Presenting The Pitch

Pictures Of Us Presenting Our Pitch

 Presenting our pitch was actually alright. We got good criticism and Bernard gave good feed back. Seen as we struggled in the beginning of our treatment. A lot of new ideas rose as some people suggested not using the tear drops and that bruises on Ryans arm as we don't want the audience to feel sorry for him. Bernard even said that 'As Ryan is the killer he should be making people cry and bruising people' which I could say was a fair argument. Also Bernard suggested we have another location apart from Ryan's living room. We then decided to have an opening clip of Laura(Ryans ex) with another person, preferably a new boyfriend or so. Then we'd have Ryan looking at them perhaps from an 'Over the shoulder' shot.

Planning -Day Three. (Pitch)

After presenting our pitch (Reference video) we get some positive ideas to include in our film that we will take into consideration, for example, having pictures of the girls family and new boyfriend up as a sort of hit list and he will cross them out when he has killed them. 
Also a good idea was to have the girl in the beginning with a friend/ new boyfriend and Ryan can be there in the back ground following us and looking evil, we then cut to see his house and his psychoticness and the boyfriend/friend will appear on the hit list. This will also show the girl, who is the heroine and the audience will understand she is the good person and then they will definitely fear Ryan. 
We also got constructive criticism to make sure that the viewer doesn't feel sorry for the stalker, as if the self harms for example this will happen. 
I now feel like we are ready to start filming and i think we have a good idea of the shots we will use and the better understanding the plot, and how we will show that through filming. 

Our Pitch

Pitching Planning

Planning For The Pitch

Very messy but we got there in the end. We had difficulties coming up with ideas our first idea was very baffling and it was all over the place. It didn't really make sense in a way. 


I was listening to a song and instantly thought of an idea we could do. I can not remember what song it was, actually I think it was Rihanna 'Photographs' 
That song is quite depressing in a way so I don't know how I thought of that idea. 

Planning -Day two.

After looking over our ideas we decided that following wasn't the best of ideas. So instead we got inspiration from a song we heard by Trey Songz called 'We can't be friends' which is about a guy that can't get over his ex, also Rihanana's 'Photographs'. We interpreted this them make a thriller, about a guy who's girlfriend broke up with him, but he still loves her and obsesses over her. He starts to stalk her and plans to kill everyone around her thinking this would get her back. We decided in our opening sequence to have a lot of close ups of him cutting pictures of her and adding them to a shrine on the wall. We thought of a similar layout to Se7en's opening sequence. 
Also from the music video of the song that inspired us was some actions we intend to imitate of him grabbing his head in disgust and looking mad ect. 

Planning -Day one.

Planning our final film, was proven to be much more difficult then we expected. We were told the most important thing was location, if you find a 'thriller' like location then a story will work around that, and we chose on a location by the docks, opposite London City airport.
We also had to think about sub-genre and obviously sci-fi or high action wouldn't be easy with our low budget, so we settled on mystery. Other factors were what our titles will be like, and our original idea at the moment is to have them over the action, so we don't loose time, or the viewers attention in the short time.
Some ideas we came up with were, a clown stalker, a motorway suicide, a chase, spies and a following.
However, we now realise that many of these aren't possible and the others aren't that original.
I think researching was obviously very important, however sometimes watching all these films, make it seem harder to make your own, as being low budget we obviously can't afford all the high tech stuff we see in the cinema, so we get carried away with ideas that we couldn't make, then have to think of another realistic idea.

Prelim

Hi All

I think you are being too harsh it looks really good! I have made some notes that I hope will help you think about some of the strengths that you can carry forward and also a couple of areas that could be improved upon. I hope this helps, please come to find me in the staffroom or mail me to arrange a time and we can discuss in more detail...

Firstly the titles themselves, very quick! Judge how long they need to be up there for by reading them at normal speed and adding on two or three seconds. If in doubt then have a look at one of the clips on the blog and make a note of how long they each stay up for. Remember all of the audience needs time to read it not just the quickest reader in the audience!

