Final Title

In terms of where the titles will be placed several film titles influenced our decisions

SEVEN
American Horror Story - Freaks
Colouring from Twin Peaks - red?

Overall we went with the first text because it was the most childish and so it was linked to the younger version of our main character in addition to this it was slightly creepy inkeeping with the feeling that the opening gives of the film.

Soundtrack Dev

In general the concept for the soundtrack to this opening is to have a base level of piano and strings that are there from the beginning (depending on the shot selection there may be certain points at which it would be more effective to start it eg the opening of the letter). This will build throughout maybe changing slightly when the infant version of our main character is in shot. With the conclusion of the sequence the track would hit a sudden crescendo as the figures hand comes into shot and then either cut with the camera or linger over the blackout. No percussion is to be used in the track as the rhythm of the track will be somewhat random and the percussion may distract away from the action on screen

Below are some tracks that are something like what we are looking for.

Incompetech 


Metaphysik

Come Play with Me


Unnatural Situation

Classic Horror 3/2

Finished Plot Proposal

Plot
 Opening shot of girl in bedroom brushing hair. Letter is delivered addressed to her. She opens it to find it is a drawing of a small girl holding a toy. She leaves for school exchanging a brief moment of dialogue with her mother as she leaves. As she's walking through a park she sees a swing-set that is swinging with no one around. She goes up to it a touches it. Suddenly the little girl from the drawing appears on the swings but rapidly disappears. This scares the girl who leaves the park in a panic. As she continues she walks underneath a bridge. In the dark lies the toy from the drawing as she reaches down to pick up the toy the camera pans up to see the girl standing at the end of the tunnel and then the camera cuts to black.

(Slight change might occur here as location scouting lead us to find a very atmospheric alleyway that could take the place off the bridge/underpass as there is a lamppost halfway along it that would provide some highly effective lighting for the toy to sit in)  

Location Scouting - WIP

Below are some of the various locations that we scouted out for the opening.

Parks

Sunray Gardens - Dulwich

Overall I really like this location because of a couple of features. Firstly the swing in the centre of it is very bare bones and would look fantastic (although the underlying bright green mat may be an issue). secondly the alleyway at the back of it could be used in place of the original proposal of a tunnel as half way down it theres a lamppost that would provide some very effective lighting for the conclusion of the opening. It is also fairly small and so there shouldn't be so many people around and so the shots we need shouldn't be too hard to achieve as we want to emphasise  the isolation of the girl in the opening and this lack of people would achieve it.

Shillington Park 

This is the location we eventually went with because of the tunnel that it had in one corner of the path and the presence of a swing set in the children's playground. In addition to this it was somewhat out of the way and so not many people were present when we were filming. In contrast Sunray Gardens was in a central location and is often filled with younger families and so filming would have been more difficult that we first thought. Secondly the swing set in Sunray Gardens wasn't quite what we were looking for.

Tunnel's

Inspiration - Girl on A Train

Title Graphics PreLim Research

Here are some examples of some initial graphic ideas for the font we are going to use in the title. Overall our preference would be for Alphabetised and Personality. The choice will probably ultimately come down to what our exact title is as Alphabetised would look better if our title was longer in length whereas Personality would work best with a very short punchy title.

Possible Titles
The Path Of Shadows?

Audience Survey Results

As you can see from the data above there is clearly an audience for our film as those surveyed in our age range showed a clear interest in the psychological/supernatural thriller genre. Overall there was a slight female leaning to this audience research we performed but this is still consistent with the audience we were trying to hit.

Initial Concept Development Process

Initially as a group we came up with a proposal that blended several of each persons ideas into a cohesive narrative which followed a man (just after he has committed a crime of some kind probably murder) and a seemingly unrelated woman until they eventually meet in a building overlooking London during this scene they would converse and it would become apparent that the female character would be in control despite being seemingly younger.

However after viewing past pieces of coursework from years before we scrapped this plot as we thought that the shots required would take a unnecessary large amount of time and so it would be likely that something would go wrong requiring us to re-shoot these shots which could lead to some flaws in the final piece. Because of this we decided to rethink our ideas and came up with another new idea.

