The final Product

Today we completed the editing. We also added credits and a piece of music to the film. The song we chose was "Feeling Good" by Muse, a cover of the original Nina Simone hit. We felt that this song fitted in well with the piece and added to the overall tension, making the film seem a lot more professional. We wanted the song to come in quite loudly in time with the slow-motion kicking the ball shot, and the tune worked very well for this.

Tomorrow, all that needs to be done is exporting the file into a disc friendly format, burn onto a DVD and add in some title page options for the disc menu. Then we have an extra couple of weeks to test our film onto the target age group, which in this case is 15 years and above. Hopefully they will enjoy watching it as much as we enjoyed making it!!! 

Practise, Practise, Practise!

Today 2/3/09, only half of our group turned up. This meant that we are unable to make real progress yet again. If others in our group are too tide up once more then the simple answer is to kindly ask others to fill in as their role, as we simply do not have enough time to wait around for others.

In light of this me and Tom were able to make a short film in the classroom. This film was very basic but the reason being is so that we could practise editing it on the computers. We gained many new skills and have grown more confident with different transitions and effects and the simple moving around of scenes. The new infomation can be passed onto to the rest of our group and this will hopefully help with the final result.

Storyboard Filming

After making our storyboard we have successfully filmed. There was no need to edit as we filmed it using the times that we decided on during planning.

We may add music to the storyboard but that is yet to be decided...

To add to the storyboard we are going to draw on the back of he A5 sheets more possible angles to shoot from.

Story Board

We have re-done the story boards so they are easier to film and more clear for viewer. This will help us in the filming as we will be able to look back at our notes with a clear picture of what we are trying to achieve.

Possible Set

At the weekend i went down to the local forest and took some pictures as i thought they would be good for the scenes tht we have planned. We have to bear in mind that without the snow the forest will be darker thereforelook better for the planned scenes.

Get Carter

 

The last film we watched was Get Carter. The opening sequence to this film is Michael Cane on a train, while he credits run every time they go through a tunnel as then the writing stands out.

One thing that I like about this film, which I think makes it run smoothly is the soundtrack, the music seems to go with the train sound. This helps the scene to flow.

Another technique that I liked when Michael Cane was in the house, there was no music, this made us think that somebody else could have come out of nowhere, this helped the audience stay on the edge of their seats.

Silence of The Lambs

Another film we watched was the “Silence of the lambs.” This was a very useful film to watch as because it is quite old, most of the things in the film are easy to re-create, unlike Bad boys 2. The first scene the audience does not know what to think as we are immediately put into the middle of some woods, the camera angle adds to the suspense as it seems as though someone is watching her through the trees. However later on we find out it is a training exercise.

Another technique which I liked was the camera following her through the office, this way we see what she’s seeing.

The soundtrack also gives a sense as to how much music can play a major role in thriller films, the only reason we are slightly scared in the forest scene is because of the eerie music, this shows us that just a touch of music can completely change the mood.

 

Bad Boys II

The next film we looked was Bad Boys 2. There were a few things that I picked up which I thought were good ideas. For instance the idea of following something through many stages of manufacture, in this case the cocaine. This had a very good effect and drops you right in the action. I also thought that the camera work was very good as it was very fast and circulated around the main subject well, this also helped to tell the story as the camera would go past a character as he was saying something important. The music I also thought went very well with what was going on, on screen.

28 days Later

The first film we looked at was 28 days later. This was a very interesting film to watch as it had a lot of good techniques. The first technique which I picked up which I thought was very good and usable, was the complete silence that started the film. I thought this was a great idea as it draws the audience in straight away, this also adds to the suspense as to where he is etc.

Another technique they use is after the original silence, they bring in a soundtrack. The soundtrack gradually gets faster as he starts to find things, this makes the audiences heart increase, the will had to the tension once again.

The film begins and straight away it seems very eerie, they make this possible by having everything deserted which is normally packed with people. As this is the start of the film we do not know why everything is so deserted, however we are able to find out without any words being said. We find out by the “Jim” picking up a newspaper and reading the headline, I thought this was a very good a believable way of finding out what has happened.

The last technique I liked was the fast cutting between different angles, this adds to the pace of the film very well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Possible Scenarios to fulfill the what the audience want

The first scenario that i thought included these ideas;

• 1 man, 5 people to kill.
• 5 men, have all be given a letter in a briefcase.
• The problem is that they are not meant to have the letter.
• The reason the one man "Mr P" has to kill them because the infomation thats in their. possesion is about "Mr P's" family.
• The infomation has to be captured before it gets into more hands.
• The twist is that "Mr P" has just escaped from prison therefore he has to keep a low profile.
• The briefcase holds the truth to "Mr P's" family.

The second Scenario i came up with consisted of the following ideas;

• Three kids realise that their village is in the middle of a conspiricy against the government.
• The small organisation is being run in a hideaway.
• The kids job is to get inside the hideaway and destroy files.
• The twist is that one of the children may be undercover.

The third scenario;

• Innocent country life
• Man witnesses a murder in the village and thinks he knows who it is
• He realises that the murderer is a child from a good family background
• The man is stuck between telling the police or not.
• The man tries to talk to the boy but never finds him
• He finnally sees him riding a dirt bike through the forest wearing a mask, its the same mask he found near the other murder scen, he has to catch him before he commits another murder.
• The man chases the boy on his motorbike through the trees before finally catching him.
• As the boy stops and looks back to face the man, three other masked boys step out of the trees holding bits of wood.
• The man gets on his dirtbike and rides off in terror knowing the boys know who he is and know he's in for a rough ride.

These are just a few ideas i had for the film.

My Conclusions based on the Research from My questionnaire

I feel that from the research i have picked up roughly what people are looking for.
So from looking at my research i can see that people look for a good, clever plot with a lot of tension and also a good qualoty soundtrack to get them in the mood.
I think this research will help our group as the answers from the people taking part in the questionnaire are not out of reach, for instance; soundtrack and suspense are both things our group can work on to make a perfect thriller.

Goal Of My Questionnaire

The goal of my questionnaire was to find out what people are looking for in their perfect thriller, i asked a total of 6 people several different questions.

the questionnaire consisted of the following:

1. Do you like thrillers?
   

All six people said yes.

2. Do you like thrillers to be plot driven? If so, What kind of plot?

"Yes, however i prefer the plots to be understandable"

"Yes, i like the plots to have a twist at the end"

"Yes, i like the plots to be clever so you have to work them out"
" I like it to be understandable"
"Yes, a plot that keeps you in suspense"
"Yes, clever plots"

3. What do you look for in a thriller?

"Suspense"
"Something that keeps you on the edge of your seat"
"Realism"
"Suspense"
"fast action, good plot"
"i like to be a bit scared"

4. What do you look for in a leading actor/actress?

"Conviction"
"Presense"
"Convincing"
"For him or her to be realistic and imaginable"
"Clever, good with action"
"Convincing"

5. Is the soundtrack an important part to you?

"Not really, not in a thriller"
"yes, i feel it sets the mood"
"I think it makes it more exciting, adds to the tension"
"Yes, it adds to the suspense"
"When the film starts and the music starts, it puts you in the night mood"
"Yes because it can make it more easy"