PLANNING: SHOT TYPES

Today in class we decided to investigate different shot types that would be effective in our opening. We decided to create different scenes that may happen in our opening and observe which camera angles worked best.

 This two person mid shot is effective as we can see the whole surroundings. We see the woman convincing herself not to touch the girl even though she is desperate to. The shot is wide enough for the viewers to see what is going on.

 

 The worms eye view shot is effective as it shows that the woman is superior to the young, innocent child and that the woman is a lot stronger than the child. It would give a thrill to the audience as the notice the strength that the woman has over this child. 

This two person wide shot enables the viewers to see what the child is doing. They are drawing as the woman watches over her. This shows that the woman craves she had a child like this.

PLANNING: SOUNDTRACK

I researched for an effective soundtrack that would create suspense and enigma in our thriller film opening. I chose to research on YouTube, Spotify and Royalty Free Music, however it was difficult to find suitable Thriller music that would fit with our opening.

On YouTube I searched different things for example Thriller film music, thriller instrumental music and thriller background music. I found a variety of different tracks for this research. The first one that I liked can be heard here. I liked this one as it was more of a thriller track rather than horror. It is not too loud of upbeat however has instruments such as the piano playing which creates suspense. Another one that I liked can be heard here. I like this one as it still uses a piano which creates jeopardy as it speeds up and slows done. It yet again not too loud on the audience as the piece would flow well with the video since there is no sharp noises for example a drum. 

PLANNING: THE DOLL

The main prop that we will be using is an old doll. It looks very real and authentic yet at the same time it is extremely chilling as the eyes move back and fourth. We are going to use this as the main doll in our opening as she is a suitable size as well as looking quite life like.

PLANNING G321: CAMERAWORK

In our lesson today we made sure that we create key thriller codes and conventions such as  jeopardy and enigma, using a variety of camera movements, angles and shot types.

RESEARCH: USER PROFILE

Target Audience: 
I made an audience profile on who we think our target audience would be. This is the target market that our film would be appealing to. Our film would be competing to get these people to watch our film rather than anyone else's. We think our target audience are male and female between the ages of 15-40. The reason that both genders are able to watch this is because it is a psychological thriller rather than a gruesome one. The social group of people that our film would be targeted at are students. They are interested in psychological films and television series and issues to do with psychology.

Clothes: Topshop, Asos, Urban Outiftters, Superdry, Topman, Vans, Converse, Toms.

Restaurants: Nandos, KFC, Wagammas, Creams, Subway.

Films: Taken, Gravity, Hunger Games: Catching Fire,

TV: Suits, Zen, Criminal Minds, CSI, The Following, Poirot, Breaking Bad, Dexter.

Technology: iPad, Android Phone, Xbox, PS3, Netflix, Twitter, Instagram.

Games: Call of Duty, FIFA, Battlefields.

Music: The Vaccines, Mumford and Sons, The 1975, Alt-J, Artic Monkeys, Bombay Bicycle Club.

We decided that we would make a audience profile like NME had as it included text and images. We did this on Photoshop as we had used this before therefore it was an easy task.

RESEARCH: WAR PHOTOGRAPHERS

I also made an Animoto to collate and present a few really influential War images. These images show the trauma that these war photographers see everyday, the only difference is it is happening right in front of them. These images really explain why war photographers do end up being so influenced by what they see and why this may lead to depression and alcoholism.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY ANIMOTO

RESEARCH: FILM DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION

Today I looked into how our film would be distributed. We looked on the FDA website which gave a step to step guide of how you would distribute your film to get as many people to watch it in the opening weekend which decides its success. You must make sure that the marketing campaign is as successful as possible and that your film stands out from other films that are available at the time. The video that informed us of what happens in the professional world of film can be seen here.

The video that we watched gave us tips on things such as how the smallest advertisement can be successful. David Willings (CEO, Miracle Media Group) explains how people are constantly bombarded with different advertisements even if it is just for three seconds it can be successful.

