PLANNING: POSSIBLE MUSIC

Track list sourced from YOOKAMUSIC

Below is a list of some songs I listened to from the YOOKAMUSIC website. This website allows you to search for a specific type of music which can be used to emphasise the genre of your film. I used the website to search for Suspense and thriller music to help create a sense of suspense jeopardy and enigma in my film opening. The tracks that we chose must create the target mood of the scene. For example if the visual clip creates a sense of suspense so must the music which is played alongside the visual images.

Alone in the park - this creates a sense of suspense and puts the listener on edge

One note hell - creates an unfamiliar atmosphere

Crawling in fog - this also creates a sense of suspense

PLANNING: SOUNDTRACKS

I researched possible options for music to be used in our film opening.  This is a crucial part of our film opening and will be used to help create a sense of suspense and enigma. As we havent yet filmed our opening we can't confirm for definite what music we will be using. However, we found the following website with a good selection of suspense and thriller music. Click on the following link for soundtracks of suspense thriller

PLANNING: CAMERA WORK

We started to discuss the shot types we will use when filming.
We planned our camerawork - camera angles, camera movement and shot types -in advance of filming. It is an integral part of our storyboard.
We again watched the rich texture of camerawork in Les Bleus de Ramville on The Art of the Title 
We also watched other student film openings that successfully create the key thriller codes of enigma, suspense and jeopardy.

Scene 1
Close-up on a large butchers knife with nothing else in shot apart from the hand holding it. 

Mid shot - boy using the knife violently.

Close up - the fish that he had just chopped the head off. 

Point of view shot - boy looking at his watch. 

Full body shot - boy taking off his apron. 

Low angled shot -  the skateboard that he is about to get onto.  

Scene 2 

Low angle shot - focusing on the wheels of the skateboard

• This shows an expression of freedom.

Close up shot - Bryn wearing headphones 

• This is to express the type of music Bryn is listening too and also shows the contrast of music and the atmosphere, when he witnesses a murder.
  

Over the shoulder shot - so that we can see the bully and Bryn skating along.

Worm shot - Bryn looking up at bully 

• This is to show his helplessness as it makes the victim seem so much smaller and less powerful compared to the bully.
  

High angle shot - Bully looking down on Bryn 

• This shows his authority as it makes the bully look much bigger then the victim on the floor.
• This brings the audiences attention to the victim and makes them empathise with them.

Scene 3 -  When Bryn witnesses the murder happen.

Close up shot - murderer holding knife

• I plan to use close-ups of hands as I have seen how effective tight framing is in directing the audiences attention to specific actions as well as creating enigma by with holding elements of visual information;
• for example, in the opening sequence to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a hand is opening a parcel, and the audience is prevented from seeing any more that the tight framing of the hand and parcel, which turns out to be a gift of a framed picture of a plant.
• When the camera pulls back, it is revealed that there have been a seies of such gifts, now all displayed on the study wall. The audience is intrigued to discover the mystery behind the gifts. Such enigma motivates audiences to keep watching.

Full length shot - murderer walking towards victim then stabbing victim

Mid shot - murderer stabbing victim

Over the shoulder high angle shot - looking over shoulder of murderer down at the victim 

• I plan to use this shot type because it shows the point pf view of the murderer and the relative positions of both
• It also puts the victim in the inferior position that shows his vulnerability.
• This sort of shot is repeatedly used in crime drama.

Left to right pan - pan from murderer to witness.

• I intend to mix panning shots from left to right, right to left and tilt pans up and down in order to give my film work textual richness and interest. When I analysed Les Bleus de Ramville in detail, the opening sequence showed great variety in its camerawork, moving seemlessly from panning shots to tracking shots, then table-top shots to animation. I intend to aim for an equal level of richness if possible to keep the audience interested.

RESEARCH: FILM DISTRIBUTORS ASSOCIATION

Today I looked into how our film could be distributed. We looked at the FDA website http://launchingfilms.info/furtherdiscussions/ which explained how you'd go about distribution of your film.

David Willings (CEO, Miracle Media Group) said that when people are bombarded with different advertisements, it is challenging just trying to get their attention for two to three seconds to let them know this motion picture is coming.

