl is an 18), meaning anyone who enjoyed watching Gone Girl might like watching our film, as we both have similar aspects. This would include both having psychological characteristics which are key and very effective in getting the audience drawn into a film, as it allows them to see different sides to people in comparison to other characters. It is clear that some way both films contain a character that has affected psychologically, in Gone Girl Amy is clearly affected mentally possibly by her husband or her daily life as she does some unforgivable and awful things that no sane person would do. Also in our opening to our film 'Deceptive' it is clear 'Lydia' has been traumatized by her passed (when she was kidnapped) due to her frequent flashbacks. Even though both characters have been affected and reacted differently to one another it is clear both have obvious mental issues which is a main characteristic of a psychological thriller. In addition, what they also have in common is the use of mystery, which leaves the audience trying to figure out a scenario that might be happening during the film or trying to figure out a particular character, whether its who they are or what there planning. Finally to add, another comparison I have made about these two films would be our film 'Deceptive' is based on a girl who in her past was kidnapped, while in 'Gone Girl' the film is based around a women who has supposedly been kidnapped, meaning audience would be drawn to this type of film. I believe after seeing these comparisons our audience will be drawn to our film meaning our success rate will go up as it has similar quality's that other successful films have.  

Evaluation Question 3

'What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?'

When thinking about which media institution might distribute our media product I did some independent research and found the company 'Warner Brothers Entertainment' and 'The Village Roadshow Pictures'. Here are the results of my research and my opinions on why I chose this institution to distribute my media product;

Evaluation Question 2

'How does your media product represent particular social groups?'

 

It is clear throughout our media product that certain social groups are represented, some examples of these social groups would be Gender, Age, Class etc. Here I am going to explain each social group and how we applied them in our opening.

Gender:
Throughout our opening Gender is represented in a way that is sometimes but not always shown in a thriller opening or a thriller as a whole. What I mean by this is a our opening is an all female opening with . Even though it is only a short opening we are able to see two girls with leading roles in a movie without there being a male actor being seen yet. Although there are many films including thrillers where women have leading roles for example; The Hunger Game. It is uncommon you see a opening where there are two leading females without a male role to be seen yet. Despite of this we know that all the main female actors in our film where the main characters of the film because they were the first three 'cast names' we saw in the titles. In addition, the male actors names do come after the female actors names which means they are important for this movies dialogue but for this particular film the females have the main roles. From this I can say that Gender could be represented as the women having the power and leading the roles throughout the film. However, this could be contradicted due to the storyline of the opening. The story is about a girl called 'Lydia' who is getting flashbacks from the time she was kidnapped by an unknown dark dressed figure. Also, during the openings storyline 'Lydia' sees a dark dressed figure walking towards her, she panics and falls to the ground. This could be seen as a stereotypical reaction of a women/girl in a film, she is seen as very vulnerable, can have her power and control ripped away from her instantly and cannot protect herself. This is a stereotypical representation of women. Despite of this after 'Lydia' realises the figure dressed in black is not a threat but her best friend 'Mia' we see her best friend comfort and try to help 'Lydia', this represents a powerful characters who is a girl and is trying to help her friend and empower her. So the representation of women in our opening is that yes there are some girls and/or women that are vulnerable and live up to the stereotypes of women, but there will always be some that will be powerful enough to stand up to those stereotypes, whilst at the same time possibly try to empower and help other women at the same time.

Age:
In our opening Age can be represented through the idea of the stereotype that 85% to 90% of the time someone is kidnapped or missing it is a child this is because they are less likely to defend themselves from their attacker. Meaning the age of 'Lydia' in our opening (which is 16) meets these statistics. We chose someone of this age to play the part of the victim (which was me and I am 16) meant that we meet these statistics in order to get not only the message across about child kidnappings but also the message on how vulnerable and effected they are even after what has happened. In addition to this our target audience is mainly aimed at teenagers, meaning they will most likely relate to our characters 'Lydia' and 'Mia' and feel sympathy for them (if they were in 'Lydia's' position).

Class:
Another social group that is represented in our opening would be Class. It is clear from the beginning of our opening and from 'Lydia's' bedroom because it looks very modern and bright, which tells the audience she is most likely middle class. You can also identify this from her choice in clothing as they also seem very modern and her phone also indicates she is most likely middle class as it is a very modern phone (an IPhone).

Evaluation Question 1

'In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?'

 

During the production of our media product as a group we made sure we used the correct Codes and Conventions of a thriller in order for it to relate and feel more like a thriller film. We found that including a lot of these conventions improved and developed our product as well. Firstly however the Codes and Conventions of a thriller are the characteristics and aspects that make up the actual thriller for example; Camera angles, Mise en scene, Characters, Editing etc. These were vital and well thought out throughout our product in order for us to get the best possible thriller opening we could. Here I am going to explain each convention about how our media product used, developed and challenged a real media product;

 

Mise en scene:

Costume: When thinking about costumes for our characters we wanted to make sure they were in casual wear as it would help make the whole thing look more realistic for the audience. This is why we chose jeans and a simple top for both of our characters as it suited their ages (16/17) that we were going for. For my character 'Lydia' I chose ripped jeans which helped relate to my age (the audience would find it easier to understand what kind of age my character was) and I simple jumper with only a design in the corner, this is because I did not want the attention to all be focused on my outfit rather than what is going on in the actual opening. When it came to the park scene my costume had added features like my blue coat and black trainers, also not drawing attention to my outfit but still having a youthful sense to it. However when it came to Chelsea's character 'Mia's' costume and my costume for the garage scene, we took a different approach . What I mean by this is we took the dialogue of what was happening in that scene and applied it to the type of costume we wanted. A lot of other thriller films will do this too, when someone is associated with something evil (either the one who is evil or is a victim of it) there type of costume will be applied to it, meaning they would most likely be wearing dark clothing e.g. Black. This is exactly what we did for our characters; When we first see 'Mia' we do not actually know at first that is her as our script tells us that 'Lydia' mistook her for her kidnapper due to her wearing all black and the camera being out of focus (unable to identify who it is). Allowing the fear to be built in my character and maybe the audience as well. We developed this idea by making sure for 'Lydia's' costume I was dressed in all black, this represents the evil and danger I am in, which is quite common in a thriller.
Props: During our time producing our media product we thought through our props carefully so they would not only fit nicely with our characters dialogue but also add a little more effect to the whole opening and make it feel a bit more realistic. Our props included; art work and a phone. The purpose of these two props is too add more character to our stars so our audience can begin to understand our characters. Many thrillers will do this to also add a sense of innocence to their characters and make the victims look vulnerable. For example; in our opening in the bedroom scene 'Lydia' is seen doing her art work, this is something that could be associated with innocence and also makes the audience sympathise with the character after watching the opening (she does not deserve it).
Setting: When it came to the setting of our thriller opening we chose something that we found would suit our story and dialogue. So when it came to the park setting I knew that it would be a good place to set this tense scene up. This is because in a lot of thrillers there will be an attack in a very innocent place, because it is unexpected. A park is a place of innocence as it is where children would play, meaning when our unidentified character begins to approach 'Lydia' it is therefore unexpected for the audience, making it that much creepier. This can relate to the film 'The 5th Wave', which I researched about, and I found that at the beginning there is a scene in a normal home, where there is a family talking about the current situation. In the next scene we see the family walking outside to see an alien ship fly over their house. What makes it so effective is the fact that it was unexpected because at first we are in an innocent families home, and then we are taken outside to where they are being attacked, much like our thriller opening.

 

Camera Angles:

When it came to camera angles I wanted to make sure that we got a variety of different shots. In addition, with a thriller film you are given more opportunities to be more creative with the type of shot you are doing. So to develop these shots we used different shots like Pan, Track, Montage of shots, overhead etc. The pan that we used for the beginning shot of our opening meant that the audience would get a clear view of the setting and where our character is. A pan in a thriller can also be used for when a character is being watched, followed or chased, as the camera moves it creates more suspense. An example of this would be in the film 'Rear Window'. In the scene where we have a view from outside where we could see three windows, as the tension builds (and the assault begins) the characters go back a forth from room to room. As this happened the camera would pan from window to window, this built the suspense as we anticipate what is going to happen to the victim of the situation. Moreover this is why pans are effective for a thriller film, and even though we did not use the pan in this more popular respect we wanted to use it in the beginning as a shot in order to establish the scene so the audience could get a view of the setting and what is going on. This was challenging but I found it to be successful as it was an effective opening shot to set the scene for the audience.

 

Filming Log

Here I have just put together a filming log which states what days we were filming and what we filmed for each of those days.

 

Saturday 21st January 2017:

On this day Chelsea, Olivia and I begun our filmed part of our project in the park location, which is Kings Frith park. Here we filmed a few of my scenes and discussed the most appropriate weather conditions we should film in. The weather on this day was perfect and is was mostly sunny but just enough so it was not too bright for my camera. However, further on into our course we decided not to use those clips as we changed our ideas slightly and wanted to be in a different part of that same park. Despite this I gave us a great opportunity to get an idea of what kind of things we were looking for and what mistakes so avoid e.g. making sure my hair stayed the same after each take.

 

Wednesday 25th January 2017:

On this particular day Chelsea, Gabrielle and I wanted to begin filming the bedroom scene as we wanted to get an idea of what kind of lighting we were after, where I would be etc. However, as it was just after school we discovered that there was not a lot of natural light, which we discovered we would rather use because the light that was originally in my room was too orange and did not feel professional. This is when we decided to not use the clips we had filmed and film on another day when the natural lighting in my room was much brighter for filming. We decided to film on a weekend for the bedroom scene instead as it gave us more time to film and the lighting would be much better.

 

Thursday 26th January 2017:

On this day Chelsea and I began to film the flashback scenes for our opening, even though it was after school the natural lighting did not matter anyway as we wanted it to be quite dark. After filming a couple of shots and watching them back we came to the conclusion that the lighting was once again too orange but at the same time too bright, we wanted it to be more ominous. So we decided to turn the light off but we found that it was too dark and you couldn't see clearly through the camera. After discussing this with Chelsea we both decided to rearrange another filming day where all of our group could be there, as it would make it easier when decided what to do as a team.