David Willings also explains that the trailer is probably the most important part of selling the film however it is only one element and there are many other important factors to selling the film. He explains that synergy is important as it is something that is associated with the film. For example Stuart Williams (Deputy managing director and marketing director, Sony Pictures Releasing) uses Spider Man as an example as the font is the same in every film, it "works around the world" he explains. This is one way of selling a film: getting people to make the connection between films. There are three different trailers: the teaser, the TV spot trailer and the official trailer. These all do different things and are different lengths. It is explained that a good trailer shouldn't need to have any explanation to it and should also classify the genre of the film. For example thrillers tend to have less voice overs. I will take this into account when making my opening.

The poster that we see in the cinema, on the internet, in newspapers and around our town is an important part in the campaign. Robin Behling (FEREF) says that the poster should instantly show the genre of the film so that audiences know straight away what the film is about as this is normally the first look people will have of the movie.

Multimedia is also a key factor of the campaign. This is the internet and different things that we can do on it. For example a film may have a game, video, a gallery and an interview which interacts the audience before the film even comes out. I will make sure that we include an official website with our film and also make social media pages for it such as Facebook and Twitter so that the film goes viral. The facebook page has nine million followers.






The opening weekend of a film is crucial. This is a three day figure which is of your opening day which is normally on a friday. Your film has to have been successful by Monday and made more money than any film in that cinema. The results of this all depends on the success of the campaign as it is what will be attracting audiences.

RESEARCH: WAR PHOTOGRAPHERS

After deciding the job of the protagonist we have come to the conclusion that she is going to be a war photographer. The reason that we have decided this is because of the effects it has on people: watching this trauma going on can have horrific consequences. For example the most common impact on women war photographers is PTSD, depression and alcoholism. We feel that this is also a good job for Susan to have as it could be a reason for her aggressive outburst and kidnapping.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY PINTEREST ON WAR PHOTOGRAPHERS

Here I have taken some screenshots from some well known war photography:

PLANNING: NEW STORYBOARD

We decided to make another storyboard, this is because we felt we needed one which was more in depth, we also have added some new ideas to our new storyboard which we would like to use in our opening.

PLANNING: STORYBOARD

Today we created a storyboard so we know what is happening throughout our opening so each scene is clear.

RESEARCH: PHOTOGRAPHERS AND JOURNALISTS

After deciding that we should develop the protagonist role we decided that her name would be Susan March and her job should be a photographer or journalist. There are many women who are photographers and journalists. We think that this would be a good job for her to have because it shows she is interested in current affairs.

RESEARCH: MAKING A SCOOP IT

Today I made a Scoop It. This is a new way to collect and collate information from online and have it all in one place. I find this useful as then all my information is in one place online and I can see it all simply. This is also new technology which enables me to use other technologies when doing my work.

I researched other Psychological Thriller openings on Scoop It and found very little that would help me. Therefore I Scooped my own posts from other websites for example You Tubes of film trailers and Rotten Tomatoes reviews on what critics liked. This means that my videos and reviews of other professional films are all in one place. I find this a lot more simple than having everything all over the place. You can see screenshots of my Scoop It below or click here to view it.

RESEARCH: CHILD ABDUCTIONS

I have decided to look into child abduction cases which show that the ideas we have had could actually happen. When typing into google "little girl snatched" the amount of pages that came up were incredible. The amount of kidnappings that happen all around the world is horrific. This suggests that what happens in our story could actually happen.

One well known case is the Madeline McCann case which has been in the public eye for years now. This is one example of where we do not know what has happened to the child that has been abducted.

PLANNING: INITIAL IDEAS

We would like to work with the codes of enigma and suspense. Our openings begins with a woman in a hospital who has just received news that she cannot have children. This causes her to become mentally unstable. You see her watching programmes on mothers and reading books on children such as child names books. This creates enigma as we have just found out she cannot have children. We then see the reason for her actions is her obsession with dolls and young children due to trauma that she has seen at war due to her being a war photographer. We then see her reveal a doll from an old suitcase. She treats the doll like a child which is not the behavior of a mentally stable person. We then end the sequence with the woman in a park watching the other children. She then snatches one of the young children that resemble the doll and we see her walking off with this child.

We have chosen to do this as it is not a typical film that would be made by people that are given the same task as me: youngsters running through the woods with knives, however it is a film opening that would create suspense and enigma as we do not know what this woman is going to do now that she has kidnapped this child. The reason that we came up with the idea of the doll is because it is something that has been used before for example films such as Chucky (1988, Tom Holland) however not in this way. We think that creating this opening sequence will bring new ideas into the film industry.

