Storyboard for Second Film Opening

As a group we made a list of images and how we wanted to shoot them and from which angle. We want all the shots to be shown in a way to confuse the audience so they initially do not understand what is happening (to add to the psychological genre) so that they will want to watch the rest of the film to understand what has happened. To do this we may speed up or slow down particular shots.

We want to include a few shots from a car in night and day time to possibly show an elipsis of time and a point of view of traffic lights changing and radio stations changing. A few shots of woods and forests to make the character look lost. Over the shoulder shots of the driver, shots through the wing mirror. Different shots of a girl lying in the forest.

Here is a storyboard for our filming;

Radiohead's Music Video for 'Karma Police'

After watching the music video for Karma Police I realised it includes similar shots from a car involved in out film which may help us when editing.

Here is a link for the video as embedding has be disabled;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uYWYWPc9HU

Shutter Island

On Wednesday I went to see Shutter Island which is a psychological thriller (the same genre as our film). Theres a few editing techniques which proved really confusing and made me really think whilst watching the film. At one point a woman takes a sip from a glass of water and her drink disappears; this could be seen as bad editing however the woman drinking the water without the glass would have to had been filmed, I think the drink disappears due to Officer Teddy's drinking problem after the death of his wife.

Also in a flash back which Teddy has, an alcoholic drink his wife is holding disappears similarily which suggests the previous alcohol problem which the audience do not understand yet.

A particular part that confused me was when Teddy was in a dream and he woke up to yet again be in a dream which happened several times so that I began to not know when the film was in a dream or reality.

Unfortunately I managed to guess the big twist at the end half-way through however I didn't guess it perfectly so there was still a suprise for me. I wasn't suprised to be told that Teddy himself was a patient at Shutter Island however I was suprised to find that he was actually Andrew Laeddis (a missing patient) as Teddys full name was Edward Daniels and both names where anagrams for each other.

Overall I did enjoy the film however I was expecting it to be more of a horror because of the trailer. I did also enjoy the end once Teddy accepted that he was actually Andrew Laeddis and did kill his wife but decided to "die as a good man instead of living as a monster.

End Credits Music Video

I saw this video for End Credits By Plan B and Chase & Status and immediatley thought of my groups 'flashback' idea especially as the man is lying on the floor with his apparent memories coming back to him like a dream.

The first shot goes very well with the acoustic guitar at the beginning as it is in slow motion creating a dream like effect despite the man falling to the ground. The next close up shot of his head hitting the ground slowly leaves a very harsh effect due to the slow motion, all the mans pain is seen. The shots are also very long which softens the violence happening in the shot.

The video continues on to cut between different shots and scenes very quickly so they are not recognized by the audience however every other shot is the same; of the man laying on the ground. The pace of the cuts goes along with the music which has now changed to a drum and bass track.

The use of diegetic sounds of characters dialogue makes the video seem a lot more realistic, rather than simply having the non-diegetic music.

I like how the man features in his own flashbacks like a ghost. The shots flashing between the man on the ground and Michael Caine in a hospital bed are particularly effective as they are in the same position but with different conditions.

The shot of Plan B singing in front of a riot and in a pub surrounded by injured people are also very effective as it shows how he does not care and gives an immortal, superior look to him.

The ending is also very interesting as throughout the video only Plan B's face is in view but the small part of the background that can be seen appears to be sinking. One of the last shots is Plan B risen in the air almost leading up to heaven which the song has been speaking about throughout however the very final shot is when his two friends come to save him and find him lying on the floor like the beginning of the song to show that he is dead after his series of flashbacks.

I really like the use of flashbacks here, especially that the man himself featured in them. However this video uses real events suggested by the video unlike our film where alot of the flashbacks are going to be point of view.

Breathe Music Video

This is The Prodigy's music video for 'Breathe'. I like the video alot as it is very different to most music videos. It also contains thriller/horror themes.
I really like the use of lighting and how it flashes back and forth from the background to the band members. I especially like the very first shot where the band member, Maxim, comes forward but because the light is not always on him so he appears intimidating. I like the use of make-up again in this video, similar to 'Interview with the Vampire', contacts lenses have been used to cause horror aswell as black lipstick.

There is a constant use of flashing lights to create horror and suspense as everything in shot cannot be seen by the viewer.

Interview with the Vampire

I recently watched 'Interview with a Vampire' which I really enjoyed as it was not similar to anything I had seen before. Particulary the way that Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise are made-up, the make-up was so effective on Tom Cruise I did not realise it was him until 20 minutes after he first appeared. I really like how the actors wore contact lenses to make their eyes very light blue (nearly white) to appear less human-like. Also they both had sharp teeth with fangs, pale skin, very long hair and nails and were well groomed which is the ideaology people have of vampires. I also liked how Kirsten Dunst was made a child vampire which is very creepy and disturbing especially the scene in which she kills people.