 

Monday 13th February 2017:

On the next day of our filming section of our project the whole of our group came to my house to film the whole of the bedroom scene. We were successful with the lighting as it was bright enough to capture all of the shots we wanted.

 

Thursday 16th February 2017:

On this day we filmed the park scene once again in order to get the correct lighting and have our characters put in the most appropriate place in the park. This was a success because throughout the time we were there the lighting did not change too dramatically.

 

Wednesday 1st March 2017:  

Nearing to the end of our filming time the whole of our group came to my house to film the garage scene again but this time we used torches, this gave us more freedom and flexibility of where we could put the lighting (our lighting could be more direct if we wanted it to). The face paint was successful as well, I was able to make them look as much like bruises as I could.

 

Friday 10th March 2017: 

This was our final day of filming and what we needed to do was film some shots again that had some minor mistakes in that we did not realise the first time around filming the bedroom scenes. Some of these mistakes where; in one shot I was holding my phone with one hand but in the shot straight after I was holding it with two.   

 



The 5th Wave Analysis

When analysing and researching thriller films I came across the film 'The 5th Wave' where I was able to find a soundtrack for the last flashback. I wanted the soundtrack from this film because I knew the tension and suspense in that film built effectively in order to put the audience on edge, even in the opening scene that I am about to analyse;

 

 

Here is the longer opening to the film in 'The 5th Wave'. When I first watched this opening it was clear to me that the music was a distinctive part of the film as it helped build the tension for the audience, in order to let them know that something is about to happen so early into the film. In one of the very first scenes where the characters see the alien ship for the first time we can tell straight away when something bad or shocking is about to happen. This is because as one of the characters runs out of the house to see what is going on, the audio of the films dialogue fades slightly and the music gets louder very quickly, making the audience realise that something is about to happen. In addition to this, as the music was quite a scary and sinister track it would increase the fear the audience felt for the characters as they try to figure out what was about to happen. Another interesting way the film increased the suspense of the film would be in that same scene where we saw all the characters come out of the house, however before we saw what they were witnessing we were given a shot of all four characters reactions to the situation. This would build the anxiety we felt for the characters as we try to figure out what was going on and what was happening to them before we were shown this. I found this to be effective for a thriller because it drew the audience in as they question what is happening, they do not want to look away and concentrate in order to find out what happens. Another aspect of this opening that I found to be effective would be the voice over. This not only explained to the audience what was happened and what had happened in order for the audience to understand but it also added to the tension, as the fear and concern in her voice could cause concern for the audience as it is still very early into the film (not everything would have been explained yet which adds to the mystery). Moreover, through out this ten minute or so opening it is full with all sorts of action scenes including; the arrival of the alien ship, an earthquake, a tsunami, a sort of plague etc. Meaning it is so action packed it keeps the audience anticipating what is going to happen next and how the characters are going to come back from such a traumatic experience. This was very effective as long as this carries on throughout the rest of the film, this is because if all the action is mostly in the start of the film the audience will soon get bored and not as interested as they were at the beginning. Nonetheless, this film was action packed and the dialogue allowed the audience to be drawn in the whole time as they want to find out what is going to happen in the end and/or to their favourite characters. 

Editing Experience

After finishing the filming side of our project my group and I moved onto the editing side. This meant that each of us would get the opportunity to edit parts of our opening. I was able to edit a lot of what we had filmed, meaning I was able to put a lot of the shots together, this included the beginning, which meant mainly the bedroom scene. The parts of the bedroom scene that I was able to cut and put together would be the pan, track, montage of shots, text message shots etc. When editing the pan shot we made sure that the small beginning part was cut because as the pan begun it was quite jumpy (due to the tripod), cutting this part made the pan smoother and more effective. With the track shot I also cut the beginning and end sections, this is because they speed of the track was slower at these times, I wanted to make sure the track was all one speed in order for it too not look odd or out of place from the rest of the shots, making it look as realistic as possible was important in order to make it believable for the audience. Moreover, when putting together the montage of shots my main aim was to make sure that they were all the same amount of seconds long. This is because I wanted the illusion of time passing to be obvious and clear to the audience and by having them all the same in terms of how many seconds allowed us to achieve this. In addition, the way they were edited and put together allowed them to go effectively with the soundtrack we had chosen. What I mean by this is during the soundtrack there were continuous 'ding' sounds at one point while it was playing. At each of these distinctive sounds a shot from the montage would flip to the next one, making the soundtrack and clips we have filmed go together effectively and efficiently. Moving onto the text message shots that were taken, we filmed different angles and views of 'Lydia' receiving and replying to 'Mia's' text messages. A lot of the shots where over the shoulder shots, some close up so the messages can be read by the audience. Other shots were mid shots and close ups where we could see 'Lydia' typing. When editing and putting these clips together I made sure they all flowed well from shot to shot e.g. where I might be typing I did not jump to just holding the phone, making it unrealistic for the audience. When cutting each shot of the text messages down in order for the audience to read their conversation, I made sure their was enough of them and also enough time to read the messages, this is because we wanted their to be enough time for the audience to read the messages, in order to understand the dialogue.

