First Draft

Draft Titles 15/12/15

Font: Copperplate Gothic Bold

First draft titles

Filming 10/12/15

Today was the first day of filming. The weather was overcast, which is what we wanted because we thought that it would help us to create an eerie atmosphere. We completed all of our outdoor filming and managed to incorporate the interruption of rain to our production. We got a shot of the rain bouncing off and into a puddle and then had George come into shot and walk through the puddle, we chose to do this as once edited it would help to set the scene. 

The problems we faced were minor and were easily solved. For example our location was littered and ruined the mise en scene so we cleared it away and continued with our filming. The second problem we faced was with Amy and George because they were un sure on how to perform a certain scene where George grabs her forcefully, however once we had conferred and re assured them, they were comfortable and performed it well. Abi and I took it in turns to Film and direct as we were aware that we had to evenly split the jobs. We helped each other by assisting with the set up of the equipment and we consulted each other with each decision we made. For example, when George wasn't sure where to stand, together we made the decision for him to be completely out of shot to start with and the walk into the shot. We made this decision because we thought it would allow his character to make more impact to the production and emphasise his role in the film, because he would be starting it.

We helped ourselves because we had already drawn a storyboard with specific shots on. As a result of this we were able to limit the time in which we spent filming because we were not making it up as we went along. 

Location shot of George Bartram and Amy Jowett:

Here is an image of Abi and I setting up the Tripod:

Here is an image of Abi and I reviewing a shot that we had just taken:

I was filming a shot of George walking onto the scene, but just of his feet. Because the tripod does not go that low i was struggling to get a steady shot, so I used Abi's foot to rest the camera on in order to get a steady low shot of George. 

Here is a image of us getting the shot:

Props

Our Thriller require minimal props, but the main props needed are essential in order for our film to flow.
A backpack is needed because the male protagonist will need to store another prop in there. It also adds to his character as it leaves the audience to guess what he keeps in his bag.

The second prop needed is hair extensions, these are essential for our thriller, because the whole storyline is based upon the male protagonist's obsession with hair and one of the most significant scenes will be him cutting up the hair in his workshop. We do not require a specific hair colour, but either brown or blonde would be best, because the female characters in our thriller either have brown or blonde hair.

The third prop that we will require is scissors, it is very important that we have this prop because we will need it to film one of the most intriguing scenes: where the male character is cutting up hair. We also need them so record some diegetic sound of them opening and closing in order to add some sound to our film.

Risk Assessment

Risk: Production member tripping over some of the equipment.
How to prevent: Ensure the production crew and actors are aware of the equipment and ensure the equipment is is tucked away if possible.

Risk: The camera falling off the tripod and hitting someone.
How to prevent: Ensure that the camera is secured onto the tripod firmly

Narrative

This is an image of our original, less detailed narrative: 

Our narrative is as follows: 

The opening shot of the Thriller will be a low angle shot of feet walking aimlessly towards an empty film. The angles will vary with this scene from head on, to the side and over the shoulder shot showing the male character walk onto the field. It will the cut to a shot of a male character standing will a female character on the far side of the field. The female will have long hair  which it what draws the male to her. Throughout this scene there will we flickering shots of close up shots of the male character with a handful of a woman's hair smelling it and various signs in his workshop/office at home. The narrative is kept simple as it is only the opening of the Thriller, so we want the audience to think for themselves as to what happens next. There will then be shots of the man cutting off women's hair. The opening scene will finish will a close up of a females mouth and then the male character suddenly covering her mouth.

Actors and costume

Filming schedule

The date that we have chosen to film is Thursday 10th December, we have booked the camera, tripod and some lighting.

Test filming shots

We took 3 test shots of my hair blowing in the wind, to see which looked the most effective. I faced different ways each time to vary the shots.

 

Shot 1:

 

Shot 2:

 

Shot 3:

 

 

Storyboard

In lesson we drew a storyboard outlining the basic scenes that we will include in our production.

Questionnaire

I created a questionnaire on Survey Monkey. The link to the questionnaire is: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/N9KTJ7Q

The results from this questionnaire help us to gather a general opinion of our Thriller opening and allowed us to make decisions based on the feedback we were given. The questions we asked were about the narrative, lighting and general questions regarding our ideas and the Thriller genre.
I got results from 46 people.
Here are some graphs created from my questionnaire results:

Question 1

Question 2

Question 3

Question 4

Question 5

Question 6

Question 7

Question 8

Brainstorm

Here is an image of a brainstorm that Abi and I created prior to filming and in our planning stage.

