Risk Assesment - Miss Georgiou

Risk Assessment

Introduction

Risk assessments are lists of hazards that could be present when filming and taking part in any activities to do with finishing our film successfully and safely 

Risk assessments are important as they are able to separately demonstrate what kind of things we need to be extra careful with and wary of. When using dangerous iconography and weapons within our scene we need to ensure that we are using these responsibly and carefully not putting anyone in harms way. 

This helps with filming as it provides a way to state and think about all the dangers we could encounter. For starters we will need to be careful when filming in busy local areas. People are not used to delays and will not usually care about getting in the way and ruining a shot. In addition to this when walking into roads we need to make sure that everyone is vigilant and knows that there is no danger between us and incoming vehicles on the road. 

Conclusion

Overall the main focus that we have on keeping everyone safe is to be very observant and know our surroundings. We need to make sure we are safe and secure when trying to film our opening thriller sequence. Not only do we need to focus on everyone's safety but we need to be aware of what in our shot. We need to make sure that no one is visible in our shot that shouldn't be there and we need to make sure that our locations look realistic and believable. Overall we need to keep an eye out for little things that could really ruin a shot.

Production Roles - Miss Miller

Production Roles

Introduction 

When making or creating an opening sequence there are a lot of different tasks and jobs that need to be handled most of these jobs contain a lot of work. This means that most of these roles needs to be dealt with separately and this is why we have tried to evenly give each person in our group a good amount of work that needs to be done.

Producer (Production Name)

Our producer is GoButson. This company was created by us and the idea came form Jake Butler to merge all our last names together to presented our opening sequence in a much more personal way.

Directors

We decided that the best people to have the role as the Directors was myself and Claire as it was our individual ideas that where very similar and would work well together. This meant that we where both very ambitious to come up with a group narrative that displayed some sort of disturbed character. We knew exactly how we wanted this character to be portrayed and we needed the directors to have a lot of creative ideas to be able to successfully create this type of opening sequence. We wanted people from our group that made an effect into the work to be the directors. This meant that it required leadership skills.

Actors

Our main character Cameron, is played by Morgan Brown. We choose Morgan as we felt like he was able to appear as a good antagonist with streaks of innocence. Morgans family has always taken an interest into acting and he always enjoyed it at school and succeeded in GCSE. The same goes to the character of Grace (the mother). This character is played by Grace Wingrove. She informed as that she took GCSE drama and finished the year with an A. Finally the character of Harmoney is played by myself. We decided I would be a good fit with this character as I always always available to film and help out behind the scenes when off screen.

Director of Photography

We decided that Claire would be a very good fit into having responsibility with shooting the scenes. She has always taken an interest into photography and has had experience with shooting footage at family events such as her cousins wedding. She was also the one that filmed the preliminary task and proved to the rest of the group that she had the ability to film a numourus amount of creative and intriguing shots.

Music Producers

We decided to share the role of the music producers as we all have different tastes. Jakes prefers Rap. Claire like calming music such as acoustics. I prefer Indie and Alternative. After I showed them the song 'Tip Toe Through The Tulips'  we all agreed that this was a suitable paralell sound to be demonstrated in our thriller.

Screenplay Writer

We deicided that the person who fitted the role for screenplay writer was in fact Jake. He has a lot of skill when writing due to the fact he is taking english language at A-level. This means he must be the most suitable for the role and would be able to handle this job well enough.

MES co-coordinators 

Jake did gcse media, aswell as myself which meant we had a wider knowledge on what is suited to the thriller genre through the presentation of the MES conventions. He seemed to know the best type of lighting and probs to use that resembled the MES thriller conventions very well.

Editor

I took on the role as the editor as the group knew I had experience at GCSE. This meant that I would know how to use the editing software and get the hang of it quickly. I was able to know what type of editing was suitable to a thriller. This is because in my GCSE media coursework I had to produce an opening to a thriller similar to the task we have now.

Jake

Jake's roles where to take on the role of the MES co-ordinator and The screenplay writer. He also had a little part of playing Cameron's voice overs in our opening thriller. Jake was very good at voicing his opinions and getting across his ideas. This enabled me and Clarie to set up scenes and make sure the props and lighting was correct. If Jake was to improve on his role he should participate more in actually doing the work and take more of an interest within his roles.

Claire

Claire took on the roles of camera man and one of the directors. She was very successful at using creative shots and she used the equipment very well. She was able to always create a steady shot. As a director she was very good at coming up with locations and her input was always needed and helpful to all of the group. If she was to do something different within her role it would be to challenge the camera even more by experimenting with unusual shots.

Molly

I took on the role of editor and shared the role of director with Claire. I really enjoyed editing and tried to make the transition as smooth as possible. I liked watching back on footage with Claire and deciding whether it was suitable and what would've been done to improve it. I decided that if I was to do anything different I would take more time on the editing and concentrate on making sure it was a pristine as possible.

Conclusion

Overall filming was successful and everyone was suited to there role. Although an improvement on having certain roles would be to assign Jake with a more technical role such as director or camera man. This may have pushed him and all of use to be more organised and have everyone make an equal effort not just some of the group.

