Detailed planning: Locations

The locations we are planning to film in are based both around practicality and what we want our product to convey to the audience.

An open field in one of the flashbacks (either one of the fields in school or the local leisure centre) will be used to show his isolation and loneliness, which contrasts with the presence of the nurse in the present who is corrupting his memories.

Another scene will be filmed in at school in one of the two halls, this is to show to the audience that these scenes are flashbacks by obviously going back in time to when he was doing his exams. This location was chosen simply to make it easy for our actors to meet up with us.

A living room will be used to show that the man is in danger as even his home is being targeted, and that he is not safe. The living room will probably be in the home of one of our group (revered to in my earlier post 'The Team'), but in an unfortunate circumstance we might be forced into using someone else's.

The final location will simply need to be a white wall or whiteboard that we are able to blue tack or sellotape paper with random mathematical equations on, this will suggest that he is not in a medical institution but somewhere improvised and hidden.

Developed planning: Costume, Lighting, and Make Up

Developed planning: Actors

Post 28: Final ident 2 'Trppd'

Post 27: Final ident 1 'Covert productions'

This is our final ident for Covert Productions, filmed and edited by Leonie with George acting. Myself and George also added our ideas.

Post 26: Photo storyboard

This is a video of our photo storyboard, I had pictures taken of me with George using his hands to fill in for the role of the nurse, Leonie took the photos and edited it into a video.

Update: Ident development

These are two of the pictures we might use for our ident 'Covert Productions'. The picture will be held in front of the person in the picture's face, but he will not be smiling - possibly looking angry or deadpan - this connotes that the company is not what it seems to be and that there is always more than what the audience can just see, and they must uncover hidden meanings for themselves.

Post 24: Final shooting script

This is our final shooting script

Post 23: Draft shooting script (with feedback)

Post 22: Pitch to our peers

We pitched our developed initial idea to the rest of our class to get feedback and possible improvements, this is our pitch:

This is the guideline script we used for our pitch:
TITLE Leonie:- Hello, we are Covert Productions, before we start, I would like to explain why we decided on this name. Covert means ‘not publically acknowledged or revealed’ much like the many of the answers that answer the questions that are asked during stereotypical thriller films therefore, we decided that this name was fitting with the conventions of the thriller genre. Now onto the ideas, we would like to hear you opinions at the end, on if you think the idea fits the thriller genre well.

OPENING SCENE Sam:- Our main idea is an opening sequence for a film called ‘Experiment 3098’. Our Opening sequence will be made up of two halves: one where the man is blinking and going between his distorted memories (like being in an exam, as a fully grown man or being called by his family and him not being able to respond) and one when it is a flash forward to after the man has gone through the narrative, as a closing scene.

GENRE Ellie:- Like ‘Dexter’ and ‘American Psycho’, our opening scene for ‘Experiment 3098’ is a Psychological-Thriller. It is all about a man who has a mental illness and at the same time, is being tested on; we aim to distort the audience’s view on reality by using fast paced editing and almost no dialogue.

THE STORY LINE OF THE FILM George:- These are the main points of the potential narrative (let all of the notes come onto the screen) This would explain why the man is constantly in different scenarios –he is reliving different memories that he doesn’t recognise as memories- but only after he closes his eyes to blink- a blink which represents a small moment in time when he falls asleep, only to wake up in another memory/ dream.

TARGET AUDIENCE Ellie:- From our research, we chose our target audience to be a PG age certificate as this is the age category that we have the most information about and it is stereotypical of the Thriller genre.

REPRESENTATIONS Leonie:- There are two main representations in our opening sequence; people with mental illnesses and men. We have a stereotypical representation of mentally ill people; vunerable; confused; worried; distracted: however, for the same reasons that we have a stereotypical representation for mentally ill people, we also have an antistereotypical representation of men. Men are stereotypically strong, both physically and mentally and it is more common for someone with a mental illness to be portrayed by a female character however, it is a thriller convention for the protagonist to have a weakness or downfall so we are still following the conventions of the thriller genre.

GRASPING ATTENTION Sam:- The fast paced editing will mean that the audience are more than likely going to miss pieces of information. This will cause the audience to ask questions and create enigmas, a common convention of the thriller genre. Jump cuts will be used for the same effects. A dramatic soundtrack will consist of low and slow brass and/ or string instruments as these are closely associated with tense moments in almost every genre. Every time the man blinks, we might use a non diegetic sound effect of a bang or slam which will make the audience wonder what the sound is. The sound would be later revealed in the film, as a machine noise, coming from a machine that is being used to test on him.