Another part of our opening I was able to edit were the titles at the beginning and end of the opening, these are a vital part of any film as they outline who made and contributed to the film;

Here are all the titles we used in we planned to use in our opening and I was able to edit and put into the beginning of our opening. When I first began putting the titles in I took into account that it was vital that our audience was able to read our titles and not only know who was staring in the movie but what companies where behind it. I chose a simple font whilst also changing the colour of the words to white, in order for it to look more professional and not too complicated. In addition to this I wanted to make sure that the titles would either be in the bottom corners of the screen or in the top left hand corner depending on the shot the title will be e.g.  if the lighting in one of the corners was too bright, causing the white title to be unclear to the audience, I would put it in the other corner where it was clearer. This was what I had to for the 'In association with Village Roadshow Pictures' and I chose which corners to put the titles. Another aspect of the titles that I took into account, in order to make them more clear and effective for the audience was making the names of companies and names in capital letters. This was effective because it states to the audience the important information (names of companies and actors are put in capitals and the rest are not). Moreover, at the end of our opening I put the title of our film which is 'Deceptive' and used a title that dissolved into the the name of our film. This I found linked to the thriller theme because it created a sinister and gloomy feeling to it as it slowly dissolved into a word. After doing this I wanted the transition between the last scene we filmed and the showing of the title. This is when I decided to put a 'fade to black' transition into a black screen and then the title appears, I also made sure the music carried on in order for the tension and sympathy for 'Lydia' carried on for the audience until the title went.

Props And Costumes

Throughout our filming time for our opening we used many different props to assist the person behind the camera, in order to get an effective shot so our opening can be unique and more interesting for the audience. We also used some props to assist our characters to help them connect, relate and help our audience (understand the character). Here are the props that we used when filming;  

Here is one of the props we used while filming, this was for when we filmed the track shot in the bedroom location. Before we used the skateboard when we were filming this shot we found that the scene looked too shaky and did not flow like a track shot should. This is when we had the idea of using the skateboard so we could roll it along the ground while the camera (that was on a tripod), doing this we found that the camera was kept level, instead of it going up and down. This turned out to be very successful because it helped keep the camera steady so the shot was clear for the audience and not shaky.

These are two other props that were used at the same time, for a shot in the garage location, which was for the flashback scene. During the filming part of this scene we were experimenting with different types of shots to see which ones would be the most effective for when it comes to editing the flashback. One of the shots that I came up with that I thought would be effective for a flashback scene would be a High angle shot. The reason we decided on this shot was because it would make 'Lydia' look vulnerable as the audience looks down on her, with the addition of the tension building throughout. After trying to film this scene without the props (instead Chelsea held the camera) we found that it looked too shaky, making it look out of place compared to all of the other shots as they were all steady. This is when we decided to use the props, where we put the bucket upside down on the ground and put the plank of wood laying over the top of it. This allowed us to put the camera on top of this, which let us get the steady High angle shot we were after, which meant these props where successful in helping us get an effective shot for our opening.

For this next prop we used it to add to our character's personality so the audience can get a insight into what 'Lydia' is like and what she enjoys doing. We decided to use art work as a prop because it can also help the audience sympathise with our character, this is because someone with such an innocent hobby/talent whilst also going through something so traumatic is hard for the audience to see. As the particular character did not deserve it even more so now that the audience has seen the innocence through her art work. We found this to be an effective way of reaching our audience and that is why we used an Overhead shot to allow the audience to get a clear view of the work 'Lydia' is doing.

Moving onto Costumes, we made sure that we picked a suitable costumes for both our characters in order for not only the dialogue to make sense but also make the whole opening look more believable (because our characters had realistic costumes.

Our aim when thinking about our characters costumes was to wear something quite casual and relatable to the age of our characters (which is our ages now 16/17). When thinking about 'Lydia's' outfit I chose jeans that we also ripped as I was going for the casual look, I also chose a black top with a design in the corner because I did not want something that would draw too much attention from the audience, as I wanted the audience to concentrate on the storyline. I also chose a thick coat for when it was the park scene with black trainers to relate to the weather at the time and to go with the rest of the outfit. This was an effective choice of costume because it looks casual and relates to a lot of people the same age in todays society, making 'Lydia' look more realistic and believable for the audience. In addition, for 'Mia's' outfit we wanted something very particular in order to go with our dialogue and script. We chose an all black outfit with the addition of a black coat with a hood. This is because part of our storyline is where 'Mia' is walking towards 'Lydia' however 'Lydia' does not know its her best friend, she panics and falls to the ground thinking it was her kidnapper. This is due to the costume 'Mia' is wearing, the all black outfit can be associated with evil or danger, especially with a hooded figure. That is why 'Mia's' costume was important, and turned out to be effective and successful, as it created tension and they fear for Lydia's safety.

