Tasks to do this week

This week we are planning on;

• Filming various people of our target audience to ask them what name they think is best suited for the title of our film.
• Experiment with the green screen and see what effects look of good quality, and if successful we could use certain aspects of the green screen in our film.
• Film and post short filming that we've done of walking which will be in our film, including a variety of shots which will proivde us with research as to what shots will be used in filming.
• Plan locations where we are going to film and check if they will make the filming easy and accessible to film.
• Costumes and props will be essential so we will need to plan what we will be using and include them in our storyboards.

Thriller typography and mood board

A mood board of thrillers which have influenced our initials ideas and planning for our own short thriller production. They include films from previous era's and modern day, also the work of famous film directors, such as Stanely Kubrick (director of A clockwork Orange and The Shining) and director Alfred Hitchcock of Psycho and Vertigo. In terms of Typography, i think the fonts showcased on the covers/posters suit the genre and plot of the film very well, and i think it is important along with the title of our film that we make sure it is suitable. The font used for the title of 'Psycho' is particularly effective in the bold yellow contrasted with the black. 

Planning for Audience research

In terms of planning for our short film, i think that it would be effective to get the views of cinema audiences and those who watch films of this genre often. I am planning to provide my results in the form of video, which will enable the viewer of my blog to see how people felt and responded to the questions i asked. This would be efficient than just using a questionnaire, and i think we could get some really interesting and useable feedback which we can apply to our own production. Obviously it is ideal that we interview and pose questions to people of 15 and above, due to the certificate we think is suitable for the film.

Certificate of the film

In our group, we feel that a certificate of 15 would be suitable as our it includes our target audience of 15 - 24 year olds. A certificate of 15 means :

'Passed only for persons of fifteen years and over. No person apparently under the age of 15 years shall be admitted to any exhibition at which there is to be shown any film which has received a '15' certificate from the British Board of Film Classification.'

The BBFC permits the following within the bounds of the 15 certificate:

Theme: No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.

Language: There may be frequent use of strong language; the strongest terms are only rarely acceptable. Continued aggressive use of strong language and sexual abuse is unacceptable.

Nudity: There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex: Sexual activity and nudity may be portrayed but without strong detail. The depiction of casual sex should be handled responsibly. There may be occasional strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.

Violence: Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain, and of injuries. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.

Imitable techniques: Dangerous combat techniques such as ear claps, head-butts and blows to the neck are unlikely to be acceptable. There may be no emphasis on the use of easily accessible lethal weapons (in particular, knives).

Horror: Sustained or detailed infliction of pain or injury is unacceptable.

Drugs: Drug taking may be shown but clear instructive detail is unacceptable. The film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug use.

I think this is a suitable certificate for our 2 minute production as there will be mild scenes of obscure violence in the series of rapid sequences (montage) and it will not encourage anything that would be deemed unsuitable for a person or people of the 15 age bracket.

 

 

 

 

 

character planning

This is an initial idea of how we want our main male character to look. Hannah created this image of the police detective who will feature in our short production. The bowler hat is to cover the face of the person playing this role, this is because we don't want the audience to see the actor's face, creating an enigma and suspision as to who he is. The long trench coat connotes that he is a professional, as does the tie, and also in the use of his costume, we are trying to represent and show the 70's era, in which we will hopefully be using to establish the setting and basis of our production.

Spider Diagrams of initial planning and ideas

This is a spider diagram of our initial planning and ideas for our 2 minute title and opening sequence. I have explored various aspects in which our film will include, such as Film Noir elements, as well as our influences from other thriller films such as Se7en.

Hannible - Analysis of title and opening sequence for film

Hannibal is a psychological horror/thriller film starring Anthony Hopkins as the cannibal, Mr Hannibal Lecter. The film is set ten years after the infamous thriller 'Silence of the Lambs'.

