Institution

We have decided that we would like our film to follow the British Independent institution, we have decided this as we would like our media text to reject some of the typical horror conventions and make it personal. The British Independent film institution is a lot different from the Hollywood institution, this is because Hollywood institutions have very big budets to make their films (100 million) whereas the British institution uses smaller budgets (5 million) as they are not broadcast as much as Hollywood films. Most people recognise Hollywood films as they are advertised massively whereas British films don't have such a big budget and therefore are not able to advertise as much. British films also show realism and are more Hollywood films show surreal things which dont usually go on. Other similar products from this type of institution are films such as Kidulthood (Stealth and Cypher Pictures), which even though isn't a thriller it is a British film. I have chosen this as an example because it shows what life is really like and it interests the audience because of how realistic it is. In the film it shows the characteristics of the institution because, they use simple settings as they only have a small budget, but these simple settings work really well in the film, also the actors are not very famous which is a common thing in most British films as they cannot afford a-list actors. Also most Britsh films have quite complex plots and have many storylines going on at one time but they are all origianl storylines which interests audiences as they do not know what the outcome will be. Even though the audience is niche it still attracts a lot of people to watch them.

Script for dialogue in the opening sequence

[Rose is sat on Spencer's knee, he is whispering sweet nothings in her ear. She giggles. Rose then looks up at the window and is startled]
Rose: What was that?
Spencer: Whuh?
[Rose scans the window, leaning in closer to get a better look]
Rose: I dunno.....I thought I saw someone....
[when satisfied that there is nothing at the window, she shakes her head and laughs nervously]
Spencer: Come here
[They kiss]

By Danielle O'Hara

Roles within our group

Kat

Producer

Secondary Camera Operator

Principal Talent

Danielle

Director

Camera operator

Location Manager

Polly

Script Supervisor (assists the Director in maintaining details of story continuity, props and actor placement and timing of each scene)

Editor

Camera operator

Steph

Art Director (in charge of props, costume, sound and mise en scene)

Secondary Camera Operator

Supporting Talent

Gary- male actor
Supporting Talent

Danielle O'Hara

Film schedule

Date
Tuesday 8th December
Location
Danielle's house
Time
4:00 pm till 5.30pm
People attending
Danielle, Kat, Steph, Gary and Polly

Date
Tuesday 15th December 2009
Location
Lammack Woods
Time
4:00 till 5:00pm
People attending
Kat and Danielle

Same as above on Wednesday 23rd (depending on how much gets done on Tuesday)

Date
Tuesday 29th December
Location
Danielle's house
Meet at St Mary's
Time
1:30 pm till approx 4:00 (at the latest)
People attending
Kat, Danielle, Polly, Steph and lead actor Gary

Danielle O'Hara

Animatics

This an animatic video which illustrates our opening sequence storyboard. Even though our animatic video only lasts over a minute, the shots will be longer and will add up to two minutes. After reviewing this video, we decided that we need to experiment with different angles and shots. In shots 1-4, we did alternative shots, we are going to shoot both alternatives, and when editing, decide which shots work best. In our opinion we think that the storyboard does tell the opening sequence very well, as it includes vital transitions and the major shots.

Film Synopsis

Our thriller opens with a establishing shot of an isolated, sinister woodland area, with a brook. The location is typical of the horror thiller genre. We will use low-key lighting to create a sinister atmosphere and shadows; creating a sense of mystery around the protogonist. Then we go to a shot of a mysterious figure emerging from the water, with an extreme close-up of her unhuman, white eyes; this creates enigma's and is intended to shock the audience.
The protogonist is a teenager girl who looks like the victim of an scientific experiment gone wrong. In the opening sequence we do not specifically outline what has happened to the protogonist to make her so abnormal. Instead we build the enigmas up slowly; with her movements and blank facial exprssions being inhuman, POV shots showing how she sees the world differently to us (created with a red filter) a photograph of her posed with her assumed boyfriend, showing that she was once normal.
The story is that the protogonist, after getting into a serious car accident where she was left unable to walk or talk was 'saved' by her scientist father; who implanted a BCI (brain-computer interface) directly into his daughters brain, transforming her into cybernetic organism or a 'cyborg'. However she is not the same person that she once was, and escapes from the lab she was being kept in, in search of her boyfriend. She then discovers that he has moved on, as she sees him with another girl, the last shot is of her picking up a weapon and knocking on his front door, a sinister glint in her eye.
Instead of the rest of the film panning out in the typical hollywood horror movie style, with the protogonist chasing after her ex boyfriend who has managed to escape her murderous clutches, we are going to do something a little different. At the end of the opening sequence we will use a fade out transition, showing that time has passsed between this scene and the next. The remainder of the film would be set in the past, using a non-linear narrative that is typical of independent films, showing the events that led up to the protogonist murdering her ex boyfriend. It would also answer many of the enigma's placed in the opening sequence, explaining to the audience what exactly happened to the protogonist to make her how she is today.