Opening Scene Narrative - Miss Miller

Opening Scene Narrative

Introduction

Our very first frame consists of a long shot. The location is the school corridor and the frame shows an example of the character Cameron pulling along the chair and facing his death. The sound will be very simple during this scene as the focus is on the squeaking sound of the chair. The scene continues onto a median shot the sounds and frame remains similar focusing on just building the tension. The scene then portrays Cameron opening the door to the scene with the stair case. This shot is median and all you hear now is the door creaking slowly, this flows into a close up of the door and shuts firmly to show how trapped Cameron is. The scene then fades to black and is reunited with a close up of him tying the rope around the metal staircase. The location remains very dusty and damp looking and the use of iconography is present here as the chair and scarf (used as rope) is seen. As the character Cameron steps onto the chair Erie sounds begin to be heard non-dieageticlly towards the audience. A close up of Cameron's lifeless face is then presented. We use makeup under his eyes to show the exhaustion. His facial expressions remain to appear as if he has given up. The cinematography then begins to change as we zoom out into a medium shot. The editing is very slow in this scene as we plan to use slow motion to prolong his death, creating tension. The final frame to this scene is used with a median shot. You see his legs continuously struggling. The iconography remains the same and all we see is the chair being kicked over. The sound track remains gloomy to create the effect and realisation that his life is coming to an end. The positioning of the character Cameron remains very unsettled as we see his struggle after committing suicide. The editing then comes in from a big fade/flash transition to show we have actually gone back in time to where Cameron's struggles began. 

The first frame suggests that Cameron had a 'normal' family life. The sounds of eating is present and the long shot is used to show the positioning of the characters which is Mother and son placed awkwardly at different ends of the table. The iconography in this scene is the cutlery and 'food' that is left out for them to eat. The constant sound of eating and knives against the plate is heard and the lighting remains quiet natural considering this is the evening. The following scene is a point of view shot form Cameron's view he is looking at his mother she begins to nag him, talking about a doctors appointment. Her facial expression remains concerned and the only diagetic sound we hear is the mother raising her voice about how she believes Cameron has behaved. A close up of Cameron stabbing his knife into the his toast is used here. We see the anger in the way he uses this iconography which builds up the audiences perspective of what type of character Cameron is. We then see Cameron's whole body language. His position remains very stiff and his facial expression remains very tense. The lighting is now darker as the scenes atmosphere fades. The sound of his mothers dialogue is faded as Cameron's concentrations turns dark. The next scene shows an extreme close up of Cameron's dark eyes. Erie sounds begin to take place as we see the frustration in his facial expression. A sudden fade is then brought in which lasts roughly 3 seconds. Cameron shuts his eyes. After a flash transition the frame is led from Cameron's point of view and the use of iconography is used and repetition is used showing of the knife is continued. The short violent scene are brought to the audiences attention in quick editing. The character Grace is shown being stabbed and falls off her chair why she then looks confused and dazed after being wounded. Cameron then remains in power as we see him struggle to maintain purity as he murders his mother. We hear nothing but the soundtrack being played, which is a cover of Tiny Tim's - Tip Toe Through The Tulips. This parallel sound is played as Grace struggles to get her son off of her. Although this diabetic sound is muffled, We are able to here Cameron's muffled breathing. The lighting is still dark at this point to show that his 'dark' side is present. 

The title 'Disturbia' Is the portrayed on the screen while we continuously here the soundtrack Tip Toe Through The Tulips.

The final scene is then demonstrated.With a medium shot that shows Harmony walking. We are able to see a deserted looking street and bush to the right. The following shot remains quiet low and only shows half of her body. Her phone then begins to ring and a median shot it used to present her answering the phone. When the phone remains fuzzy and threatening she panics and a POV shot is shown as she frantically looks around to see if anyone is watching. Cameron replies with 'Cameron's Not Here Anymore' - As Harmony walks off we see her in a black coat. She wears all black to annotate that danger is near for her. We got Cameron to remain in a suit almost to show the contrast in characters. When his innocent he wears white. When he is in black he is evil and the fact he is in a suit at the end shows that this is only the beginning for Cameron. His 'protagonist side' wants to trick the audience into thinking his in charge.

Conclusion
If this was an entire film the storyline would continue to show how Cameron's innocent side deals with the guilt which leads him to his suicide and how does the film actually end does Cameron really die. The fact that Cameron appears to kill himself at the start shows how our thriller opening differ to stereotypical thrillers. In conclusion to our opening scene narrative we have successful attempted to include all the micro-elements that need to be presented in a conventional thriller opening.

Filming Schedule - Miss Georgiou

Filming Schedule

Introduction

A filming schedule is something that allows us to be more organised with what we are doing. It causes us to communicate with each other and the actors. Overall we are able to discuss which lessons and days after school we are free to all film. We are able to know the date and time of which we will be meeting and taking part in the participation of our opening film. In addition to this our frame looks more organised as we are able to see what iconography and equipment is needed and who is going to actually be needed in this particular scene.

This helped us a lot with planning our opening sequence. We was able to have an overview of what was needed in each scene. Having a filming schedule made us feel a lot more secure with what we where producing as the scenes that where created in our minds come to life on paper.

Although our filming schedule was made to help us become more organised and take a more realistic approach into filming our opening sequence. We still had to consider all the possibilities that it may not go exactly to plan. We actually changed the location of the bus stop scene that was filmed on the 3rd of December due to the fact that it was an awkward place for us to get to and none of us could make it within a reasonable time sequence. The location was changed to a street outside our school which made it accessible to the actors and production team.

