Storyboard!!

Casting...???

For our actors, we have chosen to use a friend of ours, Camille, to play the main character in our film, due to the fact that Gemma and Camille live fairly close, as well as she is a very reliable person so she will be ready to act and have her lines learnt in advance. We have also decided that we are both going to star in the film, because we find it will be easier but we will not be consuming any main roles, which will give us both have a chance to be filming. When Gemma is filming and the killer is in the scene we will hopefully be using Camille's sister, as Gemma and Mariele are the same height and body shape. The killer is wearing a hoodie which will make sure that the face will not be seen - giving the impression that the killer does not have an identity, making them isoloated from the other characters who are obvious and quite stereotypical. By having me in the scene and Gemma filming, and then changing when the killer is in the scene it will give us an equal chance to film; showing the different techniques that we have.

Props...what do we need...???

 

From our synopsis we decided which props we wanted to use. We have found that we will only need three main props through out the filming process, which are fake blood, a knife and lighter. We will be using the knife in the killing scene, but unfortunately I was only about to buy a plastic knife that does not look very realistic, but I will be buying a better one in the next week. The reason for using a knife is because as i have researched it is a very stereotypical weapon to use in a horror film - as it is very intimidating, especially when held against someones neck.  

I chose to buy Gel Blood because it is runny and will drip really well off of the knife, but our original idea was to have blood pellets in the victims mouth, as when the neck is slit blood will pour out from their mouth, so i will be purchasing them in the next week as well - but we will use this blood as well to make it look effective and creepy. Blood is a stereotypical prop used in most horror movies, during killing or chase scenes, it distinguishes who the characters are and what their super objective is during that scene. This is also an affective way to put the audience on edge due to them knowing something bad is going to happen, they are just not sure when, which is how it is a great tension builder when props are involved. 

Location...???

 

Here are some photos which Gemma took from our location this consists of the woods and the road, where we are going to be filming. We thought this would be affective location as it fits well with our synopsis, and is creepy when dark, therefore enhancing the feeling of being watched fitting with our genre. 

Script...

This is a rough outline of what the dialogue in our opening will be like, we decided that some of our dialogue that we will be saying in the opening will be improvised as it will then make it more realistic and show real emotion.

News Report will be played in the background

Melissa Wilson went missing in the early hours of December 19th 2001, 6 months after her disappearance she has been identified and found buried with fatal wounds to the neck her family are in a state of shock and would not comment.

Another girl Joanna mason was also identified and found buried with devastatingly large and deep wounds to the torso only a few meters away from Melissa, both girls went missing on the same day and the killer still remains unknown.  

This is for the scene of the two girls as they walk out of the pub.

Melissa: That was such a laugh Sam was so drunk did you see him completely fall on his face (laugh)

Joanna: oh my god yeah he’s such a light weight.

Melissa: you know what, I don’t know what to do about Sara her parents have made her go cold turkey there’s just no helping her.  (Drunken slur)

Joanna: yeah (not really paying attention)

Melissa: Be careful (catching Melissa as she walks into the road)

Joanna: (angrily) she’s such an idiot why did she have to do it to herself I trusted her and she does this.

Melissa: (upset) I know babe look its hard to be in control on that stuff but we can’t do anything.

Joanna: yeah what do I care anymore it’s her life we just have to have a good time without her. (Laugh)

Melissa: (nerves) Yeah.

(In the Forest girls walk by the pond and sit down)

Melissa: ahh I nearly slipped (laugh)

Noise in the background

Joanna: what was that (scared)

Melissa: nothing (nerves laugh)

Joanna: no it isn’t funny I heard something.

Melissa: yeah probably a bird.

Joanna: okay what ever I really need a toilet.

Melissa: then go over there.

Joanna: what!! I can’t go over there.

Melissa: go on no one is watching.

Joanna: fine!

(Joanna walks of into the forest.)

(Melissa panics a bit as she hears weird noises but can’t see anything.)

(You see Sara’s head appear right beside her head.)

Sara: (whisper) now you will know what it is like.

(Melissa screams)

(Sara slashes her throat and pulls her away)

Joanna: what’s going on don’t mess about.

(Joanna walks out of the forest and a shocked expression appears on her face.)

(Blackout)

SCREAM!!!!!!!!

The End

Target Audience...

