Planning storyboards - Miss Miller

Here is an image of my storyboard:

Before you are able to create a film there are certain tasks which you have to perform to be able to do so as well as making certain decisions. You would need to begin by evaluating your screenplay so to picture it in terms of each separate shot which can then be visually turned into your separate story board panels. Creating your own story board helps you to work out what it is that makes up each shot.

Although making a storyboard for your own film sounds simple enough it's actually quite tricky, I struggled when it came to deciding how much time should be spent on each scene, as well as which scenes where more crucial than others in regards to time limits etc.

When planning your storyboard the importance of each and every individual shot becomes highlighted as you really need to think about the key elements for this part of the task of creating your film every scene becomes almost as important as each other regarding how much time you spend on each as you really have to be carefully anlasying certain steps of each part so to make sure all of your story fits together well and you are confident in your knowledge  of what is happening and what you need to do so to ensure so.

For every individual shot you need to think about:

The set location
How many actors are needed
The type of shot e.g mid shot/ long shot/ close up
If you need to consider any props etc
The shots angle e.g a high angle or a low angle
Whether any camera movement is needed so to add motion to the shot
If any of the actors or any vehicles etc need to move within a frame if so in what direction
If any special lighting is needed
Whether you need/ want to add any special effects

We created our first storyboards individually so that we could get a good concept of how each group member visions the film and then compare any separate ideas and see how we can reach a better outcome. Once we have all fished we will then create a group storyboard using our individual boards were we will be able to compare which ideas are best.

For one of my story board panels you can see the drawing of our main character and victim Brittany
Being followed this was a piece of inspiration I took from watching various different thriller films where the female victim was being watched by an antagonist with a hidden identity such as 'Valentine'. Within Valentine the true identity of the killer is unknown as he hides behind the mask and clothing of this character he creates for himself when he becomes this killer. I like the prospect of using this convention towards the thriller genre of having a hidden identity within our own film as the idea that this person could be anyone, that they could be capable of doing anything or hurting anyone makes them that much scarier. It also shows them to be at a much more powerful advantage compared to the possible victims which again is conventional to the genre as it shows displays the antagonist in an even scarier frame capable of a lot with not much the victims can do about it. For many audience members it is a rather frightening thought that this person knows so much about their potential victims only they know next to nothing about him.

For this scene we will use a long shot focus camera angle, this will be shown as the audience will be provided with a long full view of the scene which takes place in a forest, they will be able to both clearly see Brittany walking along as well as the antagonist who is hiding as he follows Brittany on her way home. Within this scene the audience will be able to watch Brittany as she questions whether there is someone else there or not, this will display a range of her emotions and get the audience feeling sorrow for her as well as witnessing first hand just how sneaky the antagonist is as he manages to continue to follow her without being caught out right. This scene will also build the audiences frustration as they are clearly able to see the antagonist and are hoping that Brittany will be able to as well before it is too late for her. The use of these techniques will help to gain the audiences interest as they feel more involved as they are able to connect more with Brittany as they have a great sympathy for her situation and emotions. This is a convention to the thriller genre as often within the genre audience members are encouraged to bond with characters so for them to have a stronger relationship and therefore become more involved as they gain more concern over what is happening hence they have a further interest within the film keeping their concentration.

A forest is a rather typical and therefore conventional place to have such a scene within the a thriller. Forests are often used as they can be rather dark places even in daylight as there are so many trees, bushes etc and therefore also lots of shade. There are also many places to hide making it the perfect place for antagonists to watch over and jump out at their victims. Forests are also often used as for many people they are seen as rather scary places to be in alone for similar reasons.

It is important to display pieces of iconography within a thriller film so in this scene we will use iconography in the way that Brittany is dressed as she will be wearing her school uniform. Again this is rather conventional as it displays her age as well as representing that she is still fairly unsure of the world therefore appearing more innocent providing the antagonist with further power and making the audience feel more sorry for her as she is at a greater loss to him. The forest itself will be a piece of iconography as well as the fact that it is a very isolated place again often used within thrillers as it means that the victim appears even more alone making them more vulnerable.

Although at times forests can be fairly dark as we will be shooting this scene in daylight I plan for us to simply just go with the natural lighting as we want it to appear rather realistic and not artificial. Also I like the prospect of using the natural lighting that comes from a forest at the time of day which we will be shooting as it can appear rather frightening yet at the same time contrast itself as it reminds the audience that it is still daytime. This is conventional to a thriller as often the audience are mislead into thinking that nothing bad should happen because it doesn't appear right for the timing or setting etc however they are still able to pick up on hints that something could happen living them in both either suspense as they try to undercover what has happened or surprise when it appears that something will take place.

This scene shall only need to actors in it, both myself portraying the role of Brittany and George Stopher taking on the role of the antagonist, I decided that it would be best not to have any extras as passers by as it makes the scene appear more frightening to think of Brittany there in that forest all alone with no one but the evil antagonist who is after her. Again this is conventional to the genre as it courses audience members to try and place themselves in such a situation all on their own with no one there to help them making it all the more frightening.

For this scene we will use a mix of sound, the main sound track which we have set on as a group shall continue to play in the background this will be a convention of the genre as it will be set to impress the theme of a thriller creating a suspense vibe allowing the indication to the audience that something is likely to happen however building it up so that they won't know when this is creating a more intense atmosphere. We shall also provide the sound of Brittany walking through the forest maybe even highlighting it and the sound of the leaves crunching as she walks past and over them. As well as the sound of the antagonist snapping a twig to create more of an indication to Brittany that she is not the only one there making her question her situation even more yet making her further paranoid as she is unable to see anyone but herself in that forest.

For our editing of this scene I think that we should use filters to create a more intense picture, I also think that we should create a type of filter which we can use on all of the flashback scenes so to highlight that these scenes have taken place in the past, we want the audience to be able to make the transition from the scenes from present day and the scenes from the past. If audience members are not able to do so this could potentially ruin the experience of the film for them making them confused or bored and loosing their interest.


For the scene where Brittany is clearly being watched as she walks home through the forest we will be using both a long shot and a shallow focus so to show the entire scene and to keep the audiences main attention on Brittany however they are still able to capture what the antagonist is doing but in more of a blur which keeps the focus of Steve's part in the scene simply on his actions and nothing else to distract or take from the importance of that.

For the scene where Brittany is running to the kitchen in order to grab a weapon so to defend herself against the antagonist we will be using a hand held camera angle so to keep it fast weapon and staggered showing the seriousness of the situation and highlighting the fear factor. Using a hand held camera angle will have a much better chance of giving this feeling off compared to a still camera as the fact the audience is watching something rather calmly conveys that there is no major need for panic and that the situation is handled.