Gone Girl Analysis

Gone Girl is a thriller film which was given an award for being favourite thriller movie. What I found was the most effective part of the whole film that made it very popular for the audience where the unique and powerful shots that were chosen. Some of these shots had hidden meaning behind them too, creating a more in depth film from the beginning and throughout. As this film was mainly a Mystery Thriller there were many opportunities where the producers could get creative with their shots and put more meaning behind what they are filming and how they film it. An example of this would be the very beginning and very end of the film, this is because both shots/scenes connect and have a deep and mysterious meaning behind it. Here are the scenes;   

After watching both of these scenes it is clear that they are almost the same shot, this is clear from things like; the same angle being used for both (Close up shot of Amy's face as she looks up at Nick). In addition to this she also pulls a very similar expressions in both scenes, which were quite mysterious and leaves the audience questioning what is going through Amy's head. Another aspect of these scenes that are very similar is the use of dialogue, some of the script in both scenes is the same, an example of this would be when Nick says "What are you thinking? How are you feeling? What have we done to each other?". Nick says this at the very beginning and also at the very end of the film. The main aim for this repeated scene and dialogue is to influence the audiences realisation of the different perception and view of the character Amy in the beginning compared to the ending (after all that has happened during the film. This is all because for the majority of the audience their opinions of Amy and maybe other characters in the film have changed completely, making the unexplained ending of the film much more disturbing for the audience. Nick in both of these scenes is stroking Amy's hair, increasing the disturbing feeling the scene is already giving.

After seeing this scene from gone girl as a group we were able to do something similar to/inspired by the beginning and ending scenes of Gone Girl. We did this by filming two scenes in two different locations but using the same type of shot. These shots would be for the ending of the final flashback and the shot straight after the scene. Meaning the flashback scene (in the garage) finishes with an extreme close up of just my eyes looking very frightened, then we plan to cut straight back to the park to begin another scene with the same type of shot of my eyes, still looking frightened as it is the aftermath of the 'Lydia' having the flashback. This makes the audience feel slightly disturbed as to what 'Lydia' has been through whilst also helping the opening flow well from scene to scene. Even though these so clips were not separated like Gone Girl but we were able to capture this unique and powerful shot, which also emphasizes the thriller theme even more, which is an obvious important aim for our group.

Filming Experience

As I was the main character in our opening I was able to film as much as the others in our group. However, every shot that I was not in I made it an opportunity for me to share my filming abilities. The scenes where I was acting I continued to guide my group by telling them which shots to do and how to film them. From this I would say I was the Director of our opening. Here are the scenes I was able to film for our opening.

One of the shots I was able to film was for the park scene, it was a viewpoint shot (Lydia's/My viewpoint) of 'Mia' (who is Chelsea from our group) walking towards 'Lydia'. Before I filmed the shot I guided Chelsea to where I wanted her to start walking from, I chose for her to begin walking from quite far away, as when it came to editing I could choose which distance she could start and finish walking. In addition, before I filmed I changed the camera's setting to manual focus, so I could purposely make the camera out of focus. The purpose of this would be to represent 'Lydia's' fear and confusion as she thinks her kidnapper is walking towards her. When watching it back it turned out to be effective as it isn't clear for the audience who the person is, building tension. However when I actually filmed this scene I used the tripod, its purpose was to keep the camera steady without any shaking. This was a mistake as it needed to be slightly shaky in order for the audience to understand it is 'Lydia's' viewpoint of what is going on. After realising this small mistake we went back to the same location, which was the park, and filmed this shot again. We did the same set up as last time but this time I held the camera as I filmed, which gave the final shot my natural shake from my hands, this helps represent the fear that 'Lydia' has in the current situation. After doing this and watching the shot back we found that the shot was very effective as it was now shaky, making it look more like a viewpoint shot and more realistic.

In addition to this I was able to film another scene which was for the flashback scene. This was a viewpoint shot from 'Lydia' as she tried to figure out where she is. This was an interesting shot to film as it needed to look like it was 'Lydia' looking around the room. To achieve this and before I begun to film I made sure that I took the camera off of the tripod as I was going to hold and move the camera myself instead of keeping the tripod, this is because it was a viewpoint shot (it needed to have movement and be naturally shaking. Whilst also making sure that the camera was out of focus. This is  because I wanted to not only represent the confusion that 'Lydia' was feeling but also the state that she was put in, meaning she had obviously sustained some serious injuries. When filming I moved the camera side to side, in order to capture the idea that 'Lydia' would be looking around, one key aspect that I made sure I filmed was the light at the other end of the room, this was effective because it gave the scene movement, in order to make it look more realistic. This allowed the audience to understand what 'Lydia' was doing when she awoke. For this scene I did not matter as much if I was shaky as it added to the effect of how 'Lydia' was feeling at the time.

One other small shot I was able to film with Gabrielle would be the blood dripping scene which was also for the flashback scenes. For this scene I decided to use the tripod as the shot needed to be steady in order for it to be effective for the audience. In addition to this we also zoomed very close to the floor in in order for the drips of blood to not only be the centre of the shot but we wanted them to take up the majority of the screen/shot. This was because we wanted to increase the tension of the flashback as a whole and seeing the blood drip in this shot makes the audience worry for 'Lydia's'; safety and builds the tension for what is to come. When filming this Chelsea was dripping the blood on the floor, I would guide her where to drip it and how much in order for it to be central and believable for the audience. This was effective because we did not want too much blood and it not be realistic, but also we did not want too little blood, otherwise it would not be as frightening and worrying of our audience (this was an important aim of mine when filming our opening). Moreover, another aspect of this shot be paid attention to would be the lighting, we wanted it to be clear to the audience that what was dripping was blood, however we did not want to look too forced/fake otherwise it would have looked unrealistic for them. This is why we placed a torch near where the blood was going to drip, but far enough so it still gives an ominous feeling for the audience.

