Rough cut - Miss Georgiou

Rough cut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0NWTiw5BU7A

Audience feedback is important to a production as it allows producers to find out what needs to be improved on within their film. Producers do not want bad reviews of their films as this may put off potential audience from watching it. Ultimately, the audience is the reason behind the making of a film and so it is important that they enjoy what they watch. Producers will want their audience to recommend their film to other potential viewers which will help to build up the film reputation and result in more money being made.

There were various ways in which we received audience feedback from our target audience, the first being through asking a questionnaire that we had created to 40 people from our target audience age group. The purpose of the questionnaire was to get a better idea of what they wanted to see in a thriller film so we could analyse our group narrative and storyboard that we had already created to see if it incorporated any of the popular opinions from the questionnaire. We then made Vox Pops of three people who had answered our questionnaire to achieve more detailed answers for what our target audience feel and know about the thriller genre and to prove that the rest of our results are accurate and that we had asked those 40 people ourselves. Another way in which we received feedback from our target audience was by showing our sequence to our class and then them telling us verbally what they liked and what we could improve on. One point of improvement that was made was that our title appeared too early on in the sequence and should be moved to after the mother had been killed. That way the music would play after the mother had been killed and then again at the end of the sequence when the audience can see the antagonist following his girlfriend. The music could be used to represent his dangerous side and indicate to the audience that he is going to kill his girlfriend as well. We made this improvement to our sequence that same lesson as we agreed that it looked better in its new position. The final way in which we received audience feedback was by uploading our sequence to YouTube and asking viewers to leave comments to tell us what they thought about our sequence; what they liked and what they felt we could improve on. These could be the opinions of complete strangers who would be brutally honest about what they think. This feedback would benefit our production as we would be able to change some aspects of our opening sequence to appeal to our target audience and show them what they want to see in a thriller film. It would also benefit the film industry as if the film is collecting better reviews from its target audience, it is likely to result in more people wanting to watch the film and therefore the film industry will make more money.

Firstly, a positive comment that we received about the rough cut of our opening sequence was that our narrative was interesting and well thought through which made the opening sequence more engaging to watch. As a group we spent a lot of time trying to think of a narrative that would be different to all of the other groups. For example, the flashback at the beginning of our sequence and the 3 different change in locations, we felt would make the sequence more interesting to watch. Another positive comment was that the transitions between our shots work well which helps to create a consistent flow of the opening sequence. As a group, we wanted for our sequence to be smooth from the beginning to the end which would make it easier for the audience to watch so they could focus solely on the narrative. Finally, another positive comment was that our use of low key lighting and sounds within the opening sequence helped to build up tension. Low key lighting was used in all of the other thriller films that we had looked at and analysed due to it being a good way to create an eerie atmosphere which would build tension as it could foreshadow when something bad was going to happen. We also wanted to make the sounds that we used as realistic as possible which meant that they would have to be heard on screen at the right time.

Firstly, a common constructive comment was that our credits did not appear on screen for long enough, therefore they could not see who was what role in the production of our opening sequence. When we were creating the sequence, we wanted the forename to appear first and then disappear just before the surname appeared. We may have made their appearances too quick due to the fact that our sequence is only 2 minutes long, however, after seeing these comments and then watching the sequence back, we have enough of the sequence without any credits to make the credits we do have longer.

Another constructive comment was that we could use a darker filter when Morgan is hanging himself at the beginning of the opening sequence in order to make the feel of the scene more dark and morbid. Our group will be able to intensify the edit that we have already put onto the frames during the suicide scene to make it appear more low key.


Finally, it was suggested that we could have used a light, background music at the beginning of our sequence that could build up throughout which would help us to highlight and emphasise when something dangerous is going to happen. I think that this is a good idea that will help us to build up suspense within the sequence as the change in volume will indicate to the audience that something is about to happen but they won't know what.

After reading over the comments on our opening sequence, we have identified some changes that we will need to make on our opening sequence. Firstly, we will need to extend the amount of time that the credits appear on the screen to allow the audience to see who was involved in the production of the sequence and to fully appreciate their work.

Another change that we will need to make on our opening sequence is making the low key lighting when Morgan is hanging himself more intense to make the scene more dark and serious. We can do this by using one of the darker edits provided by the Movie Pro application.

Also, it was suggested that we should have used a light, background sound at the beginning of the sequence that could gradually build up as the sequence went on. At the moment we have a low, drone sound that plays throughout the entire sequence to ensure that there are no moments of silence. However, to improve on the comment we could possibly begin to make the sound louder as the sequence goes on or when the suicide, murder or final scene take place.

Risk assessment - Miss Georgiou

Risk assessment

A risk assessment is looking over what we are going to need to do in order to film our opening sequence and then identifying whether there is anything within the production that may cause harm to members of the group and how to prevent that from happening. When we are filming, we must always be aware of the potential risks that our production has. In our group we discussed and then made a list of the biggest risks that we felt our production had, and then continued our discussion on ways in which we could prevent them from happening.

