Planning opening credits - Miss Georgiou

In a motion picture, the opening credits are shown at the very beginning and list the most important members of the production. They are now usually shown as text superimposed on a blank screen or static pictures, or sometimes on top of action in the show. There may or may not be accompanying music. 

Within the opening sequence from se7en the opening credits are written in white font, this was to stand out from the setting which was filmed in low key lighting. The font was very jerky and handwritten which emphasises danger, this is an effective use of design. The music within the background was also very effective as it is very high pitched and fast paced which creates excitement and adrenaline for the audience. The individual names within the opening credits change to the beat of the music and with the image on the screen, this is a very professional way to present the credits and creates a very strong effect on the audience.


Within the opening credits for Shutter Island the font is written in red, which implies danger and blood, this represents the death and mystery used within the film, the red font also stands out against the dark setting used. Very eery and dark music is used within the background to create suspense and tension for the audience, conventional to a thriller as they want the audience to be on edge. Iconography was also used including guns, jail cells, chains, matches ect; these objects all portray the thriller genre as they are all negative and represent danger. 

Opening credits in thrillers are used to set the atmosphere of the film, they do this by normally being written in a handwritten font to make the audience feel unstable and builds anxiety, they are also normally written in an opposite colour to the contrast of the opening scene. E.g. when the scene is dark, normally set in night with low key lighting, either red or white font will be used to stand out and represent either flesh or blood and when the setting is in a more brighter lighting, black font is used to stand our and represent death. 

Our opening sequence will include red coloured font, as this connotes death and danger, it will also be written in a handwritten, slightly jerky font, this connotes an unstable and unpredictable narrative. We will put our credits in the conventional order of appearance, which will be to put the actors names first, followed by the producers, cameramen, editors, filmmakers, director ect; followed by the title of the film in a larger and bolder font. We will have the music from the opening sequence included instead of a continuous soundtrack suitable to the credits, we will also have the credits placed in various parts of the screen, to avoid interference with the actual opening sequence. 

Our credits will be used in a very authentic font to represent a spooky and retrospective effect, they will be placed in different corners of the screen to avoid clashing with the narrative. The colours we will use for all of the credits will be black, as this colour represents death and mystery, however the film title will be white as it will be shown against a black background. Editing effects will be used for the credits to transfer on and off the screen, this will be used to represent professionalism. We will use credits for the production roles in this order;

• Film title - Aphotic
• Production company - Grey house production
• Actors - Sophie Ledwith & Tom Tovey
• Producer - Devon Thomas
• Director of photography - Scott Arbuckle
• Editor - Tom Tovey
• Director - Devon Thomas

Sound planning - Miss Miller

Sound refers to everything we hear in a movie such as; words, sound effects, and music. Sound is used in film to heighten a mood, provide us with information about the location of a scene, advance the plot, and tell us about the characters in the story.

Within our opening sequence many sound effects are used to change the atmosphere and connect the audience to the characters. Non-diegetic sound is the most common sound technique used throughout the clip, it is sound or music that is added in, during the editing stage. Non-diegetic sound is used when the victim is hiding behind the tree, heavy breathing and a heart beat noise is used. This technique is effective as it emphasises the fear the character is feeling, and the noises are relatable towards the audience as they can connect to her through the beat of her heart. Other non-diegetic sound that is used involves the sound track used as the victim is being chased. A fast paced, high pitched soundtrack is used to create suspense and excitement for the audience. These uses of non-diegetic sound are conventional to thrillers as they create an emotional response for the audience including suspense and tension.

 

Diegetic sound is music or sound that belongs within a frame, that is an natural part of the narrative, it is used in the opening sequence when the phone is ringing at the end. Within the whole opening sequence there is not much diegetic sound used, as we are creating effect using editing techniques and cinematography, however the sound used from the phone ringing being real highlights the importance of the scene. The phone ringing also signifies the death of the victim therefore needs to be emphasised. This is conventional to a thriller film as the representation of death is very common within thrillers.

