Thriller idea Changes - Hurtwood

In our lesson today myself and the group spoke with Matt and Luke (Two people who are going to help us to produce our final pieces) about how our Thriller idea and how we are going to film and create it.

To elaborate on our idea we were planning to use 'Ye'Old Cock Tavern' on fleet street as a main location and scene within our short sequence. From this we were then going to work around this area and and explore further locations to film on.

However after talking today we have realised that the pub scene alone would be difficult for many reasons:

1. For us to go to London would mean getting up early and arriving there in good time.
2. Then we would have to set up the the scene in the pub, and to do this properly we would need at least 2hours minimum.
3. Then a further hour or so to get the correct lighting and wind etc..
4. After we would film for approximately an hour and this would all be for just one scene.

So in a realistic world for us to produce one scene it would take us almost 6 hours and only leave us a short amount of time to film all our other shots which involve us moving around to various places in London. Obviously time is always going to be an issue but we have to work this time given to the full and so we've decided that we were to find a more realistic location.
By doing this of course all our other London based scenes would need to be scrapped.

Also another point made was that if we were to do 'abandoned streets' shots then to make it look realistic enough and to have been deserted for a number of days the scenes would have to be shot perfectly and of course we don't have the power to close streets or manipulate things a way that we would like because we don't have a big enough budget.

So as a result of these 'major' points we have had to rethink our Thriller idea quite majorly.

Of course we are still sticking to our original story line of the 'major country spread epidemic' but our location shots are going to change to a more realistic and furtherly more available location. This would be the school.

The school gives us a variety of different areas that we can work with - for example the main building, classrooms, theatre, sports courts, canteen, toilets etc... all places that can easily be made to look 'abondonded'. We will have to ensure that our decoration and MES elements are made to look as realistic as possible for there to be the best final effect on the Audience.

So, unlike before where we planned to keep the shots very simple and empty we've decided that now with our new concept we are going to have to focus massively on the scenes and the use of props within these particular scenes.

Considering the small amount of time we now have it is very important to remain organised and to focus on the particular points that we want to emphasise to ensure that we produce the best possible Thriller opening that we can.

Title Sequence - Hurtwood

In every film there is a title sequence that introduces the audience to the 'behind the scenes' people and also actors/actresses that role in the particular film.

With most films there is a particular order to the sequence in which elements are shown. This is the most common order:

1. Logo of Production Company
2. Logo of Distribrution Company
3. Title Sequence
4. Distribution Company Name
5. Production Company Name

There is a variety of different styles that can be used when introducing a film, 4 of the main ones are listed below:

Discreet title sequences -  This is where the titles are completely sperated from the rest of the film. They generally are filmed and edited in a differnt style, this is often a montage.

A good example of this is - Se7en

Bog Standard (Old school) - When titles are over a black screen then the film follows. By doing this structure the soundtrack is emphasised.

An example of this is taken from - The Mothman Prophecies

http://www.artofthetitle.com/2008/04/11/the-mothman-prophecies/

Stylised editing - The film starts but during the title sequence an elaborate style of editing is used to introduce the text - in amongst the action. By doing this it deliberately draws attention to the style of editing.

A good example of this is shown in - Taking of Pelham 123

Animated -  Using animated design to introduce the film

An example of this is shown in - Casino Royal

Representation of Ethnicity - Hurtwood

In our lesson the other day we spoke about how race and ethnicity is represented within TV drama in particular, however this made me recognise how we should be aware of how race is considered in our Thriller.

Its an important area of casting and role, that you are aware of how the people are placed and how different audiences understand things differently - because of their background and beliefs. This can obviously be very difficult as there is such a wide variety of people to please equally.

Racial issues are very diverse and often completely misrepresented and negatively stereotyped as I discovered when reviewing a variety of TV dramas. As the UK is an increasingly multicultural society and things brings huge benefits as well as tensions.
Some examples of positives are:
> Cultural richness ie.food, music ...
> Beliefs
> Harmony
> Learning
> Language

However of cause there are downsides, for example:
> Conflicts between different religious beliefs
> Discrimination
> Overcrowding (in some areas) of one particular religious follows - can lead to conflict and     unfriendliness if not part of that society

The News and Media constantly stir up racial tensions by reinforcing negative stereotypes of Muslims, asylum seekers, young black youth etc..... As a result of this racial tensions are easy to stereotype and are misunderstood by onlookers.

