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.

Continuing Filming

We have continued to film other scenes for our opening as well as re-filming other parts that we felt weren't what we were looking for, in terms of the type of shot, lighting etc.

We begun filming our beginning scene of our thriller opening where 'Lydia' is sitting in her room doing her work and answering text messages from her friend. Before filming we wanted to make sure the lighting was right; we tried using the bedroom light, however we found that in the camera it made the room look too orange, which overall made the video look unrealistic. So, we decided to use natural lighting instead, which turned out to be more effective because it made the shots look more natural and realistic rather than fake. We included shots like pans, tracks, over head shots etc. These particular shots were particularly difficult to film, so we had to use unique props and ways order to catch the shot we wanted. In addition, for the pan shot (and a lot of the other shots in our opening) we used a tripod, this was effective especially for the pan because it helped the camera stay steady as we paned the camera across, instead of it being a messy pan. Moreover, when we were filming a track shot we found it difficult trying to make it steady and smooth as it goes across. We decided to use a prop in order to fix this, this turned out to be a skateboard. This worked well as we were able to put the tripod and camera on the skateboard and role it across the floor, this was effective because we were able to get a smoother and level track shot. With the over head shot we made sure that the camera was above of 'Lydia' so the audience gets a view of what 'Lydia' is doing. When filming the over head shot we chose not to go straight across but in a curved way instead, this worked well with the layout of the work because the work was quite rounded across the bed (making it flow better). Moreover, another shot we filmed in the bedroom was a montage of shots, this was to suggest the idea of time passing, when filming this we made sure that the camera was not moved otherwise the angles would be slightly different and we didn't want there to be odd jump cuts (we needed it to flow). We were able to achieve this by not moving the camera, only pressing the record button and I had to keep changing my position.

This next part of our opening that we have filmed was out park scene, this contained lots of different kinds of shots including; Match on Action, Long shots, Mid shots etc. We begun filming the Match on Action shot of 'Lydia' walking into the park, we had to make sure that my hair was the same, I used the same hand to open the gate etc. This was important because when it comes to editing we wanted to make sure that it will look like one whole shot and flowed well for the audience. In the beginning of the park scene we wanted to make sure the scene from the bedroom and this scene transferred well, so it was confusing for the audience. This included the first scene of me walking away from the camera, as I was walking towards the camera in the final bedroom scene. In addition we went on to film other scenes in the park, which I had chance to film, this included unique shots like a low angled shots of my feet as I walked towards the bench, and a viewpoint shot of 'Mia' walking towards 'Lydia'. When filming this we made sure the camera was out of focus, as we wanted to represent 'Lydia's' confusion and how she thinks it is her kidnapper due to the choice of clothing. However, after watching it back when we uploaded it we realised that using the tripod made the shot really still, we needed it to be shaky in order to make it look more like a realistic viewpoint shot (as 'Lydia' was panicking). So we have decided to re-film this part the next time we decide to film. Additionally, before we even started filming we considered the lighting and whether the natural light was light enough, or too bright. For this scene especially, lighting was very important, in order to capture the emotions of the characters faces as they talked to each other, panicked, scared etc. We made sure that the sun was out, in order to film as it brightened up the video, however we made sure the location we were filming in the park was not exposed to too much lighting, as when we watched the video back we couldn't see all of the image as the sun was shining directly into the camera. This is what we didn't want, so by choosing are location effectively we were able to get the perfect amount of light we needed.  

These next pictures are of when we filmed the kidnapped scenes for the flashbacks in our opening. Before we began filming I used face paint to make it look like I was beaten, I put paint on one of my eyes, nose and mouth (as if I was hit). I also put a small amount of blood on my mouth just to make it a bit more realistic. In addition to this I also messed up my hair and we put blood on the rope that I was tied to, this worked effectively because it made the scene look more realistic, as if I dragged and abused, leaving a sense of mystery to what happened to Lydia (which is normally found in a thriller). In addition, the first two photos are of a shot that Gabrielle and I filmed while Chelsea dripped the fake blood onto the floor. This is for the fast cuts between the flashback scenes for a creepy and suspenseful effect. For this small scene we needed more light in order to see the blood drip and land on the floor, this meant we had to use a torch, which we placed near the camera at an angle in order to get a ominous shadow. Moreover, this all worked effectively because the angle we used was extremely close in order to make sure the blood was the focal point and the lighting allowed us to keep a frightening feel through out the short flashback as well as having enough light in order to see what was dripping and going on. Furthermore, other scene we filmed of me (Lydia) being tied to the chair included; shots of my hands tied behind the chair. This included putting blood on the rope to represent (rope burns) and the pain 'Lydia' is in, it is also where the dripping blood is coming from. Other shots we filmed included extreme and close up shots of my face as 'Lydia' is shown to be in a fairly delirious state. We filmed these shots because as a group we all wanted to capture the fear and confusion in 'Lydia's' face as she realises where she is. In addition, other more complicated shots we took, like the high angle shot, had to be taken using props (as the tripod we was using was not tall enough. To capture the high angle shot we were after we staked a bucket with a plank of wood in order to lift the camera higher as well as steadying it so it would not shake as we filmed. All of these different shots that we took worked effectively due to the right lighting; we used torches as we didn't want to use the lights that were already in the room (as on the camera they have quite an orange effect) as well we wanted the light to be quite dim, this adds to the thriller theme (adds to the mystery and emphasizes the fear that 'Lydia' is showing during the flashback). Another aspect that I found worked effectively was the costume and makeup I used for my face (Mise en scene); this is because the use of black clothing influences the sense of evil and danger, furthermore the use of face paint and makeup made the danger seem more realistic for the audience, the audience will sympathises with 'Lydia' more and the tension increases (wondering what is going to happen to her next).