Location Recce Shots

In Tuesday's lesson, Abi and I decided to go out and take some test shots and shots of the location that we will film at when filming our final piece. We took multiple images of the location, but we then decided to practice some specific shots to see if they would work effectively when we come to filming. For example, we found to locations where reflections are easily captured as we will incorporate these shots into our final film.

Reflection shots:

Shots of the location where we will be filming:

We also took images of props that we will incorporate into our filming as part of the mise en scene.

Images of props:

We took a couple of shots to test the angles and lighting in that specific location:



Analysis of previous students Thriller (Grade A)

Strengths and weaknesses of 'Torn.'

The film begins with a pan of a house, which leaves the audience curious.'Blue Moon Cinema' then appears on the screen, this makes the film look more professional.

Here is a screenshot of the Titles:

It then shows a male character opening the front door of the house, and then cuts from a close up of the character to a clip of a doll and then back to him. This fast editing helps to make the production look high quality and shows that they have used a range of editing. Title continue to appear whilst there are different shots of the character collecting his newspaper whilst he walks round to his garage. Throughout these shots the fast cuts to the shot of dolls continue to play. This is good because it helps to create tension, which is typical of a Thriller movie. As there is a close up of his hand opening the door the cuts to the doll begin to happen more frequently, this again shows a good variety of editing. The film uses a wide variety of shots and angles, for example: Close up, extreme close up, pan, over the shoulder shot and long shots.

Here is an example of a close up shot within the production:

'Torn' video:

Preliminary task- Evaluation

Now that the final version of the preliminary task has been uploaded to YouTube, I can now reflect on it. I am pleased with the final version of our premliminary task, the filming of it went smoothly and we weren't faces with any significant problems. However when we moved on to the editing stage we soon realised that the lighting during the filming was too dark for the camera, as a result of this if we were to film it again I would make sure that the lighting was light enough for the camera. The editing stage was the hardest as it was the first time I had used the software, but it allowed me to learn the basics so that I am prepared when we move on to other editing projects.

Analysis of previous students Thriller (Grade E)

Strengths and weaknesses of 'Ring of Trees'

The opening begins with a poorly lit shot of people running towards a camera, it seems that the only light used might be a torch that one of that one the actors are carrying. This shot makes the production seem poorly made. 

Here is a screenshot of the shot mentioned above:

The titles appear displayed using reverse block (white writing on a black background), the font used is a serif font which creates a sinister atmostphere, this is effective as it puts the audience on edge. 

Here is a screenshot of the Titles:

It then cuts to a shot of an empty field and then contiues to cut to different shots of the field. The shots then change from the field to a building, this is strength of the production as it shows good use of different shots and creates an eerie atmostphere. They use multiple jump cuts to slowly get closer to the building. A strenth of the film is the use of a tracking shot to slowly move down the corridor. However the film then becomes tedious because it is just multiple shots of people walking for about 50 seconds. Once the shots of people walking finish there is shot of people individually talking, the camera pans around to show each character. This is good because it shows each character talking individually without having to cut. The cosume throughout the film is basic and doesn't create any specific perona for any of the characters. Apart from the final character who has a white dress on and face paint which creates a scary persona for the character.

Here is a screenshot of the character in the white dress:

'Ring of trees' video: 

 

Preliminary task- Final Edit

Preliminary task- Filming and editing

Filming

On the day of filming myself and another member of the group acted in the short production, however we tried to film as much as possible when we had the chance to. We filmed more than enough shots so that we had many clips to choose from when it came to the editing stage. Because we only had a limited amount of time to film we made sure that we had made the big decisions regarding the short film before filming. However we did have to make decisions regarding the lighting and angle of the camera throughout the filming. All three of us decided that we should all direct as much as possible so that we were all involved. 

Image of me filming:

Editing

Once we had finished filming, we begin the editing stage. The program we used to edit the clips was Adobe Premiere Pro CS4. I had not used this programme before so I had to learn how to use it whilst I was editing. Because we had taken multiple shots it made it easier to decide which clips to use. We faced a problem when we imported the clips, because we realised that a few of them were too dark, so if we had the chance to re film the short film we would adjust the lighting.