Overall I believe that my filming experience has been successful. Even though I was not able to film as much as I would have liked (as I was acting) I made sure that every chance I was given I executed each shot effectively. I did this by choosing the most ideal shot based on what I was filming, I also made sure the lighting was effective (if I could control it) based on the dialogue e.g. the flashbacks are where there is a lot of tension and darkness, meaning there will be less lighting (to represent evil). One other aspect I took into account would be whether I used props when filming in order to get the most effective shot, an example would be if I required a tripod or not (whether I wanted the camera to be steady or not).   

Location

When discussing the locations of our opening we wanted to make it as realistic as possible, so it was effective for the audience (is believable). Due to the storyline of our opening we had chosen we needed three different locations in order to for the storyline to make sense for the audience and allow it to look as effective and realistic as possible.

Here is one of the locations we had used in our opening. It is  a garage located in my house. The reason we chose this location is because we needed a eerie/creepy location for the flashback, where 'Lydia' was taken to when she was kidnapped. Once the lights were off and we put our own lighting in we found that we could achieve the creepy atmosphere that we wanted. The reason why we didn't use the original lighting that was in the garage is when we first begun filming we realised that the videos looked quite orange (due to the type of lighting). We did not want this because it gave more of a warm feeling rather than a eerie feeling. This why we used torches and a lamp instead, this gave us a choice of where we could place the light, this meant the audience would be able to see the expressions 'Lydia' has, as well as the bruises and blood (so the audience can get an idea of what has happened to her. However, before filming we discussed the positioning of where I should sit, as I would be tied to the chair the whole time. When thinking about this I took into consideration that we wouldn't want to much going on in the background. This is because the clips from the garage scene are going to be quick with fast cuts, meaning that the individual clips need to be direct in order for the audience to understand what is going on. This is why we decided to place the chair facing away from the garage door, giving a plainer background for the audience. This we found to be effective because the darkness from the background contrast 'Lydia' from it, allowing the audience to see the scenes more clearly.  

This is another location we had chosen for our opening, which is my bedroom also located in my house. This is for the very beginning of our opening where we first meet 'Lydia'. I found that this would be the most effective location for the beginning due to the bright colours of the walls and bed it represents the innocence of the character as the audience get their first glimpse as to what happened to 'Lydia'. This means that the location contrasts between our previous location (the garage) as one is very calming and innocent, where as the other is very dark and evil feeling, as they cut from one another. This allows the audience to straight away feel the tension and mystery behind 'Lydia's' past. However one issue we found with this location was the lighting as, much like our previous location the original lighting we used gave almost like an orange filter to the video when we began filming. We wanted to avoid this because it made the videos look more unrealistic and amateur. To solve this we decided to use natural lighting instead, which was effective because it allowed the audience to see the setting and background clearer without an 'orange filter'.

Our final location would be the park where 'Lydia' and 'Mia' meet up to discuss what happened to Lydia when she was kidnapped. We found that this location would be the best place for the two friends to meet because it is seen as a quite innocent place as it is where children play, however it can also have creepy aspects when empty, leaving it an effective place to set the particular scene in. This is because it enables 'Lydia' to look vulnerable when she is sitting alone in a public place. In addition to this, as we had to us natural lighting it went well with the previous scene which was in the bedroom as we used natural lighting in that scene too, this meant that the all of our scenes would connect and none would look out of place, as our opening is only two minutes it was vital our scenes connected (in order for the dialogue to flow and be understandable for our audience). When discussing which area we should film the scene we all came to the conclusion that we should film on the furthest bench to the right. This is because not only were the gates closer to this bench (where 'Lydia' would be walking through) but this side of the park would get more light which was essential as we wanted to make the picture quality was the best for our audience.

Music/Soundtrack

Here I am going to discuss what Music and Soundtracks we are using throughout the whole of the opening. We have several different soundtracks that separate certain parts of the opening, this means making sure the flashbacks are separate from the rest of the dialogue in the opening. Here are the tracks we are using in our opening.

Here is one of the soundtracks we will be using in our opening, this one in particular is important as it will be the main track, this includes being played through the majority of the opening. It was a difficult track to find as the parts it would be played in are everywhere apart from the flashbacks. Meaning those parts aren't as tension filled like the flashbacks, this meant we needed to find something with neutral qualities as well as having on edge sounds/tones. It had to be quite eerie to build the suspense slowly but couldn't be too tense otherwise the audience would prepare for a climax that would not be there, this would be incorrect and not effective at all. We went on to research thriller films, this lead us to the thriller 'Gone Girl' where we listened to their soundtrack, seeing if any of their songs would go well with our opening. After listening to all of the tracks we found that a lot of them were quite loud and built tension too frequently for it to go with our dialogue effectively. However we found that number 13 on their soundtrack  was the most effective one for our opening, this is because majority of the time the song uses one tone throughout, (with the exception of slight tension that builds suddenly). This helped it go with the dialogue of our opening and pulled all of the shots together allowing the opening to flow better for the audience. Another point I would like to add is the song helped make the opening more dark and atmospheric as it had a very low tone and had additional sinister sound effects, hopefully putting the audience one edge. The addition of sharp and sudden sounds helps the tension build gradually for the audience while the messages come through and we build up to the flashback. To conclude, the soundtrack I have found that this song was very effective for our particular opening as it brought the whole thing together, this included the shots, cuts and change in setting/location.

