Group story boards

Storyboards are important because they tell me roughly what should be happening during my thriller, its puts a picture in my head at how we are going to do it and what we are going to do during the thriller film. This will help our group because it sets the scene for how we all want our thriller film to be we have put all of our idea together to help make these story boards. We used everyones ideas as we don't want just one persons ideas we want to all to contribute the thriller film.

In conclusion these story boards have used all of our groups idea as my idea was the baseball bat as the weapon. I think that the story boards will be at great use for my thriller film as it will help us see what we have to do.

Group opening credits.

For the opening credits of our group thriller film, we collectively discussed our ideas for the text size, colour and the font style.

Using different films as our inspiration, we decided that we would want the font to appear fragmented (as it does in Psycho) or to flicker, (as in Se7en) as though the mind of the attacker is mentally unstable. 

We also decided that the size of the font for our title should be the biggest, as this is one of the most important elements within this opening credits sequence. The size of the font will gradually decrease as the different names appear on the screen, to connote both the importance of the members of the production team, and also hold connotations about the fading sanity of the attacker, as the unstable and twisted part of his mind consumes him, just like the size of the font decreases.

The font that I will putting forward to my group as an idea is the font on the left ( above), I feel that this would be good to use in our opening credits as it is distorted writing and would have the effect that something bad is going to happen through the writing. This type of font gives the audience the impression that the attacker is unstable and twisted, characteristics that are conventional to thriller films because characters like this create enigma's, fear and suspense, elements which are all conventional to thrillers as they draw the audience in and help the audience to feel more involved in the film. Compared to the normal font on the right (above), it stands out and has a better effect than the normal font, I would want to use this font as it will help the audience understand that the film is going to be eventful and full of suspense.  

The order of appearance that we will use is:

• Production company
• Editors
• Music
• Actors
• Casting
• Storyboards / screenplay
• Costume / make up
• Location manager
• Safety manager

We will also use a mixture of natural sounds and dramatic music as the soundtrack for our opening credits. As in Se7en, the natural sounds will be enhanced, and play over the top of the dramatic music. This will enable us to make the film appear as realistic, and therefore as threatening as possible. The scary, dramatic music will give the audience an idea of how scary and dramatic the thriller will be and it will also get the audiences attention and make them interested in the thriller straight away.

Planning editing styles.

                            Planning editing styles.

Editing is important when making a thriller film as you will have different scenes and different parts of the film in different places for example the film is not going to be done in one cut. It will take many cuts to make the film how you want it, editing helps you put all the cuts together, it creates and finishes the film. Also it allows you to use editing techniques that can bind the cuts together for example a straight cut is used to cut the scenes straight together, it is the most simple and easy way to edit two scenes together.

The first editing technique that my group are going to use is the jump cut which is when the film suddenly focuses on something. we are going to use fast timing for this as it will keep the pace and the suspense of the thriller film. An example of this editing is when the attacker is in a different place to the victim but he is still stalking and looking after her. This is conventional as it shows that something bad is going to happen to the vulnerable victim and it also shocks the audience because it suddenly focuses on something, so the audience does not expect this to happen, and so feels more involved in the film.

The next shot we  have used is the kuleslov effect this is when two shots are put together to create a third meaning. This helps make the audience be on the edge of their seats because they want to know why the attacker is trying to hurt the girl in the first place. This feeling of suspense is what the audience would expect to feel when they watch a thriller film, which makes this effect conventional and helps the audience to be more involved in the thriller. An example of this is the effect is another flash back to show that the attacker is preparing to attack by getting and choosing his weapons, this is conventional to a thriller film as it shows the audience that there is going to be an attack within the thriller film, which creates mystery and suspense, things that are both very conventional to thriller films and things that make the audience feel more engaged in the film.

The third editing effect that we are using for our thriller film is the dissolve effect, as it will blend one image into another image or scene. This helps to make the thriller film flow through and make it seem realistic as it will blend into the next scene. An example of this jump cut is a flash back as it tells you a bit more background about the attacker and it also shows that the attacker and victim have a background together. Having this in a thriller film it relates the audience to how the attacker is acting and what type of person he is. Because the audience now know a bit more about the attacker, they will start to build a relationship with him, which will lead them to becoming more involved in the film, which is something they expect to feel when they watch a thriller film.

The final editing technique that my group is going to use during our thriller film is the fade editing technique. This is when the screen fades to black and means that the scene has finished in the case of our thriller film. An example when we use the fade editing technique is when the attack grabs the victim and it fades out but you can only hear natural sounds of the victim panicking and screaming. This is conventional as the audience do not know what has happened to the victim and they don't know what the attacker has done to her, which creates an enigma, causing the audience to feel suspense and tension, helping them to feel more involved in the film.

These editing techniques will help me to make my thriller film conventional as they have made the audience feel suspense, which is something the audience expects to feel. An example of this is when we use the jump cut and we use fast timing, as the thriller speeds up its makes the audience build suspense. We have also created enigmas, which have made the audience have questions in they're heads after the scene fades out as it makes them think what has happened.

Opening credits.

               Opening credits.

Opening credits are important to films as they tell you who has done what job during the making of the film and it will also set the scene for the film the way the credits have been written, for example if the credits were bloody and gory you would know that the film would contain violence or horror. If the opening credits are also done with horror music and the lighting is dark then you will understand that there is going to be suspense and action which in the film. There could be a different use to colouring and background to set the scene for the rest of the film.

An example of a thriller film that has a good opening credit sequence is from the film Se7en as it builds suspense and gives you and idea what is going to be within the thriller film. Also it sets the scene about how the character acts and what type of person he is. The colours that are used in the opening credits of the film Se7en are black and white, this builds suspense and it makes the character be mysterious that wants to hurt or attack someone and the contrast of white and black represents the darkness and evil of a character against the innocence of another character. Other colours that are used is the colour red which symbolizes blood and danger and it could symbolize that he is angry and wants to hurt someone. The style of the credits that are used  crooked writing, this shows that there may be an evil or stalking character that is in the opening sequence and also suggest that he is not a normal person, maybe mentally ill or has a crooked sense of morality. Also the writing was jumpy which shows that the film is going to put full of suspense and the film is going to make the audience be put on the edge of their seats. The fonts that they were using were also different fonts as they were having bigger fonts for the more important roles within the film like the director, which makes the names of the important people within the production stand out to the aduience.

The generic conventions that are used within the thriller film credits is that it builds suspense, as there is a stalker that is cutting up pictures and colouring/writing, which also creates a mystery. The character is also mysterious as there you only see their hands and not their face or body expressions, so the film don't want to give anything away during the opening sequence, which draws the audience in and gets there attention, making them interested in the film right away. The character is sharping weapons which shows he is getting ready to attack someone or getting prepared for an attack to happen and these actions build tension, fear and suspense which makes the audience even more interested in the film. The music that is used is eerie, but there is natural but exaggerated and emphasized as it build suspense, the tempo of the is picked up when the character does things like sharping a blade which gets the audiences attention and lets them know that the action of sharpening blades is very important to the story. The emotions that this has on the audience is that they will be anxious to see what happens next. The order of appearance in the opening credits were the production company, the director, the actor, then the title of the film, I feel that if the title would have been at the end of the credits it would have been more conventional to a thriller film. Then the actors continued, casting, music and costumes. Then the editors, producers , camera operator. co-producers, producer, writer and then the director. I feel as if it went from the least important member of the production team to the most important.

Another example of a thriller film that has opening scene credits is final destination, they have a good use colour music and lighting. The colour that is used in this open sequence is dark black and white colours as it makes the audience understand what is happening and it also makes the audience want to watch on. The black and white colours connote evil and darkness (black) and goodness and innocence (white). Also another colour that is used is the colour red at the end of the sequence as it says "this is the end" this shows that they want the audience want to see like something bad is going to happen during the thriller film.  The colour red connotes danger, evil, blood and pain, things that are all conventional to thriller films. The style of credits that have been used during this credit scene is that the writing flickers and when the credits first comes onto the screen it it has a flash of bright light going through the words/credits. Also the writing fades into the background which creates suspense and an enigma about what is going to happen for the rest of the film. When the writing comes onto the screen the background is always dark, so this shows that the film has a dark story line, which shows that it's a thriller.

The generic conventions that are used in this opening credit sequence are the dark colours that are used, this is conventional to a thriller film as it sets mystery, it doesn't want to give anything away. There is also masked creepy figurines which puts the questions in the audiences head such as  they don't know why they are there or what they they are doing/creating and this creates an enigma which is conventional to thrillers because it gets the audiences attention and makes them feel involved in the film. The sound that is used is natural but the music is creepy and eerie this buts the audience on edge as they don't know what is going on. The lightening that is used is low key lighting as there is dark shadows in the opening sequences which is conventional to a thriller films because it creates a sense of darkness and mystery. The order of appearance is as follows first is the production company, then the title, I think that is the title was at the end of the credits it would be more conventional. Then the actors came next, casting, costume designer, music, editors, production designer, director of photography, executive producer, co-producers , producer, screen play and the the director. This is in the order of who is the least important to the most important.

Filming schedule

Film schedules are important when filming a film as they give you a guide with what should happen during the different films. It is important as we can also know how long each part should be during filming.

My group and i did follow out film schedule, but we may need to do more filming in order to make the scenes as best as we can, as there was some interruption during our thriller that we need to re-film. We want to re-film as we would want to make our film accurate and make it look more realist, it also was to make the film fit together more.  

Risk assessment

During filming considering risks are important as my group and I want to be able to know what to do if we are put into one of the situations that we have wrote down. It also helps to make sure that the crew and the actors health is safe and is not going to be at risk at any point of filming.