Another part of the filming schedule that we wanted to follow but didn't always stick to was the length of the shots. This was due to a number of reasons, such as actors. In some scenes they would laugh or get distracted and this created a divergent in how long the scenes/shots had to be this was because of the effect that we needed to create without anyone smiling or laughing in the shots. This resulted in a number of the shots being cut down and very short. 

Our third most significant problem that occurred when following the filming schedule was the fact that we had to re shoot a part of the opening scene. When Cameron's character drags the chair. This is because the scene was filmed in the school and some posters where seen in the background this was filmed the week after we thought we had finished all our filming completely but as we went to edit it. We realised that the part of the scene that needed to be changed didn't look right. 

Conclusion

Overall the filming schedule is used to organise and keep up with the different scenes and times for filming. If we wern't able to organise the different days and times of filming then we would struggle to keep up with the work. In addition to this we are able to see what changed we made and what was successful when planing our filming schedule we where able to notice the differences that have occurred when starting to plan our thriller sequence and finishing our thriller opening.

Group Storyboard - Miss Miller

Group Storyboard

 Introduction

This project is done in groups which means it is crucial for it to work properly. It needs to be able have a number of different opinions and ideas added to it, without it being a solo project. To do this we needed to combine our individual storyboards to eventually create something that would equally have a share of ideas into it.

We had to go through each storyboard and individually assess each one of them. We was able to pull out successful features from each one and successfully add different perspectives of what we want our final opening sequence to look like. 

The first ever shot, demonstrated in frame 1 was taking from Claire's original storyboard we all agreed that having him walk towards the camera prolonged the scene and the walking which built up tension and fore-shadowed his death. This use of cinematography was a long shot which means we are able to see the long corridor that is also represented in the scene and adds to the suspense of the prolonged walk. In addition to this we see him dragging the long rope and chair which was iconography taken from all of the groups storyboard as we all agreed these where the best props to use and the audience may begin to question where he is actually heading, resulting in them feeling anxious towards for the character Cameron his body language here also indicates that his giving up so the audience know wherever he is heading he is not going to be safe and enjoying  it.

In the next scene we see a combination of both mine and Claire's idea of how to build enigma before he jumps. In Claire's scene she focused on using a close up of his face whereas in mine, I have continued to use a median shot which also began to pan out. The aim we had was to combine our frames together and create a zooming out shot that started focused on his facial expressions then zoomed out to his body, for the audience to see the rope wrapped around his neck. This overall is a much more effective use of cinematography as we decided it focuses on the two most important things. His facial expressions and his body language, with the iconography present. This is conventional to a thriller as the audience are able to see the two most important things in this scene his facial expressions and body language as well as the iconography used which is the rope. Leading the audience into knowing what he is about to do. This idea was taken from Shutter Island as in my own storyboard I said about how close ups and facial expressions are crucial when trying to connect the audience to our characters.

Above we are able to see the start of an idea from Claire and myself. We where able to figure out a way to add a range of our different shot techniques but still save time and not spend too long on separate frames. We decided to add a 'montage-like' type of footage. We decided to have a numerous amount of angles portraying the mothers death but then turn it into a very fast scene with a lot of impact. The transitions will be almost like a flash racing across the screen and each frame will last about 3 seconds. We also thought it may be a good idea to piece together a range of blackouts during the 'montage' to create even more suspense within the scene. After the mothers death we then go on to introduce the title. This is when Jake agreed that this was a good idea to play our soundtrack - Tip Toe Through The Tulips.

The final shot was taken from my own storyboard in frame 24 we decided to leave it on a cliffhanger and decided this was the best way to do it. The way that the character Cameron lingers in the background, but the focus is not on him will cause uncertainty towards the audience. The audience will question his body language and facial expressions as they will remain unclear. The fact that the only facial expression to be seen will be Harmony's will remain very frightening for the audience to watch as they may be unsure as to what is going to happen to her as a character. The build up to this shot it complimented by a range of different panicking frames. In frames 20, 21, 22 and 23 They all remain to focus on different things such as her feet moving uncomfortably and the audience being able to see her panicking through frame 23. All these techniques where chosen by all of us as a group and we have worked together to achieve a number of shots that imply that the character Harmony is weak and vulnerable and appears to be being 'watched'. 

Conclusion

We had to compromise on a number of things through each stage of completing our plan. When we first thought of our group narrative we had a range of ideas and settings that we thought we could use. Initially we wanted a very dark, dirty room to be used for the suicide and wanted to use Claire's cellar. Unfortunately this wasn't possible due to the fact that the space was to small to film and there was to many of us to all contribute into making this scene as perfect as possible in such a small space. So while drawing and creating our storyboard we evidently came up with the idea of having to use a staircase on the school premises. Doing this meant that the lighting and atmosphere may not be as we planned but in editing we are going to add filters that will hopefully create more erie lighting. If I where able to change any elements of our storyboard it would be to maybe prolong the beginning. Maybe add more shots and longer time frames to prolong the suicide even more. This would build the overall feel of the opening sequence and contribute in creating a successful thriller opening.

