Reflection of Test Shoot

After reflecting on the final footage of our pre-production text shoot I have realised that many elements that we have considered initially work well when conveyed on camera, however there are also a few adaptations and changes that need to be made in order to create the best opening sequence that we can.

In my opinion our idea has translated well onto film because the conventions of a thriller are made clear to the audience and there are elements of suspense and anticipation which work well on screen. However, I also believe that in order to ensure that we create a thriller, we need to consider the comedic elements and the anti-climax created. The use of the anti-climax works well to create suspense, however we need to be careful that we do not make this part too comedic and that we maintain the thrilling elements throughout the two minutes.

I believe that the pace works well, particularly the juxtaposition between the action of the police officers and the psychopath. I am pleased that we were able to achieve the frantic and rushed nature of the police officers, which works harmoniously with the use of the soundtrack and this works well as a contrast with the calm and impaired movement which creates diversity in the pace of the opening sequence. The opening sequence  that we have created is 2 minutes and 35 seconds long which is the correct length for an opening sequence. However when eliminating the moments of comedy which don’t create tension we have to bear in mind that this could possibly bring the length down to under 2 minutes.

In my opinion our idea is clear to the viewer because when we explained our idea to our actors before we began filing the understood the narrative and believe that the characters and plot were very clear and that it would be obvious o an audience what is happening in the opening sequence. However we have to bear in mind that for our test shoot we used students as our actors for the police men however we would need to use teachers/adults in our final footage because this  will ensure that the actors look like police men because of their age and this will id us in ensuring that our idea is made clear to the viewer.

Tension has been created within the opening sequence in a variety of ways. Tension was created through the use of changes in pace between the action of the psychopath and the action of the police officers. I believe that tension was also created in the soundtrack, however I’m not sure that the use of stopping the soundtrack and just using dialogue works well as in my opinion it breaks up the action and makes it appear more amateur and reduces the tension created.

I personally like the use of the variety of camera angles and movements. I think that the use of the pan from the gravestone to the outside of the church right at the beginning of the opening sequence works well to create the atmosphere of the sequence and also the establishing shot of the outside of the church allows the audience to connect with the location. I also like the use of the mid shot of the police officers searching in the graveyard because it allows the audience to see the guns and torches in their hands which shows that they are searching and also conveys the seriousness of the matter. In my opinion the use of the long shot of the police officers entering the church and walking down the aisle works particularly well in creating the mood and atmosphere and also increasing the suspense. The darkness created with the light coming in from behind works really effectively in conveying the idea and also heightening the suspense. I believe that the camera angle of the extreme close up used right at the end of the sequence of the psychopath blowing out the candles  needs to be developed in order to make it clear that she is blowing out the candles and also to ensure that the audience can see all of the elements of the character’s facial expression in order to understand and realise what they are doing.  

I believe that in order to develop our idea further we need to consider adding more elements of religion due to the fact that our location is a church and this will work well to create suspense and also add to the creepy mood and atmosphere. I think that if we add in more elements of religion such as religious icons, or the sue of a hymn as the soundtrack this would aid our idea and also make it clearer to the audience. In my opinion our idea would work better if we remove the comedic element of the anti-climax as although he use of the anti-climax works well to subside the tension and suspense, the use of the comedy goes against the convention of a thriller and also could lead to the audience disconnection from the action.  

Personally I believe that at times the soundtrack that we used doesn’t work well at times in conveying our idea because it is quite upbeat. It works well in the elements of action of the police officers because it is upbeat and conveys action and suspense. However I believe that the cutting between the dialogue and the soundtrack doesn’t work very well as it decreases the intensity of the tension and suspense. I  think that in order to develop our idea further we could add in religious soundtrack or a hymn in the background as this would help create the mood and atmosphere of the church.

Many elements in our test shoot worked well such as the variety of camera angles and movements and also the cutting between the police officers and the psychopath in the church. I particularly liked the filter that was put over the top of the footage as in my opinion this works really well in creating the mood and atmosphere and also helps to build suspense and tension.  Another elements that worked well was the use of various sound effects, especially the use of the creaking of the door which is a typical convention of a thrilling scene.

Overall there are many element in the test shoot that worked really well and were conveyed well on camera. This exercise was very useful in establishing what elements don’t work well and need to considered and developed further in order to create a thrilling opening sequence. 

