Group Storyboard- Miss Miller

 Elements

The purpose of a group storyboard is to take individual ideas then to collaborate them to make a much better storyboard done by the whole group. This will undoubtedly be better than one done by an individual as it only take one persons opinion into account which limits the possibilities of our film clip

Ben Yarwood:

The killer always walking was one element that was take from my own storyboard. We used this as it makes the man less human with his movements and it seems to make the man much more terrifying than if he wasn't. Also it makes the victim more vulnerable in the way that she is running and is nervous and panicky which juxtaposes the way that the killer moves in a calm and fluid movement. This also makes the audience feel more uncomfortable as he is so robot like and gives them a surprise when he comes onto the screen yet does not run.

Another is the way that in my own storyboard the face of the killer is never revealed to the audience or the victim. This makes the killer much more threatening as you cannot identify him and the victim knows this.This makes the victim panic and therefore the audience will feel uncomfortable in the way that it could be anybody in the street so is making the actions on the screen feel more real and relate able. This will also make the part where the victim is murdered more unsettling for the audience in the end.

I also used a panning shot which was used in my storyboard. This was used in the the chase as it presents the idea of speed and panic which helps present the emotions of the scene. This is one way that emotions can be prented to an audience though the camera angle.

Beau Abery:

From Beau we took the idea of the setting being in a normal and familiar area that is deserted. This makes the killing more personal and has a feeling that it could happen on any street to anyone. When the killing finally happens then it makes the killing more personal to the audience and therefore makes the killing much worse to watch. Also the idea of it being in a normal area the audience can relate to building a relationship with the people who are there. Also the idea of it being empty gives the sense of hopelessness which puts people in more of a vulnerable position.

A second point that we took from Beau's is that we should use a big knife instead of any other weapon. A knife is much more dramatic than a gun and makes the killing much more brutal to watch for the audience so makes them feel more pity for the victim. Another reason is that it makes the killing much more personal for the killer and victim , if it was a gun the killer would not need to actively pursue and chase the victim, therefore leaving less of a chase scene and more hiding so less active for the audience.

Michelle Woods:

From Michelle's storyboard we decided that we should have both characters in normal clothes. This will make the victim seem more relatable and when she finally dies it will be more personal for the audience. Also the killer will be much more scary in the way that he could be anyone in the audience and therefore make people that see it more scared of the killer as he is anonymous among a crowd.

A camera angle that we took from Michelle's was the low shot of the shoes of the victim. As she see's the killer she start to run and then it goes to the killers trainers walking quickly on the concrete. This will show the mood of the scene without actually showing the faces.

Evaluation

Overall I believe our group storyboard has been a success in the way that we have pooled our ideas to create a even better one incorporating everyone ideas. We have used parts from all of the storyboard but some more than others to make a unique clip that we are all happy with and that we all think is good.





Opening Sceneration- Miss Miller

Opening Scene Narration

This is our final finished product for our filming and includes our ideas combined to make a better version of our individual ideas together.

Our plot is as followed: a woman who is coming home from work at 7pm and is driving. She then parks up in a underground car park and gets an odd feeling of being watched , she ignores it and gets on with locking her car and walks away. Unsuspecting to her she has a follower who as we can see has a knife in his hand and when she finally notices he is much closer. She starts to run immediately for her house which is on the other side of a forested area and goes for a shortcut straight through. Over some time of running the killer is finally gaining on her. She stumbles and the killer is finally able to grab her and then the screen goes black with just silence.

Our first frame is a woman in a car driving through a forest on a empty road. The only light source is from lamp posts and this creates shadows on the side of the road, this is very conventional to the start of a thriller. The sounds in this scene are the car engine and the noises of the forest such as wind and trees swaying.The shots used in this scene are the establishing shot, panning and point of view shot.There is no dialogue in this scene apart from a small amount of talk from a radio station. The screen also shows some of the background such as a person walking and a dog barking in the distance.

The second is the car driving into the car park after it has driven on the road.The light again is from a lamp post but one that is far away so the car is in shadows.The noise in the scene is the engine and noises from the forest which surrounds the car park.The camera shots used in the scene are middle shot, high shot from far way and a pov from the killers perspective . This also has a person walking on the road with a person walking on the side of the road.