Individual Storyboard - Miss Miller

Individual Storyboard

Introduction

A story board is something used to show the type of scene that you are imagining in your mind come to life. They are often presented as rough sketches and have little detail with them to show what type of camera angle your using and etc. It can be a great way of deciding how you plan your footage to look and if it requires any addition scenes/shots that you may not have thought about before.

Cinematography
I have manged to storyboard 20 different frames for my opening sequence. The first 7 being the suicide scene and from 8-13 is the murder scene. Frame 14 is the title and 15-20 remain to be the bus stop scene with the telephone conversation to Cameron. Most of the shots I have decided to add in my storyboard are conventional to a thriller, in frame 6 we see the camera close up on Cameron's face. He appears very weak and vulnerable, We decided to go with a close up of Cameron to let the audience see how emotionless and weak he appears. After seeing him portrayed this way they may begin to build a relationship of guilt and sorrow with Cameron as they audience are being to to see Cameron's perspective on the world which isn't a very appealing one. I got the idea for this shot to portray vulnerability from films such as Shutter Island. Leonardo DiCaprio is being portrayed as a very disturbed character and often by just looking at his sad, confused face made me feel sympathy towards that character which is what I wanted to achieve in my own thriller opening. The camera begins zooming out gently to eventually witness him jumping off the chair. This creates anticipation within the scene as it slows down the speed of the shot by slowly zooming out. In frame 12 the shot I have used is a point of view shot. This is when the mother initially gets stabbed. The use of this shot will create a very tense atmosphere as it means that the audience get a taster of what its like to be in Cameron's shoes. What does it feels like to see through the eyes of a murderer? This almost implies the guilt the audience will feel as they will experience first hand the facial expressions of the dying, helpless mother. Another shot that stands out is shot 19. This shot is a panning/POV shot and I decided to add this to our opening sequence to create a sense of panic within the scene. The fact that the camera is turning frantically from Harmony's point of view shows how she feels frightened. She may be wondering where Cameron is and what his capable off.

Mise-en-scene
The lighting will also be low-key which will be another convention of a thriller and react well with the scene of the suicide. I have decided to use this type of lighting to put all concentration on Cameron as I plan to have him stranded in the darkness. This leaves clues to the audience as to why he is committing suicide. It leaves ideas that he has had a very bad childhood and has maybe experienced challenging things in his life which contribute to the way he feels know. This lighting remains to fit the codes and conventions of a thriller as it portrays how Cameron feels swallowed up by the darkness. Overall this is what makes the atmosphere so thrilling and erie. In the last four frames we are able to see my vision of what I intend the ending of my opening sequence to be. I plan to make a very panicked ending due to the fact if this was a whole movie, the audience would want to continue and watch more. This is why I have deliberately caused the ending of the scene to be a cliffhanger with the positioning of the character Cameron standing in the background. This is conventional to a thriller as it produces a very scary atmosphere as we are able to see Cameron coming after the character Harmony.

Sound
I plan to have the song 'Tip toe through the tulips' in the frames 14, 15 and 16. Where I have committed music in the sound box this is the music I wish to have. This type of music originally from Tiny Tim remains to be very erie in the way it sounds so child-like. This type of music is music that sends chills down the audiences spin as they watch the thriller opening as they have no clue what to expect next as they sounds are so unreliable. In addition to this the song used is conventional to a thriller because of how it make the audience feel. It makes them feel very uncomfortable due to its child-like qualities. The fact that the song is so high-pitched may remind them of some sort of children's rhyme which can disturb them due to the face that children are associated with innocence and there is no innocence or goodness to be presented in this part of the film as it is just after Cameron's mother is murdered. Finally I got the idea to use this song from the thriller/horror Insidious. This music really stood out to me after watching the film as it contributed into making me feel uncomfortable which is how I want the audience to feel when watching my own thriller opening.

Conclusion

I think my storyboard is successful because of the different camera frames used and techniques used within the story if i was to improve my work i would try and include more of a range of unusual techniques. I would add more frames to try and create more temp on the faster scenes. This is something I aim to achieve in my group/final storyboard.

Planning Opening Credits - Miss Georgiou

Opening Credits

Introduction

The purpose of opening credits is to introduce your film title and actors names. You may also add everyone that is going to be involved in making your opening sequence. For example the directer may be another name that appears on the opening sequence to show

his significance within the film.

The opening to Seven has many aspects that remain to be conventional to a thriller. The font of the writing is very messy almost like handwriting. This shows that it would've been rushed and written in panic like a unstable character would do. The sparks of red really show how there could be elements of death and danger within the film. The white writing and black background are very conventional to the thriller genre as they represent that the characters involved in this film could be evil and innocent. Meaning this film follows the character roles of the antagonist and protagonist. The character seems very twisted and unstable, this is shown through the very disturbing images that are portrayed throughout the credits, for example the man cutting his skin with a blade other repetition of using the scissors and showing him cutting up various things. In addition to this the images can almost be presented as someone planning a murder, there are pictures of people involved and a range of different tools being shown. All convincing the audience that the use of iconography is going to be present in this thriller, often conventional weapons such as knifes and blades. There is low-key lighting through-out all of the film, which is another typical convention of a thriller as it heightens the shadowy effect in the scene and concentrates on only certain aspects of the scene, making the scenery appear as if something is hiding in the shadows. The sound effects used in this continue to be very erie. The noises here often sound like a record player being scratch. Which resemble to a scream. This is a common convention of a thriller as the high pitched noises in these opening credits are similar to someone in distress, building tensions within the atmosphere. The production name comes first in this opening sequence followed by the directors name and the main characters. Often most important first such as Brad Pitt, which is something we will take in to consideration when rearranging our own opening credits.