I like the opening scene alot as it opens San Francisco in modern age despite vampires stereotypically being thought of around in the middle ages. It opens with an aerial shot across San Francisco following into wide shots of a busy street full of people to show unawareness of a vampire looking down from them. The camera continues to a low angle shot, swooping up towards a tall building to represent the power of the vampire figure in the top window. When the camera angle changes to behind the vampire in the window it is still just his figure to create mystery and suspense aswell as horror.

Cabwise Advert

This advert has great use of camera angles aswell as horrific/thriller themes. The point of view shots throughout show the panic and fear of being kidnapped.

The camera movements start smooth when the character is relaxed but as soon as she begins to get scared the camera shakes more to show the fear even more. The wide shot of the car shows how normal the car looks which can scare the viewer as this horrible attack has taken place without anyone knowing.

The close-up of the door locking is particularly scary as it shows the woman cannot escape.

The sound of the rain is very effective as it creates isolation for the woman who is being attacked as the sound of the rain seems to cover up her screaming and almost muffles it out.

Another Discussion On New Opening

On Friday we continued to discuss our film opening. We discussed locations, even though I think we should research more before even thinking about the location. However a little woodland path in Forty Hall was suggested aswell as large fields in Trent Park.
I think that we need to research more as the more we research the clearer our idea will be as one of the problems with our last attempt was poor research and not thinking absolutley every detail through.
We did brainstorm a few ideas and after watching a past media students coursework we discussed the idea of a woman waking up and not remembering the night before as she may have taken drugs on a night out.

Discussion about Film Opening

While editing our film we have often had trouble with the amount and quality of footage so as a group we decided to discuss our options; whether to carry on or start again.
We decided to start again as we believe after researching film openings we have a broader knowledge on them meaning we can make a much better film opening.
One of our problems was our opening had a resolution rather than beginning a story, which is something we will not do this second time.
We will have the filming equipment over Christmas break so that we have two weeks to film in.

We began to look at film openings and types of horror/thriller genres. A particular film opening that caught my attention was Donnie Darko

We spoke about a psychological thriller similar to that of Donnie Darko or The Sixth Sense. We liked the idea of someone either waking up in a strange place like Donnie Darko, or having strange flashback-like dreams.

Sound Definitions

Sound in media is made up of two types of sound; diegetic and non-diegetic.
Diegetic is sound which can be heard by the audience and characters in the shot such as dialogue or sounds from objects. Whereas non-diegetic is sound which may only be heard by the audience such as narrative commentary, sound effects added for drama or mood music.

The pitch of music can also really effect the entire drama of the scene such as the high pitched strings in this famous scene of Psycho;

Silence Of The Lambs

I recently watched Silence of the Lambs which is a horror/thriller just like our film opening is. Unfortunatley the films opening quite dull as it is simply made up of a girl completing an assault course. This establishes the location as we understand where the girl is, however it doesn't grab the audience's attention as well as other films which jump straight into the action. It does leave the audience on as stereotypically women are not often in the armed forces so the audience watches to find out why the woman is completing this course. It may be believed however that she is running away from something as she often turns around to search around her and the scene is very foggy to add mystery.

Further in the film, we see an obsessed transvestite killer who kills large women so he can cut off their skin, which shows his obsession and the extremes he will go to to look like a woman. There is a shot of his arm reaching out to touch the policewoman, which is similar to a shot we have filmed of our killer reaching out. This shows that the obsessed killer is not violent but is not timid. The reaching out to touch the victim seems alot more effective as it creates creepiness that sends goosebumps up the spine. I think that we should use the shot we have filmed similarily to this, as it has been used in a film already and creates a very spooky look. Also this shot uses the nightvision effect which we are considering using when we use the dark room, I think we should use it as it creates a gloomy effect and establishes the dark, creepiness of the location.

Thriller/Horror Film Research

Prom Night
I recently watched Prom Night (2008) which is based on Richard Fenton, an obsessed ex-teacher of Donna Keppel who killed Donna's father and brother and when Donna hid after finding the dead bodies, killed her mother infront of her. 3 years later, he escapes from prison to return to finish the job. He checks into a hotel where Donnas prom is being held and silently kills a maid, he then kills 2 of Donna's friends, next he kills a hotel employee when he is looking for the missing maid. He then kills Donna's best friend and manages to escape in the uniform when the building is being evacuated by Chief Detective Winn. By now Donna has returned home with her boyfriend. Donna returns from the bathroom at home to see that her boyfriends throat has been slit. She hides in her wardrobe when she hears footsteps, however Fenton is already hiding in the wardrobe. Donna bites Fenton and tries to run however she falls, Fenton is then stood above Donna ready to kill, but in his psychotic, obsessive way looks at her for a while and admires her. In the nick of time Winn comes in and shoots Fenton to death before he kills Donna. Donna is still traumatised but is relieved it is "all over".

This film has shown how stalkers and killers are stereotypically represented in films, giving us ideas for our own film's plot. I think we are going to use the same sort of body movements that Fenton does, such as putting his hand out slowly in a possesive way with our stalker to his victim.