I love the way the title "Ryan and Jonathon" comes on in a gap in the action, hooray you were paying attention!! That is really lovely, in fact whether you did or not, the placing is so well done that it looks like you filmed this shot with that space in mind for the title to go into - gorgeous.

However the next one comes up in not quite as good a gap, so try to follow this through with all of your titles as much as poss not just the odd one. WHile we are on titles I think you have the ordering a bit back to front, please refer back to your research, generally the stars of the film come up before the actual film title and then it goes into supporting cast. A minor point but important.

I like the music v much, the long-held string notes very effectively build tension and discomfort. Do bear in mind to build this up slowly though, thrillers are all about building up the tension throughout, not whacking you over the head as soon as you walk through the door (not that you do this here , just saying) - a lot of the sequences we have looked at have normal everyday things going but there is just a little something not quite right, subtlety is the key. THe music mix was excellent and very smoothly and  expertly dropped down for the dialogue well done.

I like the POV shot of Ryan approaching the table especially when you carry that through to him sitting down, this looks great! All the more point of view because it is not just like another camera angle but is actually carrrying out quite a human action (sitting down). Again well done very successful.

Finally the shot reverse shot is good but just keep an eye on the framing, have a look at those shots are they exactly as you would want them, how could they be improved? I like the angle on these shots though, slightly low angle from Ryan to make the HM look daunting, slightly high from HM to make Ryan look vulnerable, these little decisions and subtleties whether in camera, mise en scene, editing or sound will be what makes your film a success, and that is why you need to plan your film very carefully.

Well done, please plan carefully I look forward to seeing where you are at on Monday...

Phil

Sound and Titles - The HeadTeacher

(refer to video) 
After editing our film, we had to add sound and titles. For sound we had to export it fro soundtrack, and then open it in 'Soundtrack pro' we first muted all the sound that wasn't dialouge as there was a lot background noise, which- filming in a college meant- we couldn't control. after that we added the sound effect for breathing, for the end of the film, to emphasize the fear from the boy. We then added some much needed eerie music. To define the 'thriller' genre more. We settled for some string music as this was slow, changed tempo and fitted well with the genre and film.
Putting the sound together was a bit confusing to use the software, but one you get the basics sussed and you've had a little practise its rather simple.

After we added sound, we then exported it again and opened it in 'Live Type' this was where you add titles. We went for a simple font which sort of looked like something 'headteachery' and we added a shadow in front to make it look bloody, and creepy connoting that the head teacher may be evil straight away. However, we made sure that it didn't appear to tacky or gimmicky. As practice we added some other titles, such as actors and director. We put the actors and camera work in the section where the camera is at the students point of view, before you see a close up of the head. We thought this would work well as it is in between context, as its just a window you can see and its unimportant. We put the director at the end as when researching we found this is where it went most of time, so decided a good place to put it would be when the pupil is running off, as this lets people know it's the end of the titles.
Using live type was pretty straightforward and it's interesting to see the different the effects and freedom you have to make the writing your own, and to reflect your film.

Thriller Sub-Genres

Thrillers is a very broad genre in film, as it includes many sub-genres. These include conspiracy, crime, disaster, mystery, action, psychological, political, horror and supernatural. So recommending a film on the basis that it is a thriller isn't enough as personally I don't like horror thrillers but I do like action thrillers. 
However, marketing a thriller is quite easy to get good results as many people enjoy thrillers so it will automatically appeal to them, even if they don't know the sub-genre, as at times they may be marketed in a way to disguise that, for example a trailer which emphases a background relationship to appeal to woman. 
The key point to a thriller is suspense, this keeps the audience intrigued, interested and excited. 
A good example of a crime thriller is 'Law Abiding Citizen' 

