Evaluation

Here is my final piece of my thriller film - GONE



Do you think your thriller film was successful?
• Yes because of the generic conventions of a thriller film used
• The soundtrack which was suspense building and added tension from the actions used
• Lowkey lighting made the stalker look intimidating and sometimes mysterious
• Text used for credits was red and looked bloody to show that blood may be in the film
• Sound such as screaming made people feel sorry for the character
• The props used such as a letter from the stalker added mystery
•
How does your footage conform to existing media?
• Halloween Resurrection
• Generics used such as 3 S’s; surprise shock and suspense
• Narrative of girl in a vulnerable position
• We stuck to the thriller genre suitable for our target audience of people aged 15+
•
Discuss the representation of your characters
• A teenage girl and a male stalker
• Girl is the vulnerable character and seen as weaker sex because females are usually the hopeless characters in thriller films
• The male is the stalker and represented as more dominate because this is usually in most thrillers

What media production would distribute your film?
• LIONGATE because they have released successful thrillers such as Saw 3D

Who is the typical audience for your thriller film?
• Teenagers aged around 15 as there are scenes that is only suitable for people this age and above
• Both male and female so we added a male and female in the opening sequence
• People who enjoy watching thrillers and like the excitement it brings; also getting involved
•
How did you attract your audience?
• Soundtrack which built suspense
• Props used
• The use of stereotypical characters which is the vulnerable girl and the mysterious stalker
• By use of 3 S’s which make a film a thriller film
• The use of familiar locations such as bedroom
• Building suspense narrative
•
What have you learnt?
• How to use a tripod
• Use software’s on Apple Mac like Final Cut Pro
• Use a video camera
• How to work as a team
• What key elements make a thriller film
• What camera shots and angles and appropriate for what mode being created

Here is the sound of my evaluation:

Post-Production

After filming our thriller we had to edit it to make it into a opening of a thriller film. We were given a week to edit our whole opening thriller film into 2 minute being the maximum time. We were provided with Apple Mac’s to edit our movie with, as I had never used one before, I was worried I wouldn’t be much of a help but as most of the class didn’t know aswell I didn’t feel alone. When we were provided with a guide booklets I learnt the basics of the sofwares we were going to use and how to use it so I felt more relexed using this software. The software's we were asked to use was Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro. We had to split our groups into who was doing the music and who was doing the editing. As Luke Berry took the role of camera and sound, we thought it was best if he did the soundtrack of our thriller film on Logic Pro. Me and Hande decided to do the editing together on Final Cut Pro.

There was alot of things we could do on the software Final Cut Pro such as add sound and effects like dissolve. This would be an advantage to our opening sequence because we can use these effects and adapt it to make it more of a thriller film. On Logic Pro there were lots of sounds to choose from to make the soundtrack. As Luke was incharge, he choose a variety of sound he thourght was suitable for our film and allowed me and Hande to listen. When we found the sounds we all agreed on, we put it in the favourites section and Luke would then decide which sounds goes at which time of the opeing sequence. The sound was used to create tension building up in the appropriate times of the film leaving the audience at the edge of their seats.

In my opinion the negative that I thourght came up during the editing stage was I felt that I was doing more work than Hande while editing. This is because I was in most days actually editng while Hande would just sit next to me and watch say what is good and what is bad; not actually editing. This gave me more work to do and I felt I should do the work even if my group don't do much because I am the director/ producer and that role allows me to tell my group what to do. So with this role I did direct my group but I felt like I could have done more directing and taking charge.
On the other hand the positive that came was we worked well as a team and agreeing on the same thing which saved time; working well together aloud us to achieve the best grade possible. Also we achieved to finish the opening sequence in the time given.

Overall it took us around a week to edit the opening of our thriller. It took us the longest to decide on what font to do our opening credits. Here are some of the examples of credits we were deciding on. In the end we didn't use any of these because we thought they weren't generic conventions of a thriller film.

The experience of making my 2 minute opening sequence to a thriller film allowed me to develop my understanding on how to use software's on an Apple Mac such as Final Cut Pro. Whilst editing I learnt that it is not as easy to edit as I thought, I had to make sure that my scenes went with the soundtrack. Also i had to find and use edits that are conventional to a thriller film. This was difficult as I had a limited amount of edits I can use; this helped me to create a certain atmosphere to the audience.

