CONSTRUCTION: MURDER SEQUENCE

This is a location recce shot: the security light is currently faulty and flashes on and off in a very disconcerting way. Thanks to this fault, this creates an appropriate mood and atmosphere as to where we are going to find our murdered victim.

CONSTRUCTION: FANTASY SEQUENCE

• The still image above is our inspiration for the treatment of our fantasy sequence. We are trying to achieve a visual expression of the murderer's obsession with a girl who is not interested in him.
• We have decided how to film and display this scene where the girl is fantasized about. 
• We've chosen to use the white wall in the school gym so we have been down to book to use the gym with the PE department. 
• We will use strong lighting to cast a shadow of the girl on the back wall. 
• We intend to edit it in black and white.

CONSTRUCTION: REFINING OUR STORYBOARD

We have refined our story board in order to increase the sense of menace. In this sequence we now have a more fully developed montage in which the older dark haired man is constructed as a brooding, repressed figure who is obsessed with a young woman. We intend to signal his frustrations through a dreamlike insight into his fantasies about the girl. We intend to convey his latent violence through the way he handles the fish knife. A match cut between the fish's eye in ECU and the girl's eye hints at future violence.

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.