Audtions

We held auditions for the casting of the film, this didn't turn out like we expected it to the room we were expecting to use was being used for something else so we had a small problem if people were supposed to turn up where would they go. After waiting outside of the room to inform anyone that did come that there wasn't a location to hold the casting but we will let them know if we need them and we will have to just test them when we go to do some filming.

we realised that we could have been more organised in planning the casting as we did leave it very late to hold auditions as we want to get filming next week. we have got in contact with some people who are willing to be in the film that do have experience in acting and we will see how they get on when it comes to the filming.

29th January 2010

In today's lesson we were choosing the different types of music for the film. We have been using a website called www.incompeteach.com this is where we can get music that is not copyrighted. we also held auditions for the cast of the film at lunch time. 

Final letter

Dear Capt S.J.Hayakwan,

My name is Nadine Board and I am an A level student at Newport Free Grammar School Sixth Form. I am writing to ask permission for my Media Studies group to film a 2 minute opening thriller sequence for our coursework on MOD property.
The area we are interested in using is located on the air field, and would be the grass and wooded areas behind the cadet hut. We have a need to conduct the filming within the next 3 weeks and it would take a couple of days. Most of the filming will take place after dark but setup will be during daylight hours. Our group will consist of up to 13 people, including myself and we would require vehicle access to move our equipment to the location.
Our equipment and props will consist of tents, camera and lighting, safety equipment and specialised props.
The script requires for a small camp fire, if possible we would like to make one on the sight, but I can assure you all suitable safety precautions will be taken and all damage will be repaired. If we have your permission to go ahead with this, I have a few release forms that necessary for us to fill out prior to filming, and I can deliver them to you for signing at your convenience before the shoot. I will also need to do a risk assessment which will need to be read and signed.
If you wish, we can send you a copy of our film sequence once it has been edited.
I look forward to hearing from you and thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.

Yours sincerely


N.L.V.Board

Letter for permission

I started writing a letter to Capt Hayakawn during one of our Media lessons and carried on to finish it during lunch. This is the rough draft:

Dear Capt S.J.Hayakwan

I am writing to ask permission to film a 2 minute opening thriller sequence for my media coursework on MOD property. The area I would like to film on is behind the air cadet building (marked on the satellite picture at the bottom).

The cast and crew will come to a maximum of 13 people, including myself. We will also like to have a car to carry our equipment. We would like access through the gate and permission to film on the small patch of grass as well as in the fringe of the woods. We will be using props, such as; tents, water filled beer bottles, fake cigarettes and snacks. Our equipment will consist of a camera (with tripod|) and lights. If possible - permission to make a small fire would be very helpful. I have a few release forms that necessary for us to fill out prior to filming, and I can ask Cpl Board - or myself - to deliver them to you for signing at your convenience before the shoot. I will also need to do a risk assessment which will need to be read and signed.

We need to do the filming in the next 3 weeks and are flexible with hours after school as well as weekends. We need to start setting up for filming before dark but film after dark. We would need to do the filming over a couple of days, allowing us to do sound and lighting checks.

If you wish, we can send you a copy of our film sequence once it has been edited.

Yours sincerely

N.L.V.Board

I need to give a copy to another one of the capt at the barracks.

28th January 2010

During this lesson we uploaded the second part of our storyboard film, with Nadine's commentary on it.  We also tried to work out credit plans, by watching thriller credit sequences. Nadine wrote up one of the letters asking for permission to two different Captains. she still needs to write another letter we have left nadine to write the letters because both me and Bima have said that writing is one of our weaknesses after nadine wrote one of them on the blog. we then searched and listen to some samples of music that where not copyrighted this is so that if we wanted to use them in the film we would be able to. 

Audtions

I have made and printed an advert that advertises auditions for our thriller. After I have made sure that both Bima and Deanna are happy with the layout and information on it I will put a copy in each yr 11, 12 and 13 register and then stick a copy in the drama department and on the Media room door.
My advert includes what the film is for, who we need and when the auditions are.

For the audtions I think that we should set up a camera on a tripod that gives an over the shoulder shot of a cleared out space that they will be audtioning in.
We will need to come up with a script for them to do and we need to work out if we will have people audtion in groups or singley.

Credit plans

In the credits which will either be at the beginning or the end of the film we need to make sure that we include:
- Our own names
- The actors names
- The title

During the lesson we watched the opening credits of Se7en and Panic room to see the different types of credits are. 

The types of credits in Se7en are white on dark backgrounds. An example of this is one of the names is on the side pages of a book. 

In the panic room the credits are over buildings and they are bold and also white. 

Storyboard

This is our story board with out the commentary. :)

26th January 2010

In todays lesson we realised that we had lost our filiming of the story board, so we knew we had to do it again and we knew that we couldnt waste time doing it as there was so much more we could have done in the time if we were all more carefull and remembered to keep the film.

