Sunday, 3 March 2013

Storyboard



Storyboard



. A storyboard is used for planning out scenes of a film bit by bit. This gives you a chance to draw out or make an idea of how everythings suppose to look from the cinematography to the mise en scene of the film. The storyboard also includes the duration of each cut, the clip numbers and also if there's is any dialoge that needs to be spoken. Each cut also explains the narrative telling the audience what's going on.

. It's always important to have a storyboard because it illustrates that you have planned out and have thought about your ideas carefully and orderly. Storyboards are very important in the film industry because they all need to follow the storyboard in order to have a successful and well planned film.






































































































I've have learnt that storyboardging is very important increating a film and a film wouldn't get to be so successful with out the use of the storyboard and in order to have a successful thriller,I need a successful and properly ordered storyboard.

Post-production: Soundtrack of the thriller production


Post-production: Soundtrack of the thriller production: Miss Begum


Soundtracks are very important to thrillers because it plays a bigrt in the film when it comes to the effectiveness of the thriller. For instance, imagine a thriller without a soundtrack, it wouldn't have any impact at all on the audience because the soundtrack illustates tension, feelings and fear within the target audience.

The use of sound has a big imact on the target audience considering that the sound creates the feelings of tension and fear within the audience. As the tension in the thriller builds the sound also grows louder and is at it's loudest when dramatic scenes or when action has taken place in the film.



A convensional sound track for a thriller always include and depend on these three key things... 1.An Eary Effect 2. The Pace and 3. The Character. Firstly I would like to explain the first key thing to why it makes a thriller convensional. An Eary sound effect always gets the audiencve feeling uncomfortable and making them feel a scense of fear and a build up of tension. This is used in all thriller films because this is what gets the audience intrieged and curious to what is going to happen in the next scene.
 Secondly the pace of the soundtrack/effect. This is very convenstional because the soundtrack depends on the pace of the scene and the film overall. For instance, When there is a build up to action or an attack the sound track used at this poinjt will be slow and quiet and as more action is taking place, the soundtrack will then speed up to combine with the pace and movement of the fim. As there is a dramatic scene occuring the pace of the soundtrack is then at it's loudest and fastest to convey to the audience that there is danger amognst the characters in the film.
Lastly, the character. This is very important to a convensional thriller because the soundtrack also reflects on the characters personality. For example the protagonist is more likely to have the less dramtic soundtrack unless the character is in a scene where they are being attacked or trying to get away from being hurt. On the ohter hand, the antagonsist will have more of a dramatic arrival to the film by using louder and more dramatic sound effects.

To create the soundtracks for the thriller film I used the Programme Garadge Band
Garage band has a range of different sound effects and soundclips that you can create or that you can use. For my soundtracks I created my own because I wanted it to be more original to my group's thriller.




In this case I created a range thriller sound tracks for my film. To do this I used the garadge band programme. The insprations I used where the distorted sounds from Se7en to create that effect of confusion with the flashing imasges. My other inspirations was influenced by the film The Extersist. This film inspired me to create an Eary but dramatic sound track to use for different parts of my thriller opening. The more less dramatic soundtracks were planned to be used for the scenes that had a build up of tension. For example when the Antagonists stalk the protagonsist and when the protagonist realised she is captured. The more louder soundtracks I created are based on the more dramatic scens that are focused on the antagonists of the film.

I think in my thriller soundtrack I thought about it carefully first about how I wanted it to sound like. What sort of sounds would set the audience on edge? At the end I used the Idea of the sounds starting off quiet and then eventually grew louder and more eary.

How do you believe that the soundtrack has helped your overall production? What has the impact been? Do you believe your thriller is now more conventional?
Now that the soundtrack has been created and has been fitted in to the right scenes, I can now say that my thriller is conventional. 

Thursday, 28 February 2013

Pre-Production Paperwork



Pre-Production Paper work



L.O: To know the different types of revelant paper work and to be able to produce pre-production paper work.
 Pre-production  paperwork is paper work that needs to be signed by the cast agreeing to the conditions of creating the film. Until all of the paperwork is signed and sent off, the movie wouldn't be allowed to be filmed until it's all signed.
It is also relevant when it comes to planning because you can look through it step by step.

There are five types of pre production paper work:
.

Production schedule: A production schedule needs to be given to all members of the cast letting them know what time the cast should start filming to when it should be finished. Also letting them know the follwing updates and dates of when the cast are filming.
 