I also plan to use reaction shots as they will urge the audience to see things through the characters perspective particularly Brittany hence urging them to get on side with her and feel sorrow for her struggle. This is an idea which I hope stays as reaction shots are able to effect and display so many different elements of the genre that they will really help the film.

Although I found that making my storyboards was quite difficult I definitely think it was a good idea as this task does as it is suppose to really helping you to think your film through for instance I found setting times to my scenes difficult however this was something which really needed to be thought about. This will also make it easier when explaining our own ideas to each other within the group as we now have a good representation of our ideas.


For the scene where the audience is shown a close up of the antagonists boot we will be using a close up we will be doing this so to highlight the importance of the boot to the audience, not only will this indicate that perhaps this really is happening and isn't just in Brittany's head but it will also help to drop clues onto the audience as to who this antagonist behind the hidden identity may actually be in their every day lives. This technique is often used throughout the thriller genre for instance I myself saw it in the 'Scream' series the audience was shown the boots of the antagonist as a clue they were then shown men from the police force wearing these same boots dropping hints and clues as to who the antagonist may be. This is conventional to a thriller as it keeps the audience guessing as well as creating suspense as the audience attempt to figure out who the antagonist is. The effect of the close up really draws the audiences attention to the detail of the boots therefore reminding them that this is something that they should be looking out for. This helps the audience to build a stronger relationship with the film as they attempt to remain staying involved even with Brittany as some audience members even suffer a piece of her confusion as they attempt to guess who the antagonist is. The boot itself is a good piece of iconography the lighting for said scene will be darker to that of the previous where by the audience watches the victim walk through the forest as we are doing this so to demonstrate to the audience that this is a much darker character. This scene will obtain parallel sound as the branch is snapped and the leaves crunch having the antagonist snapping a branch shows both the powerfulness of his strength as well as his carelessness. We will be using a jump cut for our form of editing for this scene we will be doing so as the transition from this scene to another will be more hasty foreshadowing traits of the antagonists personality. The narrative of said scene is for the audience to become aware of the presence of the antagonist and decide for themselves whether or not this is really happening or whether they are simply being shown things from the victims pov again said confusion allows the audience in on the thoughts tracing Brittany's mind hence building a bond as they are more able to connect with her and the sorrow/ sympathy they feel becomes much deeper as they become more aware of what she is suffering.

The scene where by Brittany is entering down an alley way heading towards a night out with friends will be shot using a long shot and a shallow focus. We will be using these two techniques as it is key that the audience captures a good view of the scenario so to fully understand what it is that is taking place and so to help build the tension from the scene using this shot means that the audience will be able to view the runner as they are running down through the alleyway building suspense as the audience captures sight of them and begins to guess who they may be until they see them completely. This also helps to strengthen the relationship between Brittany and the audience as they feel a similar level of fear to her as the await who this mystery person is and what their motives for being in the alleyway are. The effect of using a shallow focus allows the audience to really focus on the victims expressions and view just how vulnerable she is yet they are still able to view the full goings on of the scene it simply means their attention is mainly fixated on Brittany's facial expressions and body language yet they still receive a good view of the runner however keeping it universal allows for them to keep guessing. These two shots together will help aid us to present Brittany as the typical damsel in distress within thriller films hence making this scene conventional to one as it explores an element which is often used throughout thriller films and enjoyed via thriller watchers.

Planning opening credits - Miss Georgiou

Planning for opening credits

Opening credits have many uses within the thriller genre they allow the audience the knowledge of the different roles both within the production of the film as well as on screen and who they are taken out by i.e lighting,directing, acting etc. Credits also inform the audience of the production company for said film are, they also remind the audience of the film title hence enforcing the theme of it by bringing the title back to the for front, opening credits are able to introduce the set mood and theme for the film as well as the style for the film. The opening credits of a film can give audience members an idea of what to expect through out and set the tone indicating what the audience can expect and encouraging them to make guesses as to what is to happen along the way making the audience more engaged with the film hence making it a more interesting watch. 

  

The above clip is of the opening sequence to thriller film se7en, I chose to analyse this thriller opening sequence in preparation to making my own as I enjoyed watching this opening as I found it interesting, as you watch you will notice many ways in which the opening sequence is conventional to the thriller genre.

The actual credits themselves are in black and white, black being a colour which suggests many of life's horrors such as death hence foreshadowing what is to come, white is often used in an attempt to create a rather innocent vibe, the two together indicate the cruel murder of innocent people being taken out by people an antagonist or even a group of antagonists. Therefore the black and white credits within this scene represent the relationship between our Antagonist, Carol, Brittany and our audience. As well as the themes of black and white there are also flashes of red throughout the sequence which again represents future death the colour red often conveying back to blood. 

Font is a very important characteristic of the credits. The physical writing of the credits appears as though it was very sloppily hand written, said type of font represents the personality of the man whom we are watching take out such tasks it shows how mentally unstable he is this goes along with him cutting things up etc it shows him to be creating something which is clearly sick and twisted yet he finds that he is able to do this as though it is normal with ease and little thought. The writing is shown randomly at random points hence showing displaying his un-stability. 

Said opening sequence illustrates many typical traits of the genre you would expect to see such as low key lighting which is able to make a scene much more tense and serious as well as more intimate making it a good feature for a thriller film. Enigma is also used through out, whilst the character is sharpening the knife on his thumb all three key elements of a thriller shock, suspense and surprise are developed the knife itself is a key form of iconography as well as the action of planning the victims death.

The credits within thriller Se7en begin with the production name, after which they move onto the director the director for Se7en displays their name twice within the opening credits once at the start and at the end however director's usually just have their name displayed at the end of the credits right before the start of their film. After the director is credited for the first time the audience is then shown the name of two actors from the film. Generally the first actors credited are those who are the most reoccurring or are appear first. After the first two actors are shown the title of the film appears in bigger font than the rest of the credits so to really make it stand out by drawing the audiences attention to it and showing how important it is after the title the credits return to introducing the actors. 

For our opening credits I think that we should create something which will convey the mystery discovered through out our film, as well as features elements which are conventional to a thriller hence reforming the idea of the fear factor, this can be reenforced through the use of our chosen colour scheme etc. 

My design for our style of font:

I think the best thing about my opening credits is the smaller font showing who the film was directed by, I think this is the best aspect of it as like the credits in Se7en it is rather sloppy, life like child's writting which is very convnetional to a thriller for said reasons. However I still think as a group we could create something better for our opening squence. I like the blurred effect I have on the title as it goes past however I think the actual font itself appears a bit basic and doesnt look particulary professional nor does the actual title itself particually stand out to a thriller although it fits to one as it doesnt conotate anything particualry happy happening within the film I still want the font to be more clear so to very attractive the audiences attention to the fear factor of the film and get them hocked with it from the minute the begin watching.