After we re-filmed our story board we uploaded it to final cut experess then we transferd it onto the blog.

we then began to make a list about the different types of props that we will need for the film to make it look good.

Props and Continuity plan

Whilst filming we must take into consideration that we may have continuity problems. For example, if we filmed on two different days then things might change, like makeup, hair, costume, the weather or the amount of light created. To make sure this isn't a problem for us we must plan in a very detailed way. If the weather suddenly changes and we have to stop filming, we should take pictures of important details on the location and on people. Therefore the flow of filming would be better and less problems would be created.
Hopefully we would like to film on just one night, saving time and traveling problems that may be caused, but this could be unlikely as it depends on what the night is like. If this is to happen we should maybe place things like tape on the ground to show where things go like the tents and hexi burner.
If we had to re-film a shot by any chance, then all the details must be the same, so if we took a foot shot and it went wrong, next time we film this, the shoe must be the same. There are a lot of examples like this which will take a lot of time to sort out, taking photos of everything and placing everything and everyone in the right places.

Some of the props that we need are:
Three tents
Hexi burner
Blankets / sleeping bags x6
Water buckets
Logs or small wooden bench for the actors to sit on
Drinks bottles
Fake cigarettes

Risk Assessment for Location

doo it

25th January 2010

During this lesson I blogged about 'Props and continuity plans' explaining all the problems we may have while filming and how to fix them, while Deanna added more onto the 'Casting and Character codes' blog. As she will be mostly in charge of this area, she knows what to do and what people should look like. Nadine was not in this lesson so we couldnt talk about 'Risk assessment for location' also we have to find the tape that we used to film our storyboard as we need to upload it onto our blog.

At the end of the lesson me and Bima went and complete the questionnaire by asking people and finding out the results.

Sound and Light plan

We have briefly spoken about sound and lighting but we still have to actually do tests, to see what works whilst filming.
We got the idea of getting a normal light and covering it with a thin dark scarf so that we can still see what we're filming, as we're filming in the dark. We got this idea from one of our teachers.
For the fire light we will be lighting a real campfire and then testing to see if it works on a camera. I if it doesn't give a strong enough glow, we will try using a torch with a red scarf/lense.
This will take us a while to work out thr right level of lighting that enables us to film, whilst still giving the sense of pure darkness with natural light. We will use trial and error, untill it's perfect.
The sound we use is mainly ambient and dialogue. We may have to pre-record sounds and put them on the film while editing, as cars could drive past our filming area and may ruin the effect.
Our background music will come from a website that has different types of un-copywrited music.
http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free
The main tune that people are focussed on though, is the humming of 'Pop goes the weasel' from the mystery killer.

Casting and character codes

We have briefly discussed what kind of characters we want of the two girls and one of the lads. We also talked about how we were going to cast.
We wanted one of the girls to be very girly and daft. We one of the boys - the boy who is killed - to take advantage of this and mock her. The other girl, we discussed to be more outdoorsy. We wanted the daft girl to be very well dressed and have layered on make-up and the other to wear nice but more comfortable than fashionable clothing with light make-up.
Deanna put her status on 'Facebook.com' asking if anyone wanted to play a part in our short thriller clip.
We will also be asking drama students from our school and some of our mates if they want to be in it.
To choose who we will cast for the parts in our thriller opening we will be getting the people who want to be in it to audition for their parts. We will also be looking for the basic outline look that we have chosen for the characters. We can be less strict with this as we can change what they look like to a certain degree with make-up.

The boys that we will cast will wear casual clothing this is because we want to audience to feel like they are just ordinary people on a camping trip. The boys will wear either trackies or jeans and a t-shirt and maybe even a hoody. we will make the boys wear a small amount of makeup just to make their complexion better and either to make their eyes stand out.

Storyboard

First of all we made a plot summary of 3 ideas for a thriller opening.
We picked plot 3 and made a more detailed version. During this process we added things in and changed some of the details.
This plot helped us to write out our storyboard. Our teacher gave us all storyboard templates and we began filling it out that lesson.
When we had the meeting at Nadine's house Bima and Nadine completed the storyboard, as well as thinking of and adding a film title.
Last lesson, we stuck storyboard on a wall, and filmed it using the timings we had given each take. After that we recorded it again, but this time, explaining - in detail - what happens in each take.
we later forgot to keep the tape of the filming so we then had to re-do it

Friday 22nd January

During the lesson we finished the self assessment which included time and resource management, research, story boarding and sound and lighting.

Wednesday 20th January

After school on Wednesday me, Nadine and Deanna came to my house to try and finish off some work our teacher had set us. This was to do our self assessments, which included: Time and resource management, Research, Story boarding, Sound and light plan and Casting and character codes.
During this session we blogged about time and resource management and research, but we still have to finish the other three points.