The third frame is when the woman gets out of the car and closes the door.The light is the same as before but the sound becomes more tense and it is obvious that something is going to happen. The other sound are the slam of the door and the wind which is happening around them.The camera shot used are a low shot which creates the sense of vulnerability, middle shot and a long shot. There is a car alarm in the background but not close enough to see the car.

Our fourth frame was the beginning of the chase scene where the woman first see's the killer. The sound in this scene is dramatic sound and everything goes silent. This created dramatic suspense and is very conventional to thrillers and can be seen in films such as Shutter Island. The light in the scene goes darker than before but is just due to time and the increased shadows creates even more suspense. The lighter area created by the lamp post creates an even more eerie scene. This scene has a very uncomfortable feeling and we can see it in the woman's movements.

The fifth frame is when the chase scene start and she starts to run. She sees the man advancing and starts to quickly walk then breaks into a run this is done rapidly over a short amount of time. The noise of this scene is the noise of her shoes on concrete and the killers heavy shoes. The rest of the scene is silent for dramatic effect this is seen in many other films. The camera angles in this are pov which makes the dramatic effects more personnel. Another camera angle is the tracking shot which is used for the chase scene as they are all moving.

The sixth frame is when the woman runs through the forest area to the other side which is safe but is struggling to make it against the killers fast walking. The sound is the rustling of the leaves and the wind rocking the trees in the background.The light is the moonlight coming through the trees and the faint glow of a lamp post in the distance. The camera angles are pov, tracking and a long shot all of these make the scene feel more real for the audience and improve the scene. This scene is very tense as the audience can see that she will probably not make it.

Frame eight is when finally the killer is catching her up she is sobbing and he is very close behind her now.The sound is the rustling of the leaves and the wind rocking the trees in the background.The light is the moonlight coming through the trees and the faint glow of a lamp post in the distance which makes for an odd glow. The camera angles are pov, tracking and a long shot all of these make the scene feel more real for the audience and improve the scene. This scene is full of anxiety as the audience wants the woman to escape but she will not at the rate she is running.

Frame nine is when the killer finally catches her and she is struggling to get away.The light is the moonlight coming through the trees and it is very dark now representing how hopeless she is. The camera angles are pov, tracking, close up and a low shot.These make the scene have many different camera angles and give lots of camera angles to how horrific it is. This scene is very anxious as the audience now knows the woman is caught but we do not know what will happen to her after.

Frame ten is simply when a blindfold is put over her and we can hear nothing but her sobbing and her heartbeat. Then silence for a few seconds then the laughing of the killer. This scene is very disturbing for the audience and makes it quite unpleasant as the bond between the characters has been built and now they car about her.

Finally frame eleven shows the killer leaning over the woman in silence and the camera goes into a low shot looking up at the bell tower and trees. Now we want to know what has happened finally to the woman and now the audience is interested in what will happen.

There are many ways that our own storyboard is conventional. It being set in a forest and car park are very conventional places and give the idea of isolation towards the audience. Other things such as the killer not being directly viewed gives a sense of him being inhuman and this makes him more scary.A last way is the way that the victim is portrayed as a vulnerable characters from the start which is typical as no victim is ever strong.

Things we may add  for it to become more conventional:

A scream from the victim may help the scene become more conventional as it is easy to use and shows pain and panic which is what we want from our victim. This would also shock the audience more and make it more uneasy for them to watch.

We possibly may extend the last bit as the ending is very predictable maybe if she escaped the wood but ran into the killer it may be a better ending. This would also be more conventional as in thriller things normally do not go the way expected and it may be better to have a twist.

Also making the time the victim does not know she is being followed could be longer. This could relate to the audience as everyone has had the feeling of being followed which can make the experience of watching it more unsettling. Also in many other thriller films victims do not immedietly see the killer.

Risk assessment- Miss Georgiou

Risk Assessment 

A risk assessment is used to minimizes the risks of an environment and make it as safe as possible for the people involved. Without a risk assessment that people do pay attention to it can be very dangerous for the people involved even in the most safe of environments. This will make the risks that are undertake much smaller by comparison.