Gemma and I took alot into consideration when choosing our target audience, we thought about how easier it would be to build a story for people of different age groups, what type of genre would appeal to certain people more and in the end we found that targeting people of our age group would be easiest. The reason for this would be because being teenagers ourselves we know what teenagers enjoy and what type of thriller/horror they would want to be watching. From our perspective we thought that most teenagers would be looking films such as; A Nightmare On Elm Street, The Abandoned, Taken, The Last Exorcism - hence the reason we have researched into these films. By targeting teenagers we had to think about what story would interest them and how will it leave a lasting image, so we chose to create a story about two girls, that are really close friends, go to a party and get drunk, stumble up to the woods near their home to rest and relax, but once one is left alone, the killer emerges and takes action. We thought this story line would interest the viewer as it is different, and the killer still remains unknown which leaves them with a suspicious feeling that the killer could be waiting for them.  

which font to use??!!

At our last meeting Gemma and I decided that I would research different types of fonts that we could use in our opening titles, by doing this i have been searching for a range of different websites to find creative fonts, that would also put across what type of genre we chose. I was using the Google search engine to find these different websites...

one of the websites that I decided to investigate was http://www.dafont.com/ from looking at this i saw many different types of fonts, and creative styles that we could use for our titles. Some fonts that i thought would be affective for the title of the opening were:

JGJ Uncial - the reason i thought that this would be a good choice for the main title is because it is quite sharp and different, but if we were to use this font then we would change the colours to something bright like reds and yellows and use a black background to make it stand out and making it look bold, insinuating the colours.

Argor Man Scaqh - I thought this would be a good choice for a opening title because it quite close together, showing claustrophobia with the word addicted. This would also have the same colour scheme as JGJ Uncial, as the colour scheme would bring out the evil and frightening sense that is received in the opening of Addicted.

I also found a couple of fonts that i thought could look effective when creating the other titles, from www.1001freefonts.com/ACharmingFont.php, such as producers, actors etc:

A Charming Font - I thought that this could be used for the other titles that we include because it is sticking to the sharp and thin font style, as well as it quite Gothic, which would show that in more parts of the opening it is going to be eerie and dark, building tension.

Abbeyline - This font i found would work well either of the fonts that we use for our main title, as it is also curly but in a creepy way. This would also symbolise the genre, as if it were going to be a happy romantic comedy for example it might have bubbly squiggly writing, but as its a thriller it has curly and sharp fonts.  

we have not yet decided which fonts we are going to use, but we are in the process of doing that now, this will be decided in the next two days, which will then allow us an idea of how we are going to present it in the opening titles and how it is going to affect what people will think of the movie - is it going to attract them and make them want to watch it??



19.11.10

16.11.10

Music To Use In Our Location...

We have now decided our location, and we thought that by adding music it would build the tension further in our 2 minute opening.

This is the music from the end credits of taken, we thought that this music was interesting for our first scene, as our first scene opens with a wall of pictures of the three girls together. It would create an eerie atmosphere from the very beginning making the audience on edge of what is going to happen next.

Other soundtracks that we looked at were Twilight and Twilight Saga; New Moon, these have classical pieces of music that could be a contrast with the setting of our two minute opening because the opening scene is very still, as it slowly pans over the photos. /

we were thinking that when we record our two minute opening, if we were to play this over the top of it at the part when Sarah is left on her own. it would give it a creepier and scarier effect to show the audience something bad is about to happen, building up the intense atmosphere.

The Abandoned!!

How the title appears in 0.06 in the trailer for the abandoned we thought was very affective, it shows just like a quick glimpse of who is producing the film, and how it is show is very affective. The font used is quiet simple but sinister at the same time, which makes the audience see that its going to be quite scary.

At 0.21 seconds the image of the girl holding up the photo to the camera, with a over the shoulder shot, which makes us see it from her POV. I think that we could use this in our two minute opening, when we see the photo of the girls for the first time, burning the photo. This will be showing the first time that the audience will see the main character, and will see how the start is going to pan out.

0.36 seconds into the trailer they have a panning effect in the forest, this looked very affective showing the scenery and setting. We thought this would be a good way to show the setting and the girls surroundings. By doing this the audience will see that something is going to wrong, and this will therefore build up the tension and make a tense atmosphere. 


=]

Synopsis of the two minute opening...