Test Shoot Video

Scene Outline and Pre-Production

Today we had our third meeting as a thriller production group and we discussed the scene outline for our thriller opening sequence, we finalised our back up idea and we discussed other elements concerning our opening sequence.

We first discussed how the majority of the film should focus on the police rather than the psychotic man. We decided this because this would provide more conventions of a thriller and also help the audience understand the narrative. 

We also discussed how we would want to cast teachers for the role of the police rather than students, because they need to look older and more experienced. We also considered the casting of the psychotic man and discussed choices for this role. 

Following this, we talked about how we would want to use the location of a church which has a small graveyard outside it. This would allow us to combine our two locations and therefore make the filing process a lot easier and quicker. 

We also finalised what our back up idea would be. We have decided to go with a 999 call made by a child who explains how his parents are dead although the sequence shows him sat on a bed with a phone with his parents bodies beneath him and it is made clear that the child has murdered their own parents.

Scene Outline

 

This is a rough idea of what our initial ideas are for the different scenes in our opening sequence; however these are likely to change when we establish the practical challenges this idea may present us with.

1)      Pan from gravestone to outside church building.

2)      Jesus on the crucifix or other religious icon/symbol.

3)      Police in cemetery with torches searching, shot from between the trees

4)      Shot of policeman standing against tree talking into a walkie talkie. The dialogue is muffled by the crackling sound created by the walkie talkie. We can see the graveyard in the background of this shot.

5)      Close up of snipper against door of church.

6)      Dialogue between various police men hinting to plot which suggest that they are scared and that the criminal is very dangerous.

7)      Police man kicks door open with a lot of force and we hear a loud bang of the door.

8)      Peacefulness and tranquillity of church, juxtaposes against the frantic nature of the policemen in the previous shot. Organ music and candles, various different shots form inside the church.

9)      Long shot from the back of the church showing the full length of the aisle. The audience see the man in the distance standing near the altar.

10)   Shot taken from behind the man pan down to knife he is holding which is dripping with blood and close ups of the blood dripping and the drops of blood on the church floor.

11)   The man turns his head slightly then extreme close up of his face, he does a creepy smile then turns his head back around the face the altar.

12)   Close up of his face from the side when he is hysterically laughing.

13)   Shot of the man looking around slightly toward the police who aren’t making any sound, in comparison to his hysterical laughter. He then gestures them to ‘shhh.’

14)   The final shot is of him turning his head back around to face the altar and his hysterical laughter recommences which blows out the candles at the altar.

Pre-Production for test shoot

Locations we needed:

•Outside of a church

•A graveyard

•The aisle of a church

•A church door

What we used instead:

•The outside of the main school

•A patch of grass and trees

•A corridor

•The door of the studio

Characters we needed:

•3 policemen (adults)

•2-3 younger policemen (students)

•1 man (psychopath)

What we used:

•2 male students  (to substitute as the policemen)

•One member of our group (psychopath)

Is there a way around a difficult shoot?

The location of a church was tricky to convey, however we used rooms and the outside of buildings that we thought resembled a church. When we edit the shoot, we will include a non-diegetic soundtrack of a hymn or an organ that conveys the feelings of being in a church.

Props we needed:

·         Guns

·         Torches

·         A knife

·         A crucifix

·         Gravestones

What we used:

·         Pens

·         Torches

·         A pen/pencil

·         A member of the group

·         A plant pot

Development of Idea

Here are some of the notes from our first two meetings which show how our ideas have developed and some of our new ideas and inspirations.

Some of the keywords that have sparked off developments and changes to our idea:

• Hysterical laughter

• Candles

• FBI

• Walkie-talkie crackling sound effect

• Choir singing hymn

• Graveyard

• Organ music

• Church

• Blood dripping from knife

• Suicide

• Crypt

• Alone in church

• Digging grave

• Blowing out candles

We considered doing a split scene/montage between a man walking down the aisle of a church holding a knife which has blood dripping off it and a scene of the FBI or police searching for someone in a graveyard in the dark using torches. We wanted to achieve the juxtaposition between the calmness of the man walking down the aisle of the church and frantic nature of the FBI searching in the graveyard.

When discussing our idea we talked about using the sound effect of the blood dripping off the knife onto the cold hard floor of the church. 

We particularly liked the slightly psychotic idea of a man hysterically laughing whilst holding a knife as this would be a very uneasy image for the audience and would put them on edge whilst creating tension and suspense within the opening sequence. We also liked the idea of the man's hysterical laughter being powerful enough to blow out the candles at the front of the church creating a natural blackout for the scene.