Our risk assessment covers the main dangers that are related to our filming and are very specific with things that can be done to prevent them and how they have started.An example of a dangerous location which is not to far away is just filming on a road. This is an example of how any location can be dangerous but can be helped by a risk assessment of the area. Things as simple as avoiding using a busy road can really help the safety and make filming much safer for the people involved. Without the risk assessment it would be very dangerous to film on any location.

Our first risk is trailing leads while working around a set which form a tripping hazard which is very easily done and is easily preventable. All that is need is taping them to the floor so they cannot be moved and this will prevent tripping over them.

Running in a forest can be very dangerous as debry and obstacles in the way. Things such as rocks, branches, roots and holes can all cause a serious trip and landing of any of these can result in serious injury such as broken bones or cuts. The best way to counter this is to use appropriate footwear when running if possible and clear the path of any tripping hazards before the run.This will prevent any injuries when running in a forest.

Another big risk is using a knife in filming , things such as cuts and stab wounds can be fatal and would need medical attention immediately. To make it safer using a knife we must hold the knife in the correct way which avoids cuts to hands and to not run with the knife as if someone ran and slipped they could impale themselves and would likely die. Or it would be much safer using an alternative although that is not possible in this case.

This is essential as if we did not have a risk assessment and people did get hurt then it would be the fault of the people who are in charge as they have not instructed them. With a risk assessment that is known it is easier then for people to take precautions and to be safe in the area that we are filming and working on location. Also necessary things are needed for working with different things such as running in a possible wet forest with a knife. For this we cleared a path and made sure there were no obstructions in the way. However it is also personnel responsibility such as wearing appropriate shoes.

Overall a risk assessment is very important on keeping people safe and to make sure that the chance of dangerous things that could be happening to be kept to a minimum so as to make it hopefully not happen while filming.

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Filming schedule- Miss Georgiou

Filming schedule 

Our filming schedule was very important as it was used  to keep our filming on time and to help minimize the time that we were actually filming as this is very time consuming. Without the filming schedule things also take much longer as you will be deciding on what to do when you are actually there. This can take some time and makes the filming so much more time consuming , also it can make decision making hard and this can leed to a difference in opinion and a argument. All of this will not help filming and the filming schedule can be easily drawn up when the time constraints are more relaxed.This is where the filming schedule comes in and it really helps fix this problem.Also after certain points it would be beneficial to have them marked what we have and havent done which will make it easier to get everything finished in the end.

Even with the filming schedule things did not completely go to plan when filming on location. Things can change very easily on set such as weather, background, noise.Also we sometimes found better ways of doing things such as a unusual shot or a different aspect that we could not have anticipated while not on location. This is how we can change to where we are filming and how adaptable we are as a group. Times of things also changed and we could not know some of the things such as the time that it takes to get from one place to another.This is how we sometimes need to change the schedule to make it better when on set and filming. Other different things that can change is the things we use, for example the mask we were meant to use did not look as good as though so we decided to abandon it.

The only downside to a filming schedule is that it is very hard to stick to and could make it harder to film if you have a very restrictive schedule which would be very hard to change. One example is when we wanted to film on the 24/11/13 but it rained heavily so had to be put off until 29/11/13.  This may lower the quality of the film as you may be able to tell that something has been rushed or has a time lapse between two different scenes.This would make a bad reflection on the people who have made the film.

Overall a filming schedule is very useful in the way that it can show what we will be doing at what time the only thing is when we change something the filming schedule does not reflect it. Furthermore it can sometimes limit what we will do.

Production Roles - Miss Miller

Production Roles

In films people need to be allocated roles, if  they did not then people may do the same thing or leave things out this would become very unorganized and very inefficient. Another reason is that certain people are good at certain things , for example you would not have a cameraman doing the job of editing the film.The main roles for creating a film are the director,producer,actor,cameraman,music producer,screenplay writer,mise en scene co coordinators and editors.All these people have a certain set of skills and are very good at what they individually do, this will make a very successful film.

We decided who would do what by picking who wanted to do what and how well they would do at it.So Beau is the location manager, casting manager ; Wailum is the editor and music producer.Michelle is the costume designer and co producer; I am the cameraman, director and executive producer. We have all picked our jobs out of how well we would do them such as Wailum being good at using editing and me being good at using the camera and knowing what shots  and when. Although we have separate jobs we all made points on the screenplay and mixed our ideas together. This would be better as a group as more ideas can be made by brain storming as a group just due to the increased amount of people involved. More ideas can come up and bad ideas can either be improved or discarded by the others.