My team members style of font:

Emma's style: 

Although I can see ways in which this is conventional to a thriller as the colouring is very well suited I think there are ways in which our title could be more conventional to a thriller and a little more interesting and eye catching. However I like the colour scheme and I like that it isn't to chaotic and really focuses on the title it self so not to take anything away from it  this is conventional to a thriller as a thriller keeps you focused on the frightening aspects of itself. I think we should add something to the title font as I did in mine such as a blur or something more effective as it could stop it from looking so basic.

Harry's style: 

Personally I like Harry's font design the best, not only do I see ways in which it is conventional to a thriller but I also see it suiting our own film individually as it is rather fitting to the on goings of our film hence also suiting the genre.

As a group we have decided to use Harry's style of credits to work on as they ticked all of our boxes, we saw ways in which it was conventional to a thriller, the colour scheme suited our narrative, we saw potential in it, etc. We plan to have our  credits appear separately for crediting different people  taking out different roles. We will credit everyone who take an acting role as well as everyone who worked on the film so it shall mainly be our group however we have other people to thank as well. They will be scattered as cross the showing of our opening sequence much like the way they are in se7en. We will aim to display them so not to draw attention away from the main events of the scene. 

Planning characters - Miss Miller

Within our opening sequence we will be using four characters these include our victim Brittany, antagonist Steve, protagonist Carol and miner character the nameless jogger/runner who Brittany encounters along the alley way during her walk home form school. We are currently considering whether we will have extras through various difference scenes. Characters are very important to our thriller as without them there would be no narrative.

Main character Brittany is a sweet, easy to get along with young girl who's still at school, we want our victim to have a strong like ability factor so that the audience grows a stronger relationship with her therefore routing for her more so than they would without this bond hence creating further suspense and tension for audience members as they hope that the outcome for Brittany is a safe one without her being too traumatized by this scary situation. If the character of Brittany was to appear rather unlikable it would be likely that audience members would question why the antagonist was going after her with the effect of a hidden identity it is likely that they would come to the conclusion that she had in some way done something to discourage the antagonist hence urging them to resort to such extremes to seek revenge on her. Even so without this theory if Brittany was to come across as a nasty girl then audience members wouldn't reach such a bond with her hence loosening the tension and making the ordeal she is suffering less sad as there will be less empathy for her. Brittany is of a young age this is representative of her being weak as well as having a lack of knowledge on the world hence making it acceptable for her to appear a bit more clueless when it comes to Steve. The audience sympathies with her because of her disadvantage of her age again this is a factor which is making her more likable to the audience. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it means that we will show scenes of the victim appearing rather dumb and hopeless next to the ever powerful antagonist. Brittany herself is a convention to a thriller, being the typical young blonde female victim, this is shown through her supposed paranoia as well as her reactions towards certain situations. In her day to day life Brittany is a normal every day fifteen year old girl dedicated to her GCSE'S trying to get into a good place at a sixth form this emphasis's on the added stress she is under. The main character represents themes of innocence and vulnerability both of which are conventional to the thriller genre as they display aspects of a victim. None of Brittany's costumes will be revealing again this adds to her being a nice, well behaved, sweet young girl who would be the last person audience members would connect with being able to cope in such a situation. For the scene where Brittany is planning to kill herself she is wearing a jumper. I opted for this to be a bright pink one so to remain in the frame of her youth and innocence as well as juxtaposing what is happening within the scene. After all you wouldn't expect to see such a bright happy colour on someone who is about to take their own life. It shows how unlike Brittany said act is which really demonstrates how far she has been pushed over the edge as well as suggesting the idea of a safe ending for Brittany as she is still able to remain dressing in a happy way.

The antagonist otherwise known as Steve is of a strong, tall, masculine build this makes him become more intimidating to the audience as it displays him to be a strong person who is able to enflick harm onto his victims. He shall be dressed in as much black as possible, a key piece of costume for the character will be a hoodie as it is a good piece of clothing to use in order to cover yourself hence keeping to his hidden identity as well as the hoodie symbolising that he is someone of a fairly young age again displaying him to be more physically able suggesting that he is able to course more harm. Through out the entire opening sequence not even a glimpse of Steve's face will be shown, this keeps up the suspense and added tension of having a hidden identity. It is important that we don't give to much away during the opening so to leave key aspects of the film left to explore through out the duration of the film. Steve himself will have a negative relationship with the audience if any, the audience are set to dislike him as they simply recognize him as the people willing to do all of the nasty things shown to Brittany aside from that nothing else of later has been shown about his character the audience simply no that he has a fixation with Brittany and isn't of sane mind. This is conventional to a thriller as often within the genre there is a mentally unstable character.

Protagonist Carol is a female of around twenty years of age she is fairly young get old enough to offer caring support and advice to Brittany which she is able to take in as more than just something coming from a fellow peer. Her costume is too fit with her personality so she will be dressed in rather calm, sweet, welcoming and warming clothing which let's her caring side shine through and makes her more believable when taking to Brittany so that the audience won't become suspicious of her when comforting Brittany which thriller watchers are often encouraged to do. Carols death comes as an even sadder lose to the audience as she was such a lovely character, she was so helpful to a girl she'd never met before, her words really made a difference the matter being and what makes it so sad is that she lost her life attempting to save somebody else's out of the sheer kindness of her heart. During her day to day life Carol worked at a dog sanctuary hence she is walking dogs as she discovers a vulnerable Brittany.

The miner character of the runner although he personally doesn't do much or even receive much screen time his presence is crucial to the film. They will be dressed in grey sports wear to indicate relief to the audience as they realise that his is just a jogger the light colouring themselves making him appear as a more friendly person. The character is used to empathise on the paranoia that Brittany is experiencing which is conventional to a thriller as often characters emotions are brought up to showcase the seriousness of certain events within the genre.

As you can see characters are a very important part of my thriller film without them there would be no film so it is important that they serve a sufficient purpose so to maintain a worthwhile viewing film. I didn't want too many characters within the opening sequence as this can become very confusing for some viewers and I didn't want them to distract from the main points which are needed to be obtained from the opening.