  We also discussed using religious imagery or conventions of a Church in our first shot to establish the location and atmosphere for the audience. We also considered how some statues seen in graveyards can be quite creepy and unsettling and so would aid us in the creating the mood and atmosphere for our opening sequence. 

However, when discussing our idea we talked about the importance of not giving too much information away ad also keeping our sequence as simplistic as possible, therefore we decided that the location would be a Church and that we could have the FBI waiting outside the church discussing their plan of action and then they break into the church and then the last shot would be of the man with the knife laughing hysterically in a psychotic manner and then his laugh causes the candles to blow out. This would also ensure that we didn't have too many characters or too many confusing elements in our opening sequence, which would maintain a simplistic quality.

We were influenced by the following clip from the Baz Lurman's Romeo and Juliet as we were inspired by the use of the elaborate church setting and the use of the candles. Here are some screenshots from that clip:

Minute Meetings

Meeting 1

What did we do?

We discussed each other's ideas and picked out similarities between them to see if we could develop our ideas further.We decided on what theme we wanted to focus on (Church).We discussed a number of scenarios we could use to make it an effective opening scene.

What are our targets for the next meeting?

To settle on a final idea for what the main focus of the opening sequence should be.Consider where we could film.

Meeting 2

What did we do?

We discussed our main idea and tried to finalise the details of it.We discussed what our back up idea could be.We started to discuss the scene outline and what would be seen in the frame during the opening sequence, not bearing in mind any technicalities.We discussed and decided that the location would be a church.

What are our targets for the next meeting?

To finalise the scene outline for our opening sequenceTo finalise which idea we are choosing as our back up idea.

Meeting 3

What did we do?

We finalised the scene outline for our opening sequence.We briefly thought about what props and type of actors we would be using.We went through details such as camera angles and movement, as well as the diegetic sound effects and non-diegetic soundtrack, which would accompany the shots.We decided on the back up idea, which we chose to be the “999 call”, involving a child murdering his parents.

What are our targets for the next meeting?

To film the pre-production sequence trial, using available equipment, actors and nearby location, based on the scene outline.

Meeting 4

What did we do?

We wrote up the pre-production process, involving the locations we needed and what we used instead, the characters we needed and who we replaced them with, the props we substituted and the difficulties we facedWe started working on the editing of the pre-production sequence we shotWe found a soundtrack to play throughout the sequenceWe discussed the reflection of the sequence and made notes on it

What are we planning on doing next?

To complete the post-production editing of the trial sequence.To discuss the outcomes of the production and finish notes on the reflection to be ready to explore it individual.

Meeting 5

What did we do?

We worked on the different elements of our pitch.

What are our targets for the next meeting?

To continue working on our pitch.To start working on the storyboard.

Meeting 6

What did we do?

We began working on our storyboard and discussed our idea to ensure that all members of the group agreed and had to same vision for the idea.We continued working on the pitch.

What are our targets for the next meeting?

To finish the pitch.Continue working on the storyboard.

Meeting 7

What did we do?

We continued working on developing the storyboardWe completed the pitch

What are our targets for the next meeting?

To check over the pitch and check that it is accurate and everyone agrees

Meeting 8

What did we do?

We checked over the pitch and emailed it to all members of the group.We continued feel keeping the storyboard

What are our  targets for the next meeting?

To continue working on developing the storyboard.

Meeting 9

What did we do?

Discussed feedback, created a new scene outline, cast the thriller and assigned role for costumes

What are our  targets for the next meeting?

Discuss costume research.
Finish and Edit storyboard according to new scene outline.

Meeting 10

What did we do?

Completed the scene outline.
Asked our teacher for their feedback on our new scene outline.
Discussed the feedback in the group and how we were going to go about making the adaptations to improve it.

Meeting 11

What did we do?

 We contacted a Russian Storyboard company 'Risuen Raskadrovki' and we asked them for details about storyboard production. We asked questions regarding the time frame, the price and their ability etc.

What are our targets?

We need to wait for a reply from the company and discuss all of the details with them in order to collaborate and complete a finalised professional storyboard.

Add details to the scene outline.