Here is a screenshot of the shot which was too dark:

Image of me editing:

Preliminary task planning

Preliminary task planning

In the planning of our preliminary task we decided early on that we wanted our short film to fit the conventions of a Thriller. Once we had made this decision we then went on to brainstorm potential storylines for the film. However our initial idea was to have an anti climax in the film, so we would build tension throughout and then have a unexpected ending, however we came to the conclusion that this would over complicate the film and not be as effective as we initially thought. With this in mind we decided to stay with the idea of building tension throughout as this is a typical Thriller convention, but we came up with the idea of one of the characters ending up being killed. Our idea was for one of the characters to hand a package to the other and the package wold be used as a distraction in order for one character to kill the other. We decided to keep the dialogue short but intriguing. Our script is as follows: 

Character 1 (C1): You're late.

Character 2 (C2): I got held up.

C1: Thats not what we agreed.

C2: Do you want it or not?

We decided on this dialogue as we all agreed that it would allow the audience to think for themselves about what the characters are speaking about and we thought that it was intriguing. Whilst this dialogue is spoken we decided that the male character who is already sat down would be lit as a silhouette as this creates a mysterious and scary atmosphere. The lighting for the rest of the room will be low key and dimly lit as we thought this would help to create tension. For the props we decided that we would need; a table, a black table cloth, files (for the desk), a box and a bottle or fake gun.

A picture of our brainstorm planning:

Preliminary task planning

A picture of our first draft storyboard:

A picture of our final more detailed storyboard:

'Leave' opening scene analysis

'Leave' opening scene analysis:

The film starts with a white screen and the movie title 'Leave' slowly fades in on the bottom right corner. Non diegetic deep eery sounds play from the beginning and as the white begins to fade to an extreme close up of the characters eyes, a deep, slow drum rhythm begins to play and builds to create a short lived crescendo, as the music stops when the character suddenly opens his eyes. But two beeping sounds are heard, and then stop. This crescendo is used to build tension. It then cuts to a birds eye view shot of a male and female character in bed together. The female is lay on her side, asleep and the male is awake and begins to carefully sit up and get out of bed. It cuts to a long shot of the entire room and the bed with the male character out of bed. It cuts to a long shot of a different room- perhaps the living room where we see the male character walk down the stairs. The lighting is dark which suggests that it is night time.The beeping sound then continues but at a very slow pace.It cuts to a mid shot of the male character at the bottom of the stairs with a confused look on his face. It cuts to a high angle of an empty room with a red glare in the top left corner and shows the male character walk into the room towards the glare, it the pans round to reveal that the beep was nothing but an alarm and the character types in a code to stop the beeping. The beeping sound was used to create tension. When the character walks away a different male character runs into shot and is seen attacking the character. It was silent up until then so it takes the audience by surprise and shocks them- this is typical of the Thriller genre. It cuts to a low angles long shot of the man repeatedly hitting the other character and the only sound is of the hits and them both struggling. It cuts to a close up the man on the floor with blood on his face and the back to a long shot, the cut happens when he is hit again. The character hitting the man holds up a lamp which reveals the extent of the characters injuries and then the light from the light bulb is used to fade into the next scene.

'Casino Royale' opening scene analysis

Although Casino Royale is predominantly Action Adventure, it also falls into the Thriller genre. The scene begins in black and white and has 'Prague Czech Republic' on screen in the bottom left corner. These are both features of editing and they are used to inform the audience and also create atmosphere. The first shot is a long shot of a car pulling up to a building which is dimly lit, this creates suspicion and tension. It then cuts to a low angle, close up shot of a man getting out of the car and looking around. The man thens shuts the door and walks off.
Throughout this scene there is non diegetic eery sounds playing, this helps to build tension- this is typical of a Thriller movie. There is then a low angle shot off the lift going up and it cuts to inside the lift and uses a high angle shot to show the same man we saw previously. A point of view shot is then used as it shows the man looking up and then cuts to the lift levels. Along with the eery non diegetic music playing in the background we hear the characters footsteps as he walks across the empty corridor. This helps to suggest that he could be alone in the building and that something is about to happen. It then cuts to inside a room and the character opens the door and walks in. The camera the follows the character as he walks to the other side of the room, this gives the effect that someone is potentially watching him. As the camera follows the character is moves behind a chair which then confirms the suspicion that someone is watching him. It cuts to a high angle close up of the characters face which reveals his worried and apprehensive expression as he stares in front of him. A point of view shot reveals what he is looking at as it cuts to an open door and then back to his face. The first bit of dialogue takes place as we hear a voice say 'M really doesn't mind us making a little money on the side, Dryden. She would just prefer it wasn't by secrets.' This is spoken in a calm, yet confident tone and then moves to reveal the protagonist- Bond, sitting on a chair behind him. As Bond says this the camera switches to a low angle of him, which suggests that he is in charge and has authority. The camera the cuts to the other character and follows him to his desk, it the cuts to a close up of him opening his desk draw revealing a gun, this creates tension and implies that he is prepared for danger. As he begins to speak it focuses on him in a low angle shot but the changes to a wide angle to show both Bond and himself. The scene is still in black and white which adds to the mysterious atmosphere. Speaking to Bond the character says 'Your file shows no kills. And it takes-' The camera changes to low angle shot of Bond as he finishes his sentences saying 'Two.' A quick cut is used to show a fast paced flashback of a fight between Bond and a un known character. The fast paced editing is effective in the fight scene as it helps to emphasise James Bond's fighting skills and the severity of the fight. It then cuts back to the present and the character holds a gun up to James, it cuts to Bond is is seen un phased by this threatening act. It cuts to a close up of Dryden holding the gun and as he goes to shoot it, nothing happens. A cut to James reveals him holding up the gun magazine. This represents bond as a informed and professional character but also makes him interesting because it shows he knows what he's doing yet the audience are always unaware of what he will do next.