We found it hard to get motivated with all of the distractions around us so trying to complete the task and to keep on target was working out to be harder than we thought Eventually we completed the work.
This was a short notice planned meeting as we only decided to do it Tuesday night, I knew Nadine and Deanna could both come over but there could have been a few travel problems with Deanna, so I was unsure whether she could come or not, in the end she did. We had about three hours to do this work and during that time we got a decent amount of work done, but it could have been done better with quantity. We need to make up another meeting and actually work together to catch up on work.

Time and resource management

In the past our group were really disorganised and we didn’t have any formal meetings outside of lesson time. Sometimes we would carry on from a lesson into lunch, but it was only ever two of us. One of us would then relay what had been done during that lunch period, or leave them to find out via the blogs.
However, we have gotten better at both time management and communication. I think that communication was the source of our problems. We have had a formal meeting that had been planned in advance and included all three of us. We have used these meetings to complete work that is too big to be done in one of our lessons but we feel should be done by all of us together. For each meeting we have discussed between us the days that we are free so that we can find a time and day that we can all do. We also work between us which location is best to work at. This is worked out using a number of factors; what resources do we need and where do we get them, who can travel, where would have less distractions, where has best working conditions. Our first meeting was held at Nadine’s house as it is next to the air field and we had to find a location on the field to use. Our second meeting was held at Bima’s house as it is easy to get from school to it – just a short walk down the road – and Bima was unable to get anywhere due to her mother being busy.
We have each got timetables for when we begin filming. This will give us the ability to plan in advance and always know when we are due on set – as well as knowing who is or is not coming that day.
A majority of the lunchtime sessions were Nadine and Bima as Deanna was often not in lesson. However, Nadine and Deanna met a couple of times in study periods and one lunch time to watch a thriller opening and blog our analysis. We watched the whole film so that we could see how the beginning clip affected the rest of the film. We also blogged about some of the editing terminology we were taught in lessons.
At both sessions we had a rough target of what work we wanted to have completed by the end of it. On our first meeting we managed to meet our target (Storyboarding, location planning and starting the make-up/costume design planning). Our second meeting (which is now) we have not managed to get to our target even though it is nearing the end, however, Nadine and Bima will be carrying on the work when Deanna has left.
The resources we have used have been very accessible. We have been given access to the Macs in our media classroom during most of school hours as long as we get the permission of the teacher that is teaching in there at the time.
We can get onto ‘blogger.com’ on the computers at school and at our homes so we can blog during free time and study periods.
Nadine also uses her brother as a resource for useful paper work, which makes organising our coursework easier. Joseph has given us templates for things like costume/make-up design, storyboards, timetables, safety checks etc.

Research

Our main source of research was watching other opening clips of thrillers and blogging our analysis of them. This research was useful as it gave us ideas for plots.
Initially we had made a questionnaire, the answers of which would help us decide which of our thriller openings would be the most popular with the public. However due to our lack of time management at the beginning of our project - we did not have the time to carry out our questionnaire.
To choose the plot we simply looked at the difficulties that each plot would cause and picked the easiest/safest option. We then edited this plot so it was up to standard.
One of the features that we added in was the song 'Pop goes the weasel' which we got the idea from one of the other groups in our class. They are using 'Three blind mice' which reminded us that using children’s nursery rhymes are often related to tense/scary moment to many people.
We also looked at the previous year 12's thriller beginnings; this gave us ideas on the quality of the filming and editing. It also made us think about common mistakes made by beginners.

19th January 2010

During this lesson we worked out the timing for each scene as we had to do this in our plans, the overall time added up to 88 seconds and we were told that our films should be the maximum of 120 seconds long. We will probably make our film beginning longer than 88 seconds, as the practical’s never work exactly as planned. We then filmed our storyboard; once with all the correct times and secondly with Nadine commentating the details of each scene. We then uploaded these videos onto the Mac at school, we will have to edit this slightly in next lesson.

Storyboard, costume design and location

On Friday 15th January we all went to my house to catch up with some of the media work.
As soon as we got there Bima and I began to do the storyboard. We took turns drawing the pictures, writing the script and thinking about the camera movement and clip transition. We manage to finish the storyboard, as well as come up with the title to our film – ‘The weasel’. At first we just thought of names that resembled where they were and what they were doing in our clip but then I thought about the actual killer. Before he kills he hums ‘pop goes the weasel’ but he stops on “pop” and that is when he takes his victim – he never says “goes the weasel”. I thought that a good name for him could be the weasel and Bima agreed.

