We are going to use non-diagetic music for the opening which will be at a slow pace which will create a tense atmosphere to the audience leaving them questioning what is going to happen throughout the film. The non diagetic music will keep increasing and decreasing throughout it depending when we want to build up tension and when we want to decrease the tension. We are going to create the music using a new software to us which is on the Mac computers called 'Garage Band'. This will let us use a range of different instruments which will have a variety of different sounds which will help us create an effect piece of music which will fit with our footage.
Also there will be diagetic music in the opening which will include the natural sound such as when the 5th victim is walking through the park, the opening of the gate; the snapshot of the camera when taking the picture of the 5th victim in the living room; the noise of the matches being lit.
We are going to have a little bit of dialogue which will be when the 5th victim is walking down the park. The 5th victim will be on the phone having a normal conversation with a friend, but has a feeling someone is watching her so she freezes. Her dialogue will be a response to her friend on the phone asking if she was okay and she responses by saying "Im fine, I just thought I heard something".
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
Monday, 19 November 2012
Production Company
The production company which we have chose to use for our thriller is 'New Line Cinema'.
New Line Cinema is an American film company, which has a large studio. It was founded by Michael Lynne and Robert Shane in 1967. The first full length film which they featured was action thriller film called "Stunts" which was released in 1976. After they released they produced many other successful fins in the thriller and horror genre such as: 'Friday the 13th', 'SE7EN', and 'Destination'. Apart from thriller and horror films, they also produced some comedy films such as 'Sex in the City' films, which have also been very successful.
We have chosen to used this production company as it is one of the biggest production company's. It is well known by most people who enjoy and know about successful films as it has been running since 1967. We thought that we should use New Line Cinema production company as the have made many thrillers such as "SE7EN' which we were influenced by and it would make our film a success as many of their films have already been. Due to SE7EN being very successful, we thought it would be a good opportunity for us as we have a similar narrative as we have a serial killer who kills 5 victims one by one, planning and dragging out each one of their deaths. We thought it would be the perfect production company to make out film successful.
We have chosen to used this production company as it is one of the biggest production company's. It is well known by most people who enjoy and know about successful films as it has been running since 1967. We thought that we should use New Line Cinema production company as the have made many thrillers such as "SE7EN' which we were influenced by and it would make our film a success as many of their films have already been. Due to SE7EN being very successful, we thought it would be a good opportunity for us as we have a similar narrative as we have a serial killer who kills 5 victims one by one, planning and dragging out each one of their deaths. We thought it would be the perfect production company to make out film successful.
Title
To replicate the genre of our film which was thriller, we had to come up with a range of suitable title names which we could use. One of our possible title names were "She is the one". We thought about this name as it reflects our film narrative which is about a serial killer finding his last victim which is a vulnerable girl.
However we also had another name in mind which was "The last chapter", which we chose to use for our opening title name. We chose to use this title instead of the "She is the one" because it explains our narrative, as it is about the 5th victim throughout the film and it is her last chapter of her life. Also because with each one of the victims they all have a different chapter in their lifes where they have all done similar things that link them all together for them to be the victims.
However we also had another name in mind which was "The last chapter", which we chose to use for our opening title name. We chose to use this title instead of the "She is the one" because it explains our narrative, as it is about the 5th victim throughout the film and it is her last chapter of her life. Also because with each one of the victims they all have a different chapter in their lifes where they have all done similar things that link them all together for them to be the victims.
Props
We are going to uses different props in our thriller such as:
- Photocopier- serial killer to photocopy information
- Pictures- Of 5th victim (Emily)
- Books- For killer to read and plan his murder
- Pencil/highlighters- to circle/highlight important information in the books
- Killer= black coat, gloves, hat, hoodie to hide his identity, and keeps the audience guessing
- Rope- Tie up 4th victim
At first we were going to use these props, however we decided to change some of our scenes as it would be too long for a thriller opening. We decided to get rid of the photocopier scene as we felt like we did not need it anymore, as our narrative was clear enough. So the props which we eventually used were:
- Polaroid pictures of the five victims on a rope- We felt like this was a good prop to use as it meant it would explain our narrative, as three of the pictures were already burnt, and after the serial killer killed the 4th victim, he burnt the 4th victims photo.
- Matches- The matches were a vital prop in our opening as they were used to burn each one of the victims photos after the serial killer as killed them. The burnt photo represented the end of their life.
- Books- The books were all scatted around the front rooms large table as we felt it would look effective. It showed that the serial killer is planning on how to kill them, and is doing a lot of research into different ways of killing each one of the victims. He circled the important and key parts in each of the books.
