Task 46: FILMING - Day 1

Today was our first day of filming for our actual title sequence. We went to Camden where we had taken our establishing shots for our main character's location.

Filming in Camden 🦄 pic.twitter.com/uYhdmjz3z9

— AS Set2 Media Group8 (@Candigroup8) November 30, 2015

We think we successfully got a good set of establishing shots to let our audience know where they are.

Afterwards we went to film in our killer's bedroom (Maria kindly let us use her room) where she was getting ready to leave to and go after her next prey. This was the main part of our filming for today. When we had got there we had set up her room to match our character.

Getting set ready 🎥 pic.twitter.com/rNyt1GBq28

— AS Set2 Media Group8 (@Candigroup8) November 30, 2015

We think we did a very good job setting up our killer's desk and board to show how sweet and innocent yet psychotic and obsessive she is. We were then able to start filming from here. We feel that we got many of the shots we needed for our killer's introduction part of the sequence. We also got extra shots in case we felt that some were less effective than others.

Overall we believe it was a very successful day of shooting.

Task 44: Final Production Schedule

Here is our final production schedule as shown in our pitch:

Task 43: Run Through

In order to prepare for the filming of our actual film, we planned a run through. We practiced filming closeups and extreme closeups of people. We also thought about the different angles that would work well for each shot, and practiced our framing. 

Task 42: Pitch Evaluation

After receiving positive feedback from out teacher and fellow students, we felt confident that the pitch went well. During the pitch we were very nervous, yet we persevered and managed to give a professional presentation. We worked well as a group, and got the work done before the deadline. The work was divided evenly and we all contributed into making The Pitch amazing. We felt that this was our strong point and that this put us up on a really high level and set us up for great expectations.

We felt that the story board and the mise-en-scene were the highlights of our pitch as they gave a clear visual of all our ideas and how they would come out.  However, we were conscious of the looming deadline and were working under high pressure to produce high  quality content.  Though after presenting the pitch, our loving teacher Mary said that it was the first time in all her years of teaching she has been won over by a pitch, considering that our first initial idea was quite weak and stereotypical.

We need to:

- make sure we do not become too similar to the movie The Roommate
- consider the use of contrapuntal sound in our sequence to add an element of normality
- properly evaluate our wider audience and make it from 13-35 year olds
- decide on a font to use in our title sequence
- decide on a final title for our film

Task 41: Pitch Feedback

Here is the feedback we received after presenting our pitch. We found this very helpful and are going to take on board what was said about our ideas.

From this we know that we will need to;
- make sure we do not become too similar to the movie The Roommate
- consider the use of contrapuntal sound in our sequence to add an element of normality
- properly evaluate our wider audience and make it from 13-35 year olds

40. The Pitch Tasks

We have completed all of the tasks for the pitch. each member of our group has done at least two t contribute to our presentation. They can be found under the titles: 'THE PITCH'

39. Final Storyboard

As we come closer towards filming our sequence we will keep the storyboard, also shown in the pitch, as our final one. We are happy with this version and have not changed anything.

38. Casting Auditions

When creating a title sequence we needed to cast people for the roles of the killer and the victim. So we first looked at our group.

We felt that it would be better to use have ourselves in our production as we would be more reliable time wise, since we share the same class. We also know exactly how we want our piece to go so it would be easier to film. Danielle and I (on the right) did not audition for the role as we felt that the characters ethnicity should be white as films with black leads are not as popular as films with white leads, as well as mainly attract people of that race.

Maria (far left) auditioned for the role of the victim and Jessica (2nd from the left) auditioned for the role of the killer. The two suited the conventions we were going for very well, however, we wanted to have everyone to be involved in the camera, lighting and directing work. So we got people from outside of our group to audition.

We had to think carefully of the people we wanted. Many people could not take part as they had a very hard schedule to work around. As well as this some people did not fit the conventions we were looking for. Anthony who was keen on taking part could not unfortunately as he is male and is outside the type of character we planned to have.

In the end we finally casted our main actresses for our title sequence: Emily and Stevie.

These two were perfect for the roles. Emily fitted the sweet, innocent girl look that we were going for to contradict her intentions and Stevie fitted the sexually provocative look for our victim. they had the best schedules to work with and would work very well with each other. 

THE PITCH - 14) Technology Skills Audit - Maria

THE PITCH - 13) Risk Assessment - Maria

There are many risks that we can encounter whilst creating our title Sequence. Below are some possible risks and some solutions. Each risk is also rated 1-5 on the likely-hood scale. 