While we were doing this, Deanna was coming up with a make-up design idea for the two girls.
When we were all finished we headed out to the air field – taking Deanna’s camera so that we can look at our options later on. We went around a couple of the locations that I have camped or used as a harbour with cadets. However, none of them seemed right and most of them had very uneven grass. We found one area that seemed alright but it was very close to the barracks and had a barbed wire between the field they would camp on and the woods. I tried to take some pictures of all the locations we went to but it was too dark so no picture showed up. We still took pictures at each location but just so that the flash would give us a bit more sight. We agreed that we would use that as a last option but went to the air cadet hut in hope that they may have something better. When we got there we found the perfect location. The grass was very smooth (maybe a little too smooth though) and it was in a corner with tree on two sides. I took a couple of pictures and then we headed back.
I have done another design idea for the two girls’ make-up and we have another lesson today so we can come up with more design ideas for everyone’s clothes and the make-up for the carcass at the end.
I need to contact the MOD about using their land then do the safety check and do the auditions for actors/actresses before we can start filming.

After school meeting

After school on Friday we all met up at Nadine's house which is in Carver Barracks, and the airfield is where we are planning to use as our location the to catch up on some work and look at where our film beginning could be set.
Me and Nadine started off by completing our storyboard, by drawing it out and writing in details, such a script, camera movement, sound and lighting. We still have to work out how long each cut will take. While we did this Deanna started drawing out what makeup the two girls would be wearing, and how this displays they're type of character, as she is in charge of costume and makeup, she still has to finish this. However me and Nadine will help her out in lessons to come and future meetings.
We also had a discussion about what type of clothing the guys and girls will be wearing.
When it got dark during the evening we went out onto the airfields in the Barracks trying to find a place where we could film. It took us a while to find our spot, Deanna took photos of various places, but as it was too dark we may have to do this again in the light. Finally we found our perfect setting and we all felt that this area had the right giving effect and that when we film and edit our final piece, the feeling of a thriller will be shown. (Standing there made us scared)
This is all we could do that night as we only had three hours, but next time will be more productive and we shall hopefully be right on schedule for filming and editing.

14th January 2010

During this lesson, we worked out our final plot and blogged about it. This is so that it will be easier during the making of our story board, we added in the idea using 'pop goes the weasel', we got this idea from the other group doing 'three blind mice'. Our teacher also showed us a slide on 'guidance on evaluation'.
We then started drawing our storyboard.

Final Plot

6 lads and 2 girls are gathered round a hexi burner in a field with tents set up behind them in a circle formation facing inward. It is late into the night. It is very relaxed, they're just laughing, drinking and smoking - acting like normal teenagers.
There is a point of view shot coming from the woods, just behind the tents, it moves to the right slightly and it goes back to the group of friends, we then hear a snapping noise and the camera shows the groups reaction, looks into the woods, but sees nothing. One of the girls asks "oh my god! What was that?" and clings to one of the boys, who teases her "don't worry babe, it's probably just a bear coming to get you. It's alright, I’ll protect you".
They then see a flash of light coming from the road direction. "Shit, the guards!", "Fuck, run". In a hurry they put out the hexi burner and run into the woods. One of the girls runs next to one of the guys and says "I'm scared; what if that bear gets us".
Point of view shot. They hear a male humming 'pop goes the weasel' girl tells him to stop it because its scaring her. When the word "pop" is hummed, the boy next to her gasps, she whispers his name in a shaky voice, but there is no reply, by this time everyone’s walked back out to the campsite. They have been talking about the fact that is past twelve so the guards have finished the patrols - it couldn't have been them. The girl stumbles out screaming that the boy has gone.
Cuts to the carcass of the body, which is all scratched up. Screen goes black. "Oh shit!" Title comes up.

13th January 2010

During this lesson our teacher came up to our group so we can discuss the problems that we had during the week. We discussed all of our separate problems and sorted them out. After this our group has recovered and have realized that our AS marks are too important to have a disagreements.
We then went to print off an important sheet that we have to follow so that our blogs are up to date; also we printed off our questionnaires and started asking people the questions. After this we began to discuss and review the details we will have to go through on Friday evening. Factors like choosing the plot, costume and make-up designs, story board, risk assessment and emailing the MOD film man.
We had already discussed that Deanna was in charge of make-up design as she is very good with it and also very creative when doing make-up.


In the next lesson we were told that we HAD to pick a plot. As we did had not finished our questionnaire - which was how we were going to decide which plot to use. Instead we just made do with illumination. We could not do plot 2 as it is harder to get the OC's house and because it is a big safety hazard do have a girl carrying a knife. We took out plot 1 because it would be hard to get a clip of the moon. This left us with plot 3.
Deanna then went through each piece of paperwork that we have to fill out before the filming - including clothes and make-up design sheets, scriptbreakdown sheets and safety sheets - and working out how many copies of each sheet we need to do.

Roles and tasks

Producer
The industry has regarded the role of the producer as only second to the director. Production is everything besides the technical work that needs to be done in order to transform an idea into a finished piece of work.
You will be planning, monitoring and efficiently using the financial and other resources to achieve the finished product.

Director
Has overall responsibility for entire crew. They work with the producer on the filimic treatment, appointing personnel, secuiring funding and overseeing the work of the research team/scriptwriters.

Camera
The camera translates the director's instructions using their knowledge of visual composition and film language to gain the best effect for a shot.
The camera operator will also be responsible for lighting.