Production

It took us two days to shoot our production. It was meant to take us one day but after watching back some of our footage we weren’t happy with the results; it was so dark we couldn’t see the characters and what was going on properly. Because our two locations were in the same area, it was easier for us to travel to the places; the travelling was a 2 minute walk apart, this created more time to shoot in one day.
Our first shooting day was 9^th November 2010. On the first day of the production, the first scene was the bedroom scene. While on location the role I was required to do was producer/ director. I had to provide my crew with the shoots that need to be taken and how they are meant to be taken. This role is important because I had to make sure that all the others were doing their role to the best of their ability. This way my film will be at it's best quality it can be. When we arrived at the first location, Hande’s house, it was almost starting to get dark so we quickly set up the camera and started shooting; we had to wait for the camera to charge as it was nearly low. As the camera was ready and it wasn’t too dark we left Hande’s house at went to a nearby road to shot the first scene. I had to tell everyone what the first shoot was as I was the director/ producer. I told Luke who was in charge of the camera what angle and shot to use. It was starting to get dark but we still thought it was bright enough to shoot our scene. When we did this, we reviwed the shots took and found that we couldn’t see the characters or what is going on properly; it wasn’t clear enough. This caused us to set up another day to film. This made us do more time with the filming. We planned to only use one day of planning but we had to use two days of planning.

Although after this scene we were able to shoot the second scene which was the bedroom scene. As this was in a house, it could have been as bright as we wanted it to be. But we wanted this scene to be in low key lighting. We did this by switching of the bedroom lights and using a bedside lamp. We realised that the scene was too light with the lights on and too dark with just the bedside lamp. We then decided to carry on with using the bedside lamp because we could just about see what was going on with the characters and thought we could edit it to make it brighter. While filming we found that we didn’t use the tripod, we used the hand-held effect as this would give a feel like someone is following her. This saved time and made our film look simple as we didn’t need to set up the tripod to the camera.

We all decided to meet up again on 15^th November 2010 for the final time to do this outside scene again, this time we meet up earlier to make sure it’s bright enough to film. As we meet up earlier (around 3:30pm), the shoots were brighter and clear enough to see the characters. It took around 30 mins to 1 hour to get the shoots needed. This was quick and after was still bright. This gave us some time to do some extra shoots at different angles and decided on the best shoot that is effective during the editing time.

From the production I learnt how important my role is. As I am the producer I have to make sure the right shoots are being taken. Also I need to make sure the characters are doing the right thing in certain shoots. The positive was being able to complete all the shots before the dealine ready to start editing. The negative was having to shoot another day because the shot was too dark to see the chartacters.

Pre-Production

Planning

In the half term holiday we had to write up our own opening to a thriller film. We all individually had to come up with a narrative, what cinematography will be used, editing techniques and mise en scene. As I had to come up with a storyline, I had to be aware of the generic conventions of a thriller film such as low key lighting and tracking. By knowing the generic conventions of a thriller film, I will then be able to make my own thriller film look like an actual thriller film.

The narrative I came up with was about a girl who was going to a party got ready and went to the party. The party then finished and she went home alone. She didn’t live in or near the city but near a forest so there weren’t much house or people around; so she was walking right next to a forest.  As she was walking home from the party at night, she felt like she was being followed so she decided to look back. She vaguely saw a rough silhouette from afar. This scared her so she started to walk faster. She started to here the footsteps getting closer and closer but whenever she sees if anyone’s there she doesn’t see anyone; but the audience can see the man following her. At one moment she turns back again and sees no one there but when she turns back again the man is right in front of her blocking her way. This caused her the scream in shock so the man grabs her and closes her mouth with his hand. She manages to break loose and run through the woods, he chases after her. She keeps running and running scream from someone to help her but because she running in a forest no one can hear her. As she is running, she looked back to see if he was there then she buckled and dropped face first on the ground; this allowed the man to catch up with her. He grabbed her and picked her up as she was crying for him to leave her alone.

As this would be just the opening of a thriller film I would stop the film there to leave the audience in suspense with a cliff hanger. Leaving them in suspense will hopefully make them want to watch the rest of the film to see what happens. The rest of the narrative would include the man rapping the lady then she kills him. When she find out she's pregnant, she has the baby but the child starts to have nightmares of seeing a man which says he is his father.

In my narrative, the generic conventions of a thriller film will firstly be the low key light. My scene is set at night so there will be low key lighting. This convention is in most thriller films because it creates suspense to the audience. This is because of the dark atmosphere doesn’t allow us to see everything in the scene so anything can pop out and surprise the audience. There will also be some blood. This is only when the girl falls over. This will show that she is in pain; this will bring suspense to the audience. The location will be a generic convention because the setting is a forest location. This is a convention because no one is usually there so if anything happened then no one will know.