Rather than going for a more crime focused thriller we decided to focus on the psychological side of thriller films leaning towards the horror genre. CKJ's idea formed the basis of this proposal which I believe we are sticking with however this is yet to be confirmed as this idea is constantly evolving

This idea was simplified when compared with the previous idea because of two major reasons. Firstly the age of the characters were far easier to achieve in the time we had. In the original idea the actors we could have used would have looked the wrong age for the situation they were in whereas with this new idea that characters weren't meant to be older they were around our age so the casting would be far easier. Secondly the locations chosen were far more realistic than the previous ideas which were just a little bit too ambitious to achieve (where were we going to find a building overlooking London that we could film in?). It was these concerns that lead us to come up with the final idea

Preliminary Task

Here is my version of the preliminary task 

It shows my understanding of

- The 180 degree rule

- shot reverse shot 

-match on action 

Initial Film Proposal

Outline 
A Man returns to right the wrongs that have been committed on him
Opens with a shot of a character looking out over a balcony over London. He is joined by another character. They have a short conversation until the line "He's Back" is heard. Snap cut to the opening of a car door as a man steps out. As this happens the soundtrack starts up as he walks down the street the credits are superemposed on top of this scene and each different shot has a different name in the frame. Scene concludes as man walks into a house the soundtrack cuts at the same time as the door slams (amplified). A single gunshot is heard and as this is heard the title (undecided) is shown over a black background

Audience 
15 Certificate
typical thriller audience 15- 20s mild swearing and violence. Nothing major. Violence is stylised, see opening kill

Narrative 
Opens with the return of this man. Follows him through as he works his way through the organisation and finds the man at the top as the first two characters who are also looking for the villain try and stop him and bring the main villain to justice
Concludes in a similar vein to the film sicario final showdown stylised killing concludes the film

Style and Tone
Night time so cool blues and blacks used in the colour palette
possibly slightly comedic so it contrasts against the action on the screen dark comedy esque
Characters, Costume & Props 
Opening two characters - slightly older, V. serious gender doesn't really matter wearing suits clearly important
Main character - charismatic younger well built shaven head possibly threatening like a snake. leather jacket and jeans look

Possible need a gun although shouldn't be neccassary - where is the car going to come from

Graphics 
Simple graphics for the opening credits that play as the man walks along the street. Possible fly in or may just be stationary yet to be decided. Title

Sound
Diegetic- dialogue doors slamming
Non Diagetic - soundtrack gunshot

Pulp Fiction Opening Shot List

Time of shot (seconds)	Type of Shot	Contents of Shot	Sound	Lighting
36	Mid two shot	Shows one male and one female sitting at booth	Dialogue throughout scene	Natural throughout scene
10	Shot reverse shot	Shot between waiter and female character
15	Mid two shot	Shows the characters in booth
10	Over the shoulder	Shows male character from POV of female
20	Mid two shot	Show characters in booth
10	Shot reverse shot	Conversation between the two characters
10	Over the shoulder	Shows female character from POV of male
10	Zoom pan	Zoom in on face of male character

Overall this process showed me that a lot can be shown about two different characters in the space of two minutes if the focus is kept on them for the whole duration. In addition to this a lot can be detailed about the world that the film takes place in just from the enviroment  that the opening takes place in. For example the diner that this scene is set in immediatly dates the play to the sixties in america due to the accents of the characters on screen and the decor of the set. The final thing that I learned from this process is that often the opening scene sets the mood for the rest of the piece. For example in this piece that nature of the characters on screen (out side of the law) indicates the direction the piece is going to take towards violent crime and theft.