 On screen sound is when you can see and hear where the sound is coming from within the film, it is used when the victim is running through the forest. As the victim is running leaves are being crunched on the floor, the setting of the forest is shown in the camera therefore the audience can see the sound coming from the leaves. This connects to the audience as they can hear the same noises they would if they was in the same situation. 

Silence is used within our opening sequence when the phone is laying on the ground at the end of the scene, this sound technique is used to represent the victims death. The silence represents her life being over, it also portrays the life coming out of her, however we do not confirm the death of her as we do not show her being murdered. We believe this is a very important sound technique to use in thrillers and it is conventions towards them as it normally represents the ending of an equillibrium or represents the begining of one.

Group storyboard - Miss Miller

From creating individual storyboards, we then had more creative and much more entertaining ideas for our opening sequence. We conferred over our individual storyboards and then developed a group one in which we will used to film our sequence. When conferring we each had an idea which was added into our final storyboard, therefore we all made a useful contribution.

Tom had decided to include the alley way within our sequence, the alley way was considered because it offers a lot more enigma and danger before the chase scene begins as the victim cannot see what is behind her and around each corner she turns. We all discussed the idea and then decided to use the alley way and added in the killer standing at the top watching over her. However we struggled with trying to find a forest with an alley way near it, although we didn't want to lose the idea so we had worked out a place that will be appropriate. We believed including an alley way within our opening sequence as well as using the forest, would create even more suspense and fear for the audience to watch.

Scott's idea was to change our weapon from a knife to a hammer, we immediately agreed with this as it is a much more appropriate weapon for a deranged killer. The knife is very stereotypical weapon which we do not want to use as stereotypically most sane killers use, we want our killer to seem as insane as possible. However we wasn't sure how to fake the killing scene using a hammer as a weapon so we decided not to show the actual death, this is also benefited us because it leaves the audience in suspense. The hammer portrayed the killer to be as deranged as possible as it is a very violent weapon choice that is not commonly used within thriller films, this breaks the codes of conventions however worked better for us within our opening sequence.

My idea was to have the phone ringing in the last scene, the ringing phone would represent how she is unavailable to answer and implies her death. The phone would relate to the audience as they all have one and can understand the difficult situations they get into because of them. However we had difficulty in discussing who's name would appear on the screen. We considered using an 'Unknown' name to imply the killer was the one ringing to find out her whereabouts, however we struggled finding a reason as to why he would ring again once he had killed her. We decided to use the phone to be emphasised on instead of a piece of clothing or jewellery because it creates a stronger and longer impact on the audience. This is because her only way of escaping the killer is receiving help, which she cannot get without her phone to contact anyone, therefore we highlight how she has left her phone behind to imply she is almost indefinitely dead.

Creating a group storyboard has helped our filming in a very positive way as we had a better idea on how to film each scene, this made our filming more efficient and easier. Completeing the story board as a group also positively effected our filming as we each contributed to create better and more creative ideas. However a negative to having created a storyboard is that when we changed our ideas we found it hard to film as we had a set our schedules.

Character planning - Miss Miller

Within our opening sequence there is two characters featured throughout of it, the characters include a female victim and a derranged killer. The purpose of characters within films is to give the audience something to connect with and focus on, they also project the narrative to make it entertatining and give it purpose. Without characters there wouldnt be much point within films because there would be no narrative to help entertain the audience.

Female victim
Our victim is blonde female, which is a very stereotypical element used within thriller films. Females are often associated with being vulrunable and innocent which is a strong representation of our victim as she will be naive and weak for the killer to catch her and kill her. The audience will be able to connect with this character because our target audience is of a similar age to the victim, therefore they can relate to how the victim is responding to her situation. Representing our victim as innocent also helps create emotions for our audience as they will empathise for her and want her to escape the killer, this means the audience will be much more engaged within the narrative.

Killer
Our killer is a tall male, which even though you cannot see hes true identity the build of the body makes it very obvious as to the gender of the killer. A male is used to represent a masculine, powerful being who is close to being invincible. The audience can connect to the killer because he is a stereotypical character used within thriller films, therefore they can compare existing thriller villains to the killer within our film. The killer character is also known as being deranged which will engage the audience as they want to find out what the true motive of the killer is.