As you can see the characters within our opening sequence are very important as they are what carries our narrative. A lot of planning needs to go into our characters so to make sure they suit the film individually as well as the genre itself, we also need to make sure that the character remains within the character profile which we fit them to, if a character was to do something which appeared odd for someone of their character build to do within our film then audience members could come to question it and state that it seemed out of character for them to do so. There are various other elements to our characters which we need to deeply consider such as the way they present themselves and continue to present themselves both in the way they dress i.e their costume for instance we couldn't have the antagonist dressing the way we are through out the sequence and then suddenly for one scene have them dressed as a clown as not only would this not make sense to the film or the character's profile but it would also throw viewers off sent with the film and they may not understand who this character is and question the relevance to the film or even what it is that is actually happening. The entire film is based around the goings on of the characters so everything needs to remain within the same detail.

Planning sound - Miss Miller

Planning sound

 Many of us may consider film as a visual experience often under estimating the importance of sound within film. Often a meaningful soundtrack with a strong connection to the film can be as important as the actual image presented on screen. Thriller films are known for their daunting music which is able to create a more intense vibe hence adding such music to our opening sequence is conventional to a thriller. Sound is also able to highlight the emotion that a character or group of characters are experiencing/ feeling hence helping the audience to have a greater understanding towards said character/characters and the situation of which they find themselves in. Again this is conventional towards the thriller genre as it is important for the audience to create a relationship with characters so to create further suspense for them when hoping for the best possible outcome from the events shown.

Planning is required so to make sure we are making an opening sequence to the best of our full potential. Planning the sound as a whole with the group means that everyone is able to add input, we are able to add further to other peoples ideas and build upon them, as well as bringing brand new ideas forward. Through good planning/organisation we are then able to build the add all the best ideas together so to create our opening sequence.

The image above displays some of the planning my group did when considering the sound within our opening sequence. The image is of a poster we created when deciding on and finalizing our ideas and putting them all together as one. As you are able to see on the poster we wrote about which sound techniques we would be using throughout and how they were conventional to the thriller genre.

Dialogue is a massively important factor within film, often it is what the entire film revolves around, a lot of information in regards to the plot can be received through dialogue it also provides the audience with a chance to form their own opinion on characters and have a better understanding for them.

Within our thriller film opening sequence my team and I will be making sure that we show uses of diegetic sound for various different reasons, one type of diegetic sound we will be displaying within our opening sequence will be the background music which is something both myself and Emma have decided we need to use within our thriller as it something which is highly conventional to a thriller film for a number of reasons for example the effect it brings to the genre, such as the intense vibes and suspense which it can build, music is often used within thrillers to indicate that something is about to happen to the audience for instance something bad could be about to occur so music suggesting that would be played in the lead up to it foreshadowing these events hence building a stronger relationship for the viewer and the film as they become more involved through being able to guess what is taking place within the film. However Harry disagreed with us on the topic, myself and Emma agreed that we need to use music within our film as often  it is a major part of what helps to bring the story to life however Harry still didn't agree with us so we showed him a clip on you tube of a thriller and turned the mute button on we showed him how ineffective the story line appeared without any music to create a certain atmosphere so to suit the film. However Harry continued to argue that he thought silence would be an effective piece to have within our thriller. I agree with Harry that silence would be a good concept to have within our thriller as it can display many different things including elements of a thriller for instance having a silent moment during a crucial  part of the scene after a strong build up of music can display the seriousness of said moment and make a more tense atmosphere as we await whats about to happen next however I still think that we need music to create tension/suspense and indicate to the audience what may be about to happen hence I suggested that we kept the plan of having the music even asking our teacher Miss Miller to back me up on the point as well as deciding that we could shoot a part of our sequence in silence for dramatic effect. The different pieces of music we will use for different scenes will create a certain effect towards said scene it is used for and emphasis on that effect making it appear scarier as well as displaying the true horrendous of the place Brittany finds herself in. When Brittany finds that Carol has been murdered, there will be off screen music emphasizing on the shock Brittany is experiencing making her pain more relate-able hence coursing the audience to build an even stronger relationship with her which is in important in order to help viewers enjoy the film as well as to create a more intense vibe for them making it a good viewing of a thriller film as I said before being this relationship between the audience and characters is a very important convention of the genre as it applies the audience for further emotion for the characters making them more scared of what shall happen to these characters.

We will also be using off screen sound during our flashback scene whereby the audience hears the foot steps of the jogger/runner before actually seeing them, this highlights the  danger our victim is currently in as well as the condition Brittany's stalker has left her in. Not only is she fearing him even though she is not completely certain whether or not he really exists, she is also so paranoid that by simply hearing the sound of someone else's feet hitting the ground she fears that this person is after her. The use of off screen sound in this scene is also able to play with the audiences head and give them more of a feel of what is going on inside Brittany's. One minute this girl is terrified for her life certain that she is being watched the next she's questioning herself wondering whether this is all something that she has created within her own mind and nothing like this is really happening at all. Some audience members are set to become uncertain of whether what they are being shown is actually happening or whether they are simply viewing certain aspects of the film through Brittany's mind for instance scenes where it really looks as though she is being watched they will have to question what it is that they are actually seeing. Hearing the footsteps before seeing whom they belong to will also create fear for the audience as the ponder who the feet belong to hence later creating surprise as they realize that this person is not the evil antagonist that they were expecting but a innocent every day citizen. The element of surprise is conventional to a thriller and is used often throughout the genre as it is important to keep audience members guessing so to keep them interested.

Audience members will hear the sound of the knife when Carol is stabbed we will be displaying this form of parallel sound within our opening sequence as to emphasis the sharpness of the knife hence highlighting how much of a painful death she must have endured this shall upset the audience as Carol was a character they were made to see the absolute best of the kind, caring protagonist. As the antagonist could do this to such a lovable character it shows him to be even more of a monster and even more fearful. The act of him killing Carol in such a painful, careless way shows him to be even more of a sociopath. The sound of the knife is also conventional to the thriller genre as it is a popular weapon of choice for a character such as Steve the effect of highlighting it reminds thriller viewers of the fears this weapon has brought to them. This piece of iconography also shows the killer to be more sociopath than other weapons, for instance if the audience was to hear the shot of a gun it sort of suggests more of a cowards way out, he wouldn't have to had to get all that close to his victim nor would he have to physically hurt her with his own hands. Yet the sound of a knife going through her signifies how fearless this man is, he would have had to get very close to her in order to force a knife into her as well as actually mentally being able to perform such a task for many people simply the thought of doing so would make them feel sick. The sound of the knife will be used specifically to present the power of the antagonist our Steve as well as pre-shadowing the rising level of the danger that Brittany is involved in.