My Thriller Ideas and Initial Feedback

IDEA 1 (UNDERWATER)

Whole Plot

The whole plot follows an Olympic diver who is being targeted by her coach. He is trying to assassinate her. The narrative follows her going to various competitions and each time she competes, something goes wrong and there is a heightened tension and she appears to be unaware of the mysterious activity. Each attempt of assassination links to the next one until the last one where she is killed during her dive and we see her plummet to her death.

IDEA 1 (UNDERWATER)

Opening sequence

In the opening sequence we see the girl getting ready to compete by putting on her swimming cap and goggles etc. and generally preparing for her big moment. She is wearing headphones and the audience can hear the song in her headphones, it is a positive song and she is preparing to the beat of this song. The audience follows her meeting various people, including one of her other coaches and people involved in helping her with her diving. We see her walking through and being encouraged and patted on the back by the other characters. The next shot is of her walking up the huge staircase to the top of the diving board and all that can be heard is her breath and some creepy music in the background to heighten the tension and anticipation. We see her peering over the top of the diving board to check the height and ensure that she can see where she needs to land. From the back we see her jumping up and down to warm herself up and then she prepares to jump. As she prepares to jump we can hear all the voices of the people encouraging her acting as a conscience and then as she jumps it is complete silence. As she lands we see a hand grab her leg and pull her down into the bottom of the pool. We never see the face of the person who grabs her and we never see her facial expression either, only her legs trying to escape his tight grasp. She then is stabbed by the killer and drowns from being under the water for such a long time. The final shot is of the whole pool going red with blood and just her goggles floating along the top of the water.

IDEA 2 – CHILD ON SWING

Whole Plot

The whole plot follows a child going to the park with their mother each day and always being watched from behind the fence by a mysterious man. We later find out that the man is actually the child’s father and the mother never told the child who their father was because she was raped. The father comes back and is always watching the child's every move from a distance. The father captures the child in order to get revenge on the mother and wants a ransom from her in return.

IDEA 2 – CHILD ON SWING

Opening sequence

The scene cuts between shots of the child playing on the swing and laughing and shots of the man watching the child through binoculars. When the child is playing on the swing we hear the child laughing and a nursery rhyme being played in the background. On shots of the mysterious man we can just hear him breathing heavily and the sounds of the child playing in the background. The mother goes off to get an ice cream for the child and whilst she is absent the child is snatched by the man and taken away and we can hear the screams from the child. The final shot is of the mother coming back with the ice cream and all she sees is the swing swinging all by itself and the ice cream drops off the cone just as the child screams, this happens simultaneously.

IDEA 3 - ELEVATOR

Whole Plot

Lots of people are stuck in an elevator. One by one each of the characters in the elevator are murdered in different ways just leaving two left in the elevator. It is unclear as to who the killer is. The two people that are left believe that it is each other but it turns out to be a memory of one of them, who is in a coma and they wake up and are immediately questioned by the police as to who was the last person. There are lots of flashbacks to previous scenes and the audience realises that we never actually see the last person’s face.

IDEA 3 - ELEVATOR

Opening sequence

We see a random collection of people getting into an elevator. None of the characters engage with each other and there is no dialogue. You can only hear the elevator music which has a slightly eerie undertone to it. Suddenly there is a shudder of the elevator and the lights flash. There is some sort of noise, although it is nothing too obvious or intrusive considering there has been no dialogue in the opening sequence. It is then made apparent that one of the characters is dead and so as they go to walk out of the elevator we see a knife sticking out of their back and blood drips along their path. As the elevator doors are closing we see the character who has been stabbed drop to the floor. Once the doors have closed we see the other characters who are still in the lift look around to each other puzzled and then they all look at one of the characters and the audience see the realisation on their faces that they know something is coming. The lights go off and we hear a gun shot and then the words ‘doors opening.’

IDEA 4 - TRAIN

Whole Plot

A woman has received a letter from her partner who she believed was on a business trip. The letter explains that he has been taken hostage as unknown to her he was working as an undercover agent. He wants to keep her safe and asks her to go immediately to the train station taking with her his briefcase. He gives her specific instructions regarding which train to take and tells her that when she gets off the train at London Waterloo that there will be a man waiting for her. He tells her to be extremely careful in ensuring that she is not being followed as it is possible that her life may be in danger.