Danielle O'Hara

Location Shots

Our location shots and research came from locations that were known by members of the group, This first location was a dark forest/footpath, we found that this location would be perfect for a certain part of our opening sequence.

We are also going to film the indoor shot at Danielle's house.
The red filter on the photograph is an example of what we will do on the film when doing POV shots.

Ideology

The messages we are sending out to our audience, are mainly binary oppositions. For example, good vs. evil. We are also representing the female as the dominant character of the text, instead of the typical expectations of a male being the dominant character. Our stereotypical "blonde bimbo", (Rose) who is currently with the male character (Spencer), is typically represented alike to today's youth, due to the mise en scene of the text (cuddling infront of the television.) We also would like to emphasize on the fact that the real world have fear of death and the unknown and we are trying to portary this in our opening sequence by showing that the girl is scared of something that she has seen but is not entirely sure what it is. It follows some dominant ideologies that it is good vs evil, but as we do not know the outcome it could offer a different alternative ideology by having a different ending to most of the common thrillers. Also another alternative ideology it offers is that the protagonist is a female, where as in most films the protagonist is a male as they seem the most dominant. We did this to reject some of the typical conventions of this type of genre.

Unique selling Point

What will captivate our audience to our genre text is that, our media text contains all the typical conventions of a hybrid genre (horror,thriller, sci fi). Our genre contains, binary oppositions of love vs hate. (Jealous ex girlfriend vs normal teenage girl).
Our target audience, older teenagers, appreciate the romance context of the genre, therefore combined with the horror element, it provides a unique selling point.

Props, Costume, Locations and Character Names

Props and Costumes
-Fake blood
-Weapons (knife/ plank of wood/ rock)
-Dress , silver and bloody
-Makeup, pale
-Casual clothing
-Photograph

Locations
-Sunnyhurst woods
-Dark forest, Lammack
-The arches in Clitheroe
-House, living room
-Brook, Arran trail

Possible Character names

-Spencer/ Danny








-Ebony/ Winter

-Phoebe/Rose

Feedback - 6/12/09

Some good research group - but considering you are a group - the individual student blogs have more on them! This research must be done as homework!

Also remember to label your posts with your names and all must contribute equally to get a good coursework grade!

Research - audience questionnaires and feedback needed!

- who is your studio that will make your film? (Institution) What films have they made- similar to yours?

Planning ( see the 'Before you Blog' handout - last 2 pages)

Include..

- storyboards scanned and animatic

-location/ casting/ costume shots

-props/costume list etc...

Miss McNulty

Friday The 13th Trailer

Here, I have chosen the Friday the 13Th trailer, as it relates to my groups genre of a horror, phsyco thriller hybrid. The trailer opens with water and a audio of a mother explaining her son's death and tha it was his birthday. This creates enigmas for the audience, why is she saying this? The lighting here is also bright, keeping the audience aware of what is going on.

The trailer then continues with a group of teenagers on a road trip travelling to one of the teenager's parents cabin. Then the horror really starts. Once the teenagers are settled in and having fun swimming and using the resources, one of the girls spots a dark mysterious person walking in and staring at her. Who is this strange person? This gives the audience more enigmas to solve, therefore keeping the audience hooked.

In this trailer, there is a mixture of both natural lighting, and low key lighting. This enables all the precious details to be captured so the audience is continually aware of what is happening. The audio here is very eerie and well suited to the trailer. The trailer has the perfect conventions of a hybrid genre, being: Eerie audio, low key lighting,vunrable characters and or course the phsyco killer!

The shots are mainly close ups to capture the characters moods and reactions. The editing is fast paced, which contributes to the horror and thrill of the events going on in the trailer.

This trailer can influence our group as it contains the majority of the conventions as Friday the 13th does, as we also have a physco killer.
By Steph Bolton