The types of cinematography used in my thriller film will be longshot for when she is walking. This is to show the audience her whole body and part of the background she is in. At the beginning I will use an establishing shot to show the location and setting of my film. Because the location is near a forest and is at night, it will make the audience aware that this film is a thriller.

After half term we had our first planning lesson where we were told who was in our groups. My group included Hande Silay and Luke Berry. We had another person in our group but they dropped the course so we had to slip their role between us; this meant we had to work harder as there was more to do. Everyone in my group had written up their own opening to a thriller film. After we heard everyones ideas we came up with a storyline. This included some of my story and some of my other group’s ideas.

After discussing we came up with our opening. It starts of with a teenage girl sleeping and wakes up because she is cold from the open window. As she reaches to close it she finds a letter at the side of her bed. She goes to read it and it says “I’VE BEEN WATCHING YOU... WE’LL MEET SOON!” After this she looks around and starts to get scared; as she is doing this her stalker is looking at her from the window behind her; she doesn’t see this. In the next scene she leaves her house to go to a party. As she is walking the stalker is behind her following her but she doesn’t realise this. She gets the feeling that she’s being followed so she turns around but no one is there. This happens a few times but when she is about to turn back around to continue walking the stalker is suddenly right in front of her blocking her way. He grabs her quickly and the opening sequence ends there. We believe this was a good opening sequence as it had generic conventions of a thriller films like the 3 S's; surprise, shock and suspense. The shots i was thinking of using is tracking, POV (point of view) and over the shoulder shots. I would use the tracking shot when 'Sarah' the main character is walking and gets the feeling that someone is following her. I would use the POV (point of view) shot when Sarah looks back to see if anyone is following her. This will allow the audience to she what she's seeing; the audience will be engaged and feel part of the film. I would use the over the shoulder shot when Sarah is walking but the audience will see the stalker right behind her. This will create suspense as Sarah will not know that someone is walking right behind her; it shows she is in danger.

Here is the storyboard:

We decided that the name of a thriller should be short and simple so people can remember it easier. We thought 'GONE' was an appropriate name because it will make the audience think 'who is gone?'. This will create suspense. Also 'GONE' was an appropriate name because it goes with the narrative of the film.

In this film there will be two main characters; the girl called Sarah and the Stalker with no name. We decided that Hande Silay who is in our group should play the role of the character Sarah because she fits the role and their the same age; also as Hande does drama we thought she will have good acting skills. The stalker will be played by Lyden Smith; he fit the role and as he is in our class it would be easier to contact him on the schedule. There are two scenes in this opening sequence; the bedroom scene and when she's walking to a party scene. In the bedroom scene Sarah will be wearing pyjamas to make it look more realistic that she was sleeping. In the second scene she will be wearing an outfit that looks like she is going to a party; like a dress or leggings with a top. This is also to make to scene look more realistic.

The stalker with no name will be wearing dark clothes; a hoody ans black trousers. This is to make him look more mysterious and to hide some of his face. A prop that will be used is a letter. This letter used will say “I’VE BEEN WATCHING YOU... WE’LL MEET SOON!” This will create suspense as we do not know who the letter was from.

The sound we have chosen will be a beat that creates suspense as she is walking and a sudden shock or bang at the end when he suddenly grabs her. We decided that the sound when she’s walking should be similar to the song Runaway by Kanye West. Around the first 20 seconds of the song builds tension and this would be perfect for when the character Sarah is walking and the stalker is following her as this will create suspense. In the making of my thriller film, we have to make our own sound so we can't us runaway by Kanye West; from this we decided to use a similar sound to this as the girl is walking while the stalker is following her.

The lighting in film will be low key lighting and natural lighting. The bedroom scene will be in low key lighting; this is because she was sleeping and to make it more realistic low key lighting will show that she sleeps in the dark which is what all teenagers her age does. The low key lighting will as give a mysterious effect as we can't fully see the stalker by the window. As the cameras we will get to record don’t come with good lighting, we were advised to not shot in the dark. From this we decided to use the scene when she's getting followed with natural daylight, although this will make it less scary we decided that the music with the edits will add tension.

Roles and Responsibilities

We had to decide we were going to do which role. After discussing we decided that I should be the director/ producer. My role was being in charge of my group and making the final decisions in all aspects of our final thriller movie. As i was the producer of the film whatever i said must be done unless it was to do with other roles and responsibilities, that's when it's up to them to pick the most suitable elements. I am the overall person responsible for the group’s determination and commitment to the thriller film. The skills i needed for this role was good communication skills, a good leader and being well organised.

