31/12/13

On the 31st December 2013, We went to our first filming location with an actress who had previously auditioned and agreed to be in our production, the weather however was not great. The rain ended up ruining all of the footage we got, and we decided that the area in the location that we were filming in should be changed. We did however manage to get some good photos of the location which we are planning to use in the overall edit as a quick jump cut. This has led to us organising 3 more filming days one of which we have already been on. Overall the 31/12/13 was not as successful as we had hoped but we did manage to get a few shots that can be used to really show the location and why we choose it. The Props also let us down on this day and so did the costume, as the costume that we originally brought for the antagonist was too small and would have looked unrealistic if we forced him into it, which would have been unprofessional.

Casting

Prelim Film Evaluation

The planning stages

The shotlist and storyboard helped us to film our prelim because it gave us a base to work on so we could follow them and they would allow us to save time by not having to think about it on the spot during the filming.

There wasn't that much change between planning and filming because there was no need to but there was some changes in the editing. We added a filter onto the film to make it darker as the footage appeared to be quite bright after being filmed. As well as the filter, we had to cut some of the footage to make it look more connected to show continuity.

We didn't face too many challenges but a notable one would be that we had to include all the required shots. This was not difficult alone but the challenging part would be to make them obvious because the ones we included were not immediately obvious which meant that we had to edit them to make them more easily seen.

The task that we found particularly difficult would be creating our initial idea because we had to make a film that would have elements of originality since there will be many ideas that have been reused from other films of the same genre.

The prelim has made me think about whether our idea was good since it could become a horror film due to the elements that we included are seen in some horror films. Also, it has given us an idea of whether certain elements we will use will be effective or not for our real film. The prelim has lead us to use restrictive camera work and perhaps non-linear plot.

After completing the filming, I was required to edit the film which made my skills using the Final Cut Express software improve because I did not know how to use many of the functions on it. Also, my camera work has improved a little because we used some cameras angles I would not normally use if I was the director.

In our main task we will not use narrative because it is difficult to create an atmosphere that will keep the audience hooked while trying to reveal too much about the characters which we feel the audience should discover along the way as the plot advances.

We did not really gain influence from the prelim but it has made us think more about using different and suitable camera angles and movements.

Thrillers are fast becoming the dominant genre and society's favourite means of escape. Discuss.

In our world, Thrillers are becoming a more dominant genre and people enjoy watching them as a means of escape from the real world. Being immersed in the stories, people can relieve stress and feel happy rather than think about the worries of the real world. This is becoming society’s favourite way to do so. 

 

Thrillers are usually very exciting and keep you on the edge of your seat so they have interesting plots which keep peoples’ attentions. There are more and more Thriller films releasing which makes the genre bigger and more popular. Thrillers are popular because there are different sub-genres so they appeal to all people. Some examples of the subgenres would be crime thriller, disaster thriller, mystery thriller, political thriller, psychological thriller, supernatural thriller and techno thriller. Since the range of different types of thrillers is wide, they vary a lot and so some films can be mixed genres. A lot of the mixed-genres are used together because they work well and in several cases, the elements of the genres overlap with one another so they blend fine and can make the plot of the film more appealing to people.

Thrillers are one of the leading genres and new films are constantly released, but many old classic films still pop up and are watched by people who like watching Thriller movies. Some would be Pulp Fiction (1994), 8MM (1999) and Die Hard (1988). These are well known for being well executed and put together with good storylines.

I conclude that Thrillers are getting increasing popular and a dominant genre as well as being a means of escape for some members of society.

Storyboards Thriller

Creating Characters

The Character will be seen with a machete with blood dripping from it. The audience will decode this, informing them that this character is the antagonist.

These sorts of characters are successful due to their ruthless natures and only desire to inflict pain. They are also successful in the sense that they are never really defeated. They could even be considered as being invincible. It even hooks the audience in due to various connotations with other antagonists such as Freddy Kreuger and Jason Voorhees due to their reputation as sick and twisted serial killers.

These characters were constructed through their beaten and neglected past, and therefore decide to take revenge on humanity, because of their pasts, they become serial killers because they feel like they have nothing to lose. Their pasts also give them the reasons to become the menacing villains they are.

Mise en Scene

As you can see from the mind map above we have chosen to use costume as a way to signify different things to the audience. The opening sequence is to be set in the 1970's, we wanted to show this via costume and Location in different ways. We wanted to keep the identity of the antagonist concealed, but we also want to make it clear that the opening sequence is from the point of view of the antagonist. We want the antagonist to be wearing dark long clothing. We are also planning on casting a tall middle age man to be standing in the hall way of a dark derelict house, with mist and fog, however here we will just have a shot of his feet in the hallway with his machete touching the ground next to his feet and  mist and fog surrounding him.

We are planning to have different characters within our opening sequence all of which different ages and different ethnicities. We are planning to have a wide range of deaths, all of which will be photographed and either kept on a wall or in a draw in his study. They will be photographed with a polaroid camera to continue our theme of 1970s.

In our opening sequence we intend to use a weapon which imitates that of a scythe or machete. This is because these weapons are overly aggressive and basic, meaning they'll be able to demonstrate the true nature of the antagonist, being a violent, brutal character.  This will create the desired mise-en-scene through showing a gloomy, authentic killer, in an attempt to add to the authenticity of the 1970's looking clip.We're also going to use make-up to create large gouge wounds on our victims, vindicating the harsh nature of the antagonist. The make-up will also make the deaths look more realistic rather than a typical 70's movie death. This will create the desired mise-en-scene by again, adding to the authenticity and when combined with the focus on hue, the blood will be vibrant and focused.We're also going to use polaroid pictures to show the set time of our sequence, being the 70's. This will make our sequence unique and stand out amongst modernly set sequences. This will create the desired mise-en-scene by signifying the time of which it's set, creating a vintage feel.We're also going to focus on colour to engage the audience by presenting them with something that's not often seen. We're going to focus on colour hue, blue's, yellow's and red's. When combined with the polaroid pictures, this will create the desired mise-en-scene by contrasting the first black figure with then an explosion of colour, showing contrast and originality.

Group Discussion

This is our group discussion about ideas for our real film in regards to the aspects of how it will look like. Topics include camerawork, editing, mise-en-scene and any props we may need.

Prelim Film

Before we filmed our prelim video, we had to do this based on a set of guidelines. These were to follow the 180 degree rule,  use match on action and include shot/reverse shot. In order to make it interesting and appealing, we decided to create an interrogation scene which included the required elements of editing.