For Willings, the trailer is still the most important element in selling the film but it is only one element of selling the film. The in cinema trailer is the public's first glimpse of what they may buy into. It is important as the film is portrayed the way it will end up right down to the graphics and sound. There are three different trailers: the teaser, the TV spot trailer and the official trailer.

Other elements include public relations and print elements, and Willings stresses that without synergy they won't all work together. There has to be a unique look which can be as simple as creating a font which becomes associated with the film, such as the unique look of Batman and Spiderman.

The poster appears on the internet, in newspapers and on billboards. Robin Behling (FEREF) says that the importance of these is to signal the film genre and sell the concept. The first look of the movie is key in conveying what the movie is about. They give a taste of the film and must hit as wide an audience as possible.

Multimedia is an important element of distribution. Internet is key here as it allows distributors to create a buzz about the film by creating something viral. Going viral means creating something such as a video, gallery or game which people send on to their friends. This illustrates the two-step flow model of audience behaviour.

The opening weekend is important as it is a prediction of how successful the film will be for the rest of its time in the cinema. 

I will include several of these elements when I plan how to attract and adress my audience for my Foundation Production film, many of which will be seen on my official website for my film.

RESEARCH: THRILLER CODES & CONVENTIONS

Thriller is a genre in which a sense of suspense and enigma is created. I did some further research into the genre and gathered the sources using a Scoopit!

Link to my Scoopit!

RESEARCH: THRILLER: TARGET AUDIENCE PROFILE

Age group: 18-29

Clothes: Nike, Adidas, Umbro, Reebok, Dunlop and Slazenger

Restaurants: Nandos, McDonalds, Burger King, Subway, Kfc and Pizza Hut

Gender: 80% male 20% female.

Related Tv shows and films: Top Boy, Shifty, Ill Mannors, Harry Brown, Attack The Block, Anuva Hood, Kidult hood and Adulthood 

Media: Bbm and Nokia bricks

Magazines: Fhm, Loaded, Nuts and Zoo

RESEARCH / PLANNING: ENIGMA, SUSPENSE & JEOPARDY

I watched crime drama and identified camera shots and movements, visual and sound codes. I explain why I have picked each still in the caption below it. I intend to use similar visual and sound codes in my own work in order to deliver genre conventions. I plan to present how I have used this research in a YuDo.

This screen shot from Poirot shows a mysterious looking mirror with the reflection of several men  including the main detective Poirot. The mysterious mirror connects with the title "Dead Man's Mirror" and the fact that the main character is there to buy the mirror creates a sense of enigma for the audience.

This screen shot from Sherlock shows a close up of a main character. He is slightly hidden by an out of focus object and his facial expression creates a sense of anxiety therefore leading the viewer to want to watch on to find out why.

This screenshot from CSI shows a high angle shot of the victim. This allows the viewers to immediately identify the characters involved. 

This screenshot from The Wire has the victim in the foreground and two characters out of focus in the background. This tells the viewer that these characters are related in the story. 

This screenshot from The Wire is a close up shot which shows blood on the ground. This creates a sense of enigma as the viewer wants to find out what has happened. 

RESEARCH: SCOOPIT

Here is my ScoopIt! showing the crime drama I'm going to investigate. 

Live ScoopIt!

TREATMENT

..... and Celine are walking together chatting. Celine says bye to ..... as he walks into Waitrose. .... gets ready for his job behind the fish counter by putting on his apron and hat.
Olez is playing with the fish while fantasizing about Celine. He continues to stab the fish. Olez then storms off in anger.
Olez kills Celine. Celine's dead body is found by a police detective.

RESEARCH: GENRE RESEARCH

Last lesson, I planned the outline treatment for a crime drama involving a realistic British scenario with a young college student who works part-time on the fish counter of a high street supermarket and who witnesses a stabbing as he leaves work.
In order to research crime drama genre conventions I watched a variety of clips from crime drama films to familiarise myself with the style used in this genre.

I don't watch crime drama often so I needed to familiarize myself. This genre sells well in boxed sets therefore I did a search on a website which sells boxed sets. 