Now that we have chosen all our jobs we have done them very well.We have not actually filmed yet but the process leading up to it has been quite good. We have not actually filmed so we do not know how it will be when filming and other certain things but up until then we have been very good as a team. We have all done very well and it is clear that we made a good decision on choices as we have all excelled in our specific areas. Beau has been very good finding our location which is unique in having so many different aspects which can be filmed this will bring variety to our group. Although we still have the stereotypical forest we have different places such as a car parks and hospitals. Michelle has been very good at producing and has been very decisive on decisions involving the film and where it will be. These are just some of the ways that we have been good as a team and people have made good decisions.

Having our set jobs will also make making our film much easier. If everyone has a specific job they will do that well and at the end all of the finished pieces can come together to make a very good film. This also saves time as having one person doing it will be much less complicated than a whole group deciding on what sound is needed at certain points, this is why we have allocated separate roles to people.

So an overall of each person:

Beau is the location manager and casting manager, we chose these roles for him as he lives in the area and knows the area very well. Also he knows lots of local who are in the area therefore it would be easier to get people who lived not far away to be in our film. Overall he did mediocre in task as he got us a very good location although he did not provide the actors apart from himself so he did not do as well as the others.

Wai-Lum has been given the job of editor and music producer. She has been given these jobs as she is good at editing so therefore she is the main editor and she is also good about putting music with the right scene to reflect the emotion. Wai-Lum has also been very good both sides of filming and has helped in many ways afterwards as editing is the biggest task after filming.

Michelle is the costume designer and co producer as she knows what we wanted in a scene and reflected this in the way she told the actors to dress. She is also a producer as she is very good at actually putting the film together so we chose her for the role.She has been very good both before and after filming and has completed the task well.

Overall we all did very well in our roles, although there are certain areas where we could have improved. Some areas such as deadlines and timekeeping we were very relaxed about and this could have added up to lots of time. Another could be communication about what people are doing, as sometimes we were doing something then we would find that we were not prepared for it. This is another way time was wasted.Although giving people allocated roles has helped as people only need to do there jobs and when it is done we can put it all together and have a good film with all of our expertise combined.

Inspirations- Miss Miller

Inspirations

Inspiration is when you take aspects and ideas from another source to put into your own and make it your own.We need inspiration as otherwise ideas would be very hard to find as we use other ideas as a template for ours, if we could not then original ideas would be all that there is possible and could make the number of ideas very low. If you have an original idea then it cannot be a bad thing to watch other successful examples that you could take things from.

You can take inspiration from many things such as books,T.V, film,music and from your own life.Past experiences are often the best as they have not been thought up by anyone else and mean something personal as they have actually happened to you.This will make whatever you are putting it into better. If you took inspiration from a secondary source such as another film you are effectively copying their idea which is not very creative but can be good if you take small amounts that could improve your own idea.This would be acceptable like us using the location of a forest even though many other thriller are also set.

We have taken ideas from many thriller films such as Seven, the Saw franchise, Shutter Island, Phone Booth and Insidious.All of these films are successful thriller which have many similar elements of which they have copied from each other. These elements are expected and are synonymous with thriller films, these things we can include as they are expected and generally make it better for people watching the film. If they had not been in these other films then they would not be successful so we now know that they are successful ways and we should use them.

We have taken ideas such as not having dialogue only screams which brings a sense of mystery and enigma to the scene. A second is having the heart beat of the victim while she is being chased.We have taken this inspiration from Shutter Island which portrays the heartbeat in a different manner. Lastly one from Scream which never shows the face of the killer which again brings mystery and enigma to the scenes where he is present this makes the character much more scary.This type of inspiration is okay due to it not being a straight copy but we have selected the elements that make it good.

 These have helped our film in many ways but mostly it being better general viewing for the audience of the thriller film. Thriller films are meant to be mysterious and surprising and these things that are included in other films and they have some of the best ways to do that. So it is better to use other successful things that we can take from other films that is why we have used it.We know they work so we can use them without worrying are they successful in making a good thriller film.