 

The risks that we came up with were:

Two of the biggest risks our group identified involved the iconography in our sequence. For starters, we planned for the antagonist to kill his mother using a knife, which is dangerous due to the possibility that someone may get cut. The actors will have to stand close to and hold the knife in order to make the sequence look more realistic and shocking. A way for our group to prevent anything from happening, we will make sure that there is always a space between the actors and the sharp end of the knife. Also, by filming the shot from different angles we can decide during the editing stage which piece of footage looks more realistic and flows best with the rest of the sequence. The second piece of iconography that is a risk for our group during the filming process is the rope. This will appear in the suicide scene at the very beginning of the sequence when the antagonist ties it around his neck in the build up to his death. The rope could potentially be too tight around his neck which would result in the actor feeling uncomfortable or lacking breath. In order to prevent this from happening we will need to make sure that the rope is only loosely tied around his neck, but that the camera is positioned in a way that makes it appear tighter. Also, we will make sure that the chair he is standing on is stable, therefore reducing his chances of falling off. When it came to filming, we agreed that instead of using an actual rope, we would use a black scarf that looks similar to a rope but is much more comfortable.

We realised that another potential risk in our production are the props and objects in the frames that the actors or people behind the camera could potentially fall over or that could get in the way of the camera. A way to prevent this from happening would be to make sure there is always a space for the actors and cameraman to move around, and that the only objects in the frame are ones that we plan on using.

When we are filming our final frames we will need to stand near the road side which means that there will be cars around us. There are obvious risks of being around cars, so in order to prevent anything dangerous from happening we will need to make sure that we are more aware of our surroundings at all times, especially when we are trying to focus on the filming. On the other hand, we could try to film at times or in areas where there will be less cars on the road. We made a late decision to film on a quiet road near the school that both people and cars rarely came down. This meant that there were little disruptions for our group and therefore we could get the filming done quicker.

There were some risks in our production that our group faced while we were filming that we had not predicted we would encounter. For example, on our final day of filming outside, the weather was really bad which meant we had to be careful not to damage the camera or the tripod in the rain. We managed to cover the equipment by using our umbrellas but it was still difficult to keep the equipment stable.

Production Roles - Miss Miller

Production Roles

When creating a film, there are people who are allocated specific roles in order to share the pressure around as one person alone would not be able to handle it and consequently, the finished production may not be as good as it could have been. The main roles within the filming production are:

A producer is someone who has overall control on every aspect of a film's production. A director is someone who directs the making of a film. The actors job is to bring the characters and narrative to life. The director of photography, sometimes referred to as the cameraman is in complete control of the camera. The music producer has the role of selecting appropriate songs and sounds for the film to match the footage. An editor is someone who puts the finalised footage together by taking out any mistakes made while filming, or adding effects over the footage. The screenplay writer will create the script for the film which is dictating what the actors are going to say. Finally, the Mise-en-scene Coordinator is someone who decides which sound, lighting, costume and iconography elements should be used in the film.

Producer (Production names)

As a group we created our production name GoButson, but the idea came from Jake Butler who thought it would be more personal if we were to join all of our surnames together. Together as a group we agreed on the order that the names of the people involved in making the film will appear on the screen during our opening sequence. Usually they are shown in order of appearance or importance.

Directors
For the directors of our opening sequence, Molly and I were chosen due to our strong leadership skills and our ability to give direction to the actors and other group members. Also, together we had similar visual ideas for how we wanted our opening sequence to look and so it would be easier to work together to finish filming our sequence. We are responsible for making sure that our other group members and the actors that are helping out know what to do and how the sequence needs to look. Within our role we have set up times and places for us all to meet in order to film or editing our footage. Also, we have made sure that we had all of the equipment that we would need to film, mainly the camera, SIM card and camera tripod. This makes the filming and editing easy as without any footage there would be nothing for us to edit, and so the directors make sure that we have everything that we need in order to film on the days that we had decided to.

Actors

Most of the actors in our opening sequence come from outside of our immediate media group, excluding Molly Emmerson. Our antagonist Cameron will be portrayed by Morgan Brown, who we chose to be an actor in our film due to his passion for acting and his experience from taking drama at a GCSE level. Similarly, we chose Grace Wingrove to play the mother in our production as she is very passionate about acting, and she and Morgan get along well together and so we believed it would be easier for them to act together. The actors are responsible for bringing our group narrative and ideas to life, which means they have to turn up whenever we have planned to film and learn any lines that they we needed them to say during the scene. Without the actors there would be nothing for us to film or edit that an audience will relate to, therefore actors are one of the most important aspects of the filmmaking process.