(1=v. unlikely, 5= v. likely)

Rain

Living in London means constant bad weather, and precipitation. (5)

• Before we go out filming we need to check the weather, and plan our time outside wisely. 
• We also could bring umbrellas and shield the equipment, if necessary. 

Wind

Autumn season has strong winds, which could interfere with our filming. (3)

• We have to check the weather.
• Hold onto our equipment, so it doesn't fall/ fly away
• Arrange our shots so that non of the props could fly away. 

Thieves

We are filming in some busy area, e.g Camden, that are know for 

having a high crime rate. (2)

• We Have to keep a close eye on all our belonging, never leaving anything unattended. 
• Spend time wisely, don't linger.

Broken/Faulty Equipment 

Technology can we unreliable at times, and things can break (2)

• We can ask the technicians to check our equipment before hand to make sure everything is working .
• Check the equipment ourselves, before we leave.
• Bring a spare battery and memory cards.
• Take extra care when handling equipment, and making sure the camera is placed on the tripod properly. 

Getting lost/ Traffic

We are filming at multiple locations that we have to use public transport to get to. (2)

• We have to plan our journeys before hand, so we all have directions and know how to get to the desired locations.
• Check the TFL website for any delays/ metro lines being closed. 
• We should go to our filming locations before hand, so we wont get lost on the day of filming. 

Actors not turning up 

The lead role in our title sequence is given to our friend who is not in our group (1)

• We have to make sure she is free and consents to film the shots we want.
• We have an Understudy incase the actress can't make it.

THE PITCH - 12) The Production Schedule - Jessica

THE PITCH - 11) Cinematic Details (Full Storyboard OR Animatic) - Maria

Story Board

THE PITCH - 10) Title Credits - Danielle

As a group we have not decided 100% about the font of the movie title, but I have placed a ‘mood board’ of various similar fonts to purposely give  you an idea of what we are looking for. The two font types which has a red boarder around it are my favourite because it looks as if it has been smeared with blood which is part of our theme.

THE PITCH - 9) Sound Design - Rhianna

When making a title sequence sound is a very important aspect of it. So our group had to plan what type of sound we wanted to accurately capture the mood of the movie. Since we are making a Thriller movie we needed the sound to build up leading the audience to expect something to happen. Her is a rough cut of what we want our title sequence to sound like:


As well as the non diegetic background music playing (from Purple-planet.com) I have also included some of the diegetic sound that you will see on screen. For example; I have included the ambient sound at the beginning of the cars passing by on a street which will accompany the establishing shots of our main character's setting. There are also sounds of her brushing her hair, putting on perfume, walking towards something/someone and then a strangled scream at the end, signalling that someone has died.

The background music from Purple-planet.com called 'Insidious' is a very effective piece to be used in thrillers like ours. It is calm yet eerie in the beginning, alluding to the audience that something is off. This would be very good in our sequence as the audience would see the back of an innocent looking girl who they would not usually suspect anything from. It also picks up in places as if something out of place is shown on screen; in our sequence we plan to have odd elements of a stereotypically sweet girl shown next to her very mundane objects. Towards the end it also picks up dramatically as if there is a spectacular grand finale for the audience which our group planned to have our cute and innocent main character kill another character.

Some of our inspirations for this type of design range from sequences like Insidious, Splice and Nightmare on Elm Street.

Insidious' title sequence uses an effective score. It gradually gets louder and more intricate as it picks up - allowing the created tension to be more prominent to the audience. We want our piece to have the same kin of effect as it creates tension for the audience as we allow the sound to grow and grow until the end point where all we hear is what we can see on screen. In Splice, the title sequence is also effective as the sound included creates the effect that the audience are plunging through something - water. as well of this the sound of the veins being pumped with blood and the constant heart beat prepare the audience for what is coming. Our group wants to do the same and prepare our audience for what is to come at the end of the sequence and the the rest of the movie.

THE PITCH - 8) Mise-en-scene (Props, Costumes, Make-up etc) - Danielle

THE PITCH - 7) Mise-en-scene (Location and Setting) - Jessica

THE PITCH - 6) Audience Detail - Danielle

THE PITCH - 5) Institutional Detail - Rhianna

THE PITCH - 4) Representation - Jessica

THE PITCH - 3) What Genre (or sub-genre) of the Film is it - Danielle

THE PITCH - 2) What Type of Title sequence is it? - Rhianna

Here is our presentation on the type of title sequence we will be creating:

THE PITCH - 1) The Film - Maria

Task 39: Final Storyboard

Task 38: Auditions for Cast

Those who auditioned:

Danielle, circled in yellow, and Rhianna, circled in green, did not audition.

