Shooting Experience
Me and Amelia decided that I would act and she would record the film. We discussed camera angles and settings before hand so that we could set this up before filming, this included who brought what props and costume. We also found willing volunteers to star in our film, such as Anissa Lakhani. Our animatic storyboards were a great help as we used it often to plan our next move, and we could easily look back to clarify what shots we wanted. There is no speech in the film and so no speech scripts were discussed.
Our first day of filming went well for the most part untill the camera ran out of battery, we had planned to take an extra battery, however, as we were using the new HD camera there was not a spare that we could take, this caused us to stop filming and charge the camera to the next day. This caused extra hardship as we had to check everything for continuity. The rest of the filming was successful and no other problems occured. One success was the ability to film in school and at home with little ineruptions, allowing us to have a variety of settings.
Rough Cut Feedback
Some of the feedback given was that we need to ‘cut the fat’ off our footage, from this we went and cut any footage that was too long. This made the film more exciting as it moved faster. Peers thought the effects were good for the dreams and said it caused a good contrast to the reality of the footage.
Rough Cut
We still need to add the correct titles and cut parts of the footage down. We also have to add the sound and cut the footage to fit it.
Animatic Storyboard 2
After receiving some feedback from our 1st animatic storyboard, we decided to do a second one as in the feedback and from our personal opinion, the 1st animatic was too short so we wanted to add some more story.
Animatic Storyboard Feedback
Our first feedback was from our teacher, Mr Dunford, who said our sequence was too short. This can be changed by simply adding another scene. This is a valid point due to the fact it is only 47 seconds and our final piece must be between 2 – 3 minutes. Other responces from peers have said they like how it ends and slowly transforms the knife into the title of the film, and the use of the quick shots showing the blood on the hands and the different angles of the face. However, they thought that the scene that we placed there as a dream was not clear to others and so an effect over this may help make this clear.
So we plan to add an additional scene and make the dream scene more obvious to the viewer, this should improve our story board and our production.
Soundtrack Research
Soundtracks in films are one of the most important components as music has a big influence on our feelings. Some soundtracks also make films famous because of the music e.g. Jaws. By researching soundtracks used in thrillers, this will help us decide what music will be good for out thriller opening.
Most thriller music sound tracks use either pianos or violins as a main instrument while having other sounds layered to cause the viewer to feel suspense and tension. The use of dynamics is extremely important as silence can be as (or more) important than the music. This is because it gives the audience suspense and can give meaning or emphasis to particular sections of the scene. The tempo also plays an important role, if it is fast throughout it may suggest action with a chase or fast pace story, whereas, if the tempo is slow it may suggest more mystery and suspense. One particular soundtrack we looked at was the scream soundtrack below.
We particularly liked this music and the layers within it. The track had a range of dynamics and effects, some of the effects I noticed were the choir, a train track type noise, drums and piano along with the overall tune. These each put together cause different effects and the dramatic change from heavy drums and bangs to a piano playing alone seemed to stand out. This helped us decide on how to end our opening sequence, with a single tune ending the piece into silence.
Jaws – Soundtrack (John Williams)
The jaws soundtrack, or theme tune, is extremely well-known. This soundtrack is important in the film as it plays at certain times where nothing is going to happen, but it still makes the audience tense and frightened as there could potentially be a shark attack. Jaws is a good soundtrack, but for out thriller opening it’s too dramatic.
The Dark Knight – Why so serious? (Hans Zimmer)
This sound track starts quietly and slowly works up causing tension and building suspense, this gives a dramatic affect to the scene. Once the music has built up it is quite fast and suggests movement and action, this is perfect for the Dark knight as it is an action packed film.
Inception – Time (Hans Zimmer)
This soundtrack is slow and has a sad undertone to it. Unlike the two above it does not seem to give a tense mood, but it transforms throughout hitting a powerful mood in the middle as its tempo increases and then back to the slow and sad tone. This may suggest that they have to go through pain to accomplish their goal, which could link in well with our thriller.
The Sixth Sence (James Newton Howard)
Digetic and Non-Digetic Sounds:
We don’t need many non digetic sounds as some of them will already be in the footage which we can use. We will use some non-digetic sounds to add a dramatic effect to our Thriller clip.
We will be having a voice over of Josephine’s mum reading out her suicide letter.
We might use some thriller music throughout the clip to create and atmosphere, but we are still unsure about this because we will defiantly be having a voice over so it might clash with the music.
We will possibly use the sounds like opening doors, walking down the stairs and the knife stabbing the chopping board to make a more dramatic effect as the voice over might drown some of the sound out so we want it to be a bit more louder.
Risk Assessment And Logistics
Risk Assessments of filming
Logistics
Before we start filming, we will make sure that we have permission to film where we want so we don’t upset or disrupt anyone. We will also have a walk-through of where we want to film so we get used to the set and to know which places in it we want to film shots it. We will also make a list of all the props, equipment and actors we need so we know what to get for what days we will be filming.
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