Sound
The sound recordist has responsibility for all sound recording - positioning microphones etc.

Video Editor
Video editors put into practice instructions for editing agreed with the director.

Costume and Makeup
has to come up with designs for the actors and they have to be done on paper

Phone call

On the 12th January 2010 I got a phone call from Bima Loxley asking when we were to meet up on Wednesday and i reminded her that we were not going to meet then as we wanted the whold group and it would only be for an hour which is not enough time.
I told her that Friday 15th is the official meeting at my house and that I would be doing the work no matter who was or was not there as we are so far behind.
I managed to talk it through with her. She then asked her mother if she could come home with me and get piked up at seven. Deanna had already informed me on the night i arranged the meeting that she would be getting on my bus. So the meeting is from 4 - 7pm (officialy).
However - not even five minutes later - I go a phone call from Deanna informing me that she had spent a lot of her time in lessons and some extra time when she got home writting blogs and some had gone.
I called Bima and asked if she had deleted Deanna's blogs. She denied it at first until i told her that Deanna was sure it was her and that there was no other possible way that they could have gone and she admitted to deleting a couple. I told her that there was no excuse for it and that it was very wrong. She then told me that Deanna had practically copied hers as it was all about the same thing. I explianed that the examiners would notice any copying and would not mark Deanna's as it was done after hers - if she had really done that.
I told her it could not be done again and if she has any problems with other people's blogs then she have words with the blogger or come talk to me so that i can sort it out. Deanna called me back and we spoke about what to do about Bima deleting her work. I have suggested writting as much as she can remember again and possibly informing Miss Menzies. My brother then suggested that we blog about it so that we a least know that Deanna had put in the effort. Deanna told me that Bima had told her that we needed to cool it as it was only a couple of blogs and she had caught up with her so she had plenty of marks from that any way.

It wasnt just about the blog it was the fact that i (Deanna) had spent my time making the blog and the fact was that the blog wasnt the same as bima blog, the fact was that the blog was actully rather different my blog encluded how Bima and Nadine had started the questionnaire when i was away and when i came back they discussed it with me and Nadine even said that it needed to be changed. The blog was then changed in the lesson with my help and input. I then blogged about the plot that i has started in the lesson and had to finish in todays Mr Normans lesson, this is when i wrote the blog about what i have done in the lesson so that there would be proof that i did do work in the lesson even tho i did do some other blogs about the sheets that i was given.

This is another problem that - as a group - we will have to sort out on Friday.
We cannot have group members deleting other partners work - no matter what the blog is about. It is unfair amd cruel as Deanna had spent a lot of time on that work and Bima and I were not able to attend some of the lessons that Deanna had blogged about.

Editing

Direct sound - Live sound- freshness, spontaneity and authentic atmosphere

studio sound - Sound that is recorded in the studio - improve the sound quality - get rid of any unwanted background noises e.g. ambient sounds

selective sounds - Removal of some sounds, retention of other to make significant sounds more recognizable this may be for dramatic effect, to create atmosphere, meaning and emotional nuance. this may be used to make people more aware.

sound perspective - The impression of distance in sound

sound bridge - Adding to continuity through sound

dubbed dialogue - post-recording, voice track in a studio

parallel sound - sound caused by some event on screen

sound effects - any sound from any source other than sychronised dialogue, narration or music .

music - helps to establish a sense of the pace of the accompanying scene. the rythm of music, the bacground music, the music wich accompanies a film and thge foreground music.

i think that if we look at the editing before we film then we can think about the types of music to go best and what different types os sound effects would be most suitable.

Production meetings

We have discussed where we can hold the filming, this is where it is easily accessible and somewhere we can easily film

Possible locations are

- Newport near the grave yard
- Carver barracks
- Little wood ( a woods near my house)

these are the possible locations that we have discussed but the main place that we thought that was going to be the most ideal and that is the barracks this is because it is a larger area where we would have more room to fill. This was discussed in the previous lesson with both Nadine and Bima present.

we have been more in contact with each other and we have been calling each other at night to discuss when we are all free to meet up and talk about the plans more and what we are going to do.

after discussing who is free when we have soon realised that the only day we are all free is on w Wednesday last period this is when we are supposed to be doing sport but we thought that we should spend our time wisely and use it as time to talk about what we are going to do.

i am going to be meeting up with Nadine on Friday and on wednesday morning to go over some of the things we need to do, and then we will inform Bima about what we have done and what we are planning to do and to see if she agrees.