Kill Bill opening sequence analysis

This is a preview of the opening sequence of kill bill vol 1. I have chose to look at this opening sequence because the genre of the film is revenge thriller which relates to the genre of film me and my group will be creating.
In the opening sequence of this film we do not fully understand what is happening as all we see is a woman covered in blood talking to someone who we cannot see. This follows the conventions of the genre as it is mysterious as we do not know what has happened nor who she is talking to. This creates enigmas straight away which make the viewer carry on watching to find out what has happened. We also hear the woman say "Bill its your baby" which creates more enigmas for the viewer and makes them wonder why he tried to shoot her.
The lighting in this scene is low key and it is also in black and white which indicates that something terrible has happened and that something more terrible will happen. It also gives the impression of a flash back as it is black and white which may suggest that the memory was some time ago. the mise en scene of the blood shows that the woman has been severley beaten and the man called Bill as we can tell by his handkerchief comes to help. We can also see that she is wearing a veil which shows that this could have been her wedding day.
I think this is a very good opening sequence as it grabs the attention of the audience straight away, also i believe that an audience would be able to tell whether or not they would enjoy the film just by watching this scene. It creates lots of enigmas which i think will help our group in our project because this is what we aim to achieve by setting up the enigmas that the audience will want answering and therefor carry on watching.
The music is dramatic and quite upbeat which suggests that what is happening is fast paced and quite dramatic in itself.

Polly Hindle

Feedback - 28/11/09

A good start group - good analysis and use of a video

- obviously you need more research - on your genre and opening sequences and how they work - make sure you get lots of examples of these on here - with good detailed analysis - this needs to be done as homework now.

In research you need a little more on audience - who is your target audience (Demographic - GRASS and psychographic profiling - Young and Rubicon) Also how will your product appeal to its audience - use MAslow too.

questionnaires are needed - to your target audience - and feedback on this - charts and graphs are always good!

Go onto the imbd.com website ( or the numbers website) to find out audience figures for your chosen genre too - is there a market out there for your product?

Now move onto planning this week - ( see the last two sheets on the 'before you blog' handout) Start your storyboards - we can also make an animatic, props list, shooting schedule etc....

Terminator 2 :opening sequence review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RcisPdJVNl8&feature=fvst 


In this review I am going to examine the film Terminator 2 , and the opening sequence. I will be looking at the sound/music, mise enscene and lighting. I chose this particular genre to review because this genre’s conventions are very similar to what my group’s opening sequence will include.

The film starts off with a wind sound, this almost establishes the setting as from the sound, you would expect the setting to be desolate and empty. Low lighting is used to suggest death and darkness. This film includes aircraft that look like they are from the future and beams that are assumed to be shots at something. The next part of the opening sequence which includes a tank travelling along a ground filled with human skulls, this brings home the idea of death and then the enigmas start. A battlefield is established and the mise en scene is human skulls, machines and bullets. The credits used at the start of the film appear shortly after the action has faded. The actor’s names appear like they have been typed in my a computer. The music behind is quite subtle until the words “The Terminator” come on screen, this is when triumphant music kicks in.

This opening sequence will help our group see a successful simple opening sequence and get ideas from it. As our group initially wanted either and alien or machine/robot in our opening sequence, we can see how James Cameron has created the perfect opening sequence that introduces all the enigmas, allows the audience a taste of the rest of the film and with the opening sequence you know what genre it is, so an audience would know whether they will enjoy the upcoming film.

Katherine Whittaker

Genre and examples

For our film we have to create a film that is a thriller genre. Conventions of the thriller genre are that they are set in isolated locations such as the woods or quiet villages. To incorporate the sense of being alone and isolated through the setting we are filming it in a lake. Also films belonging to the thriller genre contain ominous music to build tension so we will make sure to include an appropriate and relevant soundtrack. They are also shot using low-key lighting to add a sense of danger and create a dark, sinister atmosphere. We have chosen to produce a hybrid genre including sci-fi/ horror/revenge thriller. We will make it a sci-fi through the choice of the protagonist who is an alien. We will also make sure we include some of the conventions of a horror genre such as the P.O.V tracking shot or the 'stalker shot' which we will be shot with a hand-held camera and canted angles to create a sense that something is not right. Particular 'mise en scene' in the horror genre are dark clothing and fake blood, we will make sure to include this in our opening sequence. The way our opening sequence will be 'the same but different' is changing the typical convention in the horror genre where the victim is female because in our film the villain is female.

Danielle, Steph, Katherine and Polly.

Introduction and Prelim Task

Members of our group are Steph Bolton, Danielle O'Hara, Polly Hindle and Katherine Whittaker. Our chosen project is an opening sequence to a new Thriller film. Our genre is a hybrid including Thiller/Horror/Sci-fi.

This is our prelim task. We thought the task was succcessful. It is a short film about a skeleton that cheats on a woman. When we filmed the opening door section, the match-on-action was continuous and smooth. This was the type of professional editing that we would want in our film. However, because this was one of our first continuity edits, we had a jump in the editing, were we stopped filming and started another shot and the actor had slightly moved position. This made the film less smooth and distracted the audience from the action taking place. In future to avoid this re-occuring, we would allocate exact positioning with tape so the actor would not shift from shot to shot; consequently making the film more professional.
Danielle, Steph, Katherine and Polly