Due to the equipement being borrowed from school and taken off premise, we concluded that a risk assesment would be a sound way of securing that all the equipment, and actors remained safe/intact whilst filming.
RISK PROBABILITY SOLUTION
Droping Camera 30% Keep in bag when not filming
Trouble whilst filming
outside school 40% Gain permission from school first
Actors injuring themselves
on the road 20% Check roads carefully before
crossing
Equipment getting lost
or stolen 10% To be careful who we film around
and to do an equipment check
every 30mins
Friday 27 February 2009
Actors
We decided as a group that I should play the role of the antagonist. Being the height of most fully grown men, it would seem appropriate to use myself as the actor. The other actor will be Jade's younger brother who will be the one being stalked by myself. He is of around the age of 9 and is significantly shorter than myself which makes it seem more realistic.
Actors:
Alex Papadopoulos
Jamie Ashmore
Alex Papadopoulos
Jamie Ashmore
Thursday 26 February 2009
Conventions of a Thriller
A crime at the core of the narative (often a murder).
Complex narrative structure with false clue and resolutions.
A narrative pattern of establishing or setting up enigmas which the viewer expects to
be resolves.
A protagonist who is systematicaly disempowered and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist.
Extra ordinary events happening in ordinary situations.
Complex narrative structure with false clue and resolutions.
A narrative pattern of establishing or setting up enigmas which the viewer expects to
be resolves.
A protagonist who is systematicaly disempowered and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist.
Extra ordinary events happening in ordinary situations.
Locations and Costumes
The opening scene is shot outside William Lilly Primary school as the children are coming out of the school. The school and the school uniform help to give a sense of innocence. The music will help to create a feeling the the children are leaving this safe haven and are walking ever closer to the preying eyes of the antagonist.
Further down the road from the school, there is a corner shop. The children will stop off here. This just helps to add a bit of continuity to the piece and help it flow better.
The rest of the piece will continue to be shot along this road, as it is very vercitile and hosts a number of different streets and parks which can be used to give our film the realistic suburban look it needs.
The last part is shot in doors and needs to be dark and candle lit. Seeing as this isn't shot outside it can be filmed in anyone one of our groups houses'.
School Children - The school children will be dressed in their school uniform, this reflects their innocence and also helps to show the audience the role of the actors.
Paedophile - Wolly hat, dark long coat with the coller turned up. Dark colours reflects lonely and depressed life.
Further down the road from the school, there is a corner shop. The children will stop off here. This just helps to add a bit of continuity to the piece and help it flow better.
The rest of the piece will continue to be shot along this road, as it is very vercitile and hosts a number of different streets and parks which can be used to give our film the realistic suburban look it needs.
The last part is shot in doors and needs to be dark and candle lit. Seeing as this isn't shot outside it can be filmed in anyone one of our groups houses'.
School Children - The school children will be dressed in their school uniform, this reflects their innocence and also helps to show the audience the role of the actors.
Paedophile - Wolly hat, dark long coat with the coller turned up. Dark colours reflects lonely and depressed life.
Pyschological Thriller Research
Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the wide-ranging thriller genre. However, this genre often incorporates elements from the mystery genre in addition to the typical traits of the thriller genre.
Generally, thrillers focus on plot over character, and thus emphasize intense, physical action over the character's psyche. Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this formula to a certain degree, emphasizing the characters just as much, if not more so, than the plot.
The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_thriller)
This is an extract from a wikipedia defining what a pyschological thiller is. This helped greatly when desiding upon our shots and the effect which we wanted them to have on the audience.
Generally, thrillers focus on plot over character, and thus emphasize intense, physical action over the character's psyche. Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this formula to a certain degree, emphasizing the characters just as much, if not more so, than the plot.
The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychological_thriller)
This is an extract from a wikipedia defining what a pyschological thiller is. This helped greatly when desiding upon our shots and the effect which we wanted them to have on the audience.
Questionnaire
This is an example of the questionnaire I used to gain some background knowledge and ideas for creating our piece. This gave us clear picture of our target audience and the things which they would like to look for within it.
I sent my questionnaire to everyone in my contact list. The majority suggested that they prefer a psychological thriller, with a sense of mystery at the start. I believe that we have managed to incorporate this into our piece thanks to the extensive feedback we gathered from our questionnaires.
What kind of thriller do you enjoy the most?
Psychological
Adventure
Sci-fi
Crime
How often do you watch thrillers?
Once a week
More than once a week
Not very often
Not at all
What was the last thriller you watched?
How old are you?
14-20
21-35
36-50
50+
What do you like to see in the opening of a thriller?
Immediate Action
Complex beginning
Mystery
Interesting Dialogue
Q1)From my questionnaire I established that most people liked psychological thrillers more than the other sub genres. It gave us a clear indication of the kind of film we needed to make. We researched into the features of psychological thrillers and tried our best to incorporate them into the piece.
Q2)Most of the people that completed the survey said that they watch thrillers once a week or not very frequently. This told us that we had to create a piece which would stick in the minds of the people who watched it instead of being a "once a week viewing."
Q3)I sent my questionnaire to my whole contact list. I received replies from about forty people. Twenty of those people were in the age group 21-35, the rest was aged between 14-20 and 36-50. This gave us a clear indication that the film needed to be portrayed in such a way that it would appeal to an older audience.
Q4)The last question was probably the most important as it showed us what kind of mood we could set. The results came back and most people said they preffered to see a sense of mystery in the beggining of a thriller.
