Wednesday, 18 March 2009

Section 7: Location




Location: Sam's house, Appleton Thorn, Warrington
We have chosen this location as it is the closest house to college and fits the atmosphere and location that we wish to achieve while filming (suburban area - not busy). It is also easy to get to by bus.
Contact details: -
Health and safety: The candle that we are planning to have in our shot could be a minor fire hazard. Other precautions should be just looking after equpiment and common sense to ensure we don't have any unnecessary hazards

Section 9: Production Schedule

Directors: Sam and MikeCast: Rosie JohnsonCrew: Sam, Mike and RosieLocation: Sam's House - Appleton ThornDuration: 1 dayHealth and safety issues: Minor fire threat with the candle (should not be left unsupervised). We will also have to look after the equipment properly and use common sense to avoid making any other possible health and safety problems

Section 11: Audience Feedback

This is the feedback we received:- ''The match on action shot with the candle from the outside to the inside of the house was great.''- ''When the man's walking up the stairs to the girl's room, and the camera keeps flicking back from the room to him walking creates intensity, like something is about to happen .. by flicking from one shot to the other quickly.'' ''Also, good sound bridge''- ''On screen graphics and credits were good - they did not distract from the film, and also fitted in with the genre.''- ''Good performance''- ''When the girl is flicking through the newspaper, you know that she is looking for something''. One person also said it makes them ''ask questions'' which relates to Bonitzer's theory of partial vision: they do not know why she is cutting up the newspaper, but know it is a sinister / psychotic act, making them ask why, but not telling them the answer directly.- ''The way the music changes as the action in the movie changes too is good because it fits in with the film''.These are evidently the elements of our film which made the audience appeal to our film. Overall, it was a successful viewing in my opinion.

Friday, 16 January 2009

Evaluation

Our Thriller film is called ‘Kindred’, it is about a girl whose dad tries to cover up for a murder which the girl had done. The woman killed was the girl’s mother. The only thing is that she has a split personality so she doesn’t realize that she was the murderer and that her dad is covering it over. She starts to believe that he killed her mother and she decides to find out.

Within our film we had decided that we didn’t want our film to be like other thrillers so we decided that we would break a thriller code and convention, by doing this we thought that it would give a better edge to the film as it was different to the rest. Within our thriller we had the murderer being a young girl as this would also create controversy. We used partial vision as well within our film at the beginning where the father is walking towards the house, this is the part of the intro where the music changes from a mysterious sound to an edgy, sharp piece, and by doing this we believed that it made the audience think that the father is the villain in the intro. We did this as we wanted the audience to think that it the young girl was the hero and the dad was the villain by doing this would mean that later in the film they plot would be revealed and would have a massive impact.

Another convention was that we would have the film involve the audience, so they would play a large role within the film, this would make the film much more enjoyable for them.

In the introduction of our film Kindred we started it of with an establishing shot of the young girl’s house; it first zooms in to the house on to the candle in the window. Then cuts to the second shot where the camera zooms out in to the bedroom of the young girl where she is looking through newspapers and cutting out faces. The music at this point is an inquisitive piece so the audience is trying to piece it together. Then the music cuts to a sharp dramatic piece as the father walks past the camera, this is affective because it makes the audience think that he is the villain and there worried for the girls safety. We then have the camera following the father up to the bedroom where it holds the audience in suspense as they wonder what is going on.

As this film is an British film I believe that an British film production would be best to distribute the films. Such film production like film four, UK screen, UK film council or channel four would be good distributors. I believe that the best film producers would be the UK screen company as they seem to be the biggest company.

When we introduced the film to our audience we got some of these comments:

“It was a convincing performance from the actress/ actor.There was no speech in the intro, which made both characters really suspicious and interesting, we were able to come to our own conclusions as to what kind of lives the characters lived.” This was what we were aiming for, we thought that by the actor and actresses talking would ruin the theme we where going for.

“The editing was good and helped to create convincing characters.”
We tried our hardest to cut up the long boring shots so that it would be quick sharp and edgy and keep the audiences attention have want them to watch more.

"when it was flicking from character to character, with the same music, it showed that it was happening at the same time and there was a sound bridge.”
“I liked the way it zoomed into a candle and used that to pass through the window, it was spooky and helped to create an atmosphere.”

