Shooting Scheduele

Peer Assessment - Planning

Casting

Who we chose for casting, and why we chose them:

For our victim, we chose to use a female character.  This is because stereotypically women are presented as being weak and more vulnerable then men are, therefore she has a low status.  Also, our female character is small and has a light hair colour which suggests that she is innocent.  The innocence of this character is effective because it makes the audience sympathize for her, and want her to overcome what she is going through or about to go through.

Our murderer is a male character, with dark hair and tall.  This is because men are stereotypically strong, and more powerful then women so have a higher status over them and control them.  As this character is more powerful and aggressive the audience feel less sympathy towards this character, and concentrate on what they think the character is doing, who they are, and why they are doing it.

Titles

These fonts are fonts that interest us as a group. The name of 'A Childs Nightmare' may be a temporary or permanent name, we're not sure yet. They all link with the handwriting idea, like the kidnapper is writing in a diary about his victims or killings, and he is hunting down his childhood friends to punish them links with 'A Childs Nightmare'.

On Screen Titles:

The Wire (All Due Respect, 26/09/04, US)

For our titles this is what we would prefer ours to look like.  We prefer this rather then having them over black as it allows the audience to ask more questions and want to know more, rather then the 'fake world' they are seeing to be interrupted.  This example is perfect as they used a font which is similar to the font which we want to use, and in a similar position.

Over Black Titles:

The Sixth Sense (Shyamalan, 1999, US)

Even if we did want to do titles over black it would be hard as our opening sequence has to be under two minutes and the titles may take 3-4 seconds each, narrowing down the time allowed for the opening sequence. Although this works for The Sixth Sense, I don't think it would work with our opening sequence.

Credits for this piece of work go to Matt Moore

Killer Costume

-Dark Clothes

-Lack of Colour --> Cold Character?

-Not much of his body is revealed (Mystery)

Victim Costume

- Girl (Intended Age, 20)

- Bright Clothes with Colour (Gives some emotion, suggests a bright personality? The character likes to express themselves)

Props

These are images of all the different props that we will be using in our piece.

Chair - Where the victim is tied down

Rope - To hold victim down

          - To be used by killer to connect images.

Pin Board - For our Killer's 'Hit List'

Pins - For killer to place into board.

Location

The dark room which the killer will hold his victim in the opening of our film. It is a cold room that looks cramped so it is definitely going to be an uncomfortable environment for viewers to see.


Credits for this piece of work go to Nathan Wyatt

Character Description

Credits for this piece of work go to Nicole Benyon



This video was created by the whole group

Animatic of our Opening Sequence

Group Work

Peer Assessment - Research

StoryBoard

We created a storyboard for our opening sequence so we know what shots we are going to use, when they will be used, their timing and what type of shot it will be.  This was a rough idea of what our opening sequence would include and was liable to change due to a change of our ideas and the location used.

Sound

This sound could be used whilst the door of the garage is being opened to reveal the murderer.  It could also be used when point of view shots are being used from the victims view, causing the audience to be panicked as the victim is.  This would show that the victim is scared and starting to panic.



This sound could be used throughout the opening to create tension within the audience as they watch the clip.  This sound would fit will with out opening sequence as it will make the audience worried, similar to how the victim will be feeling at that time.

Theses sounds are all copyright free, and I received them from the Freesound website.

Shot Lists

[We chose to use a close-up of Nicole's eyes; this is to show her panic when she believes that someone might be following her.  We chose a close-up because it shows the majority of her face, and doesn't give away too much of her identity, causing the audience to ask questions.]  [We used an extreme close-up of Nicole's fingers to show her multi-coloured fingernails.  This suggests that she is sweet and innocent, which in our film she is.]  [For the shot of Nicole's tied up feet, we decided to use a close-up.  This is because it shows that she is trapped, and cannot get away from where she is.]  [We also used a close-up to show Nicole's hands, which are tied together.  This is because it shows that she is trapped, and cannot get away from where she is.]

[This POV shot shows the killer looking at his hands, thinking back on what he has done, or what he might be about to do.  This shot shows one side of the killer's personality, while others show the other, evil, not bothered emotion.] [This is a close up of the murderer tapping his/her fingers, watching their victim from a distance.  This creates tenstion within the audiencem, making them ask questions about the murderer.  The tapping is very sinistar, and affects the heartbeat of the audience, causing it to speed up or slow down.] [This shot shows the killer pinning photos onto a wall, these could be either people he has already murdered, or his next victim.  The people he has murdered will have red crosses through them, to show they have been killed, and that they are being murdered one by one.  This creates an eerie atmosphere for the audience and makes us worry about the victim tied up.] [This mid-shot of the killer’s feet, shows him/her tapping their feet waiting for a specific moment in time. This creates tension and mystery, and also hides the characters identity.  The audience are left asking questions, e.g. where is (s)he? Who are they?]

'A Child's Nightmare' - A Synopsis of Our Film

The Film Synopsis on Prezi

Our Film Ideas

Audience Research 2

From our questionnaire, we know that our target audience is going to be aged between 16 and 21, as the majority of the people who responded to the questionnaire are aged within this range, therefore this would be most effective for that age group.