In our Thriller we will consider all races and ethnicity's and make sure all our characters aren't perceived negatively. This is to ensure that our film can be related to by all people - in hope to create a more diverse film and as a result a wider viewing audience.

Sound used in Thriller - Hurtwood

As a group we were coming up with how we could sequence the clips together effectively and of course what sound should accompany the sequence.

We've decided that like our scenes, the more simple the more affective. So taking this into consideration we thought that the less sound the more affective as well. For the time being we feel that silence throughout the majority of the clip will build an element of tension and anticipation.

However we would like to included a small amount of sound and we found a perfect way of including this into our title opening without ruining the affect that we hope to create.

One of the scenes that we are going to have is a petrol station abandoned, looking as if people have just left quickly, forgetting everything else buy themselves -this includes their cars. So this image we are hoping to convey will also include sound b y using the radio from one of these cars and also the use of an editing technique known as a 'Sound Bridge'

A perfect example of this we found in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYo9BXGQyDM

The way the radio sound overlays on the different clips is the kind of idea that we'd like to do with our clips. So we'd first hear of the radio when we view the petrol station scene then the sound will continue over the top of the other scenes and finally when we view our main scene in the pub the sound will link up with the news playing on the TV (that is placed in the pub/bar). This is yet another indication that there is something serious wrong and also lets the viewers have another perspective.

Thriller progress - Hurtwood

We have finally decided that we are going to continue with our idea of the supermarket however there have been some complications with how we are able to find a supermarket or a mini market that we are able to film in.

To do this we would have to close down the store so we could create the scene which involves trashing some areas and making it look a bit like a wreckage. As a result of this the owner of the building would loose his sales and unfortunately no one that we know of owns a market or knows anyone who owns a mini market.


So as a result of this we have had to come up with a different location and setting for our Thriller.
Together we have produced a spider diagram or some areas that we could film in to create a similar atmosphere.




---(spider diagram embedded) ---




As we decided that a lot of these we thought could really work and so we've decided to pick a couple of really efficient and realistic options that we can use.


One location that we discovered that could definitely work would be the pub, as one of my group members Georgina has an uncle who owns a pub in 'Fleet Street' which is perfect as it is very central and built up, however on a Sunday morning in particular it will hopefully be quite which would be a prime time to film a variety of areas like the street view, park and other area's that we are yet to find around there. This would be possible as the pub is closed on both a Saturday and Sunday giving us two possible days to work on if there are any issues.

Ye Olde Cock Tavern

22 Fleet Street

London EC4Y 1AA

Some images that I found off of Google give us an idea of what the pub looks like from the outside and in:

As you can see from the image, the pub feels very warm and homely and also people who have been there have said that 'you can almost taste that it is old' which is the kind of atmosphere that we want and this will effectively work to our advantage of getting a musty, uncomfortable feel when filming.

Personally I hope to be able to get the chance to go up to Fleet Street some time soon so that I can get a better visual understanding of the pub and also see what it is really like early on a Sunday morning.

Target Audience Research - Hurtwood

This week, one of our tasks is to discuss who it is that would want to watch our film and from this we can learn what it is they like and how we can develop our opening sequence to benefit them in the best way possible.

From doing my research and asking the public their opinion, I've discovered that typically the people who are most interested in watching thrillers tends to be people in their late teens and early 20's. This is because the majority of thriller movies have at least a certificate 15 on them because of violent scenes and elements unnecessary for younger children.
Gender wise, there seemed to be a mixed response -- some people said men where more into Thrillers because of the darkness and violence that was included in scenes, yet some people argued that woman watch more thrillers than men as they seek the rush and thrill that they get from these movies a lot more than men; therefore getting more out of the film itself.

A way in which we discovered peoples opinions on films that they have seen and what it is they enjoyed was to do a questionnaire. We surveyed a variety of people of ages 15 and above and of both genders - this was so we could get an overall idea of what a range of people like and consequently hope to broaden the typical type of people who go to watch these films.

This is a wordle I created using a montage of attributes taken from my survey that I did. It is a satisfying, visual way of viewing certain things.