We decided Hande Silay should be given the role of location and lighting. This role included for her to make sure that the lighting is correct for the film to take place by not having unwanted shadows and also making sure the lighting is conventional to a thriller movie. She needs to also make sure that the location she chooses for the thriller film conveys a thriller atmosphere to the opening sequence and for the shots being taken. The skills she will need for this role is to be enthusiastic about what she is searching for and to focus on what she may need to do.

Luke Berry's role was camera and sound. His role was to ensure all shots and audio request by the director/ producer is recorded to a technical standard. This is a technical role so Luke needs to be able to use the equipment.  It's his responsibility to set up all the shots correctly and film accordingly tot he storyboard alongside the rest of the production crew. It's Luke's job to hire out and look after the equipment especially while filming on location. The skills he needs for this role is being able to pay attention at all times and focus on getting the right shots and also being trust worthy in order to make sure none of the equipment is missing at each shooting day.

As our other member of the group decided to drop out of the course, we had to share between us the role of the costume/ hair and makeup. This role required us to lease with the producer to find out what costumes and props are needed in order to make your production successful. Where necessary we will be required to buy or loan props and costumes and provide them on shoot days. We will also be required to supply and do makeup where necessary and complete all relevant documents as evidence to show you have carried out your role.

Questionnaire

Me and my group decided to do a questionnaire to get feedback from my target audience. This questionnaire will help us know what kind of people will be more likely to watch our film. This will also help us to know what's keeps people interested when watching films. I went around the school and asked different people the following questions such. I asked people of different age so my result won't be biased.

Here is the question to my questionnaire:

Here are the results:

1. Which gender are you? Male Female

This result shows that out of all the people we asked, they are equally male and female. I asked this question because if I saw that there was more males then females asked then my results may be biased and not focus on the female side. But as my results are equal, it isn't biased. 
2. Which certificate do you prefer to watch in a thriller film?
   12           15           18

I asked this question because I needed an idea of what appropriate age i should rate my thriller. From the results the majority of the audience said that it should be rated 15. Also I believed 18 to contain much more blood and gore. This would mean more props would be needed and a bigger budget.

3. What interested you in watching a thriller film?
   Advertisements          Word of Mouth      Reviews Posters

I asked this question because I wanted to know how people became interested in thriller films. Be knowing this I would have an idea of the media institution that I would like to produce my film.  

4. What do you expect to see in a thriller film?
   Murder/ Death         Weapons violence 
   victims/ Hero's

I decided to ask this question because i thought this would help me in what props or narrative i should add. From this results most people would except to see murder/ death in a thriller film. This will help me because now i can make sure that my thriller film will contain someone dying.

5. Would you like a fast paced Thriller or a Thriller you really need to pay attention too?

I asked this question because I wanted an idea what pace my film should be. From asking this question I will decide what pace my sound should be. From the results I'm going to set my film slow but mostly fast. By doing this I will hopefully create suspense with the slow pace then create surprise and shock with the fast pace.

6.     What part of a thriller film do you prefer?
Chase Scene               Introduction of characters           Attacking scenes
events leading to demise of victim              Narrative           Emotions and cinematography                   Vengeance

I asked this question because I wanted to know what would interest the audience in a thriller film. From this I will be able to add this to my film which will make it interesting for the audience. Narrative was the highest from results. This shows me having a good narrative will interest the audience. I'll do this in my own film by adding surprise, suspense ans shock. So as I'll have a good narrative, adding the 3 S's will make my narrative more interesting.

7. What makes a Thriller film in your opinion?                                                                                                         Chase scenes, Introduction of Characters, Attacking scenes, Events leading to demise of victim, Narrative, Vengeance Emotions & cinematography.

I asked this question because I wanted to find out the generic conventions of a thriller will by most effective. This will make my film more like a thriller. From the results cinematography and narrative had the highest results. From this I would make sure that I have an interesting narrative that is based around someone dying. I decided this because this is a generic convention of a thriller film. Cinematography such as close ups will make my film more like a thriller film because this will show that characters expresstions and if someone is dying then the close ups wil emphasis on their face xpressions which will add more sympathy.

8. What types of actors would you expect to see in a thriller film?

I asked this question because I wanted to know what types of characters I will include in my film. From the results main characters was the highest following killer. So from this i will make sure that there is a main character that is focused on and there is a killer involved. As this is what people would expect, it will be seen as a generic convention.

9. What type of setting do you think reflects a thriller theme?
   Outdoor               Graveyard           Creepy house
   Street                   other

I asked this question because I wanted to know what type of mise en scene I will include to make my film more like a thriller film. From the resuts creepy house and graveyard had the highest results. This gave me an idea that the location for my thriler film will be scary. So to make my film more like a thriller film I am going to make my location scary.