Location Recce: A location reccee is a form to agree that the cast has had permission to used the location by the location owner. This includes instructions on how to get to the location and when the location is vacant to be used by the cast members to shoot scenes for the film.



 
Risk Assessment: A risk assessment is carried out before the cast can film. This is to warn any cast members that they are at certain risks of getting hurt or damages that may occuer during ther film. This is important because without the risk assessment done the cast cannot film and it's for their own health and safety risks.



 
Location Release form: Lcation release is similar to a lacation reccee form. This also need to be sighned by the location owner agreeing and allowing them to use the location.

 
Client Release form: A client release form needs to be given to every cast menmber discussing the terms and conditions of the film.

 
Pre production paperwork is very important because it's organised in a way where all cast members can understand the terms and condtitions, the risks and consequences and the folowling outcome of the film.
 
This helps a lot because then by following the paperwork everything is in order of how things are suppose to be.

Wednesday, 27 February 2013

Planning Cinematography, Sound and Editing


Planning: Cinematography Planning (Miss Begum)

Cinematography is important in films because this is what makes up the film overall and is in control of the effectiveness of the film. For example, certain shots will be used in different parts of the film for specific reasons which would need to be thought and planned properly and being able to explain why this shot was used in a particular scene. Also, in cinematography it is the representation of a characters body language, facial expressions and body movement.

Some of the conventional uses of cinematography in thrillers are Extreme Close ups (ECU), Low angles and Canning shots. Extreme close ups are very familiar within the thriller genre because it conveys a lot of detail within the characters expressions and emotion. For example, when the protagonist reveals fear it portrays the emotion through using extreme close ups to show the audience how this character are feeling. Or, when the antagonist is illustrated in detail, this makes the audience feel uncomfortable and creates a lot of tension building to the viewers of the film. Secondly low angles; Low angles are used effectively in thrillers to show the dominant character of the film, like who leads the film between the antagonist and the protagonist. It also shows of the Brave side of the character and the more powerful and intimidating side of a characters persona. Including this shot being complimented by an POV shot of the weaker character whilst a low angle is taken on the stronger character when defeated.

The cinematography I plan to use in my thriller consists of the following:

1. Close-up will be used when the antagonist is about to attack or when the protagonist aware of her surroundings in discomfort showing her fear.… I have chosen to use this because it shows the emotion and facial expression of the character and how the character responds and how the character is feeling… This is conventional to the thriller genre because it’s a very popular shot used in every thriller film also, in my own thriller film, a lot of close ups of the included characters will be filmed and used for the thriller.

2. An Establishing Shot is important because it sets the scene of a new location. It also gives the audience a sense of what type of thriller it might be, such as an abandoned house would represent exploring and action, or a girl that’s home alone and is an uncomfortable atmosphere. In my film, the scene is a ritual room. This shot will be one of the first shots of our trailer/opening because the audience can get from it what type of thriller it will be.

3. Close up should be used on objects around the room. I have chosen this because I want the audience to be aware of the objects around the room and also to develop skills to be observant in recognising the objects such as knifes, harming tools etc. This is a conventional thriller because using close ups on the tools would indicate that there is a mystery behind the usage of these weapons used by the antagonist

4. Medium Close up to show body language to match the facial expression.

5. High Angles will

6. Low Angles

7. Extreme close up




Planning: Editing Planning (Miss Begum)




Using Editing in films is very important because it’s the speed of the editing which controls the mood of the film. For example slower examples of editing are more effective in creating tension and suspense within the audience whereas faster examples of editing are more effective in when action and dramatic scenes are taking place in the film. Editing also links in with sound, pace and timing which are all combined to control how the film starts to how the film finishes. Editing is also used to have a direct impact on how the audience feels to how the audience responds to different parts of the Thriller film depending on the films atmosphere.

Some of the conventional uses of editing in thrillers are slow paced editing, fast pace editing and the effects of slow motion. Firstly Slow pace editing is conventional to a thriller because slow paced editing is used to create suspense and tension within the audience because

The editing I plan to use in my thriller consists of the following:

1. Slow paced editing will be used when the protagonist has awakened from her kidnap I have chosen this because this slow pace will eventually speed up as she realises that she’s not in her usual environment and starts to panic. This is conventional to a thriller film because it creates an uncomfortable atmosphere to portray that something is wrong.