My opening title

 

I have used the red outline of the writing to demonstrate the danger and death within the scene, The colour red is a typical connotation of the danger and murder that's to come in our opening sequence. The words come in muddled and confusing to show the different sides of mental behaviour in our opening sequence, for example Cameron's spilt personality, he remains to appear very disorientated and in his own little world which is why I have chosen the letters to come into shot this way.This part of the opening credits remains a white colour and the spaces between the letter are fairly spaced apart this is to portray the suspenseful atmosphere within the opening sequence all the characters in our opening sequence remain very isolated from each other although they are all family/friends. There relationship is not what you would expect from a 'normal' family bond. They remain very distant from each other, even though they believe they are close and the mother continues to question Cameron about his life, meaning she knows little about it herself. The words then fade out and turn to black and the scene continues. The use of this soft fade supports the narratives idea of the main character Cameron losing his own identity. Eventually the boys own identity is fading away and being overthrown by the dark side of him, just like the font in this opening

credit.

Claire's Opening Credits

Claires opening credits appear to be very bold. There is a dimmed red colour within the letters and the outline of the letter are white against a black background. The red that she has added contributes to the convention of a thriller and is successful as it works

 to represent the death and danger within our thriller opening. It could possibly suggest a brutal murder that may take place in the film, this is due to the connotation of the red meaning blood, which causes the audience to become fearful of whats to come. The white and black colours contrast against each other as they display how innocent people could be at war with the antagonists in the opening sequence. This may resemble Cameron's mental state. battling with innocence and evil. She has been very successful at following the theme of conventions. Her colour schemes are very good when trying to represent the narrative within our opening sequence using black and white as contrasts with a slight hint of red. One weakness of her opening credits would be that they remain very structured and we are trying to present a very disturbed opening thriller sequence. 

Jake's Opening Credits

His font is very bold and remains thick and white. The colours work well together as white and black can represent the good vs evil that our character Cameron has to battle within himself everyday. The font used here is more likely to be suited more to the adventure or fantasy genre as it remains bold and cartoon-like, which is one weakness of this font. It remains to look like it should appear somewhere more suited for child. Something with adventures and fantasy as this font often reminds me of a cloud like scenery. Jake's credits also hadn't have a fade in and fade out. Which meant the opening title credits would just appear very rapid onto the screen, again not following the storyline of someone who is mentally ill, as the font and fades remain too structured.

Conclusion

Overall as a group we decided to use my own opening credit title as we all agreed that it was the most convention to our thriller opening and thrillers in general. This is because of the way the fade in was very scattered and appeared jumbled up. In addition to this our opening credits will appear with the most relevant and important actors first. This will be Morgan Brown (Cameron), Grace Wingrove (Grace/Mother) and Molly Emmerson (Harmony). This will then be followed by the director and other actors names and part of the production team. The title will be shown around halfway through the opening sequence with the words 'Disturbia'.

Character Discussion - Miss Miller

Character Discussion

Introduction

It is important to think about the audience when creating your characters as the audience needs to have someone they can relate to in some way. Other wise relationships between the characters are harder to build. Empathy is a good emotion to have between the audience and characters which is what we have focused on in our thriller films.

Cameron - Antagonist/Protagonist
Cameron is the only male character in our opening sequence. He is 18 years old and is a student that isn't very successful at school. He always looks tired, almost as if he is done with life and everyone. He looks empty and emotionless. His costume involves wearing white when his innocent side is present and black when his very angry, evil side takes over. His very, very quiet and gives of the impression of being disturbed. His very passive aggressive when his evil and while he remains on his good side he is so depressed from all the things he does when his bad, he just ends up feeling guilty. This creates a very sympathetic atmosphere between the audience and the character. At first the audience are unable to know anything about him and are thrown off by the fact a young boy kills himself. This is to chilling and unsettling for the audience and they immediately grow attached to him as they want to know what caused him to go this far. He grew up in a very nice and 'normal' neighbourhood. He remained an only child and his dad was murdered when he was ten, this is what triggered his mental health issues. The murderer was never found causing him to feel very isolated and distrustful of everyone. He suppressed all his anger and emotions and created a whole new personality. He currently attends counselling sessions but he still struggles with his mentality. We decided to name this character Cameron due to the fact that this name is a unisex name and it could be said to display his two separate personality's as this name can be used for two separate people.

Grace - Mother

Grace is 44 years old and is Cameron's mother. She used to spend her time as a teacher at a local primary school but currently just volunteers at the church. She has brown hair with a tint of grey due to the huge stresses she had to deal within her early years. She remains very tired looking and drained and is going to wear an apron/baggy dull top in our opening sequence to show her domestic side. She is a very nurturing character and sometimes over protective towards Cameron. When Cameron's bad side is present he can often feel very smothered in the way she treats him. Overall Grace is a very caring character. In addition to this she was happily married and had Cameron at the age of 26. Her husband was murdered when she was 36. Leaving her to deal with the work and her son. The audience become very intrigued by this character as they may get the impression she is close with Cameron, in the way she talks to him. She asks him questions and often likes to know how his feeling mentally. She worries if he is coping well enough. When she is murdered this contributes to the sympathy that is present in our opening thriller film as the audience know Grace is a very caring character and didn't deserve to be murdered.

