Post Production :
After our filming task was completed during the following week was the editing stage. We used MAC Computers and two types of software, Final cut pro and logic pro.
As a group we had to decide what footage we would use to put into our final piece.
As a group we had to decide what footage we would use to put into our final piece.
Some of the footage was really good and others had a disadvantage, usually either to dark , not showing the whole picture or there was a mistake in the acting. When we had decided on the film we used Final cut programme to put them together.
Myself and Micheal were the ones to edit , while Lyden and Cansu focused on the sound track using logic pro. At first i found it difficult, i had never used the programme and was feeling not so confident that we would do this all in a week. After adjusting to the process we added effects such as black and white to represent the flashbacks so the audience would be able to know the difference, we added other effects such as dissolves and fades to make the scenes drift in and out.
At ones point during the editing stage a lot of scenes that we wanted to be included deleted themselves somehow. It began to be frustrating trying to locate and put them back within the sequence to make it at least 2 minutes long. I found the editing stage very stressful and not as enjoyable as the filming process, simple because i was not used to the programme and began panicking as i thought we would not have it finish in time. However, because of every ones input we was able to get the final copy created and fit our soundtrack on top.
Myself and Micheal were the ones to edit , while Lyden and Cansu focused on the sound track using logic pro. At first i found it difficult, i had never used the programme and was feeling not so confident that we would do this all in a week. After adjusting to the process we added effects such as black and white to represent the flashbacks so the audience would be able to know the difference, we added other effects such as dissolves and fades to make the scenes drift in and out.
At ones point during the editing stage a lot of scenes that we wanted to be included deleted themselves somehow. It began to be frustrating trying to locate and put them back within the sequence to make it at least 2 minutes long. I found the editing stage very stressful and not as enjoyable as the filming process, simple because i was not used to the programme and began panicking as i thought we would not have it finish in time. However, because of every ones input we was able to get the final copy created and fit our soundtrack on top.
Production:
Tuesday 9th November 2010
Today was our first filming day, looking at our story board we decided on a time that was convenient for all of us and went to the location that would require the most filming to get it out the way. We all arrived at around 3pm at Lea Vally Park where we were to shoot our ‘walking foot path scene’. I thought this was a great location as it was secluded enough to do a few practice shots to get our bearings and to see if it was suitable without being disrupted. Due to the fact that our first location was outdoors we wanted to do it while the weather was calm without wind, rain or snow, which weather reports predicted later on in the week. The preparation of getting used to the cameras took quite a long time, as well as, despite having our location, finding the correct area that would have enough light and room to fit our actor and props also took some time.
We had not really planned what was to be filmed before hand so we took a while to discuss that.
At around 4pm we was ready to shot, as it was winter it had got dark a lot quicker than we had anticipated and the lack of natural light prevented any of our shots to be visible enough to see the action within the scene. That day we did not do any filming and felt the day was wasted because we had taken too long. However, it was a learning tool that when we come back to do that scene again, we would come slightly earlier to give ourselves more time to set up, and to come with a plan of what we want to film.
At around 4pm we was ready to shot, as it was winter it had got dark a lot quicker than we had anticipated and the lack of natural light prevented any of our shots to be visible enough to see the action within the scene. That day we did not do any filming and felt the day was wasted because we had taken too long. However, it was a learning tool that when we come back to do that scene again, we would come slightly earlier to give ourselves more time to set up, and to come with a plan of what we want to film.
Friday 12th November 2010
After finding out our initial bar/ hotel location at the Royal Chase Hotel was not available on the day we wished to film, we had to think of another location that will fit in with our narrative at such short notice. I thought it would be a good idea to shot the film at my own house. After thinking about it, the bar scene was not essential. Showing how our killer and his victim met and viewing him smiling and laughing with the woman at the bar, destroys the mysterious unknown aspect of his characteristics and who this man really is.
My house was the ideal location to represent as the other woman’s apartment; it is more realistic for her to take him back to her own house. If he was to kill her he would not want to do it in such a busy location such as a bar/ hotel room. The killing scene was able to be more realistic. Using my own house we was able to take advantage of the use of space such as the door way, kitchen and bathroom. This was a benefit to us as we could film various scenes in one location without the disadvantage of light problems as we did with the out door location.