I have written a formal treatment about our ideas: 

• Our film will start in a doctors office
• There will be a woman who is clearly nervous: shaking her foot
• A doctor comes out whilst there is a voice over of him
• She then seems angry and gets up
• Then she leaves the office 
• She leaves and goes home
• She rummages through old images
• They are of war photography
• She then rips up an image of a child
• She throws the pieces on the floor
• Then gets down on her knees and holds the images in agony 
• She watches a child with a toy
• Then goes to an old suitcase
• A doll is revealed
• There is a montage of images of her and the doll
• She treats the doll in a human way 
• She is in the park watching the previously seen child play
• The child is on the swing
• Her mother walks off 
• The protagonist begins to push the child due to her mothers absence
• The mother and child go home as the mother is startled
• There are clear camera movements indicating the woman is following the mother and daughter home
• The woman bribes the child when she is alone
• She kidnaps the child
• The end shot is of the child's toy which is now not with the child indicating danger

RESEARCH: EXISTING FILM THRILLERS

I researched psychological thriller films to find films that are similar to mine. I began looking at The Machinist which is about a man who has insomnia.

The use of this shot from The Machinist (Brad Anderson,2004), is that it forces the viewer to look at the post it note. As he leans down to look at it we become eager to see what he is looking at. I could use shots in my thriller opening to make the viewer look at what the point of the shot is rather than just put the camera on it.

This screenshot is from a film called The Experiment (Paul Sheuring, 2010). I like this shot as it is as if they are being watched and recorded on a camera. This enables us to know that what is about to happen could be significant since not only the views are watching but the people in the world of the film also are. 

This shot is from Black Swan (Darren Oronofsky, 2010.) I think this shot is effective as it is a close up reaction shot and really captures the girls fear. I could use this in my opening sequence.

The above screenshots are both from American Psycho (Mary Harron, 2000) The top one I like as the camera has just tilted down showing a group of weapons that the psycho could use to commit the crime. I like the way that the camera does this to almost show what he is thinking. The second camera angle is effective as the camera is on focus on the man that is about to have some sort of harm done. The use of black gloves suggests he is evil and this
creates suspense as we want to know what happens to the victim.

This image is from We Need to Talk About Kevin (Lynne Ramsay 2011) The reason that I would want to recreate a shot like this is because you can see her in the reflection of the camera. Simple words like this are effective as the audience want to know what it means. Having her reflection in the computer also gives a different view shot. 

RESEARCH: DON'T LOOK NOW

Today we analysed Don't Look Now (Nicholas Roeg, 1973.) Although this is a slightly older thriller in comparison to The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, it is still completely effective in demonstrating thriller codes and conventions.

RESEARCH: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

Today we watched the opening of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (David Fincher,2011.) This is a dark and disturbing opening which portrays key thriller codes.

The opening of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo uses images that are dark and disturbing. For example images of bottomless dark water flowing which connote frightening ideas of drowning. Mixed in with this you have a range of images of the human body; for instance a body that is lying prone which has a metal collar with spikes on it, something that a dog may have. This is year again a disturbing image. The water that flows over this body is nightmarish as it is as if someone is being drowned.

Along with these images there is also a computer keyboard which is an important visual code for this film as it signals the genre and plot. We instantly know this story is going to involve someone who works with computers. In one sequence water gushes out of the mouth of a female figure as if she were vomiting which is a revolting and sickening image. Many of the images are of knotted and twisted forms whether they're human limbs or computer cables. The use of them being twisted is what the film is about. They are tangled in a web which is a metaphor for the story which is a mess although we see it untangle throughout the film.

There is an equally freighting image introduced of fire, which is almost as if someone is being set alight. Which warns the audience that something dangerous is going to happen. We then realise that out suspicion of the body being set alight to, are true as we see the charred remains of the human body. The eyeless skeleton stares into the eyes of the viewer which draws them in to find out what has happened here. We see a creature trying to escape from the flames suggesting that the flames are trying to capture someone in it's heat. This suggests that there is someone so innocent trying to escape from something so violent.

