Organisation

Shooting Schedule

 

Date	Time	Action/Scene Number	Location
18/10/2011	6:30	Leave for Location	112 Shenfield Place
‘’	6:50	Arrive	‘’
‘’	6:55	Talk through scenes	‘’
‘’	7:00	Sort up costume/hair/make up	‘’
‘’	7:20	1	112-121 Shenfield Place
‘’	7:30	13	‘’
‘’	7:40	2	Hall Lane
‘’	7:45	4	Hall Lane
‘’	7:50	6	Alleyway
‘’	8:00	11	Hall Lane
‘’	8:10	15	112-121 Shenfield Place
‘’	8:30	16	112 Shenfield Place
‘’	8:50	Wrap Filming	‘’
‘’	8:55	Check Shots	‘’
‘’	9:10	Finish and Leave for home	‘’

 

Date	Time	Action/Scene Number	Location
19/10/2011	6:00	Collect Props and lay out for filming	Bedroom
‘’	6:20	3	‘’
‘’	6:30	5	‘’
‘’	6:35	7	‘’
‘’	6:40	9	‘’
‘’	6:50	12	‘’
‘’	6:55	14	‘’
‘’	7:00	Wrap filming. Take photos for continuity	‘’

 

Date	Time	Action/Scene Number	Location
25/10/2011	6:10	Leave for location	112 Shenfield Place
‘’	6:35	Arrive	‘’
‘’	6:40	Talk through scenes	‘’
‘’	6:45	Check hair/costume/make up for continuity	‘’
‘’	7:00	8	Hall Lane
‘’	7:10	10	Hall Lane
‘’	7:30	Wrap filming	112 Shenfield Place
‘’	7:35	Review Footage	‘’
‘’	7:45	Finish and leave for home	‘’

 

 

Layout/Location Powerpoint

Shot List

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Shooting Script

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Editing Processes

Below are some more detailed screenshots from the editing process on Final Cut Express.

Above is the standard screen that you see when editing in Final Cut Express. There were many advantages to editing in this programme. One of which is the ability to layer sound tracks over each other. This was an important part of my thriller as I needed to overlay the diegetic music over the non-diegetic music. Below is a screenshot of the sound tracks. Overall, there were three layers of tracks. The first featured the diegetic sound, mainly the protagonists dialogue. The second layer was also diegetic sound, but mostly foleys, particularly the camera clicking.

Along with overlaying the soundtracks, you can also overlay images and videos in the editing suite.

Above is a screenshot of the video timeline, which shows the different tracks and layers. I only used two layers in this thriller. This final effect is seen in the screenshot below. I decided to use this particular effect here because I think it speeds up the pace, building up the tension, as you know that the antagonist is approaching and that her time to escape is limited.

Another important effect that I used was the brightness adjuster in video filters.

This was really important, as where I filmed at the night, the quality of some of the clips was very low and they needed to be lightened, so I used the brightness slider (as seen below) to brighten the clips, and to highlight the protagonist in more detail, specifically in the close ups.

 

Rough Cut Thriller

Above I have embedded the rough cut of my thriller. When filming, I tried to listen to and take on the advice given to me during the storyboarding process, however obviously it is still far from perfect!

I tried to include as many thriller conventions as possible in my video, the main one’s being:

Use of Enigmas- the main enigmas in this video surround the antagonist and who it is. From the shots of the antagonists and lair and the shooting at the end, it is obvious that the antagonist is human. However, it raises the question of who and why he chose her, especially as he obviously knew who she was.

Extraordinary events happening in every day circumstances- The protagonist is walking home alone in the dark, something that a lot of people have to do on a regular basis. Especially around that age, and the age of the target audience, for example having to go home after a night out. I wanted to have this in the video as it could add an extra element of fear for the audience as they could relate to the protagonists situation.

Crime at the centre of the narrative- As this is only the opening to the thriller, the main crime, a shooting, happens at the end of the video just before the opening credits. I did it like this as then it would almost set up the rest of the film narrative, giving the audience an insight into what the film will be about.

A protagonist who is in a compromising position- The protagonist, the girl, is in a compromising position in many ways Firstly, she is walking alone in the dark, and is seemingly completely alone. This isolation, as seen also in An American Werewolf in London, shows the audience that even if something did happen, there would be no one around to see it or stop it. Making them the perfect target.

Mise-en-scene which mirrors the protagonists plight- the mise-en-scene mirrors the protagonists plight mainly through the use of lighting, and also the camera movements. The protagonist is in a lot of danger, and people often relate danger to the dark as stereotypically you can’t see what’s lurking there. Also the jerky camera movements represent how jumpy the girl is also feeling, as seen when she turns around several times, almost registering that somebody is following her.