2. Montage will be used in the thriller, between the credits consisting flashing images of the objects such as blood, knifes etc.  Also indicating flashes that the protagonist was stalked in her past days by the antagonists as she was a target to them. Also using a montage creates excitement because the images won’t make sense at first, this is to confuse the audience.

3. The third edit I want to include is fast pace editing. I want to use this because it it’s very effective when it comes to dramatic scenes because the edits would be so fast to confuse there audience and to create fear.

4.  Another edit I want to include is fading to black. I think this is effective because it could be presented as a cliff hanger which creates suspense and makes the audience interested in the film and makes them want to con

5. Again we choose Fast pace editing because we include using it for flashbacks. These flashbacks are going to illustrate little sections of the girls life before she was captured bt the antagonists





Sound Planning
Sound is a very important micro element because this micro element is the one which creates the most atmospheres within the audience. Sound also works very well with the effects of editing. When combining the two micro elements they work well with each other to create a series of dramatic effect and fear with in the thriller genre. Some of the conventional uses of sound in thrillers are Non diegetic sound; Non diegetic sound is conventional to a thriller because it’s not a part of the film and can be created to work with the mood of the film or the pace of the editing. For example, soundtracks voice overs etc. Another example is diegetic sound. This is very important because these sounds are sounds which aren’t added in; they’re a part of the film. For instance, a girl walking through leaves which makes a rustling and crisp sound, or the sound of a telephone ringing.
·         Non-diegetic soundtracks: these are used to help create
·         Diegetic sound:
·         Off-screen sound: for example footsteps of someone/killer who is approaching the scene to kill…
The sound I plan to use in my thriller consists of the following:
1. Non- diegetic sound will be used when…the protagonists tries to get out of the antagonists trap I have chosen to use this because you can tell by the pace and how loud the music is because she's in great danger… This is conventional to the thriller genre because in thriller films, when there is tension the music starts to grow louder and become more dramatic as action is taken place.
2. Diegtic sound will be used when the protagonist wakes up from a pov shot and hear heavy breathing. This will give the audence a sense of fear to show that the protagonist is afraid.
3.off screen sound will be used when the antagonists are stalking their target. This is because we think bt listening to the sounds the audience can have their own idea of the storyline instead of listening to dialogue.
4.non diegetic sound will be used when she wakes up and a long shot will be shown of her looking around the room as she realises she isn't in her normal environment.
5.diegetic sound will be used at the end when the antagonist blows out the candle to show that it's the end of the scene.
6.off screen sound will be used when the antagonists appear out of the shadows and approches the captured protagonist. This is a good way of using offscreen sound because instead of hearing footsteps you wouldn't know when the antagonists are going to appear. 

Developing Ideas as a group




Developing Ideas as a group


As the group was developing our ideas we came up with three key ideas together.

1. The first Idea we had was based around bullying and revenge. Our two minute trailer was based on a school boy who always use to get bullied everyday for just being himself and one day managed to finally getting the revenge that he wanted by turning into the areas unknown killler. Capturing all of his victims from inside and outside school who use to bully him in his daily life killing them one by one. As the school pairs realise each day that a class mate or a pupil at school is missing, as he just sits in his seat...still.

For this idea we thought of using the school as it was a school based idea. For instance, The mise en scene of the thriller would also be based around school life such as the costume, lighting, iconography, location and colour. This could also confuse the audience because they'll just see it as a school setting but is yet to see the story behind it.

2. The second idea we had as a group was a stalking idea. A girl as she walks with her friends is being stalked all the way home. As her friends leave her to make their way home  the stalker makes their attack killing her as she lies there. She is later found by someone as they seek for help and as the stalker moves on to it's next victim.
For this idea we thought of using an ally way or a mysterious looking park to set the effect of making the audience feel uncomfortable. Also thinking of what type of  characters we would use to play these roles.

3. The third idea we had as a group was mostly based on a ritual. The antagonist abducted a victim who in this case is a 19 year old girl to do some sort of cerimony and to test things out on her. They have chosen her because in her past days she has been watched and studied by these antagonists.
The idea for this was to also use flashbacks inbetween to show how she ended up in this situation and also flasbacks of confusing images to create fear within the audience. Also we decided to use a dark room with candle based lighting to set the scene of it being a ritual

Questionnaire and results



Questionnaire and results


I have created my own questionnaire in order to get results from the public of different age groups on what they would expect to see in a classic thriller film, giving me ideas in what I could out into my own film.
These were the questions asked.