The questionnaires enabled us to get a clearer idea of what kinds of people like what and from this we were able to take the positive things people like a build from it. For example the feelings that people get when they watch a film and how this is created. A woman of 22 said that she liked how Thrillers made her feel tense and uncomfortable and she thought this could be as a result of the diegetic music that accompanied the scene; here she refereed to Jaws.  This element signifies how important the sound is in a film, so this is an aspect that I'd like to focus on when producing our own thriller.

Another result that I found predictable was what a 15year old male said about the thrillers he likes. He enjoys Thrillers that are quite violent and scary in a gory way. By the way that he explained it I would say that he was referring to Horror more so but he insisted that there was a big difference in his opinion towards thrillers and horrors. I personally don't think that I want to use too much gore type scenes in my Thriller opening for a few reasons. Firstly to produce something of a high, realistic quality is extremely difficult. Also this is an opening sequence and I think this would too much of an 'aggressive' start to a film, and it may make the audience feel uncomfortable in a negative way.

My conclusion based on this research is that our disaster thriller would appeal to an audience aged between 15-30 of both men and women.

Anaylisis on wating the documentary 'Watching' - Hurtwood

During one of our Media lessons last week we watched a documentary called 'Watching' which was all about how significant the opening sequence in a film is and how important it is that it is done well and effectively.  It looked at the title sequence of films such as: The Shinning, Seven and A Touch of Evil. Also the opinions of some people were expressed to us, these included Thomas Sutcliffe, Director Jean Jacques Beineix, Stanley Kauffmann, Kyle Cooper and Orson Welles - All very important people within filming industry.

<-- Seven is a very good example of a successful and effective opening sequence. They do this by drawing the audience in and grasping their audience well - it tells us a lot about the theme of the film and the tone that goes throughout.

From examples like this, I've understood that the beginning of films need to 'Seduce their audinece into long term commitment' (as Thomas Sutcliffe told us) and this has indicated and stressed to me just how important the first 2-3 minutes of a film really is; its when people are at the height of excitment and expectation and its important to forfil that feeling as positively as possible.

"A good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn't know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure that it doesn't know too little" This means, that first impressions are everything to an audience. Therefore, a good beginning should capture us and then draw us in to make us feel as though we "Want to see more".

Critic Stanley Kauffmann describes the classic opening as: beginning with an establishing shot, then a close up of a building, then zooming into a window etc.... This works very well because it "teaches us how to know its suroundings" which draws us in and lets us feel as though we are in the characters world. This is an element that I now would definitly consider to use in my Thriller!

Our Thriller Presentation, using Powerpoint - Hurtwood

Power Point on Thriller Ideas




Here is the powerpoint that we created. The picture/collage pages are some of the images that we chose to represent our thiller idea the majority of them are simliar to the kind that we had in mind - however there are a couple that are ONLY similar as we weren't able to find the exact thing we were after.
It's only to get an Idea.

Overall the presentation went well. I feel like we managed to explain of idea's clearly to the class and teacher and that they understood what it was we had in mind. During the presentation it was clear that the group and I had put a lot more effort into our 'The New Born' idea as we seemed to present this with much more effort and interest. However, this wasn't intended but it has made it clear for us now that this idea obviously shouted out to us; hence the better decription.

Overall our feedback was positive on all our ideas, the main issue that we had was how we were able to fund for the destination of all of them. We were thinking Very 'BIG' location wise, likke for example the one set in America or 'The Hole'; we would need to be somewhere with snow. We ere told that it's good to think biug to start with but then obviously we have to be realistic when it finally comes to filming and plotting in particular. Of course our budget fund does not stretch far enough for us to fly to Italy to film in thye snow - unfortunately.

Development of Thriller Ideas - Hurtwood

Over the past week myself and my group have been producing a wide variety of different ideas that have been influenced by some news articles that we have looked at recently.

To start with we picked out an individual article and produced a spider diagram with as many, different ideas that we could think of revolving around the event. By doing this we then had a range of catagories and genres to play with - giving us a more orginal idea.

So from this, we created 4 main ideas and we are now currenlty producing a powerpoint to present to the class so they have a visual understanding of what it is we want to do. We have included some photos that we have taken from the internet that we feel represent our idea's in the best way possible and also included basic information like 'sub-genre', 'Location' and a quick 'analysis'. By doing this it enabaled us to communicate our ideas more clearly to other people and also it broadens our visual picture of our film idea, from looking at the wide variety of images on the internet with were inspired by some of the photos that we saw; therefore progessing our Thriller idea even further.