Diegetic sound will be used often through out our opening sequence for instance simply the dialogue between characters, the noise of the TV playing in the background during a flashback scene, heavy breathing from Brittany as she fears for her life throughout many of the scenes this will show just how panicked she is. The sound of the leaves being crunched upon by the antagonist and the sound of Brittany running represent the pace of the panic she is going through, show how fast paced her escapes need to be show the audience the importance of her every thought within this scenario's, if she runs the wrong way, runs slower than she needs to or simply doesn't notice the antagonists presence then it could result in the end for her. This is a clever way to express Brittany's troubles to the audience without using dialogue.  

Contrapuntal sound shall be used in the first of our flash backs, as Brittany is watching TV she will be watching a happy almost childish film or TV show working in juxtaposition to what else she is set to witness. Brittany will be towards the end of what she is watching so this will be the resoluteness section where generally everything is happy and all working itself out and fitting together when she feels that she is being watched via someone outside the house. The effect of what Brittany is watching will make her feel comforted and safe especially as she is viewing this within her own home creating a higher shock factor when she notices that a strange man looking at her through the glass pans of her windows hence completely changing the mood of said scene.

We will be using parallel sound also. This sound technique can be used within a thriller when you can hear sound from within a film which the audience would expect such as children playing the parallel sound heard would include the children laughing, talking and the sound of toys or running around etc. We shall we using this sound technique within our film as the sound of the knife so to emphasis on the pain that Carol suffers. We will be making the sound of the knife louder this shall elaborate the sharpness of the weapon (which is also a piece of our iconography) as well as the much terror is has already coursed and has the power to further course in the future. Again this shall be conventional to a thriller film as the use of a knife is a part of our iconography displaying a weapon. Displaying a weapon within a thriller film hints at both the instability of the owner and the future murders which shall occur. This weapon will be used specifically to highlight the power of our antagonist Steve as well as foreshadowing the danger that victim Brittany shall be put in. Naturally the audience shall immediately sympathise with Brittany and hope for the safety of her as there is an instinct to show the audience that the antagonist used Carol as bait for Brittany and to toy with her emotions. Again this is a convention of a thriller displaying the sickening mind of the antagonist is a good way to display just how dangerous the situation the victim is in as well as how scary the antagonist is as it shows that they will be willing to do some extreme things so to cast a reaction.

As you can see from my post the use of sound has a massive effect on the thriller genre, whether it be in order to empathize a key point towards the film, or simply through the use of background music to create a certain mood without sound many aspects of the genre would go without little if any notice.

Planning editing styles - Miss Georgiou

It is important for us to plan our editing styles now so that we can gain a better understanding of how we would like our opening sequence to develop as a finished product. This will also help us with our filming so that we will have a better idea of what it is we are trying to create and how we are trying to tell our narrative before we arrive. Hence filming should run more smoothly and we should have more time to focus on the actual filming rather than planning it all out.

Reaction shot

Within our opening sequence we will shoot a reaction shot as they are a good way in which to show fear and feelings of anxiety in which the character of choice is either expressing or experiencing. This would be conventional to a thriller as often reaction shots are used to express what certain characters are feeling. As there is a relationship evolving between both the audience members and said character. The audience is made to feel sorrow/sympathy for the characters as they view their negative emotions they are able to relate with them and feel upset simply because said character is.This is a convention of the thriller genre as it is a technique which is often used so to get the audience to connection more with a character hence building more of a relationship with them and therefore effecting them more when something bad happens to said character. Audience members are also able to sympathise more when she is in trouble or any general form of danger. Her facial expressions are going to be clearly shown within the our opening sequence from the off set and throughout in every scene she is experiencing some negative emotion related towards being fearful,this clarifies the paranoia she is going through although she is right about the fact that she is being stalked she has no solid evidence to back this up nor is she certain herself maybe she is just imaging it? This whole concept is what is really playing on Brittany's mind and therefore making her unwell. This is conventional to a thriller as often within thriller films the effects of the victims situation are demonstrated so to make the scenario taken more seriously by the viewers and to make it more realistic these combined make the story-line much more frightening. After all the scene where she feels that someone dangerous is coming up behind her only for it to turn out to be an innocent everyday jogger shows that this wouldn't be the first time she was wrong about something regarding the situation it also shows how paranoid it has made her and how fearful she has become when doing the simplest things which she done with the some ease prior to the realisation that someone was trailing her. 

Filters

Another  type of editing style we will be using within our opening sequence is filters, we have selected to use this technique as it can help highlight a situation and really help to showcase something which we want the audience to pick up on and take note of. We will be using said technique throughout our flashback scenes to show a severe past event which has left her traumatised. We will put the filters into effect by having produced dark colours in order to represent low key lighting, which is conventional towards a thriller film as it conveys that there is something bad about to happen or some form of danger as well as indicating that this is something from the past,using black and white colouring often relates that a scene that is from the past as this refers back to old black and white films. This shall also help audience members work out that they are in fact watching a flash back and help them tell apart the scenes from the past and present day. It is key that the audience is able to make the transition between the different time periods within our opening sequence so that they are able to fully understand the concept of our narrative. Flashbacks are conventional to a thriller as they are known to be used within the thriller genre so to help give audience members background information on the story so to help them understand what it is that they are watching in present day. This adds to the effect of a thriller as often it displays just how dark said situation is. Also using filters to clarify the different time stages to the audience will help to make it more frightening as if they were unable to tell these differences the film would likely to confuse them hence they would be likely to loose interest and not be scared. Darker colours such as black also fore-shadow the death of victim character 'Carol' and hint at the dark happenings of the film again this is conventional to thrillers as often within films of said genre future happenings are hinted at so to keep audience members waiting upon them and therefore keeping them fixed on watching the film.

Timing of shots

Yet another editing format we will be using is the timing of our shots, for us this will include slow and fast editing which we will use so to create shock, surprise, and suspense. Which will be used throughout our sequence in various different examples for instance  for slow editing in the first flashback when she is in her house appearing to be alone watching something on her television which shall contrast the goings on of her current situation the scene starts of slow, pro longing the tension and contrasting the following scene as the slowness of it can appear rather calm then suddenly it speeds up displaying the sudden change in atmosphere as it becomes more sinister. This is conventional to the genre as this technique has been known to be used within thrillers in order to build suspense for the audience.

Jumpcut

Group planning - Miss Georgiou

Group planning 

 Within my group I am working alongside Harry osborn and Emma Allen it is essential for us to have meetings as a group to make sure that we are all working on the same page, making sure that any plans for our work run smoothly without any confusion or mix ups between our separate work and that if anyone decides that something isn't going to work, comes up with an idea which they believe is better, or any problem meaning that something has to changed then we can discuss said issue as a group and over come it together.