Maria, circled in red, auditioned for the part of the victim, and I, circled in orange, auditioned for the part of the murderer. Although we felt that we fit the conventions of the psychological thriller characters well, we decided not to use members of the group as we wanted to be involved in the camera, lighting and directing roles. We thought that acting may distract us from this.

Instead, we looked to finding actors from outside our group. We auditioned Emily, circled in light blue, for the part of the murderer, and Stevie, circled in dark blue, for the part of the victim. We felt that they both fit their parts well, and were also able to act. Lastly and most importantly, they were available to film when we needed them to.

Task 37: Complete Draft Production Schedule

Here is our draft production schedule for our filming. We tried our best to plan times where all (or most) of us would be free to film. We also planned out how long we would need to have for filming each part and plan what days those would be best filmed.

 

Task 36: Mise-En-Scene Decisions

LOCATIONS

• Camden Town
• Maria's bedroom
• Alleyway in Elia Street

COSTUMES

Murderer - casual clothing e.g. jeans and a jumper. This will support the casual feel that we are trying to create with her character.

Victim - Revealing clothing such as a cropped top. Paired with high heels which will indicate the audience to her provocative character.

MAIN PROPS

• Playing card 
• Hair Bow
• Makeup 
• Vinyl player
• Stalker board

STALKER BOARD

In our title sequence, we are going to introduce the murderer in her room. It looks normal at first, until we see things such as poison, knives, and lastly, the stalker board.

To prepare for this, I (Jessica) went out on a number of different days and took "stalker" pictures of the actor playing the victim. These images are shown below.

When we got to our location to film on Monday 30th of November, Rhianna and Danielle put the stalker board together. They pinned pictures, maps, and train tickets to the board and connected these things with red string. They also drew over some of the pictures e.g. they scribbled over the faces of girls to make the murderer seem even more crazed and obsessive. The image below shows the final product, which was then hung on Maria's wall and became a part of the setting.

35. Final title credits

Here is the specific order of how we will order our title's in our title sequence:                                                     

Order of titles

Distribution company ident

Production company ident

Distribution company title

Production company title

Actor 1

Actor 2

Actor 3

Actor 4

Actor 5

Casting by

Music supervised by

Music by

Production designer

Editor

Director of photography

Producer

Executive producer

Title of film

Written by

Directed by

 

We have chosen this order because it is conventional to see it in this order in normal films. However we have chosen to place our film title near the end of our sequence because this is where the tension will build up, making our title more rememberable. 

35. Final Title Credits

Here is the final order of titles for our title sequence. Along with this list are some example of the types of fonts we wish to use for our credits.

Order of titles

Distribution company ident

Production company ident

Distribution company title

Production company title

Actor 1

Actor 2

Actor 3

Actor 4

Actor 5

Casting by

Music supervised by

Music by

Production designer

Editor

Director of photography

Producer

Executive producer

Title of film

Written by

Directed by

We plan to challenge normal conventions for titles by having the name of our film come towards the end. Our group have decided that it would be more effective to have our title appear when our killer is killing, as the audience will remember the name of the film and its relevance.

Examples of fonts 

We wanted to use these type fonts, particularly the ones boarded in red as it looks like smeared blood, which matches our thriller genre very well. As we plan to have a female killer it would be the best suited.

34. Rough Storyborad For Title Sequence

Before creating our title sequence, our group needed to have a clear plan on what shots would go where and the order of the titles in the sequence. Here is the rough draft of our storyboard drawn by Maria.

Here you can see the range of shots we plan to use, such as close-ups, medium shots and long shots. We also plan to use different angles along with those to make it look more interesting and not one-leveled. Certain shots used with the close-ups help focus on specific parts of the mise-en-scene. For example in the first picture in the fourth box we want to use a close-up to focus on the objects in the killer's draw (weapons and beauty products). The focus will allow our audience realise that there is something off or wrong with this seemingly sweet and innocent-looking character.

This storyboard will also allow us to know what sound these shots need. In the third box in the first picture my group and I will understand that we will need the sound effect of a spraying perfume bottle. We know that sound is just as important as the visual so our storyboard will help us keep note of that.

Our titles in this sequence do not stray far from the conventional order found in typical movies like 'The Stepfather'. However the one thing unconventional is that the title comes towards the end rather than the beginning. This will have our audience remember our film name and how it fits in in this sequence.