It is clear that if there are sexual relations in the film that they are clearly going to be dark and violent. As we see someone punching a women's face. The fact that they are not wearing clothes suggests that it is a sexual relationship. However the dark themes and images in the opening suggests it will not be romantic yet horrific and frightening as we are in the world of the thriller. 

The opening includes a female face being gagged and blindfolded, as if we are witnessing a glimpse into someone's nightmare world. We see an image of people going to kiss but even this isn't allowed as we see a variety of rapid cuts and the tempo increases with the audiences heart rate. The rapid cuts suggest the restless nightmare that the person is having. Even during this kiss there are images of death. The final part of the opening, which indicates it is something to do with computers is the way that the figures are all computer generated as if they aren't real.

The music includes screams in it suggesting it is clearly a troubled world that the girl lives in which is typical in a thriller film.

RESEARCH: QUANTUM OF SOLICE

I chose this one as everything flows together really well. At the beginning we see Daniel Craig emerge onto the screen with some sort of spot light on him. This instantly tells us who the main character is. We then get the name of him on the screen and then he shoots a bullet. We follow this bullet as it flies through the air, whilst it does this we see various different names come on screen. We end up going back to Daniel Craig as the camera follows him as he is pointing his gun. We follow him as he ends up as a naked female in a sexual position. This opening sequence pretty much sums up what James Bond is about. With the fighting scenes and the scenes that involve women. What I also like is how it is not a real person how ever he has been made on the computer. Everything seems to flow really smoothly and all connects with each other and the character of James Bond. The music at the beginning is the James Bond theme tune but then goes into a woman sining. The words mention 'dying' which is also a main aspect of the James Bond movie. The colours are all the same. There are the same orange and blueish green colours. This shows us that it is quite a dark movie and that it is a action movie as something bad possibly happens according to the colour scheme. 

RESEARCH: JUNO

I looked at the opening sequence for Juno (2007). I really liked this sequence as we follow her as she is walking through the town that she lives in. At first we see her walking as a person with a huge cartoon of orange juice. Suddenly the music gets faster and she walks into a cartoon world. We see her walking through the town as we go past names of people involved with the production of Juno. The fact that she is carrying orange juice is relevant as in the film you constantly see her walking around drinking her carton of orange juice. I also like the sequence as it has a almost funny, upbeat song being played which goes with the whole carton aspect of the film. Because she is a cartoon this also grabs attention as it is different to how most opening sequences would be shown. I think that the fact she is a carton fits into what the film is about. Because it is about a young girl getting pregnant in my opinion it is trying to emphasise how young this girl really is and how she is still only a child. At the end of the sequence she comes out of her cartoon world and back to reality as the movie begins. 

The music is an important part of the sequence as the lyrics of the song sings things like 'sweet honey bee' which tells us what the genre is in a way. It is obviously not some sort of thriller as these are happy songs. I could use the idea of walking through the town where the film is set and there are all the names of the people and directors of the film. The colours are bright and stand out. This also suggests that is a happy film and nothing bad goes on. 

RESEARCH: THRILLER CODES AND CONVENTIONS

Today I researched thriller codes and conventions to find out what made the thriller genre so successful. I decided to collate my findings on a Scoop It which can be seen here.

RESEARCH: DELICATESSEN

Delicatessen (1991) is a French film directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Mac Caro.

Today I began my research on The Art Of The Title. The first sequence that I watched was Delicatessen. This film is a Black Comedy which means that it is meant to be slightly scary humor. This video is extremely useful to me as it shows me how professionals have made their opening sequence and gives me inspiration for mine. The reason that this is an excellent opening sequence is because of the way the camera glides over all the objects. This is useful as it gives the audience an idea of the mise en scene. The objects that are being shown obviously have something to do with the film. Another reason that the opening sequence is successful is because of the titles embedded in the old technologies and props. For example the photographers name has been edited to be placed into the camera. This is successful as it shows the audience why that persons name is being mentioned. This is also done with the person that did costumes as their name is sewn into an old label. This is used for the same reason: for the audience to see what their job is. A further reason for the opening sequence being a success is because we know that we are obviously somewhere dark, muggy and dirty as all of these objects are covered in dust. This also shows the audience that these objects must be old and we are somewhere that is normally used; an attic for example. The final reason that Delicatessen is useful is because the music flows with the objects that are being shown as the camera glides over them. It flows very well however is slightly upbeat to show that there is tension, suspense and enigma. This shows the audience that as everything is dirty it is not obvious the outcome of the film.