This is also a personal favorite of mine, as for a long time you are left  without knowing who is doing the killing. There is also a lot of action, and it is always exciting. Which makes it appeal to me more so is the fact it is not frightening. Which supports the mislead fact that thrillers aren't necessarily horrors. 
Another sub-genre is psychological and a good example for this is 'Don't Look Now' I personally have never seen this as I also don't like my mind being deceived and having to think about whats going on, as I think these  are the sort of films that 'keep you awake at night'. I have however been told about most details, in very long reviews and have been told it's very good. One key feature to this film is that you can spot new things each time you watch it. Little signs that have slyly been included to the Mise en Scene. The color red has great significance, and so you need to look out for that. I think thats why usually psychological thrillers are very successful, because you are constantly thinking and wondering, and always intrigued, looking out for little signs which may mean something.

'Super 8' - The Film

SUPER 8

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want to watch this film, quite badly actually.

This film keeps me wanting to watch more and more. But, they don't show us anymore of what happens. It really sucks. But I hope this film comes out soon because like I said, I REALLY WANT TO WATCH THIS. It looks action packed but on the thriller side to it! At the end of the trailer as whoever is caged in, I think that they are going to show us. But they don't. -____-

Totally out of order but I suppose wanting to see more of this will lead me to want to go to the cinema and watch it on the big screen.

I tried to look on the internet of what the film is about, but couldn't find literally NOTHING. So this has well and truely been kept a secret !

Premilinary Sound &++ Editing

PRELIMINARY SOUND AND EDITING OF OUR SHORT CLIP 'THE HEADTEACHER'

YAYYYYYY. We done it. We finally added the sound to the short clip. As we were doing so. We had to be never careful of choosing the right kind of background music. Myself and my fellow group members decided to go for a violin sound as the background because to us, it seemed very scary BUT, as our film looked like a comedy spoof, in my opinion it does look a tad silly. But hey hoo. Practise makes perfect, wouldn't you agree? :D Hahaha

But on a more serious note though, when creating a thriller film I have realised that you need to really think of a realistic story line in order NOT to come up with clips like what we done. I also think that planning more precisely is needed. To be honest we kind of made it up as we went along but still stuck to the story line of what was going to happen in the clip.

Watching The Documentary 'Watching'

"WATCHING" Documentary

In the lesson we watched a film called the 'Watching' it was basically a doctumentary of film openings and how effective it was to make it the best, eye catching and spell binding sequence to grab the audience.

"Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible."  - Thomas Sutcliffe

Coming from an audience prospective, I would have to agree with this quote because really, when watching an opening of a film, it has to be interesting, you can't have a very boring opening as then this, personally, shuts me down and I say to myself that 'I don't want to watch this because it looks like its going to be such a boring film' So really the director of the film would need to think to themselves whether or not 'Is this right? How can we make the opening of the film interesting and appeal to my target audience?'

In order to engage the audience in wanted to keep watching the film we the audience want to know that little bit more but we are kept off the edges of our seats. I also think that as the audience we shouldn't know too much of what is about to happen or what IS going to happen in the film but know a little bit about what is about to happen. The reason why I say this is because I feel that if the whole plot of the film is let out but without a bang, what is the point of actually filming and producing the film? Like really? Plots to films usually, well, films I've seen, have good ways of exposing the plots and so on.

"A good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn't know nearly enough yet, and at the same times make sure that it doesn't know too little."

I found an excellent mini thriller clip which is only a minute long but it captures the border lines of HOW a thriller film SHOULD be !

Analysing Fonts Part 2

Analysing Fonts (Part 2)

In the lesson we were asked to analyse fonts and therefore my group was given the 'Rocky' poster.

We had to analyse the fonts with connotations and denotations in order to get a hint of what the film may suggest OR what may happen in the film.

CONNOTATIONS

Bold

Curvy

Round

Thick

DENOTATIONS

The boldess of the font may suggest that Rocky himself may be a very outstanding person who speaks up if he doesn't like what he is hearing perhaps.