I have made a list of crime drama that I intend to research in order to identify key codes in film and TV drama openings, starting with mainstream British and European, then American:
Inspector Morse BBC TV

Sherlock
Inspector Morse BBC

Lewis BBC (sequel)
Endeavour BBC (prequel)
Jonathan Creek
Murder She Wrote
Inspector Poirot
Waking The Dead
The Midsomer Murders
Inspector Montalbano
Young Montalbano (prequel)
Zen BBC
The Inspector Linley Mysteries
Taggart
Wallender
Silent Witness
Trial and RetributionLewis (sequel)
Endeavour (prequel)
CSI
The Wire HBO

PLANNING: INITIAL IDEAS

We would like to work with enigma and suspense, therefore we came up with the following idea.

• A university drop out stands behind a counter facing a dead fish. He brings a knife down to cut the fish. A student walks to the fish counter and briefly talks to the University drop out. He leaves. Drop out hangs up apron and puts on his jacket, he slips knife into his pocket. 

• Student see’s a murder and recognises murderer as drop out.

• A wheel falls off the students roller blade. He takes his rollerblades off and runs away. 

• Police are at the scene of the murder. They find the rollerblade. They call for all witnesses and the owner of the rollerblade.

RESEARCH: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

We watched the opening to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. We then did a close analysis of the opening.

 There are many images that are dark and disturbing such as the bottomless see of dark water, this promotes the fear of drowning. Mixed in with this you have a lot of images of the human form. In the first instance a prone body. This body has a collar with spikes on it and another with oil or water being poured on it. Juxtaposed with this there is a computer keyboard which signals the genre and the plot. This is a nightmarish sequence however not real because no one lets oil and water role over their keyboard. In one sequence at one point water gushes out of a females mouth as if it were vomiting. It is revolting and frightening.

Many of the images are of knotted and twisted forms tangled together in a confusing mess which is a metaphor for how the film will progress. The film will be an unraveling of tortured limbs and cables and the whole opening is accompanied by appropriate music. 

A new equally frightening image is introduced of fire, it is almost as if someone is being set a light. There is a clear image of a human body who has been set light to down to a charred remain. It is a frightening visual. A close up of a human eye with wires going into the eye like they're snakes creates a sense of being controlled by the cables. There is a creature escaping from the flames like a Phoenix's rising up.

Depiction of a man and woman bare skin with a hint of violence from the fist.This suggests a dark violent sexual relationship. Towards the end there is a lot of images of flowers opening which morphs into two pairs of hands which suggests there will be a dark sinister sexual relationship in the film. The music never gives up, it continues to pound in out heads. 

There is then a female face being gagged. It is as if the opening is a glimpse into someone's nightmare world. A human creature is created as if they where monochrome. The girl created is very boyish with very short straight hair, it is as if it's a girl who's trying to deny her feminine. There is a final kiss which is disturbing because of the dark colour at which stage the music tempo increases. A collection of Blow flies appear which connotes death. Sharp objects such as knifes contribute to the feeling of death. There is a male figure blindfolded which continues to promote the fear of danger. It continued to show pictures of him struggling. Very rapid cuts are used to suggest that restless feeling in a nightmare. The opening comes to it's climax when people's heads explode and people's mouths open in howls of anguish.

RESEARCH: A BRIEF HISTORY OF TITLE DESIGN

• I watched the clip A BRIEF HISTORY of TITLE DESIGN from the website Art of the Title http://www.artofthetitle.com . I watched this clip three times in order to be able to see the way title design has change over time with the introduction of new technologies such as CGI.

• This screenshot from the opening of Singing In The Rain shows how live action can be used to create the mood for the film, which is one of unalloyed comedy. The three characters are singing in the rain when the Title in bold brightly coloured text appears over the top of them, connoting the joyful quality. This is simple editing however the combination of the text and action explains simply and quickly to the viewer the context of the film. 

• This screen shot from the opening of Anatomy of A Murder is a simple but effective animation. This shows how use of technology has advanced in a short period of time since Singing In The Rain. This film opening is effective as 'Anatomy' is about the science of bodily structure, therefore by having the text appear on a body explains the meaning of the word. The style is graphical rather then realistic. The shape of the body is that of someone who is dead on the floor, this explains the word murder and informs the viewer of the context of the film. I like this use of animation as it is subtle and doesn't remove itself from the fact there is murder in the film, therefore I may try to use some sort of animation in this style in my film opening.

• The Pink Panther is a further advance in technology and is a great use of CGI. The panther crawls backwards as the texts enlarge. This creates a sense of humour and family fun from the panther's casual, human like behaviour. This feeling of fun and humour is reinfocrced by the large pink text and the fact that the panther is pink. 