The opening sequence begins with a black background, connoting death or danger.
Non-diegetic music of which sounds like a piano is played whilst the black background is still on the screen. The music sounds from a previous era, suggesting the setting will be either old fashioned or set years ago from present day.
A male voice can be heard, however it doesn't seem to be a voice over like in so many of the Film Noir movies. This creates an enigma for the audience as there is no identity yet who the voice belongs to.
Red font/typography appears from out of the black screen saying 'Universal Pictures'. The writings is medium sized and quite thin, with the red giving the impression of blood or danger.
Another male voice is introduced but no faces as yet, however the audience can understand that there is a conversation taking place, even with no images.
The red font fades out with the introduction of more titles.
A small, unrecognisable white square appears and zooms closer, becoming enlarged. The title of 'Scott Free Productions' is shown to the left of it.
The white square is close enough now to appear as a television screen or the stage on a theatre, creating confusion for the audience as to where this is set.
The square is still surrounded by the pitch black background however three figures become apparant, and the voices are recognisable as those from before.
There is a black middle aged man sat casually on a chair, across from a man in a wheelchair and another standing next to him. The faces of the people have not been shown as yet.
A long/meduim shot establishes the setting of where this 'meeting' is taking place. It appears to be a large living room in a house, however the grand furniture and royal colours connote that of wealth.
The camera continues zooming in.
The once white square now takes up the whole screen, although still no emphasis on the faces.
Ambient and low key lighting connotes danger and perhaps plotting from the three characters.
Non diegetic music is still quite mellow.
Point of view camera shot suggests that someone/something is lurking or listening into the conversation.
A close up shot of the man in the wheelchair shows his face to be very disfigured, creating a shock for the audience.
The camera cuts back to the black male character, with a shot reverse shot of the two conversing.
A low angle shot of the disabled man portrays the background of the grand fireplace, once again connoting wealth.
A man is stading by his side wearing a formal suit, with his body turned slightly towards the man in the wheelchair, suggesting he works for him.
The black male character picks up a pink box and walks to the other man.
An over the shoulder shot reveals the standing male character unravelling the box, with red curtains and book cases connoting historical and old preferences from the owner, suggestively the disabled man.
A low angle shot shows the man's reaction to what is inside the pink box, whilst the camera continues to zoom in.
The calm non diegetic music stops and becomes an almsot ambient sound of the wind, connoting events are about to take a more sinister turn.
Finally, we see what is in the pink box. It is a human face mask with metal bars covering the mouth. It looks almost animalistic and perhaps belongs to Hannibal himself.
A high angle shot zooms into the mask, which then fades out. And the red font re-appears with the film title 'Hannibal' in a fancy typography.

The title sequence follows from this with the actor's names appearing in white bold writing.
A series of black and white images appear as if they are CCTV or surveillance tapes, connoting that of police and detectives. There is the non diegetic souns still of the piano, although there is the diegetic sound of police radios.

Initial planning for our film

Our thriller film,we have decided, will be a certificate of 15, as we intend to aim it at teenagers and young adults between the ages of 15 and 24. In terms of a storyline, the two minute opening will give away certain aspects of the plot to set a basis for the audience, however as it is such a short production and only includes a title and opening sequence, a storyline is not essential, although for our main character, some background information will be provided from the initial setting of the film.

1. The film will be set in the 1970's, as a result of the intention to break away from stereotypical conventions in which thrillers of the modern day are often set.
2. The male main character will be the ideal serial killer due to his servitude in the police force as a detective, in which he will obviously not be the one to be suspected.
3. Although his face will not be shown, the audience can establish he is a man from various shots of his head, hands and attire, in which he will most likely wear a formal, professional suit.
4. The character is a family man, provided by the photographs of a wife and children, leading onto the psychologically disturbing pictures of various unidentified families, with each and every face cut out, leaving just the bodies.
5. The initial opening will be followed by a montage of clips, which are additioned by title and production names of multiple made-up companies that will link to the film appropriately.
6. Each shot will be of a rapid pace, in a style of flashbacks (relating to the element of film noir).
From the eventuallity of the montage and clips, an intention of what is to come is given to the audience.

This initial planning may however change for whatever