Poster Analysis

Weather Problems!

We were set to film on the 26th March but due to the fact it is snowing we had to cancel. It would seem that weather is not on our side. We can't film because of continuity; if our surroundings are completely different as in it starts plain but then its snowing the audience would be confused. So we have to wait for a date to reschedule a day to film once the snow has melted.

Final Thriller Name

After tossing around ideas for a title for our project as a group, I suggested "Delirium." Defined, it means "A temporary state of mental confusion" which fits our idea perfectly.

Before now we'd struggled to find a name, with ideas such as "Symbols," "Zodiac" and "Gamorra" being thrown around, all efforts in vain. After a quick brainstorm this morning, Delirium was suggested and a unanimous decision made to make that the official name.

Evaluating other students work

Brotherhood

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKaCBbfkrFM&list=PLA3F5E2FBDCB81F78

I have chosen an AS media studies thriller opening sequence video called Brotherhood to evaluate because its different to a lot of the other thriller sequences as its not a horror. It contains a lot of different shots and angles and the editing is done really well; the music throughout is incidental, keeping the tone and pace of the opening quite calm but speeding up and increasing in volume when they want to make it more dramatic or emotional.

The first thing we see is the production company name 'BOSS LIGHT MEDIA' accompanied by no sound, its a blue screen that turns to black and then the titles sets on fire and fades into ashes floating away which makes it look very professional.
 

 

It begins with an incredible shot of clouds to start with, it has been edited so that it is sped up so we can see different cloud formation; it makes a lot of sense because in the next clip the character wakes up from a  dream and I think clouds can symbolise that sort of weightless, dreamy state you could be in when you sleep even though he wakes up in a panic. This is shown by his facial expression and the fact that he holds a gun; pointing it around the room shown through jump cuts which shows a bit of disorientation and the fact he is panicked and has anxiety. It is a good shot because its close enough to see his emotion on his face which enable the audience to think "what's happened?" "why is he so anxious?" so we feel curious about his character.
 

A little part of the clip from when he wakes up are the credits which appear (as in the picture on the bottom left) fading on and off screen; stating the two actors in the clip as well as who produced it and another reference to Boss Light Media. The credits don't overlap the character, they're always in a space that's not too occupied with movement which makes it easy to read.

 

For the next 20 or so seconds there are jump cuts of him getting dressed and a mid shot of his legs/trousers and him attaching the gun to his belt which shows he needs security and that he's potentially dangerous. Followed by close up jump cuts of him sorting through lots of empty cigarette packets which to me makes it seem like the character is stressed out because of the amount of boxes there are; I think these shots are good because it tells us information about his character. Then there's a high angle shot of him walking down the stairs followed by a close up of him putting his shoes on, showing us he is going out. Then a mid shot of him, gun in hand, leaving the house, looking around suspiciously. All of these shots put together speed up the process of him getting ready to leave to house; all of the cut aways focusing on things the character is doing, makes it look professional and keeps the continuity of his day/routine clear and gives us little details about the character.

 

As he travels walking on a pathway with a cut away to him running with the gun, then across the road; which was nicely edited to make it seem like he carelessly walked not paying attention to what's around him; then him walking across fields in a wide shot using fades while he walks, skipping the distance otherwise it would be very boring to watch for the audience. Once he gets to his final place there is an over the shoulder shot of him looking out in the distance to the buildings and the music then gets louder and a little more up tempo which makes me think something will happen which it does and even though this was not planned it started raining which actually made the scene more dramatic and the camera made it look clear which I personally think is brilliant. This is a good reason to not stick completely to a story board because sometimes something can happen and it could make the opening so much better than your original idea.

 

Once he gets startled and stands up pointing the gun around there is a nice close up of his face capturing the emotion in that moment. The camera from a side angle still in the close up moves across slightly which makes it look dramatic and sad. The sound then stops in a fade and the title "BROTHERHOOD" appears in white on a plain black screen. This is followed by a completely different scene of another day, him reading the news paper having breakfast, a complete change of perspective for the character who looks fine, like he's just having a normal, happy day and the lighting is a lot warmer which contributes to that sort of happy tone.