At the start of the two minute opening the camera runs over the wall that is filled with photos of the three friends together, having a laugh and hanging about, different places and locations, camera then turns to a shot of Sara burning a photo of the three girls only showing hands, then from shoulder view, slowing pans up to show Sara looking rough and distraught. Title saying '6 months earlier' then goes to a shot of Mellisa and Joanna walking out of the pub slightly tipsy, talking. Sara leaning against the pub down the alley with light above her, CCTV shot. Then we move to Mellisa and Joanna walking down the alley whilst a different actors plays Sara as she stays leaning against the pub whilst we walk past, we have the actor hooded so they cannot see their face - this is because Sara will be filming the shot. We will then take a range of different shots to show the journey of the girls from the pub to the forest.

Sara will be following the girls up to the forest, from there when they get into the forest Mellisa and Joanna will sit down on a log near the lake, Joanna will start a conversation, Mellisa will answer once. Stick cracks making the girls jump, they start laugh, then go back to conversation. Shot of Sara walking, showing her feet, with heavy breathing. Shot of the girls from the front, with Sara in background, walking past. Joanna goes to further into the forest, Mellisa is now alone sitting by the lake, Sara enters from behind and covers her mouth slits throat and drags her backwards, Joanna comes back to finds that Mellisa is missing, follows blood trail sees 'something!' black out, SCREAMMMM!!!!!! branch snaps!

During our lesson today Gemma and I spoke about our opening and how it was going to plan out, to show the crucial parts making the audience want more. We spoke about and wrote the synopsis for our opening, and decided on some shots and what was going to happen, next lesson we will be discussing character and opening titles.

Production Meeting Notes

these are the productions notes that me and Gemma made during our lesson on friday 5th of novemeber. we decided our genre and locations, actors and we wrote a basis for our synopsis.

The Accused - Level 4 piece of work

We looked at a level 4 piece of work on the website www.getaheadocrmedia.blogspot.com
From this we were given the level criteria which gave us an idea of what we needed to look at in specific detail to get the grades that we wanted. We then watched the video and looked at what they did to achieve a level 4 on their work.

Framing a shot including and excluding elements as appropriate:In this trailer they used a range of different shots which i thought portrayed the message really well, keeping at the same pace, and they defiantly knew when to change to a different shot, instead of using only one.

Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate:How it started at the beginning with an extremely long shot as he was getting closer and running up at the stairs and then changing from a different point of view, where we see the side of him and it is then a mid shot, which shows a varied shot use especially how the distances changed. It is good how they use a range of shots to display the distance from different angles, for example, when he was running around the corner they allowed us to see his face as he ran towards the camera and then they changed the shot to a side view of his feet. By doing this we saw him from a range of different angles.

Shooting material appropriate to the task set:To achieve the task set the group took a different look at their work, used a range of techniques to show us many different points of view and a range of angles to allow us to see different things and people.

Selecting mise - en - scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting:They thought carefully about the weather and if it matched, on each of their scenes, showing it is consistent and that alot of thought had been put into it. They also chose to shoot in black and white and the actors also wore black and white, which i thought was very effective because then we are fully focused on the way that the camera is looking at the actor and how it changed, not being distracted by props and other colours that are around them.

Manipulating photographs as appropriate to the context for presentation, including cropping and resizing:Many of the photos have been cropped to fit in the correct places, by doing this has helped to make the presentation of the trailer look more professional and it made them look appropriate to the presentation and graphics.

Appropriately integrating illustration and text:The text used in the trailer was very good, it was accurate to the content of the video, by the colours and font used on the text. By using the colour white made it stand out and be noticed because a lot of the scene that they are filming in is quite dark and doesn't have much light colours.

Showing understanding of convention of layout and page design:He was able to show his planning and research very clearly in his blog, and used explanations to explain why he did this and how the research on other films and openings helped in his task.

Showing awareness of the need for variety in fonts and text size:He used large titles to show its a different part of the blog, and then smaller fonts on the description of what he is talking about and why, and they used the right colours so that they matched and didn't look out of pace. Using a black background on the slides related to the video and kept to the theme, showing it was going to be quite dark and mysterious.

Using ICT appropriately for the task set:He used his ict skills to edit and cut parts of his footage together to make it look as though it was recorded all in one go, with many different angles. He made the shot changes very sharp and to the point, which therefore made the video more affective when watching it.

Juno Storyboard

this is a storyboard of the timings that the shots changed in the film Juno, this will then help to create the shots when we film the opening sequence ourselves.