Harmony - Friend

Harmony is a 17 year old female student. Shes young with ginger hair and appears to be a very girly girl. Her personality is bubbly and bright. Although deep down she has a very bad case of paranoia over Cameron. She cares about his family and his well being. This is because she has known Cameron all her life. She was very close to the family and feels part of the family herself. Harmony has always tried to look out for him. The use of the name Harmony is to represent the peace and positivity of the character. This character is brought in to create mystery within the opening scene. The audience feel very interested in what happens to Harmony. We plan to have Cameron follow her but we don't see what happens. This is to leave the opening on a cliffhanger. Leaving the audience to question Harmony's well-being. The audience want to know what happens to her. She wear a black coat to represent the dark and chilling danger she is in. This is because although Harmony is a very innocent character at this point her life is in danger and the audience can guess this from just the atmosphere and her costume.

Conclusion

Each of our characters are used and presented in different ways to make up our narrative. Cameron is the conventional mentally unstable character. Very unpredictable and secretive. He creates enigma within the narrative as the audience are intrigued to know all about him and why he acts and does the things he does. Grace is the innocent character that remains to be the biggest victim of our opening thriller. She is brutally murdered by someone she trusted leaving the audience saddened at how someone can be violated in this way. Finally Harmony is used to create enigma in our opening. She seems to have an understanding of Cameron as the audience are aware by her reaction that she is worried and concerned at why Cameron is talking to her this way. As we leave the this characters fate unknown.

Sound Discussion - Miss Miller

Sound Discussion

Introduction

Sound within films is very important especially in the thriller genre. This is due to the fact that sound alone is what can make a sequence erie and disturbing. A simple sound of footsteps, heavy breathing or even a heartbeat can contribute into making a scene successfully disturbing. We plan to use very simple and quiet tones to create a conventional thriller. As well as Parallel music that will support the theme we have of creating a very unsettling scene.

Parallel 

Sound of a heartbeat is introduced when Cameron's mother is killed. When he violently makes impact with her and thumping sound of a heart will be present. This will emphasises the pain that is being inflicted on his mother. They will recognise the fact that this human life is coming to an end and the pain and suffering will conclude with a heart that stops beating. The audience will then become very fearful of Cameron and lose respect for his character after murdering his own mother and this sound will encourage this, as it demonstrates how innocent the mother is due to the fact that this murder is very physically brutal and she was not able to defend herself. The sound of the heartbeat may appear very unsettling to the audience as it is the main functioning muscle and when someone is scared or emotional it can get louder and more frequent which is what happens in this scene to display Cameron's mothers fear. Which ultimately causes the audience to fear him to. This is conventional to a thriller as it fits in within the disturbing character, the fact he is able to murder his innocent mother someone who you are extremely close to shows that in actual fact Cameron's character does not have a heart at all and is very cold. The sound of the heart is also conventional when making the attack a lot more personal. As it assembles the fact that the life is draining out of her.

Diegetic

In the beginning the character of Cameron will begin pulling a chair across the floor very slowly and steadily. This is to create a suspenseful atmosphere within the film and prolong the agonising realisation of what Cameron is about to do. The chair will be dragged with no emotion to make the audience sympathise with him. It will create the image that Cameron is being dragged under by his opposing side. His 'evil side', they will begin to build a relationship with this character through the slow paced, quiet sounds which symbolise how his life is coming to an end.This is conventional to a thriller as suicides and deaths are often very common at the opening of a thriller and the rest of the film is revolved around the murder, Suggesting why he was done it and what caused the horrific breakdown that results in suicide. The audience have no clue what has happened to Cameron. They can only suggest he has had a long and heavy weight on his shoulder due to the prolonged sound of the dragging chair the audience may also feel his ongoing depression.

Off screen

In our opening sequence we are going to use off-screen sounds. This is demonstrated in the scene where Harmony is walking home and gets a phone call from Cameron. His voice remains to be the off-screen noise we hear. The audience are able to hear reply but they will not see his face and know where he is or what his intentions now are. The use of the technique off-screen sound is very conventional to the thriller genre as it builds suspense due to the audience questioning where the sound is initially coming from. Most of the time in thrillers we are kept from a lot of information and lots of secrets are often present within a thriller. The use of Off screen sounds causes them to try and adapt the sound to where they think it is. This will result in them being very observant within the scene trying to see where they can identify the sound. This creates a fear full relationship with the character Harmony as the audience is unable to grantee her safety as they know Cameron's character could be hidden around the corner.

Non diegetic

In our thriller film, the song "tip-toe through the tulips" Will begin playing and then fade out at the end of our opening sequence. This non diegetic sound is very innocently portrayed which will also act as very disturbing sound to the audience as they will not be anticipating this type of music to be played at the end of a thriller just after a murder. This song is used to create a better understanding and relationship with Cameron's character. The use of this childlike piece of music resembles Cameron's 'evil side' by not really fitting in with normal society, just like how this song docent necessary fit in with the thriller genre, except when used for effect like this. In addition to being a very unusual piece of music that will be being played. It will cause the audience to feel very stressed and panicked as to why the music is so unexpected. After a murder a sad or aggressive piece of music is usually played but in this case it is not. This ultimately is conventional to a thriller as it supports the theme of a unsettling character which is present throughout our thriller opening.

