T1 Composition Challenge
T1 Clause Levi Strauss
Claude Levi Strauss’s theory was binary oppositions. He describes binary oppositions as being a word and its exact opposite. His theory was the idea that the films we watch contain binary oppositions to help audiences to understand the story. This also helps to create more excitement. Some examples of binary oppositions include the hero and villain, good and bad, dark and light.
Initial Ideas
You find a hand-written note on your windshield that says Drive west for 100 miles with a postcode which leads you to some woods. Throughout the film they continue to find notes throughout the woods. They then get lost, it's starting to get dark, when they see the glow of a campfire nearby.
T2 Thriller Film Survey
Thriller survey made for the purpose of conducting primary research for our media short film
T3 Conventions
We have decided to go with a mystery thriller. When learning about genres I have learnt about all the different types of sub-genre being just as important as the genre as they give us more detail to what the film will be about and what scenes will become more tense. When a thriller film begins it majority of the time it brings out the creation of a protagonist and what the key features are. When it comes to conventions there are a lot of things in the image in which makes it stand to other conventions such as costume/makeup and props. For our choice we have decided to a do a mystery thriller, and when it comes to the films within the mystery thriller, it focuses on the suit used for the costume as it can tell an audience a lot about a character before anything starts. In mystery thriller the props for example a knife, blood, where everything is placed in the set, can create a really clear and interesting image for the audience in which will look at everything placed within the scene as it can come back later on and be the biggest prop within the whole of the film. From this task I have learnt just how important and fascinating the different types of costume/makeup as well as the props which are used within each scene.
T4 Budget plan
T5 Legal Restrictions and Regulations
T6 SWOT Analysis
T7 Film Rational and Proposal
T8 Film Pitch
T9 Location Rec
Main filming locations:
St Katherine's School, inside a classroom and also parking lot.
We would need to film in St Katherine's as we need shots of the main characters and their normal lives before they find the first note. Filming in the car park is important as the first note would be found on/in the main characters car. We would then need to film them getting in the car, reading the note and eventually leaving the car park.
National Trust Leigh Woods
This would be the location where we film the most as it would be where most of the main scenes are filmed, as well as the beginning few shots for the film which help to set up the plot. The plot revolves a lot around the main character being given a location to go to (Leigh woods) and finding different notes so it means that this location is the main one we would film in.
T10 Costume and makeup plans
For this section I will be discussing the costumes that our actors will be wearing and what make up effects will be used such as general face make up or blood effects. As our film is a thriller, most of the make up would be used for fake blood or bruises. The characters would wear casual clothing with the killers face completely being hidden as it is only the opening of the film.
For our costume plans, there isn’t much that stands out; the two main characters would be wearing casual clothes as they are students at a sixth form. This would mean clothing such as jeans and jackets, clothing you would wear everyday. This is important as it helps to show what type of characters they are. As they are wearing very casual clothing and are first shown in the school, you can tell that they are your average student and not necessarily the type of characters who would be able to oppose the killer. The killer would have a completely different costume to the main characters with the killer's face being completely hidden to hide their identity and they would be wearing all black, rugged clothing and a black hoodie with the hood up to completely hide their identity. This is important as the killer's identity needs to be hidden as it is only the opening for the film. As it is a thriller, one of the main mysteries is who the killer really is, is it a random person, someone who has a grudge against the main character? If we were to reveal the identity of the killer early on it would make the movie meaningless as the audience knows who the killer is and there is no mystery aspect to the film. The only makeup we would use would be for bruises and fake blood. This would be used for both the opening shot and ending shot as it involves the killer chasing down characters. The fake blood and bruises are important as it will help to emphasise how much danger the character is in and shows the fact that they have already been in contact with the killer. This would help to show that the killer is serious and a threat to all of the characters in the film, further showing the need to figure out who they are and how to stop them. We may also need to use some type of darker makeup for the killer's eyes. This is important as although they will be wearing a mask, the added makeup around the eyes will conceal their identity even further.
From this assignment I have learnt of the importance that costume and makeup has when filming. You are able to tell so much just from what the character is wearing or from what makeup has been used on them. Makeup can have a huge impact as it can help to emphasize certain aspects of characters or for example in thriller or action films it can show just how severe a situation the character is in as the makeup could show them being injured. What a character wears completely shows what kind of a character they are, an example being James Bond consistently wearing a suit shows that he is always an important character.