- Rope- The rope was used at the beginning of the opening, where the 4th victim was laying dead by the pool. The rope was used to tie up the victims legs and arms to give it a dramatic effect and to add to the tension.
- Killer- The killer wore a black coat which had a hood on, which he had up at all times, dark trousers and trainers. He had these dark pieces of clothing on so he could hide his identity and keep it a mystery to the audience, to keep them guessing throughout the film. We felt like we did a good job of hiding his identity, however if we had to do it again we would add gloves and try to hid his face more when in the scene of him doing the research on the table.
- The camera was a significant prop within our thriller as it helped the serial killer capture photos of each one of the five victims everywhere they went which help him make a collage of photos of them.
- These pictures are the pictures which the serial killer has searched for a taken so he could have a collage of photos of the victim. This shows that he has been stalking the victim everywhere she has gone to link back to our narrative.
- This photo shows that we used the matches to burn each one of the Polaroid pictures after he killed the victim, to show it is the end of her life.
Setting
For our opening we have a variety of different places where we want to film for our thriller opening such as: Felicity's pool and drive, Victims living room/garden, Gabby's garage and Gabby's back room where the serial killer does all of his planning and research on how he is going to stalk the five victims.
Our first location was shot by felicity's pool where the 4th victim was already dead. We thought this was a good place to film as it is the 4th victims house, and it shows that the killer has stalked her to her own house, which represents our narrative.
The third location is Gabby's garage, where the serial killer kept the pictures of the victims and burnt each picture as he killed them. We used this room as it was a brick garage which gave it a cold atmosphere which added to the tension. The props around the garage were objects such as unwanted items and hammers, which fitted in with our narrative, as they could be used as a weapon. The door where we hung the pictures, we felt like this was good as the door was small which gave it a sense of confusion, and because it was also dirty and scratched. We used a variety of different shot in here such as; close up of pictures, zoom, and long shot.
The forth location is Gabby's house, where we used her gate and her patio for the serial killer to stand, as he has stalked the 5th victim home. We felt like her gate was a good setting as it meant we could do a match on action shot which looked effective as it showed continuity. We also thought steps going up to the patio would be a good place to film as it meant we could do a high and low angle shot making the serial killer seem powerful as he walked up to the patio. Her patio looks in onto the living room where the serial killer could look in watching the 5th victim, and take photos of her to add to his collection. We felt this was a good shot as we could do a long shot which zoomed out from the killer to see the whole setting.
The final location was Arnold park. We felt like this would be a good place to film as it is quite realistic as the 5th victim is walking through the park to get home, whilst the serial killer is up on a hill hiding behind a tree. We felt like we could use a variety of different shots to make it look effective such as a long shot to see her walking, a low angle shot looking down on her from the serial killers view and also a point of view shot from her angle, where she is looking around. By using this shot it made the audience have a sense of what she is seeing and feel more involved. However, in the end we did not think the quality of the filming was as good as the rest of our thriller, so we thought it would be best to take it out.
Our first location was shot by felicity's pool where the 4th victim was already dead. We thought this was a good place to film as it is the 4th victims house, and it shows that the killer has stalked her to her own house, which represents our narrative.
Our second location is Gabby's front room. This is where the serial killer is planning on how he is going to kill the final victim. We thought this would be a good location to films it had cream walls, and a big brown table. We thought the brown table would be a good prop in the room as the killer could spread out books and pieces of information which he has collected. We thought the candle would look effective, as the room is dark due to us turning off the lights and the bright flame is lighting up the information. This makes our atmosphere more tense.
The third location is Gabby's garage, where the serial killer kept the pictures of the victims and burnt each picture as he killed them. We used this room as it was a brick garage which gave it a cold atmosphere which added to the tension. The props around the garage were objects such as unwanted items and hammers, which fitted in with our narrative, as they could be used as a weapon. The door where we hung the pictures, we felt like this was good as the door was small which gave it a sense of confusion, and because it was also dirty and scratched. We used a variety of different shot in here such as; close up of pictures, zoom, and long shot.
The forth location is Gabby's house, where we used her gate and her patio for the serial killer to stand, as he has stalked the 5th victim home. We felt like her gate was a good setting as it meant we could do a match on action shot which looked effective as it showed continuity. We also thought steps going up to the patio would be a good place to film as it meant we could do a high and low angle shot making the serial killer seem powerful as he walked up to the patio. Her patio looks in onto the living room where the serial killer could look in watching the 5th victim, and take photos of her to add to his collection. We felt this was a good shot as we could do a long shot which zoomed out from the killer to see the whole setting.