Conclusion

This post has prepared me for filming as my opening thriller sequence as by planning ahead it gives me an idea in my head of where each of these sound effects will be placed. The fact that these techniques each fit the thriller genre in a unique way shows us already that our opening sequence is going to be successful when trying to portray a disturbed character and erie setting. All from just planning the sound effects that are going to present in our thriller opening.

Planning editing styles - Miss Georgiou

Editing styles in our opening sequence

Slow editing 
This is used to slow down the atmosphere of the scene. The timing of the shots will be placed at a longer rate, building up tension within the shots. This creates suspense as there is a longer wait until the next shot is presented. This slows down the overall mood of the thriller opening if there is a longer time period before the shot is changed then this will prolong the audiences anticipation. This will give the audience more time to change the way that they think towards the character if this character is becoming more agitated by what is going to happen to the character then they build a relationship with them as they are able to become more observant to that one particular scene and shot. This is conventional to a thriller as the build of tension creates suspense in the scene and continues to display an anticipating atmosphere, this is what overall gives the audience time to reflect on what is happening or what they think is about to happen within the scene. Slow editing can be used to drag out a scene or get the audience to concentrate more with results in a jump scare or unexpected moment to appear even more shocking then originally would appear if the editing was upbeat and cut to be presented in a very fast way.

Filters

Filters can be used to change type of mood of the scene, for example if the scene was to have a filter on it that darkened the tone and colour it could create a whole new insight into the scene, we may use this during our flashback to build a relationship with the character and audiences this is to show that the audience is able to get a look into what is going on in the characters life and what made him finalize the decisions he made. This is conventional to a thriller as it can firstly make the scene appear more erie  as the audience know they are being shown the characters future but they are unable to know why he got there and why he is committing suicide. It also builds relationships towards the audience because there feelings towards the thriller become more curious making this type of thriller physiological no only to the characters but to the audience as they have to think more deeply into the story line to figure it out compared to predicting it. This is how the use of flashbacks and filters can support the confusing story line.

Reaction shot

A reaction shot is used to portray how someones facial expressions are focused on in this shot. We will use this during the phone call scene when harmony is on the phone to Cameron and he speaks back to her with chilling words. This creates a shocking feeling towards the audience, normally with the use of a close up shot we are able to witness the characters fear on there face or see the anger they portray. In this case Harmony will show confusion and fear as she hears Cameron's chilling voice. In addition to this the reaction shot is normally followed by slow editing which again is to build the anticipation before revealing the reaction shot.

Group Planning - Miss Georgiou

Group Planning

Introduction

In my group excluding myself there is Claire Golighty and Jake Butler. At our group meetings we are able to discuss any ideas or interests we have concerning the film. Group meetings allow each member of the group contribute in any way they want. So everyone has an equal say when planning the thriller production.

In our first meeting we where able to talk about our different individual ideas and then elaborate on what makes them good and what makes the ideas good separately and together. We eventually came up with the idea of a physiological thriller to be present in our own thriller opening. We wanted a suicide to start it off followed by a flash back and we all agreed that this was a successful way to create enigma within a film. After completing our questionnaire we where able to see that films in the thriller genre where most successful and try and figure out why, we focused mainly on thrillers such a 'Shutter ISland' and 'Phyco' and these where originally what gave us the inspiration to continue with following the idea of a physiological thriller with a very disturbing character.

There where a number of different things we discussed in our first meeting which was mainly to be able to identify roughly what different elements we would present in our own thriller opening. After our first meeting of disusing what type of sub-genre we wanted and a short overall of all the ideas we had for our thriller opening we had to go into much more deph and think realistically at what we could achieve and how we where able to accomplish it. Our first focus was the sound. We wanted to add parallel sounds that would relate to our thriller opening and then ultimately use sounds such as stabbing noises and the screams during murders. Although these sounds are stereotypical to the thriller genre we needed to add them as it was crucial to keep up with the thriller film, because our narrative and time frame can sometimes be confusing at times to try and trick the audience we didn't want to go to far off task to what was needed to be done. Another sound technique we discussed was the use of non-diagetic sounds. This would be the original soundtrack from Tiny Tim - Tip Toe through the tulips. This creates a very thrilling atmosphere as it is a rather upbeat song and does actually play apart in almost making the audience feel crazy them self.

In our next meetings we want to plan mise-en-scene, characters, cinematography, editing styles and opening credits, to manipulate our opening sequence to be conventional to a thriller. We want to be able to talk about where we plan to use mise-en-scene and how we intend to use it. The characters will have to be mentioned in detail at a rate that will show how much we understand our own antagonists thoughts. We will talk about his history and what type of person he is, his age and his hobbies. This should be done for all characters. Cinematography will be discussed to provide an idea of what shots and techniques are successful and make the scene a lot more thriller and conventional. We will then discuss how we want the editing to be used within our thriller film. If we want the scene to appear a lot slower and more intense then the rate that different frames are presented will be a lot different to if we wanted the scene to be fast and upbeat maybe during a murder. Finally we will consider what makes a successful opening credit. How will the font be displayed as, will it be thick and bold or thin and messy to represent cursive text. There are many things that need to be talked over a numerous amount of times to make sure we are adding the correct elements into the opening sequence.