This character planning post has been useful within our planning for our opening sequence of a thriller film because we know how to portray our characters in terms of connecting with the audience and applying to thriller conventions. This will help make our opening sequence more entertaining and technically good.

Cinematography planning - Miss Miller

Cinematography is the art of photography and camerawork in film-making, it is used to create a much more engaging film. Within our opening sequence we will be using many different camera shots to help create certain connections and emotions for the audience.

One main camera shot we will be using quite frequently will be the establishing shot, for example when the victim is being followed down the road and into the forest as it shows the audience the setting and characters. This will also connect to the audience as it lets them consider there own prediction of how the scene will finish. The shot is conventional to a thriller as it is normally used to show the audience the setting which in this case is the dark, derelict forest which causes suspense for the audience watching as it is a stereotypical scary environment.

Another camera shot that will be used within our opening sequence will be low angle, which will be used when the killer is at the top of the alley holding the hammer. This shot will be used to emphasise how powerful and superior he is, therefore the audience become aware of how he is stronger than the victim. This is very common in thrillers as it highlights who the villain is and how he is invincible. Another similar shot that will be used within our opening sequence will be high angle, which will be used when the victim is hiding behind the tree and the camera is held above her. This shot will be used to make her seem very weak and vulnerable towards the killer. This is another stereotypical camera shot to use within thrillers and there is always inferior victims that cannot be saved.

Over the shoulder shot is a very important shot that will be used within our opening sequence as it is used to create a lot of effect and suspense during the chase scene as you can see the killer behind her while she is running away. However whilst this shot is being another camera shot will be connected with it, which is the focus shot, it will be used to put the killer in main focus of the screen while she is in front of him. We will also be considering using handheld during thee chase scene as this is a very conventional effect during many recent thriller films, the handheld effect creates a jerky and unstable atmosphere.

Planning mise-en-scene - Miss Georgiou

Mise-en-scene is the arrangement of scenery and stage properties in a play, there are five elements of this which are; lighting, settings, costume, cinematography and body language/facial expressions.  Mise-en-scene is used to inform the audience of the narrative and create a relationship with them by controlling their emotions through whats on screen. 

Lighting
The lighting used throughout the whole opening sequence of our thriller film is going to be filmed in low key lighting, this is used to create a eery and dark atmosphere which is relatable to our narrative. The low key lighting is also used to put the audience in suspense as the darkness is a very common use of a thriller convention as it is a form of enigma. This is conventional to the thriller genre as low key lighting often presents enigma through things such as shadows and allows the killers identity to remain hidden. I have inspiration to use this from many films including Halloween and Scream, where the lighting used is very dark to emphasise the danger and mystery within the scene, when you cannot see your surroundings they often become more paranoid and aware of what will happen. 

Setting
The setting we are going to use is a forest, this is because from our questionnaire results we had discovered our audience prefer to watch thrillers filmed in a forest setting. I believe this is because it a relatable location towards the audience, therefore they will feel a stronger connection to the situation the character is in. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the forest is a very common setting for murder to take place, as soon as our victim will enter the forest the audience will automatically assume what will happen. However before the victim enters the forest she will be walking down a street and into an alley, the alley also represents danger as it is a very common place for crimes to take place therefore very conventional to the thriller genre. Inspiration for the use of filming within a forest is from films such as the blair witch project.

Costume
The costume that will be used for our killer will be a black colour, that will cover his identity to create mystery. A mask will be used to hide the killers face, the mask will help create more suspense as the killer is choosing to be kept a secret and he could be anyone. The victim will be wearing feminine clothing, to suggest innocence and purity, this shows her vulnerability and innocence. Within the audience they can also relate to this kind of costume as it is a very simple and common clothing choice for many girls who will view the movie. This is conventional to the thriller genre as stereotypically the victims are female and very vulnerable so that they are an easy target for the killer, it is also conventional for within a thriller the killer to be kept dark and mysterious. 