At around 5pm, we began shooting. Our female actress Hande and our director / producer Michael was the killer and victim. We had to use Michael at the last minute as our initial male actor was unavailable. Myself and Lyden were in charge of the camera shots as our location and lighting person, Cansu was also unavailable. We started with the build up of the characters entering the apartment as this was the quickest and easiest shot to do. Getting as many angles as we could; Lyden and I would take camera shots of the same action at the same time.
After finding out our initial bar/ hotel location at the Royal Chase Hotel was not available on the day we wished to film, we had to think of another location that will fit in with our narrative at such short notice. I thought it would be a good idea to shot the film at my own house. After thinking about it, the bar scene was not essential. Showing how our killer and his victim met and viewing him smiling and laughing with the woman at the bar, destroys the mysterious unknown aspect of his characteristics and who this man really is.
My house was the ideal location to represent as the other woman’s apartment; it is more realistic for her to take him back to her own house. If he was to kill her he would not want to do it in such a busy location such as a bar/ hotel room. The killing scene was able to be more realistic. Using my own house we was able to take advantage of the use of space such as the door way, kitchen and bathroom. This was a benefit to us as we could film various scenes in one location without the disadvantage of light problems as we did with the out door location.
At around 5pm, we began shooting. Our female actress Hande and our director / producer Michael was the killer and victim. We had to use Michael at the last minute as our initial male actor was unavailable. Myself and Lyden were in charge of the camera shots as our location and lighting person, Cansu was also unavailable. We started with the build up of the characters entering the apartment as this was the quickest and easiest shot to do. Getting as many angles as we could; Lyden and I would take camera shots of the same action at the same time.
Shooting the killing scene was where I was able to use my role as production designer the most. This was the messiest scene and therefore we left it until last. After deciding on the costume for both characters both, I began to apply the make up and added additional props.
Today’s filming went a lot better then Tuesdays we got a lot of filming down, and therefore have a better variety of shots to extract when making our final opening. I think we all enjoyed this day of filming because we was able to take our time, killing scene was the pinnacle scenes of our opening as a whole and we wanted it to be correct and as life like as we could make it.
Saturday 13th Novemeber 2010
At this stage we had only our killing scene completed and needed the wife scene done if we was to dedicated Monday to getting our final location shot at lea vally park again. As our camera man was unable to film, i took on the role and used my cousin and her baby as our actors. Filming with a baby was very difficult, we had to try and keep him occupied so he would not cry or figit to much. I thought using a baby would be more realistic than a fake one. I shot various angles and used zooms to show her facial expression.
In terms of lighting I noticed that it was very low key. This however was because there was no natrual light as I was filming at around 12pm at night which effected the visual look of the footage. Unfortunatley thier was not enough time to retake it on another day during the daytime so the footage i had we had to try make lighter during the edtiting stage.
Monday 15th November 2010
This was our last day before having to give back the cameras and equipment. We dedicated this day to film our footpath scene we was meant to do on Tuesday. The weather was to our advantage and we had got thier at around 2pm, giving ourselves enought time to film.
As we had used MIcheal ( our director/ producer) as the killer in other scenes we decided to just use him as our actor. Myself and Lyden again operated the camera to get different angles of the same action. To get these angles we had to film in the bushes. It was really cold outside so we wanted to shot everything as quickly as possible. It took as approximetly 30 mintues to get enough of a vareity of footage to look back on at the edting stage. We was very happy with the footage we had and was ready to extract the scenes we had made that week into our final piece.
Pre Planning/Planning Production:
Story Board.
For our planning stage, our team had to construct a story board. This will help us to break down what is needed for each scene and how long each scene will be, by doing this we are able to plan the flow of our opening and decide on the content.
For our planning stage, our team had to construct a story board. This will help us to break down what is needed for each scene and how long each scene will be, by doing this we are able to plan the flow of our opening and decide on the content.
As the Production designer for our opening thriller sequence, after deciding on our narrative and the type of characters we want, I have researched into various examples of how I can use hair, make up, costume and props to create the characters persona’s and make them as accurate to how we want them.