George:- Thank you for listening to our pitch, do you have any questions or feedback for us?

Post 21: Initial ideas 2

This is a rough summary of the group's second possible idea for the product:

1) The ident is shown

For this ident we were thinking of the name 'Trppd', which would be the word 'Trapped' without the vowels, this is to reflect the lack of freedom that the man in the sequence has.

2) The opening sequence starts

The first shot is of a man (the protagonist) in a bed, trapped in a coma with his wrists and legs bound to the table. The scene fades into a flashback - this will be shown by adding a red/brown filter and distortion around the edge of the screen. In the flashback the man will be arguing with his wife, there will be diegetic audio but the words will be muffled and unclear. The scene will change back to the man lying in the bed, the shot will be a mid/close up shot of his closed eyes, this will be to raise a feeling of suspense with the audience. There will be another flashback, the mans face will be off camera and the focus will be on his torso and arms, which will be holding a bottle of alcohol. Back out of the flashback there will be a close up of the mans face. The editing around this point will increase to build suspense and to suggest to the audience that there will be a climax building. It will quickly cut to another flashback of a man looking into the mirror and taking some tablets, to a close up of the mans face in the coma, back to the man falling back on the floor and the bottle of pills falling from his hand.
The jump cutting will stop and so will any music, there will be a close up of the mans eyes, his eyes will suddenly open and the title will cover his eyes.

3) The credits start
In between each of the scenes the camera will fade to black as if the camera is blinking slowly, this will emphasise the fact that the man is dazed and confused. The man's eyes are frantically looking around the room, the first credits will appear on the screen - we'll decide on the specifics as to colour and font as we edit it as we will either use either dark or really bright lighting. The second credits will appear after the camera fades back in again and the man will still be frantically looking around the room, sweating and breathing heavily. This will emphasise his desperation and further build on the suspense and give the audience more questions, making them want to find out the answers by watching the film. The third set of credits will appear on a different scene, the man will seem to wake up in a bed next to his wife. This scene is to hint at the confused and/or hallucinogenic themes that would appear later in the film, as well as surprise the audience. The camera will fade to black and the final credits will appear, they will fade out as the scene fades from black to reveal a midshot of the mans face. The diegetic sound of the heavy breathing will slowly fade back in. The camera will cut to a mid shot of a nurses waist, she will be wearing the stereotypical blue 'scrubs' and a green apron (both of these have been stereotypically chosen so that the audience can quickly grasp what is going on). The final scene will be of darkness, with an echoing scream of the man.

Post 20: Initial ideas 1

Post 18: Group survey on the thriller genre

This is our survey which we created on SurveyMonkey.com used to gather audience feedback on what they expect from a thriller film and their preferences on thriller films:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YVT9S5T

Post 17: Potential ideas

Post 16: Ident research on 'Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer'

New Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was one of the companies that helped to produce the film, and I have chosen this ident to analyse.

The ident is a very basic one, and similar variants have been used on films since the silent films of 1917 before Goldwyn Pictures merged with Metro Pictures and Mayer Pictures to form Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The only difference over the years has been the adding of the roaring when the silent filming area ended, and slight changes of colour to the original logo.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer are known for working on the most recent James bond films and have produced films of varying genres, from kids cartoons like Tom and Jerry to twisted horrors like Poltergeist. The lack of a definite genre to the ident shows the wide coverage of the company. The use of the colour gold shows prestige and power: possibly over the other companies, or to express their expertise at film making. 

Post 15: Ident research on 'Twisted Pictures'

This ident was taken from the film Saw III, (watch from 0:21), Saw III was made by Twisted Pictures. This company's ident clearly shows with the use of blood-covered barbed wire and a large metal stake that it is not a company that creates rom-coms or children's animated films. The creeping barbed wire that wraps itself around the words suggests that the films creep into the audience's mind, and the scars left when the barbed wire is snapped suggests that even though the audience has stopped watching the film, they will never forget it. 