“your choice of music was intense and created a scary atmosphere.”

“i wasn’t sure who the dad was an thought he was going to hurt the girl.”by us hearing about the we realized that we had affectively made the father look like a villain which was the intention and part of the plot twists.


“I liked the graphics, with the title in bold and credits in italics, there was a good contrast.”

We aimed the film at the age 15 up wards as we thought it would be more affective and have a bigger audience. As these comments were from the ages 15- 19 we believe we achieved our goal as all the feed back was positive.

as you can see below that we decided through our research that 15+ would be better to make as most people would rather have it as a phychological triller not a gory one, as by doing this it would be aimed at 15 - 18 as there will be no restriction put on to the thriller.

We choose the aged 15 upwards as we wanted a psychological thriller more than a gory thriller.


how old are you ?15 or under0%1660%1720%1820%190%200%Gender?male50%female50%how often do you go to the cinema or watch a film on average?never0%once50%twice30%once a week20%everyday0%most days0%how do u define the thriller genre?smart, scary and action50%pychological, suspenceful and clever plots30%cheesy etc20%do they like thrillers?yes 70%no 30%what do you think makes a good thriller?plot60%make you feel your in the film10%fire10%violence action20%what make a good thriller?gory10%psychological90%in you oppinion what is the difference between a certificate 18 and a certificate 15?more sex violence and gore100%which do you prefer?1560%1840%in conclusion, we have decided from these results that we will be doing a psychological thriller with will have a certificate of 15. we believe that as people watch thriller for the psychological aspect of the film, the film will not have to be an 18

Personally I believe that I have learn several skills from the last time I used all the technology. Firstly I learnt how to get rid of sounds which you didn’t want in the film such as the beginning shot, at the start of it you could hear a faint noise of someone talking, but we were able to edit it so that you couldn’t hear them. Another example is that when filming the candle from outside when the camera zoomed in, because of the distance zoomed the film was still, but to resolve that we stabilized the image so it would shake.

Other programs we used were ones such as after effects which we used to stabilize the film at the start.


We used a website called freeplaymusic.com which was a website for copyright free music, this was where we got our music from. We researched different musical styles before finding one that fitted the thriller convention/ genre.


I believe that by using digital technology helped us allot as there where lots of editing to be done on it such as the digital text over the top and the music didn’t fit in with the sequences on film. We then edited so that each sequence fitted perfectly. Other thing we had helped by using digital technology where the amount of tapes we didn’t have to use. By using traditional filming equipment would have meant we would have had to use lots of film, also by using the old type also meant we would have had to cut the film physically and paste it back together to edit it. This would mean a long a grueling process.

The good point to using the old type of camera was that it gives a better light to the set, but we decided that, that wouldn’t be to great as it would mean we would have to edit it badly because there is no technology to it.

Before we did our intro we did a questionnaire, here are the results:


From this we decided all our final decisions, and have done this to get such good result from our audience. Such as the camera angles, the ones used in the preliminary task were very basic, but in Kindred we used more technical shots. secoundly we used lighting better in kindred as we decided to film in the dark and use a candle to help light up the room, this was to give it a spooky feel to the scene. and finally we added music to it making it have more atmosphere whilst wathing it, and as we got great feedback from our audience, we believe all our improvement were successful.

Finally I believe that our thriller film was very affective as we have hit all our target and have been given good feed back to it.

Tuesday, 2 December 2008

Section 3: Task 3: Brainstorm of content

Idea 1:
Possible names: The Diary, March 13th.
Overview: A teenage girl from a single parent family; her dad is hostile to her, and her mother was murdered when she was young. She has never been told about what has happened to her mum, and wonders/ suspects why her dad is being hostile and secretive. The diary is a way for her to keep the memory of her mum alive, and the only thing in life that she feels happy and safe with. One day, she finds something out about her dad when she is researching/ finding pictures of her mothers death. She suspects that her dad was the killer in her mother's murder. The twist in the story is that she is in fact the killer.
There will be a linear narrative; the film starts with her childhood, then jumps to her life as a teenager, in the present.