 

Overall I think that this thriller opening is brilliant, the editing is spot on, keeping continuity and the camera shots make it seem dramatic and a little bit tense but good because it captures a lot of emotion from the character. The sound is effective in terms of keeping the emotion sad and then happy for the next day; there isn't any dialogue either which helps it look like an opening and we don't have to see how good the character is as an actor although with the close ups of facial expression we see that he is. I think that this opening would get full marks because the filming is great, the editing is perfect as well as the mise en scene which make him look like a normal every day person.

 

Diary - Part 1

Pre-Production

In order to get everything ready for the filming day we needed to organise a date and time, a camera, props, travel to the location, etc. Originally we'd set a date to film on the 5th of March; we'd secured a camera (provided by the school) and but due to weather conditions and illness we had to cancel. This made later filming difficult because we needed a camera but the school's ones were booked.

We changed the filming date to the 19th of March; we would leave at 1:20pm (beginning of lunch time) to give us enough time to get to the location. Louise had secured travel to the car park of Hutton Country Park where we then walked across extremely muddy and boggy fields to get to the house. Because we needed a camera we all had a look to see who had the best one; Sean finally found one.

The next thing we needed were props; we went on a Monday searching everywhere to find everything we needed. In the end we got face paint from The Factory Shop in Basildon; fake blood and liquid latex in Props and Frocks in South Woodham and black paint from Asda in Basildon. Sean also got hold of a tripod from the school so that it would help keep the shots level and it would be easier to take establishing shots.


We had to organise the costume, we knew it was going to be muddy so boots, trainers, wellies were needed and to dress warm because it was in the middle of a field and it would surely get a lot colder filming late afternoon.
 
In order to film there we needed to fill out a risk assessment so we knew it would be safe to film; there was glass on the floor near broken windows, bricks, wood and debree everywhere which made it dangerous to walk around. I went to the location before hand to check it out and see for myself the risks but it turned out to be okay and we knew exactly where to go and where not to and also told everyone before we went in/around the house to watch our step.

Shooting schedule

Day 1

2 o'clock arrived at the location
walk through muddy films
2.30 arrived at the filming location
had a quick look around and made the area more accessible. Also did another risks assesment and made each other aware of the potential helth hazards.
2.45 Kieron and Michael arrived and we started filming our opening shots
-filmed a long shot of the two main characters walking up to the house
-filmed the walk into the house/bushes
-experimented with differnt camera angle
-match on action shot
-hand-held video footage

Day 2

9 o'clock arrive at location
start filming for second half/scene
-paint location and use special effects
-film

Twitter exclusive!

Ok guys so our filming starts tomorrow! For exclusive behind the scenes clips and a video diary follow us on twitter! @themediakids

Psychographic Profiling

Definition: A term that describes consumers or audience members on the basis of psychological characteristics initially determined by standardised tests.

These take into consideration the audiences personality, motivations, attitude, lifestyles, activities, and daily routine; the more personal information so we know in the film what the audience expects or wants to see. This helps producers understand the audiences viewing and spending habits. They are split into groups just like demographics.

Mainstreamers	Seek security. Tend to be domestic, conformist, conventional, sentimental – favour value for money family brands. The largest group.
Aspires	Seek status. Materialistic, acquisitive, orientated to image and appearance, persona and fashion. Typically younger people.
Succeeders	Seek control. Strong goals, confidence, work ethic and organisation. Typically higher management and professionals.
Resigned	Seeks survival. Rigid and authoritarian values. Interested in past and tradition. Typically older people.
Explorers	Seeks discovery. Energy, individualism and experience. Values difference and adventure. Typically a younger demographic (students).
Strugglers	Seeks escape. Alienated and disorganised. Few resources beyond physical skills. Buys alcohol, junk food, lottery tickets. Typically lower demographics.
Reformers	Seeks enlightenment. Freedom of restrictions and personal growth. Social awareness and independent judgement. Anti-materialistic but aware of good taste.