Post 14: 9 shot analysis on 'Hollow Man' opening sequence

• All of the shots throughout the title sequence are repetitive and rather minimalistic, using basically the same shot for the whole sequence, the lack of a Hollywood blockbuster special effects sequence suggests to the audience that the film is going to have a slow pace.
• The only change in the sequence (shown in shot five) consists of the camera moving around and letters blurring in front of the camera.
• The whole scene appears to be shot inside a petri dish or in some kind of scientific environment, this gives the audience a initial idea into what the genre of film is going to be a sci-fi.

Post 13: 9 shot analysis of 'Hellboy 2 The Golden Army' opening sequence

• All nine shots only use red, orange and black - the combination of these particular colours are related with hell and fire, this will make the audience think that the film is a dark, mythological thriller or action film.
• The use of the word 'hell' in the title (as mentioned before) and the words 'golden army' suggest that there will be fighting on a large scale. All of these factors make the audience assume that the film is a dark mythological action film with a high budget and impressive special effects.
• On the fifth shot there is a picture of a machine, the use of cogs and gears throughout the nine shots and the machine in shot five give a steampunk feel to the opening sequence.

I like this title sequence because it incorporates different features such as the cogs (seen in shot one and two) build up to create the title of the film through an intricate sequence of cogs and clockwork machinery in a long, sweeping camera shot, it is very visually appealing and enjoying to watch.

Post 12: 9 shot analysis on 'Se7en'

• All nine shots have dark lighting, it is used to foreshadow the theme of the film and give the audience a preview that this is going to be a dark film. The use of dark lighting is common in the thriller genre as lack of light can hide things from us and is generally associated with mystery.
• There is no clear narrative as most of the shots are either of books or darkness, this gives a feeling of mystery and makes the audience want to know more.
• All of the shots are in the same lighting and there is a common theme of books and censorship. This makes the audience wonder what is being censored and why.

Post 11: Art of the title analysis

Post 10: Genre research on 'Taken'

Unfortunately I was unable to get the video footage for the opening sequence of 'Taken' onto my blog but here is my evaluation for the first minute or so of the film.

The initial scene has a nostalgic feel, this is created by a non-diegetic piano playing a slow sad tune over what is suggested to be a poor quality video clip - suggesting that the footage is old. Everyone is the video is happy and smiling, which contrasts from the non-diegetic music, the feeling of nostalgia suggests that the protagonist (or at least the character who we're seeing their perspective of the video) is a few years older than when the video was made. In the video the little girl opens the present of a horse, it is made clear - using the candle on the birthday cake - that the little girl is 5, this shows her innocence and vulnerability, this gives an ominous feel to the rest of the film and suggests to the audience that she will be involved in some accident or problem, etc. She is centred in the camera, which shows that she is the centre of attention, with her mother to the side and often left out of the footage all together. The camera jump cuts suddenly to what seems to be the protagonist waking up from a dream, the music comes to a stop as he turns the light on to get up. The empty take away boxes and the absence of his family in the initial surroundings suggest that he lives alone. The title 'Taken' appears next to a photograph of a young woman, she is shown to be happy and riding a horse (it is suggested that she is same person as the little girl with the use of the horse and the emotional connection the the protagonist). The title itself isn't some in-your-face, explosion-filled, masterpiece of animation that leaves you pinned to the back of your seat, instead it is simply faded in next to the picture of the young woman. Not only does the location of the word 'taken' next to the woman give a massive hint that she is the one about to be kidnapped, the lack of fancy showy effects shows the raw reality of the film - it's not a si-fi voyage through the stars, it's a film about human trafficking and a man fighting to get his daughter back.

Post 9: Genre research on 'The Prestige'

The whole opening scene has a dark tone, which looks like it is created using mainly natural lighting.
The scene opens on a black background with the title of the film in white, which suggests that there is some kind of conflict between two different sides - possibly light and dark/good and bad. The first shot shows a tracking shot over a pile of hats in the middle of a forest, this gives the audience no clues whatsoever as to the plot, but instead gives them questions and almost immediately leaves them wanting more information.

The first words said in the film are by a deep sinister voice 'Are you watching closely', this might not only tell the audience that it is a film about magic and magicians (also suggested by the great number of top hats), but also that the film is full of small hints and clues to the main storyline that might be missed unless the audience watches carefully.