IDEA 4 - TRAIN

Opening Sequence

The audience see a woman going through the different stages before getting onto a train. We see the woman get her ticket, go through the turnstile, walk along the platform and then get onto the train. This whole sequence is filmed from behind so we never see the woman's face. We get the impression that she is being followed through the sound effect of footsteps and creepy music to create tension and suspense. She is wearing a red coat but everything else is black, including a briefcase that she is clutching tightly. Her body language suggests to the audience that she is tense and on edge. Just as she gets on the train, we see the doors about to close and the only dialogue in the scene is the pre-recorded announcement on the train; 'doors closing' and suddenly we see a hand stop the doors and a man wearing all black get onto the train.

PITCHING FEEDBACK

Idea 1 Feedback

* The group liked the use of the point of view shot going up the stairs of the diving board as they thought that this could provide tension and make the audience anticipate what comes next as we just see the woman's feet.

*  They also thought that it was a very original idea and that it doesn't initially convey thriller although the use of the sound effects could really make it and create a tense and thrilling atmosphere.

*  I was also told that my idea seemed very Hitchcock (which is a big compliment!) as I had used some very powerful visuals, particularly of the girl peering over the edge of the diving board as this could be very atmospheric.

*  I was advised to consider the use of the goggles bobbing along the top of the water as I needed to ensure that this image didn't look too cliche.

*  In order to improve I also need to consider the coach's intentions and whether he was likely to kill her in the water, as this would mean that he would be vulnerable too.

*  I was advised to consider creating hints that he might be psychopathic and that he wants to torture her.

*  I was told that at the moment my opening sequence is a bit busy and that it doesn't need all of the elements and that in order to improve I need to reign in all the details and just show subtleties.

*  Another way in which I can improve my idea is by adding more elements of horror.

*  I need to strip down my idea and just add hints of what would happen but don't show everything. I need to be more subtle with the elements which are linked into the whole plot and leave some areas up for interpretation from the audience and leave them posing questions and not answering all the questions within the first few minutes of the film.

*  I also need to decide whether she is a diver or a swimmer because diver's don't use goggles and so this element of thriller would have to be adapted if i decided that she was going to be diver.

*  I also need to bear in mind the fact that if she is a diver then her legs will hit the water last so she will not be able to be pulled down by her legs, whereas if she was a swimmer then this would be possible.

*  I also need to consider that if it is a competition with a crowd watching then the assailant would be seen and caught before being able to get out of the pool.

 My response to the feedback

I have acknowledged the feedback I was given and appreciate the detailed comments. When looking at my idea again I intend to reconsider the original plot and make the main character a swimmer rather than a diver bearing in mind the feedback above. I definitely want to keep the visual of the protagonist peering over the edge of the starting block/edge of pool. I have decided to adapt my original idea and make it a solo training session which would be more atmospheric and create more tension. this will also enable me to use the idea of her being dragged down by her leg in the pool. By making all of these changes I believe my idea will be more powerful and create an environment of fear and anticipation.

Idea 2 Feedback

* I was told that my idea was very well thought through in terms of the visuals being used.

*  I was also told that it would be a good length, obviously depending on the editing.

*  Something that worked well and that people liked was the idea about having the kids laughing and the use of the swings as it was mentioned in the feedback that this is very creepy and the choice of music used here could be very effective, especially for the squeaking of the swing.

*  I was also told that the end part of the opening sequence, with the actual snatching of the child is a lot more powerful than the first part of the child playing on the swing.

*  I was advised to take away the cliche horror elements such as the use of the nursery rhyme.

*  In order to improve I was also advised to strip away at the idea do not try to include everything and try to use more subtleties.

*  I was told that the action was quite slow at the start and that it needed more pace.

*  I was advised to create a condensed version of my idea in order to make it more simplistic, and not tell the whole story within the opening sequence.

*  In order to improve I need to work more on the part where it is the shot of the mother running around looking for her child panicking and screaming instead of the child playing.

My response to the feedback

I take on board all the comments and feedback given. I agree with not using the nursery rhyme as this is a typical convention of a horror film and so wouldn't work for this idea. In order to improve my idea I need to ensure that I don't give too much away too soon and pare the opening sequence down to the bare essentials. This will have the effect of increasing tension and provoking thought from the audience. I believe that focusing on the child swinging will contrast well with the snatching of the child and I believe the mother panicking would come later on in the opening and wouldn't over shadow the innocence of the child. When reconsidering my idea I need to bear in mind the comments relating to the pace and complexity of my original opening sequence and I plan to adapt this accordingly.