Preliminary Task

A preliminary task is a short task that me and my group had to do so we could get use to the equptment we were going to use in the production of our film. In our preliminary task, we had to film a minute long of footages containing shots such as long shot, two shot and panning.

This task helped me to get use to what cameras I’ll be using and how to use a tripod. I learnt that zooming to a correct speed was difficult; I went to fast. This task helped us to get use to the people who were going to be in my group. It also helped me to understand the responsibilities I may have to take up in the production of my film. We used the programmes that we were going to use in our final production. This allowed me to see what programme I was going to use and get use to the tools used to create certain effects.

Here are a few shots from the preliminary task:

Here is a panning shot of when the character is walking into a classroom.

Here is another panning shot of when the character walks into the classroom.

This is a reaction shot when we asked eachother questions.

This is a two shot of two peopkle talking.

This is a panning shot of someone leavng the room.

Smart Shooting

8th November 2010                                                 Miss Fisher


Objective: To identify conventional shots to create a successful Thriller film.

Outcome:
All: will be able to explain at least two effective shots for a Thriller film.
Most: will also be able to identify three or more effective shots for a thriller film and refer to other thriller films
Some: will be able to use media language effectively to explain the purpose of 5 or more editing styles.

Here is a list of Generic Conventions for a thriller film:
- Tracking
- Creaking doors
- Wipe pan
- Low key
- Blood
- Diegetic sound
- Back lighting
- Tilt
- Haunted house
- Close up
- Costumes
- Establising shot
- Camera
- Handheld
-Shadows

When making my thriller film i need to be aware of these generic conventions and be able to use as much of these in my film. By doing this the audience will be able to determine the right genre for my film.


Here is a clip from the film Halloween Resurrection.

This film starts with a POV shot where the character is walking through a tunnel; this shot is handheld tracking as the camera is moving as if someone is walking. This tunnel has low key lighting and us as a audience now have the impression that we are the character; this makes us feel more part and engaged with the film.With this there is a voiceover with an echo of a lady talking. She says 'you've heard of the tunnel.' This voiceover gives the audience some narrative of the film and gives us information about what has happened in the film of what is going to happen in the film. As there is an echo, it gives the audience more time to take in what she is saying; this may show importance. Also as we are in a POV shot, we automatically think that the voiceover is directed to us as there is no one else in the tunnel. As the character is waling through this tunnel, there is diegetic sound played throughout. This diegetic sound is made to make the audience feel more uncomfortable and create suspense. This as a generic convention as this is part of the 3 S's; surprise shock suspense.
At the end of this tunnel there is a door and as we get closer to the door the voice over says 'at the end there's a door.' This voiceover continues to involve us with he film by providing information about what has happened or what is going to happen. As the tunnel scene dissolves into a corridor of what looks like a mental health hospital, the audience is made to feel uncomfortable. This is because the shot is still in a POV so they feel like they are walking through a mental home. We know that this is a mental home because as the character was walking through the corridor, a doctor walks past and there was a patient in a wheelchair in the hallway.

As we reach the end of the door the lady in the voiceover was referring to, the character looks through the peep hole and the first thing we see is a bed, lamp and a doll on the bed. The doll sitting on the bed goes against its surroundings. This is because dolls are innocent and is what innocent little girls play with. As this is found in an asylum, the audience may be confused think why is a doll in a place like this. This will make the film more mysterious than it already is. This will be a generic convention as the audience is made to feel more uncomfortable.

As we see the first character which is a girl, we see that she looks lonely and reserved. We noticed this by her body language which is crawled up and the close up of her face expression.
The establishing shot of the asylum is a generic convention because the shot is in low key lighting but with uplighiting on the name of the building. This shows that we are meant to look at the name of the building. This is also a generic convention because a asylum is unpredictable. As we see the asylum, there's slow tracking. As the shot tracks from left to right, the music increases which creates more of an impact; this also creates tension and suspense which is a generic convention.


As we watch the rest of the film the following takes place:
- Tracking following the character when shes getting chased. Suspense brought with the music and the POV shot as the audience felt like they were being chased. As the camera goes infront and behind the victim while she is running from the villain, this creates tension because of the different angles and edits.

- The flashback is used greyscale and the character in the narrative looks different. This helps with narrative and doesn't confuse the audience.

Smart shooting will help me in the making of my thriller film because if i use generic conventions such as low key lighting then my thriller will be successful as the audience will know from looking at the opening sequence that this is a thriller film. Also by using generic conventions of a thriller film such as bloody sketchy font, the audience will know that my film is a thriller film.