 

Moreover, after seeing how successful our previous song was with our opening we decided as a group to go through the soundtrack again to see if there would be any other songs on the list that would go well with the other half of our opening. What we were looking for in a song for the second half was something that had a level of tension in it, this is because the park scene is where the suspense is at its most due to the mysterious figure and the longer flashback. This is where we found one of the songs on the list (number 24). We chose this song because it would now and then build up and release, making the suspense even more critical for the audience, as they prepare for the climax of what is about to happen. We are only using the beginning of the song as it contains the on and off builds in tension whilst still not being too dramatic, as the mystery figure that walked towards 'Lydia' turned out to be a false alarm.

This next soundtrack is what we used for the flashback in our opening. Before we found music for our flashback we discussed the idea of having separate music for the flashback as it would make it clearer for the audience that the flashback was a separate dialogue to the rest of the opening. For our first flashback we only used a small clip from the soundtrack which was from the 11 second mark to 18 seconds. This is because the first flashback is very quick as we only wanted to give the audience a small insight into what 'Lydia' has experienced during the time she was kidnapped. With the music on top it made the flashback much more sinister and mysterious as the audience will be questioning what happened to her and also puts them on edge as it nothing is explained (as it is the opening). Some characteristics of the soundtrack that I found where effective include fast jumps where the track increases in volume, and the addition of the fast cuts with the shots. This is effective because we made sure the shots went with the music, meaning they flowed well together, both were quick, putting the audience on edge.

This final soundtrack is from the film soundtrack 'The 5th Wave' which is an action packed movie with suspense full moments, meaning some of the songs on their soundtrack would be ideal for the final flashback in our opening. This is because the flashbacks are where the tension is at its highest as the audience is unaware of how or what happened exactly to 'Lydia'. After doing some independent research and listening to their soundtrack I found that one of their songs would go well with the last flashback, this would be number 15 on the soundtrack list. This is not only because the title of the song is called 'Flashback' but also because it sounds very dramatic and at the start of the song I found that it had a perfect transition we could use, from when the flashback is about to begin. Through out the rest of the section of the song I planned to use it turned less suspense full and creepy and ominous as the flashback ends. I planned to carry the music on throughout the rest of the opening, this is where the mood of the music got more sad and with the addition of the emotion on 'Lydia's' face it makes the audience sympathise with the character.

Editing Our Opening

After filming our thriller opening we begun editing in order to see what we were still missing and what we would consider re-filming. I begun editing by gradually choosing and putting clips together I the order we had chosen, as we had shot each part more than once, in order to get the most effective shot possible (whilst taking in the aspects of lighting, angle, sound etc.).

Here is Olivia, Chelsea and I where we began the editing process of our project.

After putting together the beginning we found that the most effective part was when we put the first three shots of the opening together, these included the pan, the track and the montage of shots. This was effective because when put together and cut in the right places we were able to make a smooth transition from the one side of the room to the other. As the pan went from right to left from one side of the room, the track went across the length of the bottom of the bed and the montage of shots gave an angle of the bed from the other side of the room. This was effective because it gave the audience a view of the whole setting in the room whilst aiming not to confuse them as we swapped sides of the room to film.

We also were able to identify what shots we might need to re-film, in order to make the opening as effective as possible. An example of this would be the opening pan shot, when watched it back and putting it with the other shots (e.g. track, montage of shots etc.) we found that the pan was too quick, re-filming it and making the pan slower would help it fit better with the other shots. Moreover, as the original pan was too quick it made the shot as a whole slightly blurry, making it difficult for our audience to see the surrounds and what 'Lydia' is doing, another reason why we wanted to film it and slow it down. After discussing this and filming this scene we found that it was successful as slowing it down did not make the whole scene feel rushed and added to the eeriness that a thriller usually has. Other aspects of this scene that I played close attention to include; Lighting, which I found effective because we wanted it to be light enough to see what it is going on but dark enough so it added to the gloominess of the opening (as it is a thriller). Another part we paid attention to was the sound, for this, we have taken the sound away as music will be playing through out the majority of our opening.

In addition to this, I was able to find other parts of our opening that we had decided to film again, for example; the scene where 'Lydia' picks up her phone. After watching through this scene I realised that I picked up and used my phone with one hand, where as in the scenes after this one I was holding my phone with two hands. This was only a small aspect that we found could be improved but one that I found would effect the opening as a whole, this is because we want all the clips to go together effectively, so it flows and looks realistic. Furthermore, the use of lighting in this clip was effective as the camera was facing away from the window, meaning the light was shining directly on my (Lydia's) face, meaning we were able to see every movement I made and every expression I made onwards in order to make the plot easier to understand. Sound was also taken from this clip to add to the opening effect as the music continuous to play.