This is only a draft of our plan and we expect there to be a few changes when we come to our final storyboard. However they should stay along the same lines as this original draft.

33. Brading Our Blog

When creating this blog, our group needed to make it representative of our idea for our title sequence. It needed to match the genre (which is thriller) and overall tone of it which is quite dark.

At first we had kept it simple and had splattered blood as the background of this blog. This was to connote and reflect murder, easy for the audience to understand. However it was too simple and generic, making the blog look weird.

Then we had changed it to our current background which is our our 'Stalker board'. This is the board we are planning to use in our actual title sequence and I think it looks really good. We feel that it is very reflective our our group and our genre, which was our aim from the beginning.It still is quite simple but it looks more interesting and not basic.

Task 35: Final Title Credits

Task 34: Rough Storyboard

Task 33: Branding Our Blog

The background of our blog had previously been a default, plain background that included flowers. The writing on our blog was also pale pink. When we had decided on our genre we changed the background to white with bright red blood splatters.

We did not think this really reflected our film, so we changed the background again to what it is now: a picture of the stalker board used in our title sequence. By using this image, our blog feels more personal and relevant to our film.




Lastly, we changed the writing to a dark red colour. Firstly because it would not clash with the background. Secondly because we wanted a dark colour to match the dark theme of our title sequence.

Blogging Health Check 2

This is my second blogging health check to see how I am progressing through this course. From this current target sheet as seen above I have made major improvement since the last check as before my working grade was a D and now it is a B.

I have learnt to embed codes as seen from blog posts 3 and 9:

I have used a wide variety of technology in my blog posts, using different presentations sites, videos and images throughout my blog to make it more attractive and more interesting. In my health check review I have completed many tasks well, however I still have some improvements to make. I need to use more terminology in my analysis, to have some real audience research when planning the title sequence and to have good ideas for the soundscape.

Overall I think that have have improved very well since my last check.

Health check 2

Health Check 2

I am improving in my blogging, but i need to make it more constant, and keep all my post in order. I need to put more work into sound, and vlog more, in order to keep my blog more interesting and interactive. I also need to catch up on some post, but in general my blog is up to a good standard. I managed to complete some of the targets from the last blog check, like using different types of media. 

Blogging Health Check 2

This second health check has shown that I am still at a grade B, but with an improved mark of 15. Hopefully I can follow the comments given to me so I can achieve my personal target grade, which is an A.

In order to improve, I need to put my blogs into a logical order and make sure that they are numbered. I also need to finish any unfinished blogs e.g. task 29. Lastly, I need to make sure that I am up to date with all of my blogs.

UPDATE - CHANGE IN GENRE

After much research, we have decided to change our genre from horror to psychological thriller. We feel that our story and main character are much more conventional of psychological thrillers.

32. Our Studio Distributor (Part 2)

D.R.A.G.O.N. INC.

As part of this production we needed to make a logo using onlinelogomaker.com:

This is our company's logo which we then added on Adobe After Effects to create the animation for our company. We feel that our logo represents us as an independent film distributor and works well with the type of content we would like to release.

Task 32 (Part 1): Which institution/studio will distribute my film?

TASK ONE

The Conjuring:

distribution companies from jessicanevin

Dead Silence:

DISTRIBUTION COMPANIES from jessicanevin

32. Distribution companies (Part 1)

*insert emaze presentation*

31. Final Ideas

Since the beginning of our research and planning, our group have set on creating a horror film. We felt that this genre had many stereotypical conventions for us to recreate and make a good narrative.

However, whilst planning our actual title sequence we found that our group would be better suited in making a thriller instead. This was mainly because our narrative did not make much sense as we had planned to make our victim supernatural. As most successful horror films use elements from the supernatural or fantasy we tried hard to come up with a clear narrative but were unable to. This led us to the decision of making a thriller rather than a horror. Instead of playing on the audiences paranormal fear, it will be solely up to us to build up the tension, suspense and excitement for our audience and their emotions. I believe that this change does not stray far from our original idea as usually horror films have elements of thriller, making it their sub-genre.

Overall, I am very comfortable with this change of genre and believe we will be successful in creating a good tile sequence.

Task 34: Rough story board

First basic draft of the story board and shot list 

Second draft 

Third darft with changes to the plot 

Playing around with how the final product will look:

Heavy duty cartridge paper, with black inked pen. Then using water colour paints, and smudging the ink to created the coloured version.