Saw Opening Scene Analysis

Camerawork
- initial shots are closeups focusing on either the face of the charecter in the bath tub or the key going down the plug hole showing this objects signficance
- once the character is out of the bath the camera cuts to a midshot hand held style focusing on him at all times
- cuts to lights as they turn on then back to character showing his reaction to the light making the audience feel that same emotion
- cuts to shot of other character looking around camera is blurred when it switches to pov
- the camera backs away from the character as he advances increasing the size the room appears to be
- pans down to body, spins up into mid shot showing whole body
- close ups on wounds,recorder and gun
- close up on chain informs viewer of captivity
- cut to vomiting reaction of other character
end
Lighting
- initial blue lighting mimics underwater nature
- stark white lighting disorientates viewer and exposes horrible body

Sound
- string soundtrack through out that peaks at key moments of tension and effectively builds uneasy mood in the piece
- shriek sound effects surprise audience
Editing
- when the body is revealed the sudden spin upwards mirrors the sense of confusion the characters are feeling
- motivated editing that shows key plot points or objects and also shows the reactions of the characters making the scene more visceral
Mise En Scene
- dialogue and action of screen tell us key details such as the smell in the room
- many of the shots are done is such a way as to mirror the reactions of the characters as they experience them increasing the realism of the shot
- almost excessive amounts of gore scare the audience this fear is furthered by the editing and the reaction of the characters on screen

The Bourne Identity Opening Scene Analysis

Camerawork
- throughout the scene the shots are mostly handheld style close up shots which shows the viewer the rocking motion of the boat and the grim detail of bournes wounds
- as the camera doesn't change except in position there is not much to talk about specifically other than the small moment when our knowledge of the location of Bourne is withheld from us using the camera work

Lighting
- natural but drastic because of lighting storm
- large flashes create large areas of shadow which add to the dark nature of the opening
- lighting strikes mark key moments in action and add to surprise

Sound
- soundtrack which builds tension throughout half the piece then cuts out to build suspense from reveal of Bournes attack
- diagetic sound mostly of action of screen
- lighting strikes mark key moments

Editing
- no real major edits used just continuity

Mise En Scene
- clearly at scene even before this is stated
- grimey nature of costume coveys the amount of dirt
- audience is geven just enough information to intrigue them but not enough to give the idenity of bourne away.

The Imitation Game Opening Scene Analysis

Camerawork
- opens with a close up pan on cumberbatch's character
- cuts to wide pan which is obsured showing the secure nature of the room the character is in
- this shot is obscured as interviewer walks in front of it
- shot of interviwer entering room
- two shot of interviewer standing while other character sits
- snap on sound on files hitting desk
- montague of destruction in Cumberbatch's characters flat
- when telephone is used cut to interior of Secret Service shows them listening
- follows assistant through corridor using mid shots
- high up mid shot as assistant walks across room
- mid shot of man at desk
- close up on papers showing that hes been arrested


Sound
- soundtrack throughout is not distracting to audience so they focus on the voiceover of cumberbatch's character and the dialogue of those on screen
- sound used for snap cut (files)

Lighting
- dingy lighting in interview suggesting squalor
- other than that nothing much simply shows period

Editing
- aformentioned snap cut only major thing other than that mostly just for continuity

Mise en Scene
- clearly sets period through costume setting and props
- other than that nothign special

Definition of Thriller Genre

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television, having numerous sub genres. Thrillers are characterised and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety.

Examples of the sub genres of Thriller include 

- Action - Bourne Indentity  

- Horror - Saw

- Crime  - No Country For Old Men 

- Supernatural - The Sixth Sense 

- Political - The Manturain Candidate 

Thrillers generally keep the audience on the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax. Literary devices such as red herrings, plot twists, and cliffhangers are used extensively. A thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby the main villain presents challenges that the protagonist/s  have to over come 

No Country For Old Men Opening Analysis

Camerawork
- throughout most of the opening the camera just  cuts through various bits of scenery using a mixture of mid and long shots
- eventually the camera pans round this sudden movement draws the audiences attention to what is being shown which is a man being led to a police car
- mid shot of villian being forced into car cut to close up of canister being placed on seat
- mid shot as policeman gets into vehicle
- tilt up shot as car moves past into distance