Director of photography

I was allocated the role of director of photography (cameraman) for our group due to my experience from filming family events, and my passion for photography and film. I am therefore responsible for making sure that the camera and SIM card are present on days that we have planned to film, and also making sure that what we have recorded follows the group storyboard that we had created together. Throughout the filming process, I had to make sure our group completed the filming of our sequence within the time frame set, which therefore meant that I had to make sure all of our actors knew what dates and places we were meeting to film, and find a time that suited all four members involved. Having this job ensured that we would have a camera at all times and would be able to follow our filming schedule previously planned.

Music producers

Due to our various tastes in music, we decided that all three of us would work together to produce the soundtrack for our sequence. Jake Butler enjoys listening to rap music, Molly Emmerson prefers pop music, and I like indie, acoustic styles of music which means that collectively we will have an understanding for what music will work best in our sequence. We are all responsible for giving input towards the sounds within our sequence, where they will appear and the volume that they will be. This will make our filming and editing easier as we would have a better understanding of what sounds would work well alongside the footage. Also, the editing process won't take as long to finish if, as a group we already know what we want to do.

 

Screenplay writer

Jake Butler was chosen to be the screenplay writer for our group as he is studying English at A level therefore he would have a better understanding of appropriate things the characters can say that will fit in with the sequence and genre. When our group actually filmed, the script that we used was made up on the day and changed depending on how much time in our sequence it would take up. For example, during the dinner scene, instead of having a conversation, Grace was the only one who spoke. By doing this we would be able to show the audience that she is overpowering and annoying. This role should have made the filming easier as the actors would know what they were going to say before we started filming. This would mean we could finish the filming much faster and therefore spend more time editing our sequence. It would also give us more time to decide whether there were any parts of the sequence that we would need to film again if it did not flow or look good. For example, we had to re-film the frame at the beginning of the sequence where the audience see the antagonist walking through a door which closes behind him. Due to the first door we used having our school logo and pictures about the school on it, we decided it would be best to use a different door.

MES Co-ordinator

Jake Butler was allocated the role of Mise-en-scene coordinator due to his experience from taking media studies at a GCSE level and his understanding of what elements group together to make up Mise-en-scene. For this role, Jake Butler had to understand what elements of Mise-en-scene are conventional to the thriller genre and why, this would make our group planning and storyboard easier to complete as we would already have an idea of what we were going to incorporate and where it would be seen.

Editor

As a group we decided that Molly would be the lead editor within our group due to her editing experience from taking media studies at a GCSE level. She has also edited other short sequences that she has made in previous years which gave her the knowledge to guide the rest of our group on what to do. We filmed the same frame several times to give us more options when it came to the editing stage. As a group we had to decide which piece of footage we thought looked best, and then Molly would crop and place it accordingly. This will make the filming easier as we would be less worried about making mistakes, such as laughing while we're filming as the editor would be able to add in sound over the noise, or crop the footage down in order to cut out the mistakes.
 

As a producer, Jake came up with the idea to incorporate all of our group member names into the production name to make it more person and to make the film easily identifiable as ours. In the end, our group had no need for a screenplay writer as we improvised what characters lines while we were filming. If we were to redo our sequence, we could have spent more time deciding what the characters were going to say before we began to film. Jake provided the group with ideas for what Mise-en-scene elements to use in our sequence, but overall it was more of a group effort. To improve, Jake would have needed to input more of his own ideas into the overall process and take on bigger responsibilities, such as being in charge of iconography or making sure the tripod was present during every filming session. As a director, Molly was able to instruct the actors on what to do and suggest ideas as to where the camera should be placed. As an actor she managed to remember her lines and where she needed to stand in relation to the camera and other characters in the frame. As lead editor she involved all of the group members in the decision making in order to make sure that we were all happy with the final product of our sequence. I believe that with my allocated roles I completed them to the best of my abilities, and that as a group we were able to help each other out and work together in order to finish our opening sequence.

Opening Scene Narrative - Miss Miller

Opening Scene Narrative

The opening scene narrative is a detailed description of the plot that our group has created for the beginning of our thriller film. Our opening sequence is approximately 2 minutes and 20 seconds long.