Research and planning

General background info on film opening sequences

- What do we have to do in the first 5 minutes of a film (you could create a mind map)
- Dos and don'ts of a good film opening - techniques we expect and which ones we dont (e.g. establishing shots, a particular kind of music, characters, narrative, set up, action, opening credits)

specific info on thriller genre
- Clear definition of thriller genre
- Discuss cross - overs with other genres (sub -genres)
- Formulate a list of thriller films

Sheet

During the lesson i was handed sheets informing us on what we need to complete.

by Friday night (8.01.10) we needed to have uploaded:

Details of "production meeting" which is at least 3 per group to discuss ideas, brainstorm possible locations

detailed analysis of films from the thriller genre in which we need to identify and show through understanding of conventions (a minimum of 2 each)

posts which show understanding of the following thriller films (by including links to other websites, analysing clips from films etc.)

1) establishing of scene
2) narrative structure
3) use of titles
4) establishing of character codes

other important points :
at this stage i am looking for your groups blogs to include atleast 20 blogs ( 5 each plus some combined group posts )

Remember, R&P (research and planning) is worth 25% of your final mark.That can make the difference of 2 whole grades. if you don't work now, you cannot get as high a grade as you should

Ideas

i was looking on YouTube for different types of short story thrillers that other people had made i came across one that a group of students made when they where do media studies and i thought that it was a good short clip and come of the things that they used we could try to use. like the idea of someone being a murder and someone being taken hostage.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jZjh_YuZeA&feature=related

Questionnaire on Thrillers

1) What age range do you belong in ?
15-17     [8]
18-24    [2]
25 +      
2) How often do you watch thrillers ?
Very often      
Relatively often   [3]
Not often      [7]
Never
3) What type of thriller do you prefer ?
Action  [5]
Erotic    [2]
Crime   [3]
Medical  [1]
Spy
4) What type of theme do you prefer in a thriller ?
Hero vs Villain [1]
Confusion [1]
Mystery [4]
Suspense  [4]
Compelling characters
5) What makes thrillers appeal to you ?
Actors/Actresses  [1]
Directors 
Interesting title    
Surprising twists   [7]

Challenging story line [2]

6) How do you think the opening theme for a thriller should be ?
Chase scene    [1]
Everyday life   [5]
Flashback
Action scene  [3]
Traumatic scene   [1]
7) In the opening of a thriller, how much of the plot do you think should be revealed ?
As much as possible
As little as possible   [9]
Not at all   [1]
8) For you what builds up suspension in a film ?
Music    [9]
Lighting
Non/Diagetic sound (diagetic being sound on scene)  [1]
9) Do you prefer the film to either ?
Challenge the audience actively     [10]
Explain the plot fully throughout the film
10) Most important element in a thriller ?
Setting     
Acting    [3]
Props/Costume
Special effects    [2]
Plot  [ 5]

11th January 2010

During this lesson our teacher told us that we had to sort out our planning within our groups and keep on working out which plot we will use, dates and times.
We then made a questionnaire about what people prefer in thrillers, this will help us decide on what type of thriller to do. This should have been done in December but we never got round to it, but we still made one to show that we did our research.
We then blogged the questionnaire and will ask people during the next few days to get our results back.
Deanna also spent the lesson and after school time making up Plot 3, so that we now have three to choose from, depending on what locations we can use.

Meeting plans

Our group have had a couple of communication problems and part of the reason is that two of us would talk about the work and then one would talk to the third person. We have just been given all of our deadline dates and a list of what stage we should be at - roughly - at each point in the year and we are very behind.
Finally I decided that it was time that we take a couple of hours out of our free time - outside of school - and sit down with all three of us, discuss solutions. Also giving us a chance to complete our research and officially chose one plot. we reaslised that we would all have to take time out of our lives and concentrate on our media becuase we were fallin behind.
When we have picked a plot we will need to discuss who we will use as actors/actresses, how many people will be needed at the scene, dates that we need to book and many other bits of information that we will need to give the MOD in order to ask for their permission to film on their land.
I was told by my elder brother – who experienced filming in a barracks during his two year media course - that it takes at least two weeks to get the permission from the army so I knew that our group had to have this meeting ASAP as the filming has to be done in four weeks. I called Bima and told her about all the work that has to be done and got all the dates that she is available this week – including; study periods, after school and weekends - and then called Deanna. The only time that the both of them said they can do is Wednesday afternoon (but Bima can only do an hour) and Friday evening.
However, when we have got a plot - and thus the chosen location - we will also need to do a risk assessment. This I can do mostly by myself but I will give my two partners the choice to come over to the chosen location to help as it is one of the things that we decided at the beginning of the course that we would not just do on our own without discussing with the others.

Types of Thrillers

I wanted to know exactly what a thriller consisted of as i had a misunderstanding between thrillers and horrors, so i looked up what a thriller was and this information helped me a lot to understand correctly, therefore giving me better ideas for a plot.

Characteristic :

• Thrillers often overlap with mystery stories, but are distinguished by the structure of their plots. In a thriller, the hero must thwart the plans of an enemy, rather than uncover a crime that has already happened. Thrillers also occur on a much grander scale: the crimes that must be prevented are serial or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of governments. Jeopardy and violent confrontations are standard plot elements. While a mystery climaxes when the mystery is solved, a thriller climaxes when the hero finally defeats the villain, saving his own life and often the lives of others. In thrillers influenced by film noir and tragedy, the compromised hero is often killed in the process.