We are aiming our thriller at explorers because they'll want the film to be different from the usual film, something that hasn't been seen before. Also, strugglers because they like things that are different.

Demographic Profiling

Definition: Demographic information is used in media marketing to classify an audience into age, gender, race and other categories.

 

Demographics consider variables of age, gender, income, geographic location, marital/family status, and education. They are used to identify a target audience and to point out where there would be audience growth and under performance. For example a magazine such as VOGUE has a female demographic. How something is advertised affects the audience, so because there are many types of woman in terms of age for example they may think their audience is too old so to change this they could get a younger cover model and change the writing style or topics/articles within the magazine.

 

LETTER CODE	JOB/STATUS
A	High management, bankers, lawyers, doctors, etc.
B	Middle management, teachers, creative & media people (graphics).
C (1)	Office supervisors, junior managers, nurses, white collar, specialist clerical staff.
C (2)	Skill manual workers, plumbers, builders, blue collar jobs.
D	Semi-skilled & unskilled manual jobs.
E	Unemployed, students, part time workers, pensioners.

 

 The demographic for our thriller film will be group E for students and young people as its low budget and would be for an target audience of 15+ students because they wouldn't be able to afford an expensive film with no job and using an allowance or part time work.

A plot

The Official Location

Brief Script - Dialogue

There won't be much dialogue through out this opening because we don't know how good our actors are and we want to leave question and mystery as to what is going on into the scene therefore only short dialogue. When they're walking they can talk and have a normal conversation (not scripted) and we'll put music over the dialogue and put the credits in that section starting beforehand in establishing shots of the fields.

Example:
Keiron: Let's go through here
(He sneaks through the opening in the woods)
Louise: Okay

Its only short amounts of dialogue but because we want it to seem realistic we will allow what feels natural although along the guidelines of the script.

(They walk through into the house area, Louise goes through the first door and Keiron goes around the side with a plan to make her jump)
Louise: This place is weird, why are we here? (No reply) Keiron? Where are you? (Starts to feel scared when she hears strange noises) Keiron?
Keiron: (Jumps out and scares her) RAWR!
Louise: (Jumps) Ahh you're so annoying! Why did you do that?!
Keiron: I'm sorry I couldn't help myself (Hugs her) Ok now, seriously close your eyes.
Louise: Why?
Keiron: Just do it.
Louise: Fine (Closes eyes and Keiron runs off again)
(Louise stands and waits but the weird noises come back but Keiron does not, she opens her eyes)
Louise: Ok, this isn't funny, cut it out!... Keiron come back... please?
(Strange silhouette creature comes out and stands in front of her, she screams and there is a blackout)
(She wakes up on the floor with writing of satanic symbols down her face, arms and hands).

Filming Dates

Our official filming day is the Tuesday19th March.

We will be filming in the afternoon in the location at Shenfield.

A Brief

Potential Props

DOG - The dog senses danger and starts barking.

FAKE BLOOD - It will be on her hands and splattered on her face showing that she's become barbaric and possessed.

PAINT & STENCILS - On the walls for the satanic, devil symbols.

PICNIC - Couple have a romantic meal.

CANDLES - Laid out on the floor and around the walls for romantic effect.

FLOWER PETALS - For romantic ambiance.

FOG MACHINES - To create a mysterious and creepy atmosphere.

FACE PAINT - For the silhoutte.

UMBRELLAS - In case of rain to protect equipment.

TRIPOD - For a better filming quality, no shake.

CAMERAS - Take pictures while we're filming (camera phone). To film the actual production.