At the very beginning of the sequence, we will use a long shot to show the audience our antagonist, Cameron, dragging a chair behind him through the school corridor, with a rope hung over his shoulder. The chair and rope are the most important pieces of iconography that we will use during the frames that are set in the school, as they both represent and foreshadow the way in which the antagonist is going to die. The audience will be able to hear the sound of the chair being dragged across the floor, which we hope will irritate them and help us to prolong the sequence. The lighting in the frames will come from the windows around him and therefore will be natural looking. The body language of the character will be almost confident looking to show the audience that he knows exactly what he is going to do. This frame will then switch into a medium shot that will show a side view of the antagonists legs. The same emphasised sound of the chair being dragged will continue, but now it will be joined by a low, eerie sound that becomes louder the closer he gets to his death. We then plan on showing the audience the back of the antagonist as he walks through a white door that leads to the underneath of a staircase where the suicide frames will finish. The audience will hear the clicking sound of the door as the character opens it, and then a creaking sound as it begins to close. We will use a darker edit to make the lighting appear more low key. This frame will flow into a close up of the antagonists hands as he ties the rope around the metal bar underneath the staircase, which will appear dusty and damp. The sound of the rope being tied will be accompanied by a low, droning sound. The legs of the antagonist will then be seen as a medium shot as he climbs onto the chair and begins to tie the rope around his neck, although the audience will not be able to see this it will be implied. The first time the audience will see the antagonists face will be when he has tied the rope around his neck and is about to jump off the chair. He will be wearing a white shirt and his make up will cause his face to appear pale and his eyes sleep deprived. The camera will start as a close up which gradually zooms out into a medium shot to give the audience a bigger view of the rope around his neck and the chair that he is standing on. The shot will be silent as it will help us to emphasise the sound of the chair hitting the floor after he has jumped. We will then use a medium shot to show his legs dangling in the air and the chair pushed away behind him. In the editing stage, we will slow this frame down to make it appear as though he is struggling. All throughout the suicide frames, we plan on using edits to emphasise the low key lighting and the dull, droning sound to prevent any moments of complete silence. The actor will be wearing white but the audience will never see a full body image of him.

After the screen has faded to black, the location of the sequence will change and we will begin to show the audience the build up of events that led to the suicide at the start of the sequence. The first shot is a long shot of the antagonist and his mother as they sit at the dining table eating dinner in their house; the audience will see both characters from the side on. The iconography in the scene will be the plates and cutlery on the table, the most important being the knife as this will be the weapon that Cameron uses to kill his mother. The lighting is natural which will give the scene a relaxed and homely feel to it, similar to the sounds in the scene of the pair of them eating and talking quietly together. The sound of the mothers dialogue will gradually increase as the scene goes on, and the audience will become aware that she is nagging her son with questions about his medication and therapy sessions. The shot will then change into a point of view from Cameron's perspective, he will be wearing a black jumper which will contrast the white shirt that his mother will be wearing. The sound of the mother's dialogue will be droned out to make her speech longer and more slurred. The mother will be wearing a white blouse with her hair covered in white powder and tied into a messy bun to make her appear older. The shot will then quickly fade into a close up of a knife that Cameron is scraping across the table, accompanied by the change in lighting from natural to low key. We will zoom out from the close up to a medium shot of Cameron sitting at the table, still holding the knife in his hand. The audience will get a better view of his facial expressions and his feelings towards his mother. As Cameron begins to launch across the table at his mother with the knife, the camera will change to a point of view (POV) shot to show the audience the same thing that Cameron can. The camera will focus more on the mothers facial expressions and her horror at what her son is doing. The sound of the mother screaming and the knife cutting her skin will be emphasised, and the lighting will remain low key to emphasise how dark the events in the scene are. The time between each of the frames will be sped up during the editing stage. Following the medium shot of the mother struggling on the floor with her son kneeling over her with the knife in his hand, the title of our film with be shown on the screen along with the song "tiptoe through the tulips". We will cover some areas of the mother's top and body with fake blood in the final frame to make the stabbing look more realistic.

The screen, after fading to black will then show the audience the final location in our opening sequence, which will be a bus stop on the road side. The final character featured in the sequence, Harmony, will be introduced through the use of a close up of her legs as she walks towards the bus stop. The lighting will be natural due to it being set in the day time, and it will remain the same throughout the rest of our opening sequence. The camera will then change into a medium shot of her face, which will be closely followed by the sound of her phone ringing which we will add in during the editing stage to accompany the action of her taking the phone out of her pocket. This on screen sound and the diegetic sound of the dialogue exchanged between Harmony and Cameron over the phone will be the most significant. As she answers the phone by saying "Cameron?", the camera will zoom in closer to her face as she awaits his reply. The audience will then hear the voiceover of Cameron saying "I can see you", and then the camera will begin to move in a panning motion, to look as if Harmony is searching around for Cameron. She will reply with "where are you?" which he will follow with "Cameron isn't here anymore". All of the speech from Cameron will be recorded after the filming and then added over the footage during the editing stage. Harmony will finish the conversation by saying "what are you talking about?" before beginning to walk away from where she was standing until she is fully out of the camera shot, which will reveal Cameron standing a few feet behind her. We will then begin to play "tiptoe through the tulips" which we played once before after the death of the mother while the title of our film was being shown. The song, along with the image of Cameron walking away on the screen will face to black, signalling that our opening sequence has finished. There will be a low, dull sound that is constant throughout the entire sequence to ensure that there are so silent moments.