• Saturday Night Fever starts with a downward pan of the main character John Travolta. This immediately makes the viewer aware of the main character and can see from the style of clothes (wide v-neck red shirt and leather jacket) the era the film is set in: 1970s. The title then appears at the feet of John Trovalta to establish that he is the most important character in the film, as he is privileged in most framing. The title appears as if it were a neon sign which is also appropriate for the era of the film and it connotes the young peoples social life in town. I would like to use clothes in my film opening that instantly set the era of the film for the viewer.

• Alien has the title appear over the background of a planet in space. The font used is more modern and makes both the 'A' and 'E' look un-normal therefore creating a sense of confusion and something from outer space. This is appropriate for this film as it sets the mood for the film of something eery going on.  I would like to use appropriate fonts for my film opening which create the correct emotion for the viewer before the film actually starts.

• Dawn of the Dead has a hi-tech use of CGI. The title appears in red on a black background. This makes the title stand out, the title then appears to start to bleed. The 'bleeding title' creates a sense of death and informs the viewer that the film is going to be a horror and is going to be gory. I would like to use effective CGI to portray the mood of my film opening.

RESEARCH: THE ART OF THE TITLE

Today I started to research film openings using the website THE ART OF THE TITLE http://www.artofthetitle.com

Delicatessen (directed by Juan-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro, 1991) 
For my first piece of detailed analysis I used my observations, class discussions and the websites commentary including that of Karin Fong, creative director and designer at Imaginary Forces. 

• The title design is witty and it fits in with the genre of black comedy. Viewers are enticed in by the way each credit is carefully and appropriately embedded within items of the story: the director of photography has his name appear to be engraved on a period correct camera. Also the costume designer's name appears to be embroidered on a clothes label. 
• The lighting and colour used in the film opening enables the viewer to identify the period in which the film is set. There's a sepia tone which contrasts with the black colours therefore creating a sense of a dark themed film. 
• The camera does a slow pan which twists and turns over the abandoned possessions. It stops over specific items to enable viewers to see the carefully embedded credits. The slow pan over the the possessions informs the viewer that the shop is old and has had many guests stay there. 

The Broken Orchid: my first steps in film making
I used this technique, when making my own first film opening, to engage viewers and give the previous history of a character. We did this before embarking on our Foundation Production, as we were inspired by Delicatessen.

We gathered objects that were related to the Far East, displayed them in an sequential specific way on a table so that a story would appear to unfold as the camera panned over the items. We wanted to suggest through the raw ingredients of the story (oriental costume, military uniform, vintage suitcase, maps and photographs of Vietnam, ethnic objects and a hand gun) a story of love and war.

I then edited the film, adding in a soundtrack as well as titles. I learned that having a small bit of live action was very useful to bring the still objects to life. I also decided to create a sense of enigma but having the girl hide her face before briefly revealing it. Below is the finished result:

PRELIMINARY EXERCISE

We are doing the thriller brief so we had to plan, film, capture and edit our preliminary task.  

Continuity task: filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room, sitting down in a chair opposite another character with whom she/he exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180% rule.

RESEARCH: MY MEDIA WORLD

• I use my iPhone 5 for making calls, sending text messages, social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. I also use it to play games, find out the days weather and find out about the daily news. Another use is to take pictures and record video.

• 

  Best feature: use of social network apps

  I use my Macbook Pro as a means to find information on the internet. I use it to watch TV shows and movies, also short internet videos.
• I use Youtube to watch short online videos which are popular or interesting to me.
• I use Twitter to find out about other peoples lives and to update my friends about what I am doing. I find this is also a good way to find out about daily news.
• I use Facebook to update my friends on a daily basis, also I use the chat option for more personal communication with friends.
• I use Instagram to update my friends with what I am doing through pictures.
• I use my Xbox to play games, Search the web and watch TV shows via Netflix or Sky Player.
• I use Netflix to both catchup and watch new TV shows and Movies.
• I use the Canon 550D to take pictures and record video. 
• I use Blogger to post about my life and keep any readers updated. It is also my main way to update my teacher on my AS course work.
• I use Spotify in order to listen to and get the music I want while on the move or at home. 
• I go to the Cinema to watch the latest movies as this is a more immersive experience than watching it on a handheld device such as a laptop or iPad.