The final location was Arnold park. We felt like this would be a good place to film as it is quite realistic as the 5th victim is walking through the park to get home, whilst the serial killer is up on a hill hiding behind a tree. We felt like we could use a variety of different shots to make it look effective such as a long shot to see her walking, a low angle shot looking down on her from the serial killers view and also a point of view shot from her angle, where she is looking around. By using this shot it made the audience have a sense of what she is seeing and feel more involved. However, in the end we did not think the quality of the filming was as good as the rest of our thriller, so we thought it would be best to take it out.
Narrative
We watched the film 'Se7en' and straight away we wanted to do something along the lines of this film as the opening of it inspired us due to the different types of shots ands images they used which kept us guessing.
Our narrative is about a serial killers who has 5 victims which are all girls as girls are known to be the vulnerable ones. The killer has 5 polaroid pictures of each one of them on a rope hanging in a garage. He plans to kill the girls one by one by planning how to do it in the library by looking through books and stalking the girls. Our opening starts off with the 4th victim laying by the pool dead, and the killer walking off, goes back to the garage where the polaroid of pictures are and burns the 4th victims photo, which represents her death. Then the rest of the opening is set on the 5th victim. He stalks her and has a collection of photos of her.
After our opening we are going to show a couple of seconds of our narrative which will include dialogue. This will let the audience have an idea of what is going to happen throughout our film, and is taking a clip out of our opening, which will be where the 5th victim is waking down the street and the serial killer is watching over her, taking photos.
Our narrative is about a serial killers who has 5 victims which are all girls as girls are known to be the vulnerable ones. The killer has 5 polaroid pictures of each one of them on a rope hanging in a garage. He plans to kill the girls one by one by planning how to do it in the library by looking through books and stalking the girls. Our opening starts off with the 4th victim laying by the pool dead, and the killer walking off, goes back to the garage where the polaroid of pictures are and burns the 4th victims photo, which represents her death. Then the rest of the opening is set on the 5th victim. He stalks her and has a collection of photos of her.
After our opening we are going to show a couple of seconds of our narrative which will include dialogue. This will let the audience have an idea of what is going to happen throughout our film, and is taking a clip out of our opening, which will be where the 5th victim is waking down the street and the serial killer is watching over her, taking photos.
Friday, 16 November 2012
Characters and Representations
In our thriller opening 'The Last Chapter' we are only going to have four characters. We are only going to have four characters because we are only filming the first two minutes of the opening, which doesn't reveal to much of the narrative. The four characters are:
- Serial killer- Matt Allwood
- 4th victim- Felicity Saunders
- 5th victim- Tonicha Spencer
- Gabby's family- Living room scene
The serial killer is introduced near the beginning of our thriller 'The Last Chapter' as he is the main character within our thriller, as the narrative revolves around him killing the five victims. He first gets introduced when he is sat by a wooden table where he has just killed the 4th victim and is now planning on how to kill the 5th victim which is his last victim. This shows that he is quite secretive, which also gets connoted by the lighting being a low lighting with a candle lighting up the books and pages of information, which suggests that people do not know that he is in there or what he is doing. The costume of the serial killer also shows he is secretive as his identity is always hidden and never revealed.
The 4th victim was the first person to be introduced right at the start of the opening thriller, as she was the victim which got killed. We used a lot of high angle shots as she was laying down on the floor as she was tied up. By using the high angle shots it made her get represented as being vulnerable and innocent.
The 5th victim didn't get revealed till later on in the opening as she was the final victim to be killed. However, we gave the audience an inside of who the final victim was going to be by the Polaroid pictures being in the correct order of how the serial killer killed them. We used a high angle shot when she was walking and talking on the phone, which was from the serial killers point of view as it showed him following her and watching over her which made her look vulnerable. We also did a hand held point of view shot from her angle as it made her look confused and worried as she felt she was being watched.
We decided to use Matt for the role of the serial killer, as he is quite a tall guy which makes him look dominant and intimidating. We thought by using him it would convey a typical villain which would look realistic. Due to him being the villain we wanted to present him in dark colours such as blacks, so we got him to wear a black coat which had a hood on it which instantly created an evil nature. This draws peoples attention to him as black usually connotes evil, dark, scary and unpleasant. This suggests to the audience that their is a darker side towards the society and that people are unaware of bad things which are happening around them. The coat having a hood on it hides the serial killers identity, as he does not want to be recognised which can mean that he is local to the community and is known. This shows that the community might know him and teases them as there perception of the person they know may be wrong.