Make Up/ Hair
The Smokey eye
effect has been one of the most popular design in the make up industry to create a mysterious , seductive look. I plan to use eye lash extension to develop our actress eyes and make them stand out, the smoky eye effect is the use of dark based solid colours, and can include glitter and lighter shades to enhance on the darker ones. A thick layer of black eyeliner and mascara will be used to make the make up run easier to give the illusion of our actress crying in agony and fear.
effect has been one of the most popular design in the make up industry to create a mysterious , seductive look. I plan to use eye lash extension to develop our actress eyes and make them stand out, the smoky eye effect is the use of dark based solid colours, and can include glitter and lighter shades to enhance on the darker ones. A thick layer of black eyeliner and mascara will be used to make the make up run easier to give the illusion of our actress crying in agony and fear.
Red Lips
are an iconic trademark for sexy woman, those including Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn. We want our character to be inspired by attractive sexy woman through out history, and red lipstick has continued to be an iconic trademark for a sexy woman, a light red shade with a hint of lip-gloss would be used to give it shine. Red Lips are also a stereotypical connotation when thinking of prostitutes or escorts. This is ideal for my characters promiscuity.
Cuts and bruises
will be created by different shades of blusher and face paint to create bruises darker shades of base colours like browns and reds will be applied to look as if our character has been beaten, cuts can be easily created with the food colouring or fake blood, to make it more realistic I intend to mix the shades so it is not jus one kind of red all over. Jack pierce a famous horror make up artist.
Researching online i found a professional theatrical make up artist who gives tips on how to create realist injuries without the expensive products used in larger holly wood films. I found this useful as it is likely I will use everyday products such as paint and colouring to create this.
Researching online i found a professional theatrical make up artist who gives tips on how to create realist injuries without the expensive products used in larger holly wood films. I found this useful as it is likely I will use everyday products such as paint and colouring to create this.
Hair
to begin with will be an up-do, our actress has long brown hair suitable for this style, I did not want her hair over powering her facial expressions in anyway so it was best to keep her hair away from her face with this simple, but effective style.
to begin with will be an up-do, our actress has long brown hair suitable for this style, I did not want her hair over powering her facial expressions in anyway so it was best to keep her hair away from her face with this simple, but effective style.
Props
This picture is how we wish to show our death scene, the props that will be used is our choice of murder weapon, The added blood can be either food colouring or joke blood from any local shop. I like the idea of blood leaking from her body, preferable her head to show the extent of violence. However, I am unsure as of yet whether by doing this it will lean over to a horror genre.
During our bar scene before when she meets our killer, she’ll have a glass wine showing her sophistication. Various props can be used to highlight our characters persona; the jewellery she wears and the type of glass she holds. I want her to slightly promiscuous and sexy at the same time.
During our bar scene before when she meets our killer, she’ll have a glass wine showing her sophistication. Various props can be used to highlight our characters persona; the jewellery she wears and the type of glass she holds. I want her to slightly promiscuous and sexy at the same time.
Costume
Our female character ( the other woman ) only has one outfit, after she is killed her outfit will not be on properly or slightly blood stained. Before hand I am going with the classic little black dress or a smart outfit to show the comparison between herself and the killer.
Male character( The KIller) : He does not display the typical conventions of costume, hair / make and props as a killer would.
Make Up/ Hair
The only use of make up we will use is to make our character look slightly older and more mature. Lighter make up can be used to create wrinkles and mature the face. This is an idea if it is decided we show the killers face at all. His hair will be clean shaven to keep that tidy and sophisticated look to accompany his costume; i may add facial hair depending on how old we wish him to look.
Costume
So that our character is not typical , his costume consists of a suit of tie to juxtapose with his mental attitude, to the outside world he is a smart respectable married man, but inside he is a twisted killer. In clothing, a suit is a set of garments made from the same cloth, consisting of at least a jacket and trousers. Lounge suits are the most common style of western society and therefore this is the type of suit i am considering to dress our killer in.
Props
Our main prop for our male character is his wedding ring- silver, it symbolises his contrasts in worlds of his family life and killers life, I am to keep his ring on during the killings to show he has no guilty conscience of the life he is leading.
Female Character( Wife) : When thinking of the wife we wanted an opposite characteristic of the other woman and therefore her make up and props would be different.
Make Up/ Hair
When thinking of the wife’s makeup and how I wish her hair to be. I have decided i do not want to use any at all. The scene focuses on her at home with her baby, to add any make up may make it seem un-realistic, keeping both her hair and make up plain and simple compliments the idea of a stay at home house wife.