I sent my questionnaire to everyone in my contact list. The majority suggested that they prefer a psychological thriller, with a sense of mystery at the start. I believe that we have managed to incorporate this into our piece thanks to the extensive feedback we gathered from our questionnaires.
What kind of thriller do you enjoy the most?
Psychological
Adventure
Sci-fi
Crime
How often do you watch thrillers?
Once a week
More than once a week
Not very often
Not at all
What was the last thriller you watched?
How old are you?
14-20
21-35
36-50
50+
What do you like to see in the opening of a thriller?
Immediate Action
Complex beginning
Mystery
Interesting Dialogue
Q1)From my questionnaire I established that most people liked psychological thrillers more than the other sub genres. It gave us a clear indication of the kind of film we needed to make. We researched into the features of psychological thrillers and tried our best to incorporate them into the piece.
Q2)Most of the people that completed the survey said that they watch thrillers once a week or not very frequently. This told us that we had to create a piece which would stick in the minds of the people who watched it instead of being a "once a week viewing."
Q3)I sent my questionnaire to my whole contact list. I received replies from about forty people. Twenty of those people were in the age group 21-35, the rest was aged between 14-20 and 36-50. This gave us a clear indication that the film needed to be portrayed in such a way that it would appeal to an older audience.
Q4)The last question was probably the most important as it showed us what kind of mood we could set. The results came back and most people said they preffered to see a sense of mystery in the beggining of a thriller.
Thursday 12 February 2009
The Matrix
The opening to the matrix shows a screen with computer scripts running across it (stereotypical of the matrix), it straight away gives us an idea of a sci-fi genre but as the film starts to run we a shown a close up of a torch which then zooms out to reveal a dark room filled with police officers. The police are then attacked by Trinity in true action thriller style. Using a great number of techniques, they are able to create the illusion that time stands still for a moment. Although still the audience is unsure as to the plot, location or the reasons for this initial fight scene. As with all thrillers, the audience is left asking questions.
The Godfather
The opening to the Godfather starts with a dark screen with the theme music playing in the background. Already this builds up slight tension and is very effective for putting questions in the audience’s mind, which becomes more eminent further through the clip. As the black screen slowly moves into a dimly lit room the audience are presented with an Italian man speaking about a crime which has gone on (the film from the start shows it’s major theme to be related to crime and violence) with his daughter. The camera zooms out slowly and begins to reveal another man behind a desk; this is done to increase the audience’s interest. The slow movement of the camera can be used to symbolize the sinister plot which is to come.
Tuesday 10 February 2009
Preliminary Piece Planning
These are the planning sheets i used to plan the preliminary task. It included the story board sheets and dialogue sheets, both of which were essencial in making this an easy and stress free task.
Thriller Conventions
As a group we discussed what we believed would create the best kind of thriller. We decided that media techniques such as close ups, long takes or fast editing (and many more) could be used in a way which would give the peice the desired appearance. We concluded that music plays a large role in deffining the mood of a piece and therefore is pivital in the making of this short film. Although we have already decided upon a setting, we believe we can exploit lighting in such a way to create a very eerie and "creepy" setting.
- We as a group feel that making the story line clear to the audience is paramount, although keeping some mystery could work to our advantage when making the film.
- Good/bad charachter structure is sometimes ambiguous, so we feel that making this clear in ours is a necessity.
- We believe creating mystery surrounding the charachter and the storyline is very important in making this as close to a real thriller as possible.
- Music can play an essential part in establishing the mood of a piece, so utilising this to the best of our ability is very important if we wish to succeed.
- Having short titles, relevant to the story line or plot to increase suspence.
- Main identity of charachter to be questioned throughout the piece, creating a sense of mystery.
Final Idea
· We merged two ideas together to form out final idea, these two ideas covered issues of Paedophilia and Child Abuse.
· Flash backs to paedophile being abused as a child.
· Main Focus – Collage of photos of children in a candle lit room, in the middle, a bigger picture of one particular child
· Character sat watching
Character Summery
A psychologically disjointed character, who was abused and neglected as a child, thus leaving him in a mentally instable state, who now; as an adult, pursues the life style of an obsessive, compulsive paedophile.
Costume
Paedophile – Dark clothing, long coat, black trousers.
Children in photos – Clothes to emphasize age and innocence.
Possible Camera Angles To Use
· Panning – Slow paced camera movement, slightly lethargic.
· Low Angle Shots – Make the paedophile look domineering and powerful.
· High Angle Shots – On flashback to reflect portray the vulnerability and helplessness of the paedophile when he was abused as a child.
· Pauses/Slow Movement – To show where particular attention is needed.
· We merged two ideas together to form out final idea, these two ideas covered issues of Paedophilia and Child Abuse.
· Flash backs to paedophile being abused as a child.
· Main Focus – Collage of photos of children in a candle lit room, in the middle, a bigger picture of one particular child
· Character sat watching
Character Summery
A psychologically disjointed character, who was abused and neglected as a child, thus leaving him in a mentally instable state, who now; as an adult, pursues the life style of an obsessive, compulsive paedophile.
Costume
Paedophile – Dark clothing, long coat, black trousers.
Children in photos – Clothes to emphasize age and innocence.
Possible Camera Angles To Use
· Panning – Slow paced camera movement, slightly lethargic.
· Low Angle Shots – Make the paedophile look domineering and powerful.
· High Angle Shots – On flashback to reflect portray the vulnerability and helplessness of the paedophile when he was abused as a child.
· Pauses/Slow Movement – To show where particular attention is needed.
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