 

Thriller Shooting Experience

I think that the shooting of the thriller went quite well in regards to organization and time purposes.  I normally visit my cousin’s house every Tuesday night anyway, so I arranged with my cousin to film then. As I was doing the camera work and she was the only actor involved it also made it a lot easier to arrange, as there were less people to organize.

When I got there, I run through the storyboard with my cousin so that she understood the plot and what we would be doing. It also meant that she could also input some ideas, which could improve the thriller. After running through the script we chose which clothes that she would wear for the shoot and then once that was done, we set off to film.

One major problem that I found while filming was getting the right lighting to film in as by the time we got to filming it was very dark outside and the streetlights did not offer as much light as I had originally hoped they would. In order to try and solve this problem I used my cars headlights as a temporary light to shoot some of the scenes, however this was obviously quite limited, firstly because I didn’t want to run the car battery down, and secondly because the car could not be positioned at different angles without blocking the road, which obviously was not a viable option. Fortunately in the end we just worked our way around, sticking to the areas directly below the streetlights.

Once we had finished shooting in the streets, we headed back to the house in order to film the shooting scene. The first technicality that we had with this scene was that we had forgotten the house keys, however this was a very minor problem and we just had to pop inside to get them. Shooting outside of the house proved to be quite useful as we had control of the outside lights, which meant that we could light the scene a lot better without having to use my car!

The scenes shot at the antagonists ‘lair’ were the easiest to film however they needed more preparation. Firstly I needed to wait till the moon was outside my window so I could film it for the graphic match that I wanted to put in. I also needed to make sure that the mise-en-scene was correct and I had all the props that I needed to film. Luckily collecting all the props went well and I was ready to film fairly quickly.  Filming in my room did make it easier in some ways, particularly with the lighting as I have a dimmer switch, which gave me more control over the atmosphere. However, at the same time shooting in my room had some negatives as I had to be very careful not to get other objects in shot, for example, my television is very near my desk and I had to reshoot several scenes as I had caught the edge of it in the shot. In order to correct the problem with the other objects, I mainly just had to persevere and take a lot more care when filming and with trial and error I finally managed to get the shots that I needed.

To conclude, the filming itself I think went quite well, and although there are things that I could improve on, I am happy with how it went. I also think that I have learnt from my mistakes that I made when I first sat my AS coursework with, as now for example, I understand the importance of issues such as continuity and how every little detail counts.

Storyline/Setting/Title/Roles

Storyline

The storyline of my thriller opening is centered on one protagonist, a girl walking home late at night. On her way home, we see her through the antagonist’s eyes as he, unbeknown to her, takes photos of her. Then, as she approaches her house, she drops her keys and we hear a gunshot, it then cuts to a blackout and the title of the film comes up, introducing the basis to what would be the rest of the film. Throughout the narrative, we also see the antagonist’s lair through parallel editing, which suggests that the antagonist knows a lot about the protagonist, suggesting that it is not an unprovoked attack.

Setting

There were two main settings throughout my music video. The first was in Shenfield in the roads surrounding my cousin’s house and outside her house. I thought this would be a good setting to set part of the film because firstly we both know the area very well. Also it is a fairly safe area to film in alone at night.  The area itself is also very quiet and not many cars are around, which help create the idea that the protagonist was completely alone and had no one around to help her, conforming to the stereotype of seeing. Additionally it is fairly well lit with a lot of street lights, this was obviously very beneficial when filming as without them, even with the camera light on, it would have been very hard to get a clear picture.

Location wise, it was also useful for my cousin as she does not drive, so she did not need to travel anywhere and as it was her house we were using to film the ending scenes outside, we did not need to seek any permission, and we also had control over the lights outside of the house, making it considerably easier to film.

Here is an aerial shot of the streets that we are using to film in:

The second location used for the antagonist’s lair was my bedroom, more specifically my desk. Away from the practicality side of using my room, I also wanted to use my room because I wanted to include a graphic match from a street light to the moon outside my window, which I knew that, at the time of filming was in the right place!

Title

When coming up with a name for my thriller, I wanted to keep it short and memorable, for example as seen in films such as ‘Inception’ and ‘Jaws,’ both of which are highly rated thriller films.

In order to come up with a name I firstly looked at IMDB’s list of the top 100 thriller films in order to look for the type of names that have being successful. After looking at this list I decided that it would be best if I kept the name short and memorable, for example as seen in films such as ‘Inception’ and ‘Jaws,’ both of which are in the list of the highest rated thriller films.

I then began brainstorming for words that fitted in with my thriller film; I did this by creating a spider diagram, which I have embedded a link to the prezi below.

http://prezi.com/jooer_smcpyz/thriller-opening-title-ideas/

From this diagram I then got feedback from some of my friends who are all in the same age group as my target audience, from this I narrowed it down to four names- Targeted, Assassin, Hunted and Obsession.