Convention of thriller :

• Protagonist is at the mercy of the antagonist. · Cheap surprise – an easy shock generated by an sudden unexpected action/movement/sound. · False ending – where is appears the case is solved, but it is not. · Speech in praise of the antagonist – often done by the protagonist and is used to build up the villain, even if the speech ultimately dams the villain. · Make it personal – where the crime/plans draws in aspects of the protagonists life/emotions to change the plot from a professional action to a personal quest. This can be taken even further by taking it from personal quest to making the protagonist also become the victim. · Theatre of the Mind – don’t show everything to the audience, force them to image some things.

I also looked up what type of thrillers there are, and i will use this information when doing my survey on what peoples interests are in a thriller, giving us more information to work with, when it comes to making our movie beginning.

Audiences for thrillers

I looked up three films on the website IMDb, all made from the same director, David Fincher, these films were: Alien, Panic Room and Fight Club. I then found the user ratings and from these it helped us decide what audience prefered thrillers.
All three films:
More males than females preferred the films and most of them were under the age of 18, the amount of ratings decreased as the age of the audience increased. The second most highly rated age group was 18 - 29.
I then found the average vote count for each film (out of 10) and the actual number of votes.
Fight club:
Males - 8.8 - 248,980
Females - 8.6 - 41, 283
Panic room:
Males - 6.9 - 42,674
Females - 6.8 - 7,388
Se7en:
Males - 8.7 - 178,295
Females - 8.4 - 27,419

Plot 3

The setting is in the airfield late at night and there are a group of young lads camping out they are drinking and smoking when the barracks people drove past the lads begin to panic and the hide in the woods.

there are two girls and a group of lads and they are gathered around a camp fire (or sitting near the tent ) in the air field drinking and smoking and chatting, taking turns telling jokes, or funny stories about their family, friends and childhood. suddenly there hear a sound one of the lads makes a joke about it being a bear. 

It then goes silent and suddenly a flash of light the guys begin to panic the run and hide in the woods. They all split up and run into the woods and hide a boy and girl are hiding when they come out they realize that one of the guys has gone missing 

There is a flash of light and – in a quick panic – they put out the camp fire and run into the woods. The only sound is their heavy breathing. There is a gasp of air but only the audience hear it – the camera looks to Gavin who has that smug expression again.
The lads wait to see if the MP (Military Police) will come to investigate but they don’t even see the patrol car. Slowly, they walk back into the camp site and realise it is past 12 - there are no more patrols. Bill turns to Alec for confirmation (Alec is an MP) to find he is not where he was. They look around and call out his name but get no reply.
“Oh, shit”

 

Locations

All of our plots are able to be done at Carver Barracks, on MOD property. As one of us lives on the Barracks, we will be asking the guards if we are able to use inside the Barracks and/or the airfield. We will also be asking the commanding officer of Carver Barracks if we can use his house as he is a resident in a very large house.
We thought of these possible locations before planning our three plots, so we have been able to add in where everything will be and we also were able to think about the resources that we will be able to use at these separate locations.
Part of the way that we will be choosing which plot to use for our thriller opening will be depending on what location they're allowing us to use and what dates they are available, for example the mansion may only get a couple of days of use, but the airfield may be occupied by military training or firing training.
A factor we will have to think about while choosing our location are the dats that all of us are able to do - not just our group but other people that we may need as actors and drivers if nnecessary.

8th January 2010

In this lesson me and Nadine made up and started to blog about our three new plots for our coursework, we still have to finish this.
Our teacher then showed us three beginnings of thrillers, including : Phonebooth, Silence of the Lambs and One Hour Photo.
He did this to show us how some starts of thrillers are different to others and explained that we should get to the point quickly in our coursework films and show the audience that we have made a thriller.

Hannibal

The background music is very low at the start. The screen is blank but there is dialogue.
The picture finally shows but is very small and is to the right of the screen. As it gets bigger the picture gradually moves to the centre of the screen, until it is finally filling the screen.
The house has very dark lighting - thus making the audience feel the intensity of the scene, it is a dark scene.
There is a close-up on the character that has been asking all the questions - this (asking the questions) shows that he is the dominant character. His face is completely scared and messed up.
The sight of his face makes the audience very un-easy.
As a box is opened the camera zooms-in on the mask inside and the music gets louder while the title fades-in to the middle of the screen in red italic. The writing gets bigger and the writing, first goes out of focus, and then fades out. As the writing gets bigger you are able to see that the text is very uneven - it is not the usual smooth text. It resembles very much like blood - as if someone wrote it in blood and it has only just begun to drip.
Music sounds like a piano - high notes - but there is one constant low beat from another instrument.
All of a sudden there is a sound like a lion's roar and - at the same time - a picture flicks on of what looks like a hand holding a heart. The whole picture is red.
The piano carries on but there are voices over the top that sound like radio calls.
The picture is videos - camera footage. Sometime rewinding and/or zooming, focusing on a specific person. Credits fading-in and out over the top but in corners, the corner they are in always changing. Sounds like lots of moving around - possibly struggling - and then all sound stops - apart from the piano in the background and church bells that start to chime as well as birds flapping. There are birds on screen, in a town square. The birds have made an aerial view picture of a face. The face appears male and confident.
After the screen had faded-out, it is a girl - agent Starling - who fades-on. This shows that she will be a main character in the thriller.