13 going on 30 opening

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nHTJRCnndU I thought that how the camera zoomed out at 1.14 through to 1.28 was extremely effective because it was as though they were revealing a whole picture slowly, to us as the audience. i liked how they had a close up of the girls face and zoomed out, automatically allowing us to see the main character which then let us make our own choices on what we thought of her. by having out own interpretations of her we can make judgements on what is going to happen to her during this movie, just by what she looks like.

As Matt came through the door at 2.00 i though it was a good idea to keep the people in the background and around him moving, it showed us that it wasn't just him in the movie and that he was having a moment of his own, it gave me the feeling that it was real life and that it could actually happen.

A Nightmare on Elm Street

 How silence transforms into the eerie music used the at beginning of this movie opening makes the audience scared from the moment the movie starts, it changes the atmosphere as we see the killer walking towards his 'lab' in silence and then it changes to a creepy piece of music that sounds like something that would be used to form a nursery rhyme. As this is played at the beginning of the movie we know that it is his signature piece of music, it is played through out the movie when something bad is going to happen, when he is involved with the murderous scheme. when this is happening in the opening scene, Freddy is calling Tina as she is walking down a dark alley, Freddy calls her name loudly so that she hears him; but then whispers it to show the contrast of how the eeriness is shown in this movie. The weapons he is using, knives and blades that have blood stains on them, allow the audience to realise from the start what type of genre it is going to be, as well as who the main villain is, in this case it would be Freddy.

i found all of these techniques very affective and it changed how i felt at the beginning of the movie, i didn't think it was going to seem as eerie and creepy but the sounds that they used and the timing of when it was used in the film made it very shocking and harder to watch, as you knew something bad was about to occur.

The Last Exorcism Trailor

This shot is showing the fatherly figure with his daughter it’s a comforting long shot and it connotes to the audience that he is trying to help her and calm her down, but in previous shots we have found out that its not all happy, fun loving times in their house hold. This is very stereotypical in a horror movie, as they usually have some sort of typical problem that is happening in their family or home life which causes them to act differently - therefore provoking a different atmosphere, leading up to something going wrong.  By having him looking through the door, the door in this shot is very stereotypical as it is connoting an outsider listening in on the conversation - connoting a sneaky and anxious atmosphere. This also connotes that the person behind the camera is very persistent with their job on wanting to keep an eye on her, trying to track everything that might be setting off the paranormal things. 

By using an extreme close up shot like this, it connotes her real emotions, which allows us to see a three dimensional character - giving the audience a way of bonding and finding a connection, to feel sympathy for her. This also allows the audience to see a stereotypical character in a horror movie, which includes paranormal activities, as she is a normal teenager girl who is dealing with her her mother's death and the fact that she is a perfectly nice girl that has never hurt a soul. Which then has the haunting of having a spirit inside her, that is evil and wants to haunt everybody around her for no apparent reason. This type of horror style is used in many films, shocking the audience and making them feel anxious for character. 

This image is being a close up connoting comfort and trying to keep her calm, whilst everything is going on around her. When looking at this scene i found that this is a counter-type to the typical horror genre killers/haunting being portrayed, the only other film which i have research that connotes this type of revealing is 'The Exorcist', but it was still very different. By having an extreme close up of this shot it makes the audience see that he is really trying to cure her, and that he doesn’t want anything bad to happen to her, as he knows about her past and her family’s past; therefore allowing the audience to gain sympathy for the tragic events that are happening to her as well as her family. The exorcist is also trying to be a father figure in this image as he clasps her hand; letting her feel safe and secure with the process that is about to happen.  Also connoting she is petrified about what is going to happen to her, even though she wants it to go away she is still extremely scared, shown by the tight grip of his hand in this scene.

The title here is very affective, because we can see that it is not a nice happy movie by the colours of the title. The red and yellow and black symbolises death, blood which therefore makes the audience scared about what is going to happen in the film overall. By having the rest of the screen black it’s very affective as you are immediately drawn to the red and yellow colour but also that the colour black is typically associated with dark and fears. I could use this style of text or colour, portraying the dark aspects of my film and how it is related back to the research that i have be doing and the information that i have found out.