Planning Opening Credits- Miss Georgiou

Planning Opening Credits

Credits play a important role in all films as it gives recognition to the people who have worked hard to make it ,it gives appreciation to everyone in the film from the director to the costume designer.They are also used to show how big the people in the film are, if it was a famous  director or actor then the name would be more prominent in the credits than a new and up and coming actor who was previously unheard of. This is because audiences who have seen their previous work will want to see it again.This will help bring people in to watch what they have made and will help make other less well known people more publicly known and increase their popularity. So this changes how different people are portrayed in credits and how audiences respond to the different type of people involved as how famous a actor or directer is often helps the film make more money.

We took inspiration for our credits from many different films both thrillers and from other film genres to improve our credits. One film that we analysed was Se7en. The credits of Se7en are very unique and are not a very common style. They are in white with a contrasting black background and shake and move about constantly and how they look hand written. This I believe builds a more personal feeling with the people who have worked on the film as it seems like it is hand written.The white could represent the differences between good and evil and the hand written feels more unusual for the audience. This moving and jerking keeps bringing your attention back to them and makes you read them when they change , this brings attention to the names even though there are things going on in the background which distract you. Also in the background we can see a man reading a Bible and other religious book and we do not see his face.This makes us think he will be the antagonist and this  is from ideas of Aristotle as he believed it was themes that made a scene and the themes is having an enigma in the opening scenes of Se7en. This is where we have taken our inspiration from for our black and white contrasting effect in our own credits. Overall Se7en's credits are personel to the audience yet still mysterios and help keep the audiences attention.

,http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1e1feo4DUk

Another film we chose to analyse with very good credits are from the film insidious and cthis because it has a long opening scene. The credits are written in red and could be indicating blood and violence is to come. This is a good representation of the film and makes the audience immediately know what the film will be like and prepare for it. They almost also drip just like blood on the screen and this again links in with the film.The bright red blood also highlights the difference from the dark and gloomy background and again gives a sense of an enigma following. This again could indicate the difference between good and evil in the film which is built by these differences and the audience knows immediately that there will be a victim and a killer. We have used the idea of using colours to indicate things such as in our own we use black and white to represent good and evil against each other as they are in the scene. This is because you can use colours to put the audience in a mind set white and black are cold colors and contrasting. Whereas blue and white match and make the scene more mellow. Also the r=time between each credit is relatively slow and this keeps the credits quick to set the speed for the film.

   In our group we decided that we would have colours that contrasts such as red and black or white and black.This makes the names stand out and helps bring attention towards the names and this makes the people who have made the film happier as they are more easily seen and therefore more prominent. Also you can sense that the clip will have two sides and it helps explain the narrative.Secondly we want to have things happening in the background this makes people watch the whole screen which would otherwise not happen if it was just the credits. Also the credits will be moving as this will make audience pay attention to the screen when things are going on this brings much attention to it. Also using dramatic music suddenly pulls attention towards the screen so this will also help people keep interest in our own credits. This also uses time that would otherwise be wasted on just credits but can begin to tell the story which is valuable. There will be a gap of one second between each credit and a credit last 3 seconds. This is setting the pace of the start of the film. We will use this font

 which also makes the credits seem more natural and helps make it easier to read than if it was handwritten for instance. Although it does give an impersonal impression whereas hand written does not. Without all of these effects going on people would not even look at the credits and will defeat the point of them. This is what we have discussed as a group on how to portray our credits and the ways that we can use other films to make our own better.

The order of credits:
Actors : Beau Abery , Ellie Holt
Music : Michelle Woods
Location co coordinator: Beau Abery
Casting: Beau Abery
Editor: Wailum Pang
Camera Operator: Benjamin Yarwood
Producer : Benjamin Yarwood
Co Producer : Michelle Woods
Screen Play: Benjamin Yarwood, Wailum Pang, Michelle Woods, Beau Abery
Director: Benjamin Yarwood


Overall we have spent much time on discussing the idea of credits and we have spent lots of time discussing how we will portray them to the audience. We have finalized them and we have included things such as contrasting colors and interesting credits to make them even better viewing for the audience.