Statistics:
These ratings are out of 10.
Males rated Hannibal a 6.5 on average, with 47, 335 votes.
Females rated Hannibal a 6.4 on average, with 664 votes.

Plot 2

Point of view shot from in side a car, watching as they go deeper and deeper into countryside. As the journey progresses the daylight begins to fade.

The car turns into the driveway of a large house - it is twilight.

The family of 3, one child and two adults, enter the house not knowing what is about to happen to them. They carry in all their luggage, the camera tilts down as the bags go down and you hear a creak, then the door slams. Reaction shot - all three character's heads snap towards the door, the little girl says "Daddy!" looking frightened. The dad replies "The winds are strong down this way, don't worry about it" while putting on a brave face.

Ending idea one: Woman's face in a cupboard - the only light coming from the crack - and she is very frightened. We hear "Mummy, where are you?" in a very innocent, little girl's voice. Camera switches to facing down the third story stairs where the little girl has stuck her head around the corner and says "Mummy...come on mummy, i only want to play." she walks up the stairs slowly. "Can you remember the lullaby that you sing to me every night? Sing it to me mummy." girl starts to sing a child's lullaby - either 'sleep, baby, sleep', 'twinkle twinkle little star', 'A-fishing' or the typical 'ring a ring a roses' - while slowly walking up the hallway. As she gets to the doorway of the room that her mother is hiding in she is finishing the song. She slowly turns toward the room and as she does a big grin comes across her face. She walks across the room and the camera switches to inside the cupboard again to see the mother closing her eyes and mouthing the Lord's Prayer. The girl pulls the doors open and says "Found you mummy!" The screen and sound cuts out.

Ending idea two: The scene flashes forwards a few hours, the camera tracks up the stairs and down the corridor towards a bedroom. The audience watch as the camera peeks round the door seeing a shadow of a small child. The camera then tilts up seeing the mother in the cupboard dead and bleeding, then the camera pans across seeing the little girl with a knife in her hand, singing and smiling. The screen then goes black, showing the film title.

Plot 1

A girl will be chased around, in a locked military Barracks. She is constantly running from gate to gate, failing to pry them open. She looks around in panic and carries on running, continuously looking behind her - very breathless.

We never see who, or what, is chasing her.

Finally she leaps up on the fence in attempt to climb over it, but something rips her down.

Ending idea one:

The audience sees her being dragged away on the grass and hears her scream and as the screaming fades the camera pans and tilts up to the full moon. Film title fades-in - moon still in the background.

Ending idea two:

The camera pans to face the grass as the killer casts a shadow of it killing the girl.

Pans/tilts up to the moon and the screen turns black as the film title fades-in.

Happier music comes on - it is day time - as we see a group of teens getting out of a car and walking into the barracks.

5th January 2010

In this lesson we researched certification specifications and then blogged our findings.
Our teacher gave us a sheet and went through what we would be expected of this year, giving us the list of what had to be done and the general deadlines we need to make.
We decided on possible locations for filming and Nadine will ask for permission to use MOD property (an air field to be specific) and a mansion that is residented by the C.O. of Carver Barracks, but if that doesn't work, we still have other areas we could use.
Deanna wasn't in this lesson so we will inform her on the homework set - which was to catch up on any late work and write 3 x 50 word paragraphs explaining different plots we have come up with (like a blurb found on a book).

I (Nadine) added a little to this blog and changed some of the words.

Certification research

12A/12

12 years and over.

Films that may upset children under 12 or include material which parents may find unsuitable for them.

12A only exists for cinema films. No one younger than 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema, unless accompanied by an adult. This means that parents have the ability to decide wether or not the film is suitable for their child.

12 only exists for video works. No one younger than 12 may rent or buy a 12 rated video.

May contain strong language, moderate sex references, violence, suicides and moderate injury detail.

15

15 years and over.

No one under the age of 15 may buy or rent a 15 rated film or see a 15 rated film in the cinema.

May contain very strong language, sex references, drug use and strong violence.

18

No one under the age of 18 may buy or rent a 18 rated film or see a 18 rated film in the cinema.

May contain sexualised violence, strong violence, very strong language, humiliation, hard drug use and nudity.