The curviness of the font in particular the 'O' and 'C' may represent the softness he has inside of his hard exterior and the letters such as 'R' and 'K' have very sharp corners which could mean that he plays that he's a 'Hard man' but deep down he is a soft, caring person.

The thickness of the font may mean that he is a very powerful, strong, masculine individual.

As the font isn't fully fitted into the frame this could mean that he has trouble fitting into society or trouble fitting into a particular community in which the sharp letters like the 'R' or 'K' may mean he has to prove himself whether he is worthy.

I have definitely realised that the font that has to be included in the title sequence is very important and that it has to have something in common in the film whether is 'Gothica' font which may relate to horror films or 'Papyrus' which may be an adventurous type of film.

Below is a trailer of the famous film 'Rocky'

The Headteacher - FINAL -

 

Enjoy watching our Comedy *COUGH COUGH* I MEAN, Thriller Film ! ;)

My Storyboard

As I was absent from the lesson when my follow group members made an animated version of the story board I created a paper version instead.

Filming And Editing Of 'The Headteacher'

Filming And Editing Of 'The Headteacher

Filming our thriller sequence was very difficult indeed. As there was many things to make into consideration. Things like making sure the angles were right and the 180 degree rule had to be taken into place. Engaging in communicating with the cast was also difficult because I would want to film a bit of the film and as we were filming they would laugh like it was a joke. So it took even longer to film as there wasn't a serious note that was taken.

At the beginning of the scene I must have to admit, it was very good. But as the point of view shot was shown it seemed to have gone 'down hill' after that, as the cast took it as a joke. Instead of an intense thriller sequence which would of had us off the edges of our chairs we ended up creating a comedy spoof, it was very funny but we didn't meet the typical 'Thriller' which was a task we were set.

When editing, at first we were thinking 'How on earth are we going to edit this' because at this time it looked very bad compared to other groups work. We pulled together and started going through each clip. At first it seemed to be jerking a lot. So we had to use precise cropping in order to 'Pull off' this sequence we created.

If we were being judged on making a comedy, this would have definitely win as it had a 'laughing feel' about it. And also I found out when planning that it takes a lot of thought into making it have the suspence feel to it. I feel that when we add sound to it, it will make the clip as a whole slightly better in a way as it makes up for what it doesn't have, which is, just edginess. 

Filming and Editing of 'The Head Teacher' So far..

When filming The Headteacher, we found that it was much harder then photographing Jelly Babies as you had much less freedom, with say the height of the camera. And we had to use the resources instead of making our own. We also found that our chosen story line wasn't actually the best for thriller film. And it ended up seeming more like a comedy through the acting. However we did get some good shots, for example when he was heading for the door and opening it. We also included over the shoulder shots and close ups. One point I particularly liked was when we did a point of view shot when he was walking to the head teacher and sitting down, as this was when we first saw the teacher, and we got to see it through a fearful students eyes.
In editing  it turned out to be quite short, and it took a while to make sure the shots weren't jittery. We did include some match cuts, when he was opening the door handle for example. In editing to make it more interesting we added slow motion. This emphasised the punch, and then the worry of the boy as he ran away. I think it ended up alright in editing, however to make it more of a 'thriller' we will have to focus a lot on sound and also make sure that the titles aren't gimmicky.
                                   
                                   
                                  

Making of Animated Story Board

To make the pre-liminary film, we first had to make a story board. We made this out of shots of Jelly Babies, focusing on shot types and angels. The story line we got was walking into a room and having dialogue between someone. We interpreted to make an 'evil head teacher' scenario with a student coming into their head teachers office, and after being told they are getting excluded, violence starts. We included a lot of CCTV style shots, to show he is being watched, adding to the thriller genre. We also included close ups to show fear in the students face. We then uploaded them to the computer, and edited the clips in the correct order. 

The Headteacher (Pre-lim film) (Filming and editing, no sound)