1. How old are you?
10-15
16-20
21+

2. What is your gender?
Male 
Female

3. Are you into thriller films?
Yes
No

4. How many thrillers do you watch within a month?
1-3
4-6
7+

5. What do you expect to find in a thriller film?
Blood
surprises
Comedy
Tension

6. Do you think thriller films are a popular genre?
Yes 
No

7. Do you think a thriller would be more interesting if it was joined with another genre? (Sub-genre)
Yes 
No

8. Is it more interesting when the narrative has a twist?
Yes
No

9. Is there always a villain in a Thriller?
Yes 
No

10. When you watch a thriller what things do you notice? Tick one
Colours/Lighting 
Sounds
Cinematography (Camera shots)
Edits

11. What would you like to see in a classic thriller?

12. What do you think is the appropriate age to start watching thriller? (Choose between 10-18)

13. What do you think has more of an effect? Choose one
Classic Thrillers
Modern thrillers
14. Do you prefer a thriller with more technology?
Yes
No

I asked Ten different people of different ages and genders and got back a series of results. 6/10 agreed that classic thrillers are better than modern thrillers. 5/10 also agreed that they want more technology used.10/10 mostly take notice of the sounds and cinematography of the film and also agree on always having some sort of antagonist on the scene of a thriller film. Over all the age range for watchinh thrillers varied from 16-20 year olds male amd female which aslo made the results similar to eachother.

Production Roles



Production Roles


Camera Operator:
Is the person behind the camera who films the scenes and operates the camera functions, he/she will also work with the storyboard manager and the director of the film to take instructions from them and what parts to film and not to film and what angles and timing to use. They should create effective shots that will be relevant to the thriller genre.
For this role the group agreed on using Jessica for this role. The reason for this is because she is very organised and has an artistic vision into what this film should become.

Actors:
These are the people starring in the film, also known as the characters. They will also work with the director also following instructions of what to do and say in that particular scene. Their job is to get into the character they were given and to act out their life to deliever the character's personalities to the audience.
The Actors of our film are Kay, Onat, Jessica and Jasmine and Some extras. The reason for this is because each of us in the gruop wanted to take part also to have some help from our extras that we have chosen.

Sound Technician:
Is the person who is behond in creating the soundtrack and the sounds for the scene, they work with the storyboard manager to decide on what sounds they want to use for that scene.
We decided as a group to put jessica and I as sound technicians. We decided this because we both work well with music and are able to create sounds that will fit the thriller genre.

Editors:
An editors job is to edit the scenes of the film, they also work with the storyboard manager and the Camera operator to decide at what parts of the film they'll edit and what type of montage to use and hat type of sequence of shots should be used.
For this we have Chosen Kay because we think that He'll be good at Cutting and editing parts of the film that will not confuse the audience.

Film Director:
The film director is the person who is in charge of everything that goes on in the film making but is mostly in control of the actors. Also to make sure that everything what goes on is effective and reflects the film producers ideas. The film director is also in control of the elements of mise en scene. They work with the whole team and makes sure that they are pursuing in the producers aspirations.
For this we have Chosen all of us. Kay, Jessica Jasmine and Onat. The reason for this is because while we are filming we can all work together at the same time. It will be easier because we all got our queue and an idea of where to come in in particular parts of the scene.

Location Manager:
The Location manager is the person who is in charge of where the film is to be set and also chooses the different locations for different scenes. Also the location manager is in charge of what time of the day is the best time to film to enhance the impact the scene has on the audience by choosing the scenes they can relate to making them more engaged and interested in the scene.
The group chose Onat to be location Manager. The reason for this is because we think that Onat would be good at deciding what will be the right time to film and what day would be a good day to film and is willing to listen to any other suggestions.

Storyboard Manager:
The storyboard manager is the one who creates the film on a story board which shows all the other  production managers a rough idea of what is going to happen in what scene. They should make it relevant to the thriller and effective to the film. It should state the shot number, cinematography, soundtrack, actors involved edit style, Narrative, dialogue and duration of the shot. This gives the production managers a guideline of what they are suppose to be producing and is easier because they can follow the storyboard.
For this role the group has Chosen me. I also agree because for the storyboard I can also make clear indications of what is suppose to happen in what scene and also can draw clear drawings of what it should look like.