Cinematography
The cinematography that we will use within our opening sequence will vairey alot throughout the opening sequence, as the victim is walking through the street unaware of her follower, the camera shots will be slow paced and establish the setting. Whereas when the victim is running from the killer, the camera shots become more jagged and faster building more suspense for the audience. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the audience are meant to feel uneasy and be realistically scared for the character. Handheld will be a very common camera shot used within our opening clip for example when the killer is following the victim, this is used so that the audience can view the killers perspective.

Body language/Facial expressions
The facial expressions within the chase scene will be only of the female victim, she will be very distressed and her face will project this feeling. When the victim is hiding her body language becomes very protective of herself, by curling up into a ball behind the tree, this represents her being scared and anxious. This is conventional to the thriller genre as the victim is very naive to assume she could possibly escape and survive the killer attempting to kill her. She will also begin to walk faster when she begins to feel as if she is being followed, this is a body reflex which reflects her fear and paranoia.

Storyboards - Miss Miller

Within our research and planning for our opening sequences of a thriller genre, we had to create storyboards of our narrative, this will help us when it comes to filming our idea, because we will know how to carry each scene out from what camera angle to use to how we will edit the shots we are using. The storyboard included;

• Camera shot
• Editing
• Narrative
• Sound
• Iconography

Within my first 4 boxes in my storyboard the narrative is that the female victim is being followed and then enters the forest, the main camera shot that was used within the first 4 scenes was long shot and this was used because the setting, characters and situation was being established. The music only began to play within the 4th scene as this is when the suspense is being built up, as the girl realises she is being followed. We got inspiration to use the forest as the setting through the thriller the blair witch project.

Within the next 4 scenes, the chase scene begins and a lot more of the conventions of thrillers are used to created an effect on the audience. More editing and camera angles were used in order to connect to the audience, editing such as the kuleshov effect which was used to create a third meaning. Non diegetic sound was also used frequently to impact on the little noises made such as, leaves rattling, heavy breathing and heartbeat. We got inspiration for the chase scenes from many different thrillers such as Halloween and Scream.

The last two scenes leave the audience in shock and suspense as they do not know what has happened to the victim. A lot of more technical effects are used such as silence and the wipe effect which leaves the audience in wonder as they are interested in the narrative. Within the very last scene it is the only scene in which the victim does not star in, this gives the audience a strong indication of her death.




Having created individual storyboards and then conferring to recreate a final group storyboard was very useful, this was because we each had very creative and fresh ideas that we decided to combine which will make our opening sequence much more effective. However we did find it hard to come up with an editing style for each storyboard as we have not filmed the scenes yet, therefore we cannot predict what effect will be best suited to each shot. This will result in us making many changes from our planning to our final product.

Preliminary task - Miss Georgiou

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XNhXJata38
My group consists of me, Tom and Scott, myself and Scott were acting within the preliminary task and Tom was in charge of the camera. Throughout this task we experimented with many different camera angles which we could possibly use in our opening sequence of a thriller movie. We used angels such as;

• Long shot
• Point of view
• Steadicam
• Mid shot

Having completed this preliminary task, we now have experience on how we can film and edit our opening sequence using different angles and editing skills. We learnt how to use the stand and camera and use many techniques for creating different effects using them. However we did struggle to repeat certain angles and positions of the camera when filming the conversation between myself and Scott, this is because we had to change the camera position each time one of us replied in the conversation. This was tricky as we had to return the camera into the exact same place, otherwise the whole clip would have been out of focus.

Within our opening sequence we do plan to use the long shot angle, during the first few shots when our victim is being followed. From our preliminary task we now have knowledge on how to use this in an effective way.  Advantages of carrying out the preliminary task is that we now have an insight on how to film and carry out our filming however a disadvantage to doing this was that Tom filmed it and he will not be the director of photography within our real opening sequence.

Here is screenshots of the camera angles we used within our preliminary task;