This question in the questionnaire confirms which type of thriller our answers perfered, from this was know that the majority of them prefer Psycological thrillers to Super Natural thrillers, 

so our opening sequence could be based on this.

This question helps us to decide what to include in the opening sequence, and also what/how they want to feel after watching it.

Audience Research 1

This is a blank copy of the questionnaire we created about our Genre for our Opening Sequence

 Genre Questionnaire

1.    Gender? (please circle)

a.    Male           

b.    Female

2.    How old are you?

a.    16-21

b.    22-30

c.    31-36

d.    37-45

e.    46+

3.    What is your preferred genre?

a.    Thriller/Horror

b.    Action Adventure

c.    Sci-fi

d.    Comedy

4.    What would you like the opening sequence to do?

a.    Draw you in?

b.    Be relaxing?

5.    Which type of thriller do you prefer?

a.    Psychological Thriller (Scream/The Shining)

b.    Super Natural (28 Days Later)

6.    Which would you prefer the opening sequence of a film to be?

a.    Fast and Exhilarating

b.    Slow and Dramatic

7.    Which type of music would you prefer?

a.    Deep and Ominous

b.    High pitched and Chilling

8.    Which would you prefer an opening sequence to create?

a.    Mystery

b.    Tension

Location Research

These are some photos of various locations which are suitable for our Sci-Fi/Thriller opening sequence

This area is very dark during the night, even with the street lamp.  It is deserted which suggests that people to no visit it often, and also there are over grown weeds on either side of the alley.  This suggests that the area is not very well looked after and that people are not bothered about it being there, or about what happens there.  It is fairly local which is an upside as it is easy to find, and get to.

This area is also run down, and not well looked after.  The litter suggests that people visit it more then the alley, however the beaten up, old garage is perfect for a Sci-Fi?Thriller as it is old looking, and creepy.

This image is good for a Sci-Fi/Thriller as it very well isolated.  It is surrounded by trees, bushes and fences which shows that no-one will see what happens there.  The fact that it is over grown shows that no-one cares about it, they do not know what happens there and also it is not visited often as it has not been kept in 'shape'.

Conventions of Our Genre

Conventions of our Genre; Sci-Fi/Thriller on Prezi

Genre 2

28 Days Later Analysis

The first few shots used, show a riot.  The fast pace and hand held camera shows panic and anger.  Background music and voice over is heard during this, these words are muffled which suggest that the riots are being recorded.  Also, the constant lines on the screen suggests that the clip is being recorded from another TV as this only happens then.

This shot continues to show the anger and panic of the characters that are involved with the riots.

This is the first shot we see of the monkey.  It is a mid shot and shows him/her watching the riots on different screens.  As an audience we are sympathetic for the monkey as (s)he is being forced to concentrate on something.

A pan is then used to view another camera, in this we see three masked characters who look like robbers.  We know they are in the same place as the monkey and the audience start to question whether they are there the help the monkey, or if they are going to make the problems worse for him/her.

The monkey banging on the side of the cage shows anger and stress.  This could have been caused by the flashes used by one of the 'masked' characters.  We feel sorry for this monkey as (s)he is trapped.

This female characters face is sad.  This suggests that her character is also sympathetic for the monkey and confirms that they are there the help them, instead of hurting them.  As an audience we now believe that these characters are all good and are vital in the film, as well as the monkey, due to the screen time that each has.

 This mid-shot shows a point of view shot of the monkey.  From this we know (s)he is panicked as the camera uses a fast crab to view the different screens.  As an audience we are sympathetic for the monkey as we do not know why (s)he is there, or if something is going to happen.

Genre 1

What Titles?

The opening titles tell the audience some of the actors and distribution companies involved throughout the film.  They also mention the designers etc.

For example, in the film The Sixth Sense, the first title shown is 'Hollywood Pictures' which is the distribution companies logo.  The logo is in the centre of the frame, and fades in as well as fading out.

After this, 'Spyglass Entertainment' is presented to the audience.  This is another distribution company which is also in the centre of the frame.  It starts with an extreme close-up of the 'Spyglass' and then zooms out to reveal the entire logo.

These distribution companies are then repeated in writing, they fade in from top to bottom and have a bold, serif writing font.  They are white against a black background and fade out at the end.

It then follows by showing the production company.

The first actors name we see is 'Bruce Willis' which shows that he is the main character.  It is placed in the centre of the frame.

We are shown the title of the film after the first actor, this also stresses that this actor plays the main character in the film.  It is in the centre of the frame and also introduced with a musical change.

The next actors name used, 'Toni Collette' suggests that this person plays the next most important person in the film.  And also for the following 3 actors.

The doubled up cast, shows that these are supporting cast.  They are important to the film but not as important as the other characters.

The clip then introduces the people behind the scenes.  They start in order that they are heard or seen, for example, we find out the actors names first so therefore the person who did the casting for the film is shown first, we then hear the music and see some editing.