Clip used for opening scene analysis (first 2 minutes 30 seconds):

Titles (In order of appearance):

• Albert R. Brocolli's EON Productions LTD. presents
• Daniel Craig as Ian Flemmings James Bond 007 in Casino Royale
• Starring- Eva Green
• Mads Mikkelsen
• Giancarlo Giannini
• Caterina Murino
• Simon Abkarian
• Isaach De Bankole
• Jesper Christensen 
• Ivana Milicevic 
• Tobias Menzies
• Claudio Santamaria
• Free running stunts by Sebastien Foucan
• With Jeffery Wright
• and Judy Dench as M
• Associate producer- Andrew Noakes
• Production executive- David Pope
• Camera operator- Roger Pearce
• Second unit assistant director- Terry Madden
• Script supervisor- Jean Bourne
• Publicity and Marketing- Anne Bennett
• Promotions- Keith Snelgrove
• Assistant producer- David G Willson
• Sound recordist- Christ Munro
• Electrical supervisor- Eddie Knight
• Stills photographer- Jay Maidment
• Make up supervisor- Paul Engelen
• Hairdressing supervisor- Christine blundell
• Wardrobe supervisor- Dan Grace
• Visual effects and miniature supervisor- Steve Begg
• Supervising Art director- Simon Lamont
• Property master- Ty Teiger
• Construction manager- Stephen Bohan
• Post production supervisor- Michael Solinger
• Unit production manager- Jeremy Johns
• Second unit production manager- Terry Bamber
• First assistant director- Bruce Moriarty
• Casting Debbie- McWilliams
• Stunt coordinator- Gary Powell
• Special effects and miniature effects supervisor- Chris Corbould
• Main Title designed by Daniel Kleinman
• Second unit director- Alexander Witt
• Costume designer- Lindy Flemming
• Editor- Stuart Baird A.C.E
• Director of Photography- Phil Meheux B.S.C
• Production designer- Peter Lamont
• Music by David Arnold
• 'You know my name' performed by Chris Cornell, written and produced by Chris Cornell and David Arnold
• Executive producers- Anthony Waye and Callum McDougall
• Based on the Novel by Ian Flemming
• Screenplay by Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, Paul Haggis
• Produced by Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli
• Directed by Martin Campbell

 Analysis of Titles:

 

The title sequence begins with the classic James Bond composition of 'James' turning round holding a gun, he is framed in what looks like someone aiming through a gun. This scene changes using a transition of blood dripping over the screen. The titles then begin to appear on a red background with the card symbols.

 

Here are two screenshots fro the frames mentioned above:

 

Card symbols are featured throughout the title sequence which links to the title of the film 'Casino Royale', there is also a silhouette of James Bond holding a gun and then shooting it. There is a close up of a gun shooting a bullet which has been developed on the computer. These features help to create a general feel for the film. Guns and fighting are both featured in the title sequence which adds excitment to the clip and emphasises thrilling aspects of the film. The entire sequence doesnt use real people but it shown through sophisticated cartoon like animations.

Here is a screenshot of the fight featured in the sequence: 

 

 

 

Clip used for Titles: