Storyboards and shot lists

Hello all!

So our storyboard is now complete! It is a wonderful five pages long with pictures AND words! (aren't you lucky?) We should be scanning it into the computer next week, so expect wonders!

Also, our shot lists are well and truly on the way, so expect photos and print screens of those as well.

I'm just updating you on the whereabouts of our storyboards and shot lists in case you were woprrying, because I know we were! Anyway, both tasks are completed now, and the evidence should be up shortly!

Thank you and have a lovely evening :)

Some title design ideas...

Hello! So, soon I will be putting up a poll about which font we should use in our title design. But before I do that, I just wanted to post about some of my initial ideas. Well, here we go!

Idea One:

First of all, I thought that after the last shot has faded out, into the blackness our title could fade up. We have included this on our storyboard. The font would be as if it has been on a digital clock, as shown here. This will be happening all the way through in the corners of shots because the main plot of the opening is that there is a deadline. Thihs type of font, you usually see on digital clocks or on bombs and I think it would intrigue our audience and make them want to watch the rest of the film. Also, it relates to the genre of thriller because it creates suspense.

So, for the actual design, the clock showing 00:00, written in this font, would fade out and the word DEADLINE would fade up in the same font.

Strengths are:

-Audience would relate to it because this font is very widely used around the world on clocks etc.
-Audience members would relate it to this film, because in the opening, it would be very prominently featured.

-It creates suspense and makes the audience ask questions, which is exactly what we are aiming for.

Weaknesses:

-It is very same-y, as it is being used through the whole opening, audience might be getting bored of it.

-It is quite difficult to see, as it is so bright.

-It will be difficult to make letters in digital clock font, and if we do, it may be difficult to read.

Idea Two

My second idea is after the 00:00 has faded out, for DEADLINE to fade up but with every letter in a different newpaper clipping. Here is an example:

This font is the typical of ransom letters which is brilliant because our opening involves a ransom letter. Many people would associate it with ransom letters and hostage situations because it is used in many hostage situations, real and imaginary alike. It is also quite suspenseful because it relates to very sensitive subjects for some people, e.g. Kidnapping, murder etc.

Strengths:

-It relates to the plot of our film and to the thriller genre.

-It directly relates to subjects we want to tackle in our film.

-People will link it to the ransom note, and it provokes the audience to use their brains, which is an essential element for the thriller genre.

Weaknesses:

-It is very difficult to decipher and make out, at some points you need to squint to read what it says.

-It may be confused because some people may not relate it to the story and may be confused about the plot.

-It isn't hard-hitting enough.

So those are my two initial ideas for title design! My final idea and design will be up as soon as our filming is done, which may be a few weeks yet! But, do expect print screens, font examples and photos!

Poll is going up very shortly :)

Thank you :D

My individual roles

I thought I'd do a bit of extra research into my individual job roles, so here it is!

Camera operator: The camera operator shoots the individual scenes using the camera. I have to know how to work the camera and use the storyboards to work out how to shoot each scene from the right angle etc. I have to be agile, as I'll be carrying the camera around to different places, but I also have to be very patient, because sometimes the camrea can be slow, or play up etc.

Editing: The editor cuts the scenes to make them precisely what is on the storyboard. The editor works solely on a computer to make changes to and to put the different shots together. The editor also adds music, credits, and any extra features that the group feels is necessary. Editing is a big role, because it is the last job that we have to do. It is what produces the final process. I have to be detailed but not too slow. This process usually takes a very long time, so we need to whittle down the editing time as much as we can. However, I also need to be incredibly detailed because mistakes in a movie always look awful, and we want ours to look brilliant.

Continuity: This job requires a lot of thought because it involves making sure that the cast and company adhere to the conditions of shooting. For instance, part of this job is to make sure we shoot a scene at the same time of day, so that when we cut it together, it doesn't look as if the time suddenly changes in the same scene. Also it relates to props, costume, setting and lighting. It requires me to make sure the actors are wearing exactly what they were wearing the shot before, so the audience can recognise them through their clothes. Also props, because if in one shot an actor is using a gun and in the next shot, he isn't, it looks out of place and often people spot it as a mistake. The main function of a person related to continuity is to make sure that the actors look as realistic as they should from shot to shot.

Title design: Because our film is only a short segement, and it is an opening section, we have t include credits and a title. This job involves designing it relating to the genre and film, so that the editor can insert it into te credits. It is a big job, because it is how most audience members remember their films when they are recommending them to someone else. We want our title to be hard-hitting, but also relevant to the film.

Thanks :)

Planning for costume and make-up!!

So we need to start planning for all our jobs before we can film our thriller opening, and so I've decided to start planning costumes and make-up today.

The costumes must make the character easily identifiable and show if they are antagonists or protagonists, they must also fit with the scene and the situation, for example if the character has been walking through the woods for days, they would be covered in mud and moss with tears in their clothes - however if they were going to a posh party they would be in expensive, good looking designer clothing. The colours of their costumes must also connote certain things about their characters, for example the protagonists stereotypically wear bright colours as they connote happiness, innocence and goodness.

Likewise the make-up has to show a character in a certain way, making them appear nice/evil, young/old, certain stereotypes (e.g 'chavs' stereotypically wear a lot of make-up, and 'goths' stereotypically wear lots of black make-up). If the scene is supposed to be a natural, casual situation so the make-up has to reflect this, as opposed to for example a fantasy film where the make-up will probably be extremely bright and exaggerated.

So here are some ideas of what our characters will be wearing, I've added pictures for a better idea of what I'm hoping our characters will be wearing.

Dad (male, protagonist - 40): As the opening of our thriller is set in the early morning, and we first see the dad waking up in the morning, he will be wearing pyjamas the whole way through the opening. The pyjamas should be relatively bright in colour, therefore the audience will immediately realise that he is a good guy and they will want him to succeed. He will also put casual shoes one when he goes out to the car, these could be any shoes as he would be in a rush so would put on the first pair he sees. I was also deciding wether or not to make him wear a dressing gown, as before he realises his family are missing he could put it on.

Obviously the dad wont be wearing any make-up as he's a male.

Mum (female, protagonist- 35): Likewise to the dad, the mum will be in pyjamas as she was kidnapped from her bed (even though we don't see this in the opening). However the difference with the mum and dad is that the mums pyjamas will have spots of dirt on them, and perhaps a few rips in them to show that she hasn't been treated nicely. She will not wear any shoes as she was kidnapped and taken straight from her bed. As she is a hostage throughout the opening, she will need a blindfold and her hands and feet will be tied up with rope. This attire will show clearly that she is a hostage and will make the audience sympathise for her which is how we want them to feel!

The mum wont be wearing any visible make-up as she's just got out of bed, so if she was wearing make-up it wouldn't look realistic for the audience. However she may have a cut or some dirt on her face, which connotes violence and rough handling - therefore once again the audience will sympathise with her as she's a stereotypical damsel.

2 children (1 girl, 1 boy, protagonists- 7, 14): The children will be wearing similar costumes; both in pyjamas, and as they are hostages too they will also have their hands and feet tied with rope and they will be blindfolded. The children will also have dirt and mud on them to show they have been handled roughly, meaning the audience will feel sorry them. To show their age I will put them in stereotypical childrens pyjamas to make it simple for the audience to tell how old they are straight away.

The two children will not be wearing any make-up because at their age they would not be wearing make-up, and also they were dragged straight from their beds as well.

Antagonist (male, age unknown, perhaps 20's/30's): The antagonist will be wearing all black clothing - as this is stereotypical of the villains in horror films therefore the audience will identify that he is a bad guy as soon as they see him. He will be wearing thick clothing that shows none of his skin, this makes him seem mysterious and evil. I will also get him to wear black gloves so we can't see his hands - again making him mysterious and unknown.

We don't actually see the antagonists face at all so he does not need any make up, however if we were to see his face I would give him dark eyes and a pale face to make him look stereotypically evil.

Analysis of previous students work!

I'm going to analyse a thriller opening made by three students who are now in the year above me, their thriller is called 'The Killers Kiss' and I'm going to be highlighting some strengths and weaknesses, and seeing how we could avoid the weaknesses and use their strengths in our thriller!
Here's the clip:




Strengths:
* The music fits really well with the opening, the chosen music adds suspense and tension right from the beginning of the clip. It starts as soon as the clip begins, meaning you notice it right away and notice it throughout the clip. We can make sure our music fits with our thriller opening, and one note I will definitely take from this opening is to start the music when we want it to start becoming tense.
* The credits are integrated brilliantly in this opening, they are spread out between the shots of the actual film which I thought added suspense between each shot - we could think about doing this with our film.
* The lighting used in this opening is all natural which makes it seem more realistic for the audience - we should take note of this and perhaps think about the lighting we use in ours to make it realistic. Also the use of candle light is brilliant, it seems to be an enigmatic code in this opening as there are so many candles - however they are used a light source making the antagonist look mysterious and evil.
* The choice of costumes was realistic and therefore hooked the audience in more and made the opening believable. Dark was used for the antagonist and contrastingly light colours were worn by the protagonist.
* The continuity was brilliant in this thriller opening, I didn't notice any point where it didn't work.

Weaknesses:
* The film was extremely short, and I think if it was longer they would have been able to fit in a wider range of camera angles and movements, and also perhaps made it more tense for the audience by putting in more information about the characters. - I feel our film has a huge range of different camera angles and shots, and also we have figured out how long each shot will be and it comes to about 3 minutes.
* I think the antagonist and protagonist could have been made clearer through camera angles and different shots on them, as it did take me a while to figure out that the female was definitely the antagonist. - We should make sure we clearly show the antagonist and protagonist from the first time that we meet them to make it clear for the audience how they should feel about certain characters.
* I noticed that the slow motion shot is quite pixelated making it difficult for the watcher to focus on exactly who is running in the shot and therefore are unable to make a judgement on whats going on in the scene. - To make sure this doesn't happen to us we should shoot each shot a few times to assure we have perfect shots.
* One other thing I would have liked to see in this opening is perhaps another scene of the 2 main characters so that we know exactly what their relationship is - concluding in the audience making more of a harsh judgement on the antagonist. - To make sure this doesn't happen in our film we should make it obvious the realionships between all characters.

I think this is a really good opening of a thriller and I will definitely be trying to achieve the effect that they had with the music in our film, and also I really loved the fact that they used all natural lighting and the use of candles!

:D:D:D

Director Research!

Steven Spielberg!

I thought I’d have a little look at a thriller director, so I decided to choose I’d say one the most famous directors of all time… Steven Spielberg!

His full name is Steven Allan Spielberg and he was born December 18th, 1946 in Cincinnati, Ohio.

He is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, video producer and studio entrepreneur and is worth roughly 3 billion dollars!

He has a career spanning 4 decades and has covered many themes and genres, from Star Wars to Schindler's List making him not only successful, but an extremely diverse director. Spielberg's early science-fiction & adventure films such as Indiana Jones,Back to the Future and E.T were seen as a typical example of Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking. In later years his films addressed more controversial and sensitive issues such as the Holocaust, terrorism, war and slavery e.g. Saving Private Ryan, Schindler's List and Munich.

Spielberg's films often deal with several recurring themes. Most of his films deal with ordinary characters searching for or coming in contact with extraordinary beings or finding themselves in extraordinary circumstances. In an AFI interview in August 2000 Spielberg commented on his interest in the possibility of extra terrestrial life and how it has influenced some of his films. Spielberg described himself as feeling like an alien during childhood, and his interest came from his father, a science fiction fan, and his opinion that aliens would not travel light years for conquest, but instead curiosity and sharing of knowledge.

A strong consistent theme in his family-friendly work is a childlike, even naïve, sense of wonder and faith, as attested by works such as Close Encounters of the Third Kind, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Hook, and A.I. Artificial Intelligence. According to Warren Buckland,^[ these themes are portrayed through the use of low height camera tracking shots, which have become one of Spielberg's directing trademarks. In the cases when his films include children (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Empire of the Sun, Jurassic Park, etc.), this type of shot is more apparent, but it is also used in films like Munich, Saving Private Ryan, The Terminal, Minority Report, and Amistad. If one views each of his films, one will see this shot utilized by the director, notably the water scenes in Jaws are filmed from the low-angle perspective of someone swimming.

He is a co-founder of Dreamworks SKG.

He is the godfather of Drew Barrymore and Gwyneth Paltrow!

He often casts new actors based on their performances in other works, he rarely does auditions for major roles.

Is a huge fan of the actors Steve Martin, Bill Murray and Robin Williams. He is also proud to admit they are good friends of his.

When he is asked what films he would like be remembered by he said E.T and Schindler's List.

In terms of casting, Spielberg has a known fondness for working with actors from his previous films.

For example:

Richard Dreyfuss; Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Always.

Frank Welker(voice actor): Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Gremlins 1+2 and The Land Before Time.

Tom Hanks: Saving Private Ryan, Catch Me If You Can and The Terminal.

Tom Cruise: Minority Report and War of the Worlds.

Shia LaBeouf: Transformers 1, 2 and 3, Eagle Eye and Indiana Jones and the Curse of the Crystal Skull.

Kathleen Kennedy has served as producer on all his major films from E.T. to Munich.

Michael Kahn has edited every film directed by Spielberg from Close Encounters to Munich (except E.T)

The most famous professional relationships Spielberg has is his long time collaborations with composer John Williams. He has created the musical scores in all of his films since The Sugarland Express (except The Colour Purple and Twilight Zone: The Movie.) One of Spielberg's trademarks is his use of music by John Williams to add to the visual impact of his scenes and to try and create a lasting image and sound of the film in the memories of the audience. Williams has created some of the world's most recognizable film scores in the history of motion pictures, including the Star Wars saga, Jaws, Superman, the Indiana Jones films, E.T, Hook, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Home Alone and the first 3 Harry Potter films.

So why did i research Spielberg? Although he's the almost stereotypical Hollywood director, his work is incredible, and he has directed some of the most famous films of all time, and certainly some of my favourite films. He is amazing at expressing controversial issues through motion picture, and he is an inspirational director!

Brainstorm of our hostage idea!

Hello! This is a selection of pictures of the brainstorm of our hostage idea.

We included several elements like Camera, editing and sound etc. Enjoy!

First up we have the camera techniques:

There's angles:

And movement:

Then we did narrative techniques:

Then came editing:

Transitions:

Then came music:

After that we brainstormed locations:

Lighting:

Costumes:

Props:

Thank you!!