The Last Exorcism

i find this image very spooky, because it is as though she is looking out of her window onto the exorcist. Because this film is filmed on a camera by the camera crew that are documenting the exorcists last ever exorcism, this shot makes it look as though the girl has got hold of the camera and is stalking her next victim. With the window frame in the shot I think this is very effective because you can see its quite an old house, which can be suspected in horror movies, but the colours of the grass and then his suit it makes him stand out, especially as he is the only person out there. Going back to the window frame it also again makes him look like she is planning her next victim, which is why he Is in the frame.


I like this shot because it gives you a feel of the surroundings and leaves you wondering what could happen on that tyre swing in the movie. With the house in the background and the tree leaning in to it, I find it looks very creepy and mysterious. I would like to use a shot similar to this in my project, I think its very affective and if there were someone standing on the wooden stairs near the door it would have the feeling of anticipation of what is going to happen next, and is it going to be scary?

Juno Titles

we looked at the opening squence to the film Juno, by doing this it gave me an insight to how much time to leave between each title and how it affected the film's portrayal to the audience.

Fox Searchlight Pictures 17 Seconds

Mandate Pictures Mr Mudd Production 21 Seconds

A Jason Reitman Film 27 Seconds

Juno 30 Seconds

Ellen Page 40 Seconds

Michael Cera 47 Seconds

Jennifer Garner 50 Seconds

Jason Bateman 58 Seconds

Allison Janney 1.03 Seconds

JK Simmons 1.08 Seconds

Olivia Thirlby 1.15 Seconds

Casting By 1.18 Seconds

CostumeDesigner 1.22 Seconds

Music and Songs 1.29 Seconds

Music and Supervisor 1.34 Seconds

Co Producers 1.41 Seconds

Film Editor 1.45 Seconds

Production Designer 1.50 Seconds

Director of Photography 1.54 Seconds

Executive Producers 2.01 Seconds

Produced By 2.05 Seconds

Written By 2.13 Seconds

Directed By 2.18 Seconds

above are the times that the titles appeared on the opening sequence of Juno. By looking at this i got an idea of the timings for my own film opening and helped with the timings that i could or should use.

Exorcist III

This is a screanshot from the film exorcist III, i like this shot as the colours are very bright and explain what is going to happen next, white is like the colour of a saint but yet he is holding a knife, and red is the colour of blood and dealth, showing the audience how the film is going to play through but the colours. This connotes the juxtaposition of the two characters, and how it is going to pan out into something completely different in the end of the story. This is a counter type as stereotypical killers do not look like that, but we cannot see their face which gives them no identity.

This screenshot is from the movie, 'The Grudge' i thought that this was very affective because it seems very powerful, and gives him status. It gives the affect that we are looking up at him from the childs eyes, making us as the audience feel more vunerable watching it. It is also very effect with the dark colours, because it shows something is about to go wrong, with all the blacks and greys. This is because the colour black is related to dealth and the devil. The figure in this shot looks as though it is reaching out to the audience and by being able to see his face expression, we can see that he feels that he has the control, over everything and everyone!

Preliminary Task

this week we have been working on our preliminary task - including a short clip of someone walking through a door and then having a conversation with someone else. we had to include a match on action shot, 180 degree rule and shot reverse shot. i worked with Della, Becky and Gemma to create a preliminary task. we thought that we would use the door that led out to the stairs down to art.

match on action is when you take one shot of something and then take another shot at a different angle or zoomed in/out - showing something important or something is happening for a reason. by having the stairs to our advantage we were able to have Gemma coming through the door and then we zoomed on her hand by dong this it gave us our match on action shot.

180 degree rule is when you stay on one side of someone or something, as though there is a line that cannot be crossed. by doing this we film from one side and stay on that one side. we used this during Gemma and Becky's conversation.

shot reverse shot is where your able to see it from both points of views, from over the persons shoulder you able to film the person saying something then turn it to over their shoulder and seeing their reaction to what is said. we did this during out Preliminary task when Becky and Gemma were having a converation, using this will help us during out short film as we will be experienced with the camera and different techniques to make the film more realistic.

we also used panning to show Gemma walking towards the doors, and show her approaching, this meant we were able to see a whole body shot, and them a mid length shot. we were able to use panning when she was walking through the other side of the door, by using both of these we see movement and her finishing the action through out.

during this task i learnt how the different shots affected the filming, what they were and i also decided whether they woul eb suitable in my short film. i found the 180 degree rule hard to ajust to, as i didnt fully understand it until now. i find that my knowledge of the different shots and angles are progressing.