Sound
- non diagetic voiceover throughout - conversational
- no dialogue from those on screen
- no soundtrack


Lighting
- all natural light showing a sunrise

Editing
- all just for continuity

Mis En Scene
- uniform of policeman and car sets the film clearly in America
- canister adds a intriguing note to the story

Bridge of Spies Opening Analysis

Camera Work

-          Panning establishing shot shows surrounding environment of flat which then zooms onto licence plate of car showing the nature of the antagonists

-          Shot style changes to a handheld following shot as the group of men enter the building running this creates a sense of tension and intrigue as their rapid movement is at odds with the rest of the street

-          As the men enter the flat the camera pans around to the door way of the bathroom where it lingers as the door is opened and a moment of comedy is had as the door opens to an seemingly bewildered old man

-          A low down pan is used at one point to further the tight packed nature of the small flat

-          As the man is seated a close up shot reverse shot is used which builds intimacy and fear of the FBI agents

-          While the man is clearing up the camera pans down in an almost pov like closeup that shows his attention is focused on a small piece of paper which increases intrigue in the viewer

Lighting

-          Outside the apartment their is little use of lighting as it simply shows and everyday scene

-          Once inside the apartment their is very little light which creates large areas of shadow that increase the threatening nature of the FBI agents

Sound

-          All digetic sounds no soundtrack is used

-          Some sounds such as the tire squeels in the opening are amplified to draw audience attention but mostly sound is secondary to the actions of the characters on screen

Editing

-          Pretty much standard nothing special chronological

Mise en Scene

-          The suits of the FBI agents are contrasted with the stark white shirt of the man which furthers the sense of conflict between the two

-          The setting is clearly period as the surrounding set and the cars indicate this

-          The dialogue on screen mentions espionage which intrigues the audience and makes them want to  watch on 

Pulp Fiction Opening Scene Analysis

Camera Work

-          The first shot used is a two shot of the two central characters in the scene sitting at a diner booth

-          This then cuts to a close up shot reverse shot when the waiter asks if either of them want more coffee

-          The camera returns to its initial position but focuses more on the male character

-          The shots that follow all focus on the male character these are a mixture of over the shoulders from the perspective of the female character or close ups of the male. These are occasionally switched out for the same two shot that was seen at the beginning of the scene but because of the way the characters are sitting we see far more of the male than the female and as he is usually the one talking our focus is on him

-          A notable change comes about one the line “garson coffee” the camera switches a sustained use of a shot reverse shot technique of the two characters in full conversation

-          The extreme close up of the two kissing is very uncomfortable the audience

-          Finally the way in which the actors turn out to face the viewer involves the viewer in the action as it is as if the actors on screen are threatening the audience

-          Overall the camerawork helps to isolate the action of stage from the rest of the diner making us focus on the two characters in hand and also implying that they live outside of regular society as no other characters (other than the waiters) are shown

Sound

-          No soundtrack is present except for the faint sounds of a jukebox and the sound of the diner this means that the sole focus of the audience is on the two characters on screen and makes the eventual sudden shift to violence more suprising.

Lighting

-          Nothing special .natural throughout showing that it is daytime

Editing

-          Same as the lighting just cuts between various shots of the same pairing

Mise  En Scene

-          Costume – fairly cheap looking and dishevelled indicates that they don’t care about their appearance and they don’t have too much money

-          Action on screen – both American and setting is typically American so the setting is apparent immediately. the fact that the characters are talking about illegal activities so normally intrigues  the viewer and indicates these people aren’t normal

Practical Task Reflection

The Package

Overall I thought our group worked well together throughout the project and the end product was pretty good. The biggest problem we had was part way through someone lost the memory card with the footage on it . In addition to this one of our shots was wonky which could have been fixed by taking care with the camera equipment. In general I think I could improve in terms of my initial planning because during this I didn't work as well as I could have with the rest of the group and this restricted the creative process. In addition to this I didn't get much experience using editing software and so during the preliminary task I think it would be good for me to get some more experience using this software.