Here is where on another day Gabrielle and I where editing more of the beginning of our opening. We discussed the angles of each shot in order to get a variety of shots throughout the whole of the opening. We also were able to find two more shots further on in the opening that we ended up filming again, in order to make them more effective. This included the two viewpoint shots in the park scene, one of 'Mia's' point of view as she walks towards 'Lydia' who is sitting down and the other is 'Lydia's' point of view as she realises someone dressed in black is walking towards her (which turns out to be 'Mia'). After discussing this with the rest of the group, agreeing to film the scenes again and re-filming both scenes we discovered that the new clips were more effective. This is because the first view point shot we found was too shaky, making it harder to see the surroundings for the audience and it also made it look less realistic. So by filming it again and this time holding the tripod more firmly and keeping it steady, we were able to make it look more like we were looking through 'Mia's' eyes as she walks towards 'Lydia' instead of just a shaky camera. In addition, filming the other view point shot was a success because before I had made the mistake of using the tripod, which made it steady, however it was a viewpoint shot so making it steady made it unclear to the audience that it was a viewpoint shot. So when filming it again I held the camera instead of using a tripod, allowing us to get the shaky effect (as Lydia is panicking), in order to make it clearer for the audience.

One part of the editing process that we found a challenge as a group was the flashbacks. During our opening 'Lydia' experiences two flashbacks which give the audience an early insight into what she has gone through (as our 'film' is about Lydia's struggle as she faces her fears after being kidnapped). During one of these flashbacks we wanted to make it quick and sharp, as we didn't want to give too much away whilst still building the tension for the audience. This was difficult as IMovie didn't allow us to achieve these fast cuts and effects, so instead we used Final Cut Pro which enabled us to get the aspects we were looking for. This helped us get the fast cuts that we wanted, as well as a green effect over the top. This is because the not only made the flashback look more frightening, in order to build the tension, it also helped the audience understand what is going on and understand that it is a flashback. Moreover, as we used a different soundtrack for the flashback it made it even more obvious for the audience that it was a flashback. The soundtrack also goes very well with our flashback as it contains jolts and cuts, much like what we were aiming for when making cuts and adding clips for the flashback.

Thriller Research

Here I have put together a presentation containing research explaining the codes and conventions of a thriller.

Thriller Film Production Company Research

Here I have done some research about which Film Company to use for our thriller opening, this includes what intro company is going to come up in the beginning of our thriller opening.

After doing some research I found that Warner Brothers Pictures having produced quite a few successful thriller films. They are an American Entertainment Company that produces film, television and music entertainment. Warner Brother Entertainment is "a fully integrated, broad-based entertainment company and a global leader in the creation, production, distribution, listening and marketing of all forms of entertainment and their related businesses." In addition to their success the thriller films they have created and released over the years have brought great success with them.
This includes; The films 'The Dark Knight' and 'The Dark Knight Rises' (which are both Thriller films) are the top two most successful Warner Brothers films to date, 'The Dark Knight Rises' made £1,084,939,099 worldwide gross. Furthermore, I think Warner Brothers should be our opening for our thriller not only because their most successful films to date are thriller films but also 'The Dark Knight Rises' is one of the highest-grossing worldwide films to date. Meaning their ability to make thrillers is highly respected and acknowledged. Some examples of thriller films that they have produced include; Inception, Gravity, Interstellar, The Shining and many more.

After discussing this with my group they agreed to use Warner Brothers Pictures as our entertainment company for our film. In addition, I went on to research different themes that the Warner Brothers Pictures use. As many people know Warner Bro's base a lot of their openings on the type of film they have made (instead of it being the original logo) to give the company character and connect it to that particular film. I think this is a very creative way of representing your company before the film starts because it not only gives it character but promotes the company more. Here are some examples of the different types of logos that Warner Bros have created and used.

• Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
• The Dark Knight
• Warner Brothers Animation
• Man of Steel
• Suicide Squad
• The Matrix
• Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince
• The Lego Movie

Its clear from these logos that Warner Brothers take characteristics of each individual film and create the logo inspired by it. For example; The Lego Movie's logo is made of Lego, the Suicide Squad logo turns, twists and ticks to replicate the twisted and crazy characters in the film etc. After looking at all of the different logos I went on to research which one of the openings we could use at the beginning of our opening, in order to match the thriller theme. To do this I researched more thriller films that Warner Brothers have made and the intros they begun with. I found a couple that I liked but here is the opening that I found was the most effective one to use as it related to our film and its storyline.

This particular opening was from the film 'The Invasion' (2007). This particular film is also a thriller which makes it not only relate to our film but also contains similar characteristics that thrillers normally have e.g. action, tension etc. This meant that the unique opening would fit with our film. What made this opening more effective than the other Warner Brother thriller openings was the colours, flashes and overall on edge feeling it gives. Throughout that opening the same dull colours (like black and blue with hints of light) are used to give a more mysterious and scary feeling for the audience, preparing them for the rest of the film (as it is a thriller). In addition to this, during the opening there are various flashes/cuts, that almost replicate a flashback. This I found was the most effective part of the whole opening as it related to our opening/ film as we have included flashbacks and fast cuts, as part of our storyline. Our character Lydia has various flashbacks which look back at her terrifying past and can be shown in our opening. This Warner Brothers opening prepares the audience for what is to come, adding tension and mystery, whilst also making the opening as a whole flow better.