These are combined for two plots so some of these may not be necessary on the day of filming,

Make-up

After the girl (Louise) is on the floor, she will wake up with satanic symbols on her face and arms.

 

This idea was created from an episode of doctor who where there is a beast with strange symbols on his face acting like the devil.

Costume

 In our thriller there are 3 main characters; the female and male actors (the couple); and the silhouette of another character. It is set in the 21st century so the costumes for the female an male actors will be average every day clothes that anyone could wear. They'll probably wear the typical jeans, jumper, coat and appropriate shoes for rain and muddy fields.

 

The silhouette however will be dressed head to toe in black; they may need to have black face paint on and around their face so that they are completely covered. The picutre on the right is a silhouette, we want to achieve this effect by dressing a man in black and having light shine on them from the front so that they will be out lined from the back. (Although they wont be like the pose in the picture)

Risk Assessment

Symbolism of Colour

Throughout all of history colours have been attributed to different things. Purple to royalty and nobility, pink to love and romance, and grey to intelligence and modesty. These expectations of colours can be  exploited within our thriller to direct the audiences attention, and more importantly, lead their thoughts in any which direction that we desire.

Red: is the colour most often assosciated with love, passion and desire, making it ideal to use in our 'young-love' scenario. The presence of red within scenes can hint towards their affection to one-another. However, it is also the leading colour when it comes to death, danger and aggression. Because of this dual-association, we may be able to find a way to implement it in such a way as to represent both passion and danger, possibly by means of foreshadowing.

Black: is typically associated with evil, anonymity and mystery. This perfectly fits our intentions of using a silhouette to represent our antagonist. Black also represents power, which will also be fitting as our protagonist will be left vulnerable and clueless, with our silhouetted 'villian' holding all of the power.

White: suggests purity, innocence and youth. Our 'victim' could be pictured wearing white to display their innocence whilst their partner is in red to both represent their passion but also foreshadow their death.

Green: is oft attributed to nature and environment, but also has links to greed, envy and misfortune. This could suggest a possible motive in those forms, and maybe even put forth a "wrong place, wrong time" scenario.

Brown: is the colour most closesly related to earth and outdoors, whilst also having connections to comfort, simplicity and homeliness. With our set consisting on natural browns and greens due to it's woodland location, we can partner these 'comfortable and homely' browns (Dirt, trees) with the misfortunate and envious greens (leaves, grass and ivy) to create an atmosphere that is seemingly harmless, but has a sinister feel about it. If we find a way to correctly do this, it will help in our aims to lull the audience in to a false sense of security.

Blue: Blue suggests both peace and sadness, confidence and depression, security and cold. I feel as though blue is a particularly deceptive colour due to it's many assosciations. With this in mind, we could use it in such a way that makes it clear that not everything is as it seems; not everything that is secure is warm.

Green, brown and blue will likely be colours used in establishing shots. As the opening credits 'roll' we'll likely feature shots of the surrounding area. Scenes featuring more brown may feel more comfortable to the viewer, whilst the implementation of green in to them will introduce that overhanging feeling of misfortune.
A shot of a blue sky would then bring forth this idea of the environment not being quite as it seems. Maybe even the introduction of the colour Yellow in the form of a shot of the sun or sun shine passing through the trees can bring light or optimism in to the picture, whilst carrying this inherent affiliation with cowardice and dishonesty with it.

To conclude, by looking at all of the different meanings colours carry with them and applying them in different ways, we can lead the audience to think one thing whilst intending to take them another. All of these will be present in our thriller be it in costume, make-up, environment or elsewhere, and by correctly optimising them we can manipulate the viewer's thought patterns, assisting us in our "psychologically hard-hitting" production.


Sourced: http://www.incredibleart.org/lessons/middle/color2.htm

Choosing a Location

Focus Group

Analysis of a Thriller Questionnaire

 

Psychopathic Productions - Logo

 

This is the logo created for Psychopathic Productions.

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