The next scene changes the mood from dark and threatening to an initially happier yet mysterious mood. This is created by jump cuts of two different scenes taking place with an old man narrating over both, explaining the three stages of a magic trick as the two scenes show the three stages happening. One scene shows (presumably the old man who is narrating) an old man showing a young girl a magic trick. This shows the audience an initial light, innocent side to the story in a small birdhouse, which is contrasted by the darker jump cut: The alternate scene is in a much more majestic setting - a large performance hall - and shows a younger magician on a stage, the mood feeling dark and dangerous again. A member of the audience sneaks backstage, claiming to be part of the act. He has the same voice as the threatening first words "are you watching closely", this suggests that he isn't part of the act and has a darker motive than the film suggests. He then witnesses the magician fall into a locked tank and drown, this greatly contrasts the light innocent scene of the old man showing the little girl a magic trick.
This suggests that there is two sides to the story, that there will be both good and then extremely dark themes in the same film or media text. The sudden shocking contrast between innocence and the graphic death grips the audience and leaves them with more questions without giving any of the answers.

Post 8: Genre research on 'Limitless'

The film opens on the titles in the title sequence appearing with a loud bangs, then a clatter as something metal is dropped. This opening gives the audience no clues whatsoever to go off and (unless they have watched the film before) they would have no idea what is going on. This feeling of confusion and important plot information being kept from the audience makes them want to watch more, so they can find out what happens. The banging and occasional clattering slowly grows louder, this brings a sense of impending doom to the audience as it seems to be building up to a climax. The narration gives the smallest amount of information, that he's done something wrong and someone is after him. He talks about having a 4 digit IQ, this raises questions for the audience, such as what did he do with that intelligence, has it got him into this situation, if not what did. The protagonist (the opening sequence clearly suggests that the narration/man on the screen is both the same person, and the protagonist) is quite clearly in an expensive apartment with a large metal door, the source of the banging that started in the initial few seconds (possibly a security door?), this makes the audience ask if the apartment is his and if he is being attacked, or if he broke into the apartment and people are after him. By the finality that the narration suggests, and the fact that he starts moving slowly toward the edge of the ledge the protagonist is standing on, this makes the audience think that the rest of the movie will be the build up to this point.

Post 7: What is a hybrid?

A hybrid is a piece that combines two different genres (for example, a rom-com) which could be two separate films (for example, a romance film and a comedy film). This might sound similar to a sub-genre, but the difference is that a sub-genre film cannot split its genres into two films, e.g. you could have an action-thriller and a psychological-thriller, it would be possible to have an action film and a thriller film (hybrid), but you couldn't have a psychological film and a thriller because 'psychological' is not a genre (this makes it a sub-genre)

Post 6: What is sub-genre?

A sub-genre is when two genres come together to make a mixture of both. For example:

An action-thriller would have both ideas and concepts from both the action genre and the thriller genre. There would be fast paced chase scenes, fighting scenes, the usual ideas from the action genre, but there would also be the heightened sense of emotion - suspense, anxiety, anticipation, etc. - that are normally found in thrillers.

A sub-genre goes into more detail with the content of the novel/film, as genres such as thrillers can be very broad.

Post 5: What is genre?

A genre is a particular category of literature, art, music, or media. For example, a genre of film could be 'Thriller' or 'Horror'.

 A film in the action genre would have many action scenes, including dangerous stunts, chases and a protagonist who has to overcome overwhelming odds to achieve his/her goal. Usually to save someone (or themselves) either from an antagonist or event which puts someone/a group of people in danger.

Post 4: My group

Post 3: Thoughts on the main task

Post 2: What our main task is

For our main task we have to create the titles
and opening sequence to a thriller film, which must be at least two minutes long. In total the coursework will consist of 100 marks, 60 will be on the construction of the opening sequence, 20 marks will be available for research and planning, and 20 marks will be for the evaluation. This will be 50% of our AS level.
We are expected to have created at least 50 blog posts to show our work and research on this task. 

Post 1: Preliminary Task

Our preliminary task was to make us learn our strengths and weaknesses with the media

techniques we have been taught. This was to help us learn where to improve for our main task. We had to create a short video (under a minute long) that showed a character walking into a room, sitting down at a chair and sharing a few lines of dialogue with a second character. In the video we had to include three techniques:

1) Match-on-action

2) Shot/Reverse shot

3) The 180 degree rule

This short introductory task gave me some experience in editing and directing, which will help me in my main task. For reference, here is the link to my blog on my preliminary task:

http://samjhollowayaspreliminarytask.blogspot.co.uk/