 Conclusion

Overall the use of this time has been very successful we where able to sit and chat. These discussions ending in each of us having an equal say about how they see our finalized opening sequence and what requirements are essential to making a successful thriller that is filled with conventions and a good strong narrative.

Planning Cinematography - Miss Miller

Cinematography 
Introduction
Is something that will really be able to complete the atmosphere within films, it involves how the camera is used to manipulate the scene. The camera can have slow or quick panning, shaking movements or can be positioned in different ways to create different effects.

Close ups

We have decided to use close ups within our thriller film, these shots are initially used to focus of facial reactions and emotions. We plan to use this type of shot during a telephone conversation after something disturbing is said on the phone. This is the final scene that sees Harmony answering the phone to Cameron we see a close up of her reaction and this is what causes the audience to be able to build a relationship with this character as they are able to sympathize with the characters feelings and how they are being made to feel. This type of shot is conventional to a thriller as it causes the audience to wonder what has required this extreme focus on just there face and facial expressions. The are used to build emotion which is something that is usually quite common in thriller as the details are everything.

Low angle shot

To display power within a scene we have decided to use a low angle shot, this is when the camera is positioned at a lower angle facing upwards this is to make people or objects in the shot appear more superior. This type of shot will be used when our character Cameron is murdering his mother. This will present his aggression towards his mother, giving the audience a fearful relationship towards him. They will see him as a threat and will continue to sympathies with the mother who will appear weak. This is conventional to a thriller as it distinguishes the difference between a protagonist and antagonist. We know that if we are looking up at a character they appear stronger making the the audience fear them. If the audience are looking down onto something or someone it is in fact the audience that feel much more superior. Overall It brings fearful tension into the scene.

handheld 

The use of a handheld shot means that the camera will purposely be used in a shaky movement, almost as if the character himself is holding the camera or that the camera is not being held as steady as it should be. This creates an up paced atmosphere. The audience begin to feel panic and frustration towards the clip as they want to be able to see if there character is in danger. With the shaky and unsteady setting of using handheld it causes them to become unsettled. This will be used with the death of the mum. because it is messy and unplanned the audience wont be expecting it to happen meaning that even more tension is built. This is conventional to a thriller as they often have alot of violence or disturbing scenes. This is what adds to that tension. If the audience feel what they are watching seems excitingly portrayed they often will feel apart of that scene and feel more like they are one of the characters them self. Overall this means that the audience feel alot of adrenaline when handheld movements are present, which is one aspect of how to create a successful thriller.

 Median Shot

This type of shot is able to show the characters and part of the location all together. This shot is called a median shot. In our scene it will be used at the dinner scene. When Cameron and his mum are eating. This is to be able to show there body language at the table and part of the background which will appear as a 'normal' family home. This is to also trick the audience into a shock attack of having a him violently kill his mother. This is to build the shock factor within our thriller.The audience will build an understanding of the character Cameron knowing that he is a very unstable character as the cinematography as gone to a median shot to a handheld. This is conventional to a thriller because of the shock it creates. Thrillers are very suspenseful and by creating an element of surprise, the film becomes more conventional, as we are able to see what is in the background if there is anything there. This in addition means there is more to concentrate on meaning the audience are able to look around at the surroundings, letting there mind play tricks on them, making them think there could be something in the background. 

Point of view shot

The point of view shot is used in thrillers to show a characters perspective. You are able to see everything exactly as they see it. This is used in our production when the character Cameron actually attempts to murder his mother. We use this shot to display exactly what Cameron is seeing. This type of cinematography builds a relationship within the characters and audience as they are able to feel and see exactly what he does. The are able to empathize with him as they know exactly what its like to be in his shoes. This type of shot is conventional to a thriller as usually the identity is hidden when using this shot. If the killer remains unseen and used as a portal into the films then no one is going to know anything about them. They wont know any details about the killer. They could be male or female, or even a child.

Panning shot 

A panning shot is often used in films to allow the audience to follow the scene and see more within a shot. This shot will be used when the character Harmony (The friend) is on the phone to Cameron and remains in a very isolated setting. The panning shot will be used to over exaggerate the loneliness if a wide space is being filmed with only one girl standing there then the atmosphere will change to tense. The audience will feel all different emotions towards the characters as she will be the main focus. If a panning shot is used at different speeds then like in the picture shown only one objects will be the main focus. This is conventional to a thriller as it creates fear and isolation within the film. In thrillers locations like abandoned houses and other empty buildings and scenes are often used to show that there is no escape for that particular character.

Conclusion
By using a number of different angles and shots. Cinematography is able to create a numerous amount of emotions and techniques. When we want the mood to change within our film, then we can manipulate this to what we want by changing the type of cinematography used. These types of cinematography we are presenting in our film will all be conventional to the thriller genre as we are using them to change the atmosphere of the film to our advantage. By creating shock, suspense and surprise. This helped plan our final production as we are now able to distinguish what type of Shots are going to be used. We are able to have an idea of what is going to work best within our scene.