I then looked back at the plot and decided that ‘Obsession’ would not fit in with the narrative as the antagonist is distanced from the protagonist and it is made to look like the killer is doing the job for someone else. I also ruled out Assassin as for the opening, one of the enigmas created is for the audience not to know who the antagonist is, and if it was called Assassin, it would take that enigma away.  In the end I decided on the name ‘Targeted’ as in my mind, ‘Hunted’ reminded me of hunting animals, and also the plosives used in ‘Targeted’ give it a much harsher sound.

Roles

In regards to the acting roles there is only one character that is seen in the actual video and my cousin is playing this role. I will be completing the camera work, editing and work on the soundtrack myself, however I will be consulting various people for feedback and ideas throughout the process in order to try and get the best finished product possible.

Costume, Props, Setting, Mise-en-scene

Costume

In order to make the thriller as realistic as possible, I made sure that the main character (my cousin) is wearing normal casual clothes. This way the audience would be able to relate to her as a person. Also, although not so obviously seen, her jacket is a light pink colour, which could represent innocence, making her seem like a more fallible character. In relation to other thriller films, in films such as the Scary Movie franchise, it is always the cheerleader type character that is killed first, and they are always stereotyped as the victim.

Furthermore, logistically, the light coloured jacket made it easier when filming because the light colour reflected in the light and made the character stand out more when filming late at night.

Props

Where my thriller is based around the idea of parallel editing between seeing the protagonist and the main story and then seeing the lair of the antagonist, there were two main scenes that I needed to provide props for.

During the scenes of the main protagonist walking home late at night, there were only two props used. These were an iPhone and a set of house keys. During this scene I thought it would be important to conform to the convention of ‘extraordinary things happening in ordinary situations,’ and in normal situations, someone walking home would only have their phone and keys on them. The keys were also a main prop when it came to the closing scene as it was the dropping of the keys that prevented the character from entering her house, ergo leaving her subject to the antagonist.

On the other side of the parallel editing are the scenes set in the antagonist’s ‘lair.’ During these scenes I tried to create an ‘organised clutter’ of objects and items which create a sinister atmosphere, and at the same time create many enigmas- conforming to another convention. I printed off a variety of pictures of my cousin (who plays the main protagonist) both of her alone and of her with friends. I then defaced some of the pictures with a black marker pen, blacking out her friends faces in them, portraying to the audience that the antagonist obviously knows and recognizes the protagonist, showing that the following events are not a case of mistaken identity. I also printed off a sheet with ‘CASE NUMBER,’ ‘NAME’ and ‘ADDRESS’ on them, this could suggest to the viewer that the antagonist is a professional and that he does not hold a motive for killing the protagonist, it may be someone else instructing him.

On the desk I also left a pair of scissors open, almost as a weapon, I also left a belt on the desk. These props were meant to represent possible weapons used by the antagonist.

Above is a picture of my desk which has the props which I used to show the antagonists lair. I chose to use my desk because I knew that the focus would be on the props not on the colour of the desk. Also, it gave me a lot more control over what I could do when filming.

Above are the printed photos that I used in the antagonists lair and also for the freeze frames.

I used a range of props on the desk included this pair of scissors and also the black marker pen as seen below.

 

 

 

Setting

There were two main settings throughout my music video. The first was in Shenfield in the roads surrounding my cousin’s house and outside her house. I thought this would be a good setting to set part of the film because firstly we both know the area very well. Also it is a fairly safe area to film in alone at night.  The area itself is also very quiet and not many cars are around, which help create the idea that the protagonist was completely alone and had no one around to help her, conforming to the stereotype of seeing. Additionally it is fairly well lit with a lot of street lights, this was obviously very beneficial when filming as without them, even with the camera light on, it would have been very hard to get a clear picture.

Location wise, it was also useful for my cousin as she does not drive, so she did not need to travel anywhere and as it was her house we were using to film the ending scenes outside, we did not need to seek any permission, and we also had control over the lights outside of the house, making it considerably easier to film.

The second location used for the antagonist’s lair was my bedroom, more specifically my desk. Away from the practicality side of using my room, I also wanted to use my room because I wanted to include a graphic match from a street light to the moon outside my window, which I knew that, at the time of filming was in the right place!

Mise-en-scene

For my thriller I wanted to keep the scenes quite dark and lowly lit, which although is quite clichéd, keeps in form with the thriller conventions as people normally relate darkness to the idea of the unknown and danger as in the dark, one can not be fully aware of everything around them. For example, in thrillers such as ‘Dog Soldiers,’ all of the action and horror aspects of the film happen at nighttime in the dark.

When filming outside on the streets I relied on a mixture of artificial light from both the camera and also the streetlights. This was in many ways quite annoying as it restricted the areas that we could film in, as unfortunately we do not have the money to buy professional lighting!