For the victims, we decided to use five girls. This was because we wanted it to look as realistic as possible and knew the best way to convey this would be to have girls. Females are usually portrayed as the victims in films as they are normal the vulnerable, sweet and innocent ones which is the stereotypical female. These stereotypical features were portrayed by the high angle camera shots looking down on them making them look vulnerable. If we did not follow the stereotypical characters then we may not have conveyed our thriller to the best of its ability. All of these girls were dressed in their normal clothes as we wanted it to look realistic. To the audience they looked like typical teenage girls who go out with friends and enjoy themselves and have good social life's. We also had stereotypical teenage girls as we wanted the audience to be able to instantly be familiar with the social group and know how they act. Due to the serial killer stalking the girls it showed the audience that he was a lived a lot closer to them and know their lives. This shows that stalking can happen to anyone, especially teenage girls due to their vulnerability which interests the audience more due to the apprehension and tension which is being created.
We decided to use Matt for the role of the serial killer, as he is quite a tall guy which makes him look dominant and intimidating. We thought by using him it would convey a typical villain which would look realistic. Due to him being the villain we wanted to present him in dark colours such as blacks, so we got him to wear a black coat which had a hood on it which instantly created an evil nature. This draws peoples attention to him as black usually connotes evil, dark, scary and unpleasant. This suggests to the audience that their is a darker side towards the society and that people are unaware of bad things which are happening around them. The coat having a hood on it hides the serial killers identity, as he does not want to be recognised which can mean that he is local to the community and is known. This shows that the community might know him and teases them as there perception of the person they know may be wrong.
For the victims, we decided to use five girls. This was because we wanted it to look as realistic as possible and knew the best way to convey this would be to have girls. Females are usually portrayed as the victims in films as they are normal the vulnerable, sweet and innocent ones which is the stereotypical female. These stereotypical features were portrayed by the high angle camera shots looking down on them making them look vulnerable. If we did not follow the stereotypical characters then we may not have conveyed our thriller to the best of its ability. All of these girls were dressed in their normal clothes as we wanted it to look realistic. To the audience they looked like typical teenage girls who go out with friends and enjoy themselves and have good social life's. We also had stereotypical teenage girls as we wanted the audience to be able to instantly be familiar with the social group and know how they act. Due to the serial killer stalking the girls it showed the audience that he was a lived a lot closer to them and know their lives. This shows that stalking can happen to anyone, especially teenage girls due to their vulnerability which interests the audience more due to the apprehension and tension which is being created.
Tuesday, 6 November 2012
Mood Board Of Thirller Films
We have looked at many different types of thriller films, such as 'SE7EN', 'Memento' and 'Physco'. There are also some other thriller films on the mood board below which have all been very successful.
·
Target Audience
The target audience of the thriller genre is usually the age rating of 15 or 18. It depends on what the narrative of the film is, and how much violence and inappropriate language is being used.
For our film we have decided to use an age rating of 15 as
we are aiming our film at older teenagers. This means that only those who are
15 and over will be able to watch it. We have chosen to aim it towards the age
rating 15 plus so we could include taboo language, violence and inappropriate scenes
such as a murdering scene, which is a possibility in our film.
We felt that the age
rating 15 was a good rating to choose because teenagers are the type of
audience who go to the cinema and are interested in thriller movies as they
have plenty of time to watch them. We thought that teenagers would relate to
our film more as we have a teenage actor playing the victim role. We also think
that it would be easier to aim our film to teenagers as we are teenagers
ourselves, and we would enjoy watching it and we felt like we could relate the
film to other teenagers so they would find it appealing.
Friday, 2 November 2012
Preliminary Task
As part of our media coursework we got set an assignment
where we had to create a short clip to show that we could use different camera
angles to show our skills and also to show our editing techniques.
·
Match on Action- This was one of the difficult
actions to achieve, as it is all about timing and being precise so it will be
able to flow efficiently when edited. This shot shows continuity editing
because you have to put two different shots together. We used this shot when
Abbie is pulling down the door handle to enter the classroom, and the shot
after it is her walking through the door into the classroom, as shown on the
images.
·
Shot reverse shot- Our shot reverse shot action
was filmed after the match on action shot. It is normally used when filming two
characters (Abbie and Ellie) having a conversation. However it always has to be
on the same side as the 180 degrees angle. We felt like this was a simple and
easy shot to achieve.
·
180 Degree Rule- The 180 degree rule is used
when doing the shot reverse shot. When two people are having a conversation the
camera should be on the same side on the imaginary line as shown on the images
from our preliminary task. It means that the camera should not pass the
imaginary line because if it does it makes the scene look unusual. However some
directors will purposely break the line of action for a specific reason for
example if they want to create a disorientated shot.
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