Once we learned about this opening sequence and the way the camera glides over all these different objects we decided to make an opening sequence with this idea in mind. We all bought in props to use which were something that looked or was Vietnamese. We bought in different things such as bowls, chopsticks, kimonos and old newspapers so that it looked authentic. We then glided our camera over these objects by hand to get the effect that Delicatessen does. We named our project Cherie because that was the name of the girl in it who is French living in Vietnam. This can be seen here. I  learnt from filming this piece of work that the filming must be up to standard for example we filmed too quickly so we didn't get the richness that we could have done. We also learnt about what titles to use for our opening sequence and the spacing. We had to make sure that we put the titles in a relevant space rather than just throwing them onto the page. I learnt that we must take this into account when filming rather than leaving it last minute, at the editing. 

RESEARCH: THE ART OF THE TITLE

Today I began research of different film openings. The main place that I decided to research was The Art Of The Title. This has hundreds of film openings that can give me inspiration for my film opening. This is my main research to give me ideas and to see how professionals in the business do it. We watched a video named A Brief History Of Title Design. This was a video with many different snippets of opening sequences from The Art Of The Title. This can be seen here.

• One of the videos on here that I liked was the Sherlock Holmes (2009, Guy Ritchie) one. 
• The genre of the film is a crime mystery film.
• I liked this because of the colours that they used as they set the scene. There were sepia tones which are old fashioned. This sets the mise en scene. 
• I also like it as the drawing of the characters are meant to look extremely real. I like the idea of this as if they are drawn people but it looks incredibly real. 
• I could do this in my opening sequence as it makes the whole sequence flow better as the drawing people turn real.

• Another one of the snippets that I liked was Juno (2007 Jason Reitman). 
• The genre of the film is a rom-com. 
• Another reason that I like this is because she is yet again a real person walking in a cartoon world. This is successful as it instantly appeals to the target audience of young people. 
• It is colourful with bright colours such as blue and yellow. 
• The whole area is cartoon like which goes with the style of the titles as they are quite large, cartoon like and young looking. 
• The bright colours and use of cartoon style would appeal to the target audience as it looks fun.

• A third part that I liked the idea of was Saturday Night Fever (1977, John Badham). 
• The genre of the film is drama and music. 
• I liked the way that they used John Travoltas face. This is because he is well known and people like him. If they see that he is almost the face of this film it will encourage people to watch it. This film could appeal to a certain target market: people who are fans of Travolata. 
• The reason that I also like this is because the words of the title itself are fun just like the colour and style of the writing as it is glowing, pink and slightly flowing which goes with the whole disco theme of the film. 
• I also like how the camera pans onto his shoes as the titles walk with him. We get straight into the film as we are tracking him with the title.

• I also liked the look of the Se7en (1995, David Fincher) opening sequence.
• This is an American thriller film. 
•  I like this becuase they are trying to be unique and incorporate the 7 into the title. This would appeal to people as it is unique and original rather than a classic Seven.
• The background is dark, black which demonstrates the genre of the film: thriller.
•  The writing used is white to contrast with the dark background. 
• The font of the title is very different as it is not just block capitals that are bold and filled in. They have some blank gaps where the white colour is missing. 

• A final sequence that I liked the look of from this video was the Series of Unfortunate Events (2004, Brad Silberling.) 
• The genre if this film is action, adventure and it is a family film.
• This is because it is yet again one that looks cartoon like however these cartoon looks exactly like the actors. 
• There are also lots of different shapes in the sequence, which look slightly distorted and aren't neat. This could suggest that the film is not what it seems which is just like the title: unfortunate. 
• All the different, tiny shapes and images used in the opening sequence such as the air balloon with the eye on it are very abstract and are slightly strange. 
• I also like this because it suggests a strange, yet fun, story. 

• In conclusion I have seen lots of different sequences using two different effects on their opening sequences such as the idea of having a fake background and the people are themselves. This appeals to people as it is not just the typical people but there are effects which audiences like. 
• I also have found out that the titles are extremely important. They say so much about the film and the world of the film: the classify the genre and can set the mise en scene.