In conclusion the costumes and makeup that we will use will be minimal compared to other thriller films as it is quite basic clothing and only fake blood and fake bruises for the makeup. However we think this will work well for the type of thriller opening we are making as you will be able to tell what type of characters the main characters are and won't be able to see who the killer is, keeping the mystery aspect of the thriller intact.
T11 Props Plan
T12 Equipment Plans
The camera and tripod are all we will need to be able to film our thriller opening. However, if we aren't able to use the cameras then our backup plan is to use one of our phones instead
T13 Risk Assessment
T14 Research and plan titles
From this I have learnt about how to correctly edit my shots and create titles for them. This is important as without any titles or credits, the film would be incomplete. The size and fonts of the title and credits of the film often help to reinforce the films genre/subgenre. An example of this is a horror film having a darker coloured and more disorientated looking font to show that the film is a horror film within the opening scene. This is why titles and their font style and size are important for films.
T15 Music and Sound Effects
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For our thriller opening, as it is a mystery thriller we would need the music to be extremely suspenseful to obviously help to build up excitement and suspense for the audience but to also keep the thriller feeling like a mystery thriller and keeping the audience guessing at what’s going to happen. The first usage of music will be right at the beginning of the opening to help emphasise what is happening on screen, however it is unlikely we will have music playing throughout the entire film as by only using at the most exciting and suspenseful scenes it will further help to accentuate the significance of the scene. If we were to constantly play the music throughout the entire film it would likely make the most important scenes have less impact, but by mainly using the music at the most important scenes they would have more impact. Some examples of the type of music we would use would be It Hears You from A Quiet Place as we think it does a good job of building up and keeping suspense.
As for the sound effects they are incredibly important to any film, especially thriller movies. This is because, like the choice of music, they can help to bring emphasis to characters actions and important events in the story. They can also be used to help set the mood and atmosphere. The main type of sound effects we would use would be diegetic, as we would want them to actually be happening in the world of the opening so that the characters can react to them. The only type of non diegetic sound we would use would be for the music as the characters in the film wouldn’t be able to hear it. The sound effects for our thriller opening would, just like the soundtrack, need to be there to mostly build suspense. An example of this would be twigs snapping behind a character as they walk through the woods or the slam of a door closing behind them after they enter an abandoned house. The very beginning scene of our opening is set in the woods, with a character running away from the killer. This would mean that we need to use diegetic sound effects such as the sounds of both characters running across leaves and possibly some wildlife in the background. However we would most likely have it centred around the sounds of both the characters running. This is because it might make the scene feel more claustrophobic, which would be further emphasised by the otherwise quietness of the scene as there would be no cars or other people talking. This would help to show that both of the characters are completely isolated and alone, meaning that there is no one nearby to help the victim making the audience feel worried and further build up suspense. At the end of the beginning scene the victim would die however it would not be shown. The killers weapon would be a bat so for this sound effect we would need something similar to this:
From this I have learnt about just how important sound effects and music are for movies of any kind. Without them it will be much more difficult to build mood and atmosphere which would result in the audience possibly feeling uninterested in the movie. I have also learnt about how important the different types of sounds are depending on the type of scene and about diegetic and non diegetic types, and when to use them.
T16 Shot List
T17 Storyboard
From this I have learnt about the importance of storyboards and how they provide essential information for filming. If you were to try and film without a storyboard then it would be much more difficult to as storyboards provide the types of camera shots you are going to use in that scene, what is happening in the scene and the characters involved. Without storyboards you are essentially filming with no real direction.
T18 Character Profile
T19 Pre Production Schedule
From this I have learnt about the importance of production schedules, as they contain important information such as what days you will be filming, who is filming on that day, what props and equipment are involved, the location you are filming at and an estimate for how long each scene will take to shoot. This is important as it means that once you are filming you have a schedule to try and stick to, making it easier to film. The production schedule allows yo to be fully prepared for filming before the day arrives, leading to less mistakes made once you actually film. It also means that if you were to fully plan out how long it will take you to finish filming, if you try to stick to the production schedule it is more likely that you will finish the filming by the time you need to.