Costume
The stereotypes of house wife dress c are fairly specific . I immediately thought of the 1950’s and what traditionally wives and mothers used to wear. Looking at pictures, the typical costume consists of an apron. I feel to exaggerate the stereotype of my character this would be the best option of dress.
Props
Like the male killer, his wife will wear a wedding ring is to symbolise their marriage.
Pre Planning/Planning Production:
Now our roles and responsibilities are established, we had to start thinking of potential narratives for opening sequences. There were a few I independently thought of before we had an agreed final narrative.
Narrative 1 :
A young girl school girl has sneaked into an over 18's club, previously she heard on the news about a stalker who had been hanging around her home town. At the club she bumps into some of her older sisters friends and dances with them, a man comes over to her politely asking for her to dance with him, she dismisses him very rudely, and intends to avoid him the rest of the night. As she leaves to go outside for a cigarette he immediately grabs her from behind and takes her to a near by wood. Where he kills her and leaves her body, a police enquiry for her whereabouts begins.
Although I do like the idea of a serial killer with a fascination for killing, this specific narrative I do believe it is quite horror like rather than being a thriller genre opening.
Narrative 2 :
Opening storyline is based around a man who has awoken in an abandoned house. He believes his family have either gone to work or school and continues with his daily routines such as brushing his teeth and making breakfast for himself. At first this opening does not display any convention of a thriller and simple looks like a man getting ready to go out. The music is crucial for this opening as it changes as soon as he notices a DVD on the table, lighting changes to become lower key. He plays the DVD and it is of his family held captive in an unfamiliar location with a mystery kidnapper demanding money. The conventions of a thriller begin with the scenes taken place in the DVD, the mans facial expressions change as he becomes irrational from his once mellow mood. I think this could be a good opening as it is very polysemic and can be played around with to create a good opening. It has the psychological bases of a thriller film and a kidnapping story is very common.
A young girl school girl has sneaked into an over 18's club, previously she heard on the news about a stalker who had been hanging around her home town. At the club she bumps into some of her older sisters friends and dances with them, a man comes over to her politely asking for her to dance with him, she dismisses him very rudely, and intends to avoid him the rest of the night. As she leaves to go outside for a cigarette he immediately grabs her from behind and takes her to a near by wood. Where he kills her and leaves her body, a police enquiry for her whereabouts begins.
Although I do like the idea of a serial killer with a fascination for killing, this specific narrative I do believe it is quite horror like rather than being a thriller genre opening.
Narrative 2 :
Opening storyline is based around a man who has awoken in an abandoned house. He believes his family have either gone to work or school and continues with his daily routines such as brushing his teeth and making breakfast for himself. At first this opening does not display any convention of a thriller and simple looks like a man getting ready to go out. The music is crucial for this opening as it changes as soon as he notices a DVD on the table, lighting changes to become lower key. He plays the DVD and it is of his family held captive in an unfamiliar location with a mystery kidnapper demanding money. The conventions of a thriller begin with the scenes taken place in the DVD, the mans facial expressions change as he becomes irrational from his once mellow mood. I think this could be a good opening as it is very polysemic and can be played around with to create a good opening. It has the psychological bases of a thriller film and a kidnapping story is very common.
After conducting my own idea, I thought it would be best to conduct a questionnaire within our school (available for both teachers and students), and bring back the results in our group so we can analyse all our research together. I made 20 questionnaires of questions relating to thriller films in hope of targeting our market and see a common preference within each participants answer. The results are as stated below.
Question 1 ) I put this question in to judge the film rating of my own film. By the results the most popular is aged 15 , this could however be a biased result as my questionnaire was left in a school and the majority are around that age group, However i can now look at thriller films that are rated 15 and look at the content such as sex, violence and apply it to my own.
Question 2 ) I put this question in to see what type of thriller is most popular , thrillers have a group in itself and psychological seem to be the most popular. I explained at the bottom what each category consisted of in case someone was un aware of the definition of the options. Psychological thrillers are those that have a challenging sinister storyline in most cases and looking at thriller like se7en can help me with that.
Question 3 ) Surprisingly I thought car chasing would be the most popular option, however i did point out in a thriller opening and not an action. Flashbacks was rated the highest and this is something I did want to include in my film any. I chose to include this question because the opening is what I am creating adding some of the things that my audience prefer to see are important.
Question 4 ) This question someone else said i should include, at first i didn’t think of it but it was a good idea to include because it is an only a thriller opening. Depending on the individual, not everyone wants the whole plot revealed as it spoils the rest of the film, whereas others like the plot revealed and then can work out how it came to be that narrative. I do want to include the plot in some ways in my opening yet i do not want to give to much away.
Question 5 ) The narrative is the story behind the film, having a main narrative helps focus the audience and not make the opening to confusing. Murder is the popular. An ‘other’ option was ticked and the note that person left was rape, although that is a good suggestion I believe murder would be a more popular narrative as it can broaden into aspects of rape and other narratives.
Question 6 ) Narrative, music and cinematography scored equally the highest. I explained what cinematography was at the bottom of the question for those who would not know the media term. I asked this question as I believe keeping suspense in a thriller is an important factor in an opening as it keeps the audience excited to view the rest of the film.
Question 7 ) A challenging film seems to be the most popular, rather than it be detailed or explain what is going on. This may be because the audience do not want the plot revealed to them completely and what to maybe work it out themselves in cases like psychological thrillers. This question i thought to include for those reasons, some do prefer it to be explained.
Question 8 ) The elements in a thriller genre can make a huge difference to how the audience interpret and understand the film or how it can be close to the conventions of a thriller. As i am the props and make up person it was interesting to see how my target audience believe it is just as important to the setting and even more important than special effects.
Our Groups Final Decision
Narrative
A mystery man is walking down a pathway with a sports bag. While he is walking down the road he has a flashback from the nights before. Then the audience sees what happens. He meets a woman , at the bar and they drink together , talk and start flirting. He takes her back to a hotel she thinks it is only a fling but a change of events happen he brutally murders her he then chops her up into small pieces and puts her in the sports bag and dumps the bag by the river. A missing enquiry for her disappearance takes off.
The Whole Narrative
The overall narrative is that this a married man with a perfect lifestyle who lives is happy with his carer and children, yet has a sick obsession with women he thinks are dirty, he final snaps and murders a woman, the whole event takes place on a day in October. His flashbacks show the build up of his family life up to the point of murder.
Film Title
The reason we have chosen our film to be called October, was because we felt this was an appropriate title for our narrative. This helps us to follow the generic conventions because as the audience you expect the film title to match the film. The title gives a sense of suspense of what actually happens in October before they have watched the opening sequence , there is no direct give away unlike most thriller titles like ‘ The kidnap’.
Location
Pathway- The pathway is the first location used in our opening sequence. We intend it to show the killer walking down wheeling a sports bag which contains the body of the woman he had killed the night before.
Bar- The flash backs of the killer consist of the bar scene where he initially meets the woman. It shows how he meets her and where, the relationship between the two characters are shown here before the killing happened.
Hotel Room- The hotel room is where the murder happens, the other woman believes she is going back with the male character to have a one night stand, this flashback will also happen in between the pathway walk.
Killers House - The killers wife calls from their home to see where he is, she becomes frustrated and angry when he does not pick up her telephone call, this is not a flashback, but shows what is happening else where during the killing scene.
Mise-En-Scene
Costume : Business suit, smart conservative (Male), Little black dress, High heels (Other woman), apron, Baggy clothes (Wife)
Lighting : Low Key Lighting during the killing scene to show darkness and terror.
Props: bag, fake blood, wedding ring
Camera work: extreme close up
Sound : eerie sounds, upbeat music for the chase.
These are all the things we need to consider when making our film, to make it as realistic as we can to our audience and follow the generic conventions of the film.
Lighting
Low key
Natural lighting
High key
This is because most thriller films use these for example low key lighting is used to make the character look scarier and mysterious to the audience this is to make the audience for more involved in the film and make them one to watch more.
Natural lighting is used to make things look more realistic such as when our character is walking down the street natural lighting will be used to create realism to the audience
High key lighting will most likely be used in the bar to show that place is glamorous and expensive this makes it more realistic and more appealing to the audience and makes them believe that the place is real.
Sound
On screen sound
Off screen sound
Non-diegetic.
Non-diegetic will be used for any music that is edited in which will most likely to be used to build up suspense and tension for the audience. This also helps keep the audience interested.
On screen sound will be for anyone that speaks or has a conversation such as a phone call or anyone who speaks face to face.
Off screen sound will be used in the bar, such as when you can hear people laughing and talking in the background this will be used to create a realistic environment within in the bar.
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