Sicario Extended Analysis

This sequence as a whole can be broken down into two sets of scenes, these being those taking place outside of the house and those taking place within it.

Before the camera even starts rolling there is an important sound note, there is no sound effect to accompany the company logos. This immediately creates a sense of tension and makes the build of the soundtrack that little bit more effective. The sequence opens with a drawn out wide establishing shot which introduces the viewer to the surrounding environment and the isolation of the house being assaulted (which can be clearly identified because every character on screen is moving towards it and a sniper is aimed at it). It also introduces the viewer to the SWAT team assaulting the house as they clearly stand out from their surrounding as they are dressed all in black and they are moving slowly and stealthily. Finally the score begins at this moment which gradually builds increasing the tension in the scene. The camera then cuts to the interior of the house and shadows move across the window adding to the tension of the scene. In terms of sound the TV can be heard and although it is faint it is clearly not English indicating the ethnicity of the enemy before we even see them. The camera cuts again this time to a close up of Emily Blunt’s character inside the SWAT vehicle. Then a shot reverse shot is used between Blunt’s character and another character indicating some kind of friendship between the two. Finally this shot sequence transitions to a panning shot that gradually zooms out showing the scale of the operation and reinforces the professionalism of the unit

Then the camera cuts to a tracking shot as the vehicle accelerates towards the wall of the house. At the same time the orchestral drums and bass that have been building throughout the scene raise in volume in time with the acceleration of the camera.  The camera then jump cuts to an interior shot of the house, there is no sound other than the noise of the approaching vehicle which then smashes through the wall of the house.  Instead of a soundtrack restarting all of the characters in the van begin shouting creating a sense of confusion. Two flashes of light go as the swat team leave the vehicle furthering this effect of disorientation and surprise that the viewer feels. The editing increases in speed as the camera cuts to several moments of action as the residents of the house are forced to surrender the camera mainly focuses on the faces of Blunts character and does not show the enemy characters faces at all. Once the initial assault is over the editing slows down and the camera tracks Blunt’s character through the house showing various scenes of her clearing rooms while at the same time the noise from the SWAT team decreases . Finally the camera reaches the final room and Blunt’s character barges in.

The angle switches to an over the shoulder from the perspective of Blunt’s character and we see the man standing in the corner of the room with a shotgun before Blunt’s character reacts. Also this angle shows both the initial shot fired by the man and the return fire by Blunt’s character. After the crescendo of noise that the shots create there is a moment of silence which allows the viewer to digest what has just happen and shows that Blunt’s character is clearly a professional and is not fazed by this situation as is clearly shown by her facial expression. One thing of note in the scene is that the blood from the dead body on the floor is the first bit of major colour that is present in the sequence at any point this contrast draws the audience’s attention to it increasing the shock factor of the event. Another point on the use of the colour red would be that the curtain over the window in this scene creates a red tint to the colour in the room that adds and sinister note to the location

After this moment of action occurs two members of the team walk into to the room and exchange a brief moment of dialogue in which they express their confusion. The camera then cuts to one of the new arrivals and captures his reaction to something in the walls the audiences attention is further drawn to his reaction by the line of dialogue “wow”. The camera then slowly zooms in on his face as the soundtrack that has been absent from the rest of the scene restarts. The shot changes to a close up zoom on the hole the shotgun blast created in the wall and a small amount of plastic can be seen in the corner of the hole. The three character then run forward and attempt to remove the wall. This is shown firstly from an over the shoulder perspective and then from the side both times the camera does not show what is inside the cavity of the wall. The camera then switches to a POV shot of what ever is inside the wall and the characters on stage all gag indicating a horrible smell filling the scene then the camera flips perspective and cuts to POV shot of the bodies hidden inside the wall. At the same time the  soundtrack swells into life furthering the unsettling nature of the scene being shown