Idea 2: An alternative to idea 1
Possible names: The Diary, March 13th
Overview: A teenage girl, because of some traumatic past, is 'gifted' with premenissions of seeing peoples murders before they happen. However, people think that this is because of the traumatic event that she is turning mental (to a lesser extent), and so for the best, she is admitted to a mental institution. From there, she keeps a diary, and writes down all her premenitions and feelings; telling every person that will listen to her. The detectives investigating the strange murders find out about the girl, and get her to help save the victims before they are killed. The twist is that she is the killer, fixing all of the murders beforehand, and in taking the kiler to the new murder victims, the detectives are condemning them. The film ends with her being killed herself: including the morality factor, because she is in effect only a kid, but has the capability to murder tens of people.
There will be a linear narrative.

Idea 3:
Possible names: Candle light, Wick
Overview: A man's candle company is being phased out by the introduction of gas and electricity. He cannot afford to keep the business alive, and so in retalliation to the thought that he may have to lose his business, he murders people who are mainly linked with this, using the fat and blood from their bodies to make the candles. After he murders the victims and makes the candles, he sadistically keeps one candle as a memoire of his 'good work' in the backroom of his shop. When he is finally caught by a relative of one of his victims, they find the back room, and the thousands of candles inside.
There will be a linear narrative.

We have chosen to film idea 1, as we feel that the opening to this will be easiest to film in context with the overview.

Section 5: Task 4: Treatment

HOUSE
Starts off in the family house; flashbacks to her childhood and her life as it is now. This location establishes (in present time) the hostility between dad and daughter, and the lack of mother figure.
HOUSE (Time passes)
Same location but older actor(s). Establishes the passing of time, and moves the story on: she wants to find out who killed her mum. See her cutting up and sticking down photos of her mum, which represents her wanting to keep the memory of her mum alive, and therefore her love.
LIBRARY
Researching into her mothers death. Looking through old newspaper archaives, and discovers that her dad has been a suspect in her mothers murder.
PARK
In shock, she runs away; too scared to go home as she is convinced that her dad is the killer (the audience will also be led to think this through the way in which they interact, especially important in establishing this aspect of the film in the house when she is a teenager/older).
LIBRARY PORCH
Pathetic falacy used to create a intimidating and lonesome environment: she has ran away and is now living on the streets (her first night alone).
STREET
Something scares her in the shadows of the library, or somewhere around her: so she runs into the street, where she is hit by a car. The audience do not see this, but it will be implied.
HOSPITAL
This helps to imply that she was hit by the car.
STREET
Her dad's perspective: he is trying to look for her after he realises his daughter is missing. The camera swaps between the hospital and the street (when she was on the streets) to create the feeling that her dad is 'hunting her down'.
CAR
The dad finds the daugher in hospital, and takes her home. Most of the shots will be through the mirror to again, create the sense of distance between them: because they have to speak through the mirror, not directly to eachother. Also, the shot of the dad will create a sense of intimidation again, adding to the effect that he has 'hunted her down' and therefore adding to the suspense of the story: what will he do to her? Will he kill her?
HOUSE
They both get out of the car, and walk into the house. Here, she confronts him about the murder after being backed into a corner by her dad. She is screaming at him and hysterical. The camera shows that the dad is losing patience with the daughter. He then reveals that she is the one that has killed her mother: her split personality.
This will have been hinted at through the film, as we plan to use different shots of her, different lighting, mirror shots etc.

Monday, 1 December 2008

task 4: section 4 Audience Research

we found in our results the following data:

how old are you ?

15 or under
0%

16
60%

17
20%

18
20%

19
0%

20
0%


Gender?

male
50%

female
50%


how often do you go to the cinema or watch a film on average?
never
0%

once
50%

twice
30%

once a week
20%

everyday
0%

most days
0%


how do u define the thriller genre?

smart, scary and action

50%

pychological, suspenceful and clever plots

30%

cheesy etc

20%

do they like thrillers?

yes 70%

no 30%

what do you think makes a good thriller?

plot
60%

make you feel your in the film
10%

fire
10%

violence action
20%

what make a good thriller?

gory
10%

psychological
90%

in you oppinion what is the difference between a certificate 18 and a certificate 15?

more sex violence and gore
100%

which do you prefer?
15
60%

18
40%




in conclusion, we have decided from these results that we will be doing a pyschological thriller with will have a certificate of 15. we beleive that as people watch thriller for the pyschological aspect of the film, the film will not have to be an 18