As a group we discussed different hazards that could take place and as a group we considered how we could prevent these hazards. This risk assessment will assist while filming as we have gone over all the possible outcomes of the risks and how we would deal with them.

Opening scene narration.

My opening sequence to my thriller film will begin with a long shot of the residential road to show the victim walking home with her friends, the lighting will be high key which is natural lightening. The editing is going to be kuleshov effect, the sound is going to be a natural sound from the girls talking and laughing. They iconography will be the school uniform which shows the girls innocence's. The young innocent girl victim is conventional to thriller films because girls are seen as the weaker gender, so are typically the victims. Using a young girl as a victim also helps the audience to create a bond with her as they feel sympathy for her and can sometimes relate to her. 

The next scene is going to be a over the shoulder shot to show the attacker looking at the girls and her friends, the lightening will be high key which is natural from the sun. the location is going to be residential road. The sound is going to be natural and the editing technique is going to be kuleshov effect. The girls are going to be in there uniform and the attacker is going to have a mask and black clothes. These clothes are conventional to thrillers because the uniform shows how young the girls are and the dark clothes and mask are conventional to attackers because it shows they are the bad characters in the narrative and it also represents the darkness within their character. The mask is conventional because it is an effective way of hiding the killers identity, another thing that is very conventional to thrillers because it creates an enigma, which keeps the audience interested and involved in the thriller.

The next camera shot will be the mid shot, the location of this shot will take place at the gate which leads onto the field. The iconography is the girls wearing uniform and her taking her head phones out of the bag. The lightening is going to be high key as natural lighting will come from the sun, the editing will be a straight cut and the sound is going to be natural, as you will hear her friends voices fading away in the background.

The next camera shot is going to be a mid shot as well, the location for this to take place is going to be the end of the forest just going into the field. This is a conventional setting because forests are typically used as they can be very empty and dark,so it would be very easy for an attacker or kidnap or kill a victim, so the story line is realistic. The lightening is going to be high key and natural, the sound is going to be muffled music from the victims headphones. The editing technique is going to be shallow focus as the victim is unaware about the masked man behind her, the iconography for this part is going to be headphones and mask. This is conventional because the attacker takes the victim by surprise, which will shock the characters as well as the audience, causing the audience to feel tense and scared and more involved in the film.

The next shot is going to be a mid shot as it is a flash back, the location for this is going to be a dark room. The iconography for this part is going to be the picture of the victim and a pair of scissors which are going to be used to cut up the picture. The lightening is going to be low key as there will be lamps in the room, the sound will be the girl laughing in the background of the and the editing will be straight cut.  This is another setting that is conventional because the room is dark, which creates mystery as the audience cannot see everything in the shot clearly, which builds the tension, this is also helped by low key lighting which is conventional to thrillers for the same reasons.

The next shot is going to a mid shot, this is going to be filmed in the empty film. The lightening is going to be high key from the sun, the sound is going to be muffled music from the girls headphones. The editing is going to be straight cut, the iconography is going to be headphones and the mask.

There will be a flash back which is going to be a mid shot and an over the shoulder shot, the location will be a in a dark room, the iconography for this is going to be a mask and baseball bat. The iconography is conventional because the mask hides the killers identity and the baseball bat is used as a weapon, so will cause pain to whoever it is used on, this creates fear and tensions from the audience because they are waiting for the baseball bat to be used.The lightening is going to be low key and the sound is going to be heavy breathing. The editing is going to be a straight cut.

The shot for the part of our opening scene will be a mid shot, the location is going to be the field and the iconography is going to be headphones. The lightening for this part is going to be high key natural light which is going to come from the sun light. The sound  is going to be the music from the victims headphones as we want to make the audience know that the girl doesn't know what is going on and the editing is going to be a straight cut.

The camera shot that we are going to use for the next part of the opening scene is going to be a mid shot, the location is going to be empty field and the iconography is the headphones that the girl is wearing. The lighting is going to be natural high key, the sound is going to come from the music of the headphones and the editing technique is going to be a straight cut.

The next camera shot is going to be a close up, the location is going to be the empty field and the iconography is going to be the mask that the attacker will be wearing. the lighting is going to be high key, natural light as it comes from the sun. The sound for this scene is going to be natural sound from the girl screaming, the editing is going to be a straight cut. The sound of the girl screaming is conventional because it shows the audience that the girl is scared or in pain or danger. It also shocks the  audience as they do not expect to hear it and it builds the fear and tension.

The next camera shot that will be used is a mid shot, the location is going to be a empty field and the iconography is going to be the mask and the baseball bat that the attacker will be wearing and using. The lighting is going to be high key natural lighting from the sun and the sound is going to natural from the victim screaming, the editing is going to be a straight cut.

The next shot that is going to be used is a panning shot that is going to be downwards, the location is going to be a empty field and the iconography is going to be a baseball bat. The lighting is going to be high key natural light the sound is going to be dramatic music/ natural sound and the editing is going to be a straight cut.