 The camera then cuts to an over the shoulder shot of Blunt’s character back outside while the soundtrack still plays showing her vomit into the ground which shows the disgusting nature of the scene as she was not fazed by the blood earlier but is appalled by this. The camera then cuts back to the bodies zooming in slightly to give even more grizzly detail before finally cutting back to a two shot of Blunt’s character and the character from the truck discussing how they weren’t their hostages which adds an element of intrigue and makes the viewer want to keep watching as they want to find out the reason for the presence of the bodies

Collateral Opening Scene Analysis

Opening shot has very low depth of field causing the audience to focus solely on Tom Cruise’s character. Only sound is sound of crowd and amplified footsteps. Same procedure for next shot focusing on other character then cut by to Tom Cruise

Sudden change of shot as two characters collide background sound is decreased. Match on action as bags drop to the floor, sound of bags dropping is amplified to further draw audience attention. Over the shoulder shot with low depth of field focusing on other characters face no emotion is shown. Motivated editing is used as the collision between the two characters is surprising because we are not given any indication of their proximity to one another

Soundtrack begins to build tension  as shot switches to over the shoulder shot of tom cruises character with again low depth of field

Snap cut to interior of taxi office. Colour palette changes but sound track continues indicating some kind of connection between the two scenes. Switch in editing pace from long drawn out shots to rapid frame changes. Lingering shot on taxi driver are in contrast to editing during scene indication that we should pay special attention to person in frame

As taxi driver enters car multiple match on action shots are shown as he goes through his routine close ups used throughout to covey meticulous nature of character.

Soundtrack drops out as driver closes door leaving simple base beat which indicates isolation of the character from the rest off the scene which was previously very noisy and clutterd

Additional match on action shots that linger on his putting the image of the island straight indicates importance to character

Mad Max-Fury Road - Opening Analysis

Camerawork
- gradual increase in editing pace builds tension
- editing creates a sense of confusion and anxiety that mirrors that of the main character
- fast zooms onto ghosts faces/branding iron  effectively create fear
- use of stark white lighting creates large areas of shadow which obsure the enemy making them far more menacing
- sudden reveal of the chasters in opening shot very effective

Sound
- whispers of ghosts  grow louder and louder creating tension and confusion in the audience
-first whisper hints at something wrong with main character
- sudden switch from slow monologue to frantic car sounds graps audience attention then the sudden silence adds antisipation which is releved by the sudden apperarance of the chasers

Lighting
- contrast between natural light and the light of the caves creates a sense of confinement
- effective use of shadow to make the creatures look as menacing as possible

Drive - Opening Analysis

Camera Work
-  Mixture of long shots focusing on cityscape,  contrasted with close-ups of character in car gives a sense that the character being portrayed is isolated from the rest of the city
- With the close up shots there is a lack of focus on anything but the main character furthering this sense of isolation from the rest of the city


Sound
- Soundtrack combined with the opening credits typeface place the film firmly in the 80s
- Lack of any dialogue
- Beat of the soundtrack creates a monotonous sense in the scene


Lighting
- heavy use of shadow obscuring the characters face creates a menacing aura around the character in addition to this the scorpion on his jacket is exposed in starck white lighting drawing attention to this image which is associated with fear and so creating a sense of fear around the character
- contrast between the hallway and bedroom furthers contrast between the world that the character inhabits and the rest of the world

Dark Night - Opening Analysis

Camerawork
- frequent use of mid dolly shots  that put the audience right in the center of the action
- effective use of close ups to highlight deaths of characters
- cut away's to banker effectively intrigue audience and eventual reveal of shotgun is suprising and creates tension
- transition between main bank and bank vault is very well done with the door swinging open

Sound
- constant orchestral soundtrack builds with tension in scene and peaks at key moments
- various noises such as cocking guns and shattering glass are amplifed to draw audience attention to the actions taking place

Lighting
- natural lighting throughout

My Favourite Films & TV Shows

- The Shawshank Redemption
- The Lego Movies
- The Dark Knight
- The History Boys
- Mad Max: Fury Road
- Independence Day
- Sherlock
- The Grand Budapest Hotel
- Blackadder
- Mr Robot
- How I Met Your Mother