During our first meeting we discussed our own personal narratives and brought them together in order to create a shared narrative for our opening sequence. Both myself and Harry took lead in this side of the project, we spoke about ideas we'd already gathered in preparation before our meeting i.e we'd already thought about previous aspects of the thriller genre which we have found we either enjoyed or found interesting to watch as well as specific elements from certain films which we had watched for instance I brought up the factor of a hidden identity within a list of thrillers which I found it to be interesting within such as Scream, Valentine and many alike. Once I brought Harry around to the idea he mentioned his idea of suicide instantly we were able to pair these two concepts together. Emma and myself had spoken prior to the meeting about what we liked about the thriller genre I spoke of my love for 'scream queens' within the genre using Sarah Michelle Gellar for an example after which Emma brought up the conventional factor this has to the typical female victim which she brought up again in our meeting again this was an idea which we all agreed would be good for our film straight away hence the creation of Brittany.

We planned to have flashbacks for some of our scenes there will be one in the house where by Brittany is watching something on TV we planned to have this as something rather innocent for instance a child's film this will contrast the on goings of  the situation as she is being watched via Steve our character with a hidden identity.

As a group for our muse en scene we needed to decide on ideas which relate to said technique. For our main scene our main character Brittany shall be on top of a bridge about to kill herself. After this scene will show flashbacks. Our final flashback aims to fully display the extent of her paranoia.

Planing cinematography -Miss Miller

Planning cinematography 

Cinematography is the art of both photography and camera work displayed within film making. Cinematography is the aethetics of a motion picture within filming meaning that it is what we view with our eyes.

within our opening sequence we will be using high and low angles as this adds various different effects towards the antagonist for instance using a low angle camera angle for the antagonist will make them appear bigger and look as though they are standing boarder and taller hence urging the audience to see them with further more power as they are made to look rather superior naturally making them scarier to the audience as it would appear that they have this power as an advantage over the chosen victim or protagonist. This is conventional to the genre as it shows the antagnoist with a superioty over the victim stereotypically adding to the factor of the victim being unable to defend themself and the antagnoist being of an unfair advantage making the hate for them grow stronger. The audience is made to feel smaller compared to this character thanks to the shot work making the character even more intimidating hence creating further suspense as they fear what their next move may be.  The usage of a high angle shot within our opening sequence makes the victim seem even more innocent than they already would compared to the antagonist this is good as it brings audience memebers emotional levels up coursing them to like the victim not just because they are a victim but as a person which will create further suspense as the audience is more fearful of the outcome for them. High angle shots will also show the victim to be in danger as they appear much smaller in a larger siuation representing them being out of their depth in a difficult to survivie scenerio. Yet another convention to a thriller as within the genre the victim/ protagonist is always outlined to the absoulte finest so that the audience is instantly able to connect with and their struggle recongising them as the victim i.e the person that they should feel sorry for.

Another type of camera shot we have planned to use to film our opening sequence will be shallow focus which will show focus of the character we want the audience to be mainly focused on however it will still show elements of what is going on in the background however it won't be as clear as what is at the fore ground so to keep the audiences main focus on that however audience members are still able to notice anything else happening in the background so long as they are paying full attention which is crucial within many thrillers hence making it conventional to a thriller. An example of how we will use this technique within our group is during the scene were Brittany is waking down an alley way the shallow focus shall be focused mainly on her however we are still able to see the rest of the alley way around her,making audience members suspicous that something is to jump out from behind her or someone could possibly be following her/about to attack her etc. Her facial expressions are the most important throughout this scene as her facial expressions are the best way to showcase her emotions at this point to the audience also her experssions are a good way of conveying to the audience what happen next hence keeping them guessing. Again the concept of keeping the audience guessing about certain aspects of the film genre such as who the antagnoist may be if a hidden identity is used, who the next victim may be, why the antagonist is actually doing what they are, etc? It is often used within the genre as it keeps the film intresting as the audience attempt to predict what will happen next it keeps them engaged trying to keep up with everything that is happening often within thrillers there is a lot to take in, you need to stay focused to understand what is actually going on so this is a good way in order to help the viewers stay focused. Often fans of the genre say that the guessing element is one of the things that like best it is certaintly something you would expect to see within a thriller film as there are so many different aspects to the genre you can use to follow it and it keeps the storyline flowing.

We plan to use panning as this engages the audience more effectively as they follow the character as they travel around making them feel really enaged with the journey as though they are discovering this story with the character hence making their emotions more involoved and helping them to gain a better understanding of what this is like for said character.Panning will be used by us during flashbacks when a jogger is running past the victim in the alley way we plan to use panning for this scene as from this the audience is able to feel that they have a better idea of what the alley way is like making them feel that they have a better understanding of what is happening around them which could throw them off sent hence making the film more shocking making it more rememerable and intresting. Many thriller watchers love to be kept guessing so this would make it all the more conventional to one. This scene will not only be convetional to a thriller as it keeps the audience guessing the audience will audience get to see Brittany's reactions to believeing that this is the sound of her stalkers footsteps as well as finding out that they were in fact harmless. Showing characters reactions is a good way of displaying their emotions without displaying dialouge, this is also a much more real way to do so as often within films audience members find themselves questioning the conversation in hand deciding that this probbaly is a conversation which would just naturally come up or flow the way they often unnaturally make them appear to within films, simply showing the characters emotions is a believeable way of displaying what they are feeling hence making it much more reletable and keeping the story alive.

We're also going to be using hand held shots as they make the scene more realistic. These types of shots are normally used during a state of panic this feeling will be passed onto the audience through the effective of the camera work. Again this is another technique we will be putting into place throughout our flashbacks, the first time we do so it shall be when Brittany out of panic runs to the kitchen to collect a knife representing the anxiety of which she is suffering. Illustrating panic through shot work is conventional to a thriller as it portrays the vibes of aniexty within the situation, if the camera was to be shot oridnarily pain and straight then it wouldn't have the same effect, in fact it may actually lose some of the panic of the sitation as the audience is being shown this part of the story through a calm lense, having the camera unstabily filming it relates the feelings of aniexty felt within the situation to audience members as they become slightly uncomfortable watching the scene this way.

Extreme close ups are another shot we will be using the image fills the scene so no background is seen and more focus would be put on that particular image this will be used in our film production during the scene where by the villains boots crunches on the leaves on the ground. This is convetional to a thriller as it highlights a certain thriller piece which needs to stand out to create a certain effect on the audience. The focus on the boot not only indicates how close the antanogist now is to Brittany but it also gives audience members something else to look out for when trying to guess who this man may be in his real life. For instance this was done within the Scream series of thriller films, a shot of a boot woren by the anatgonist was displayed after which audience members noticed the police force wore boots of the kind this is done to give clue and indicate who the person behind the hidden identity is as well as to fall audience members into having other suspects keeping the shock factor alive.

Cinematography is very important within the thriller genre as it involves many of the key elements. Without many of them it would be difficult to display certain things hence the film won't be able to provide such an effect upon the audience.

Planning mise - en scene - Miss Georgiou

Setting and iconography: 

 The main scene within our opening sequence will take place on an isolated bridge in a public yet deserted place at around dusk as our victim is about to attempt suicide. Having the scene set a later stage through out the day as well as in an empty location creating more mystery to the scenario, also there are no witnesses to stop the antagonist or to report him afterwards therefore making it appear that our villain is able to attack Brittany (our victim) in the ways which is suggested and even worse possibly completely get away with it. The effect of Brittany appearing to be completely alone furthermore elaborates how vulnerable she is and emphasises the fear we feel for the victim.  This  will be the main focus throughout the sequence The iconography within our scene will obtain a knife as our potential murders weapon of choice, bricks, the river  and bridge showing the likely hood of her death or, even any death within the sequence, the typical clothing of a teenager for instance a hoody this will be done in an attempt to emphasis her age and make her further relate-able to people of that generation as well as to make her venerability more apparent as young girls at that age are said to be at a more likely risk of becoming a target to such a threat for reasons such as they are seen to be less physically strong etc.

Within our film we be will be exploiting the usage of flashbacks we will be doing this in order to highlight how long these chain of events have been going on for hence indicating how much of an effect it could really have had on our victim as well as adding furthermore to the idea that our antagonist is willing to go further than the 'normal person' with his obsession as he has been doing so for a while and all of this little things connected become even creepier and suggest they he may go even further and course her serious harm. One of our flashbacks will show Brittany at home appearing to be alone watching someone on TV we considered the idea of he watching another thriller film however we decided after talking to our teacher Miss Georgiou that this idea was perhaps a bit tacky and could appear that we were trying to make our thriller too much like other thrillers such a the scream series. So we opted to have her watching something rather 'innocent' so to contrast the fact that it appears that Brittany is being watching. Another one of our flashbacks showcases Brittany walking along a path way when she hears footsteps she looks frightened indicating to the audience that she fears this is the man she thinks is stalking her however as they run past we realise this person is just your typical every day jogger and not of threat. This is a crucial scene which I fought to have in our film as it makes the film more interesting/ confusing/ intense as the audience is unsure whether what they are being shown is the truth or simply what is happening from Brittany's pov.

The lighting in this sense with be fairly dark creating an intense and eerily vibe however it will still be light enough for it to past as a not to late stage in the day this makes the antagonist appear more powerful as he is able to do such things at an earlier stage in the day it makes them appear more fearless and capable.

The costumes our characters will be wearing play a major part in the film as they help the audience to indicate their roles, for instance villain Steve shall be dressed in a rather secretive costume sticking to as much black as possible, black is a good colour to dress our antagonist in as it is often paired with trouble and danger the colour itself can often indicate to audiences that there is trouble about to occur as it is such a dark colour it suggests to the audience that this will be a rather dark character. Many people claim to be afraid of the dark which is often paired with the colour black hence many viewers shall find the a character dressed as darkly as possible to be someone that they should feel afraid of. The characters dress will also help with the affect of him having a hidden identity, black can also be viewed as a rather secretive colour which does give much away. Wore as we want Steve to wear it it can be quite covering for instance it doesn't tell us anything about who he may be or what he may be like in his every day life, the audience is unable to guess from his appearance what job he may do, what he family life is like, his culture/ background etc. This continues the theme of the antagonist being someone that we know nothing about other than his sick obsession with Brittany this makes him all the more frightening as he could be absolutely anyone and Brittany would be none the wiser.

If you picture the character/characters '-A' from ABC'S series 'Pretty little lairs' that is the sort of effect we want the character of Steve to have on the audience by dressing in a similar way, when watching the show many audience member's are freaked out by the antics of this character or characters. One of the scariest things is that through the beginning of the show many audience members were unsure if -A was just one person or not after all so little was given away about them from their appearance all that was recongisable about them was the distinctive black dress. Having our character dress this way makes them even scarier as a stalker as if the audience was to know who this person was they wouldn't be so scary as this wouldn't have this power over the audience. Think back to a time when you've watched a known character watch/follow another imagine how much scarier that would have been if you was pondering who it may be that was watching them. The fact that this character is unknown also makes them scarier as viewers are unable to make an educated guess or assume what it is that they are capable of or how far they are likely to go.

Often throughout films of the thriller genre the antagonist or antagonists are dressed in a way which not only sets them out as the 'villain' but also provides them with further fear from the use of having a hidden identity hence being conventional to a thriller as this technique is often used within thrillers for it's added fear factor. As well as becoming distinctive and remember-able to that character. Often within films with cult followings having distinctive dressing is used this is a good way for audience members to recognise the film individually and not just see it as another film of the genre. 

Here are some examples:

'Ghost face' from the Scream series

The masked killer from Valentine

Serial killer from my bloody valentine 

The 'fisherman' from I know what you did last summer

Brittany herself will be dressed as the average teenage girl would, for the scene at the bridge Brittany will be dressed in a hoodie not only does this symbolism average teenage dress but it is also a useful piece of costume for the script as apart of Brittany's attempt at suicide she plans to place bricks inside her hoody's pockets to force her to drown in the river below. Having Brittany dress in a rather universal manner helps to make her more appealing to the general audience as she is someone that more people will be finding themselves able to relate to quicker. As well as keeping her dress typical to that of the ordinary teenage girl so that she appears more likable hence gaining further sympathy I plan to also have her dressed in clothes which are quite 'innocent' appearing for instance she won't wear anything particularly revealing showcasing her sweetness. If this was to happen to someone behaving rather promiscuously then often audience members tend to lose sorrow on the victims behalf as they find themselves going off of the character. It is seen as overly typical to have a promiscuous victim within the thriller genre often people just assume their death as coming the minute the character is introduced and little relationship is formed. Creating a relationship between the audience and the victim or protagonist so to help them have a better understanding for them is good hence they shall be rooting for them more but it is also a convention to a thriller as often within the genre this technique is displayed for the audience to be able to relate to the characters more so and therefore feel even more suspense when hoping for them to do well and come out okay of certain situations.

Carol our protagonist will be dressed as comfy appearing clothes, for instance a nice jumper or cardigan as this will make her seem rather warming and cosy, we want her to seem as nice as possible to make her best attempts to help Brittany seem as believable as possible. We want Carol to come across as the nicest person in the world, you couldn't get any nicer than she is which is an aspect of her personality which we have to keep up throughout her portrayal even in her clothes, if she was to wear a nasty slogan t shirt than the audience would view this as her not being as nice as she is trying to seem.

Brittany's facial expression will be the most important of all the characters. Brittany is the character that for the most part the audience will feel the biggest emotional relationship with. Watching Brittany face change as she is experiencing different elements of the thriller will play on the audiences heart strings as they watch her struggle through pain feeling sorry for her and wanting better for her.

Our protagonist's facial expressions shall also be important as we want the audience to see Carol as this perfectly nice human being hence her face as well as every other aspect shown of her needs to suggest this. We will show her smiling sweetly  at Brittany displaying the facial movements of someone trying their best to be comforting.

The body language of the antagonist is key, we need him to come across as intimidating for the portrayal of Steve to work and to have him appear as frightening as he needs to. The actor portraying this role shall have to stand broad and tall as well as rather frightening and intimidating they should stand as though ready to attack at any given moment.

Our antagonist shall we displaying body language suggesting that it is okay for Brittany to warm into her and feel safe around her. For instance putting an arm around Brittany and sort of cuddling into her etc making her seem as friendly as possible. We will have Carol positioned in rather close to Brittany showing that she truly does care for her.

Brittany has to be shown as looking rather fragile especially compared to the antagonist. She needs to look weak and innocent and unable to fight this incredibly empowering man that should seem to be towering down over her. This would be conventional to the thriller genre as throughout films of the genre the victim or protagonist is showed to be weaker or at a lost to the antagonist so to make them appear more powerful/frightening and make the situation more intense and scary building upon the suspense.

Preliminary task -Miss Miller

Preliminary Task

In my group I am working alongside fellow Media students Emma Allen and Harry Osborn. The purpose of our preliminary task was for us as a group as well as for our own individual use to get use to using the equipment which was new to all of us it was good for us to do this as it means that we are now more comfortable in our knowledge of how to use it hence the production of our film should be better. For example whilst filming our scene some of Emma's camera angles we're at bit off and a bit shaky but now that she has had her experience with the equipment she is better at using it and the shots/angles that she will be filming will be done more professionally.Both myself and Harry have learnt from her mistakes also as we are now aware of what she needed to do in order to improve hence we won't be making those mistakes ourselves whilst filming either. It was also a good opportunity for us to experiment with using different camera angles and shots.Whilst filming Emma discovered that she was unsure of how to use the camera to film a close up so she lifted the camera from the tripod and forced it into my face not only was this not a professional way to shoot a close up but her hands were unstable whilst filming as a result the camera didn't stay still or straight throughout the scene also parts of my face were missing hence we had to re-shot the scene. However now that she has had this experience she was able to learn from it as the three of us worked out the best possible way for her to go about shooting the shot now she is able to do close ups reasonably well as I from the learning experience of watching and working alongside Emma and therefore learning with her.

However I do feel that it was a bad decision as a group to decide to start filming without making sure that Emma was completely sure of all the camera angles and how she was going to film them. After all we had to stop half way through our filming to resolve the problem. So to prevent this when filming our opening sequence although everyone will be better working with cameras now, I still think that it will be important for me to make sure everyone is comfortable with everything before we start filming, otherwise we may have to stop half way again.

We simply had to film a short scene with a small amount of dialect however this wasn't the main objective of the task which was for us to display a range of different camera techniques so we could make sure we are able to shoot them and improve on them as well as seeing how they could all work well together.The scene didn't need to be particularly long so long as we got all of the right techniques in nicely.

We were only given one lesson to decide what we wanted to film and then film just within the time set of that lesson, the following lesson we had to quickly edit the sequence together and then watch it back in order to see how the filming had gone, again we were only given that lesson to do so. It was good to practice with the editing software as well as again this was new to both myself and the people I was working with in my group. Watching it back we were able to tell whether it all ran together smoothly or not and how we could make improvements when filming our thriller film.

The different camera techniques we had to use include using the tripod, use of different shots such as close ups, panning, shot reverse shot, etc. I think our best shot out of the lot was our shot reverse shot once we had edited our scene together and watched it back that stuck out for running smoothly with the conversation looking as realistic as possible without any breaks in-between from bad editing  also it was a good clear shot of the characters as the camera was on them. Our biggest camera problem was Emma's dilemma with the close up however once we had sorted that out everything was fine.

We used shot reverse shot as it enabled us to be able to only show the speaker as they are speaking hence displaying a mid shot of them, this is good as it means that the audience focuses on them and only them meaning that they won't face any other distractions on screen, it also means that the audience can have a better view of the speaker as they are speaking and are able to also read any body language etc. This type of shot also displays the flow of the conversation without any breaks. If we were to use a fade or dissolve shots to show the transition to the different speakers it would likely to frustrate audience members maybe even confuse them. As a shot such as a fade or even a dissolve tends to indicate the end of a scene and the moving onto something different it doesn't make sense to have it half way through a conversation as this would be a continuation.

Once we were given our equipment we found our spot to begin shooting and then went to put on the camera on the tripod, at first I thought it would be easy enough so I left Harry who was holding the camera to put it into place on the tripod, however we soon found that this was a struggle which resulted in all three of us attempting to do it. In the end we worked out how it was to be done and are now all perfectly capable of doing so hence this is no longer a problem. So there won't be a struggle next time and the job can be left to just one person.

Overall our group worked really well together. Which is an underrated quality when working on a production such as a thriller film. Had we argued on things and not listened to what others had to say we may have wasted precious time baring in mind the tight deadline, ended up with something that wasn't very well produced and wouldn't display a wide enough range of ideas contributed from the group etc. As we worked along well together this gives hope for how we will be able to cope under the stress of getting our own opening sequence done under the deadlines. We know that we will all feel able to contribute to ideas without being shouted down or not listened to, that we are free to challenge each other without people taking it the wrong way and will all be able to make changes and come to fair agreements about when we will be able to film etc. It is important that the group is able to work well together otherwise friction could compromise our film.

We used the tripod throughout our filming so to make sure that it was being film at a steady level however we spoke about how we will also be making use of hand held filming for our opening sequence. One of the elements we spoke about when using a hand held camera was that like we saw in the 'Saw' series of thriller films a hand held camera can be used to display panic. Having a camera staggered and shaky displays this as well as changing the pace at which the camera moves around the room displaying the full scene.

This task helped both myself and the members of my group for filming our opening sequence in numerous different ways, for instance we are now more comfortable with using different camera techniques as well as simply having gotten use to the actual equipment itself. This task taught me how simple it actually is to produce a shot reverse shot as well as how the sequence run smoothly and logically once having been edited. When filming the opening sequence we need to make sure that any acting done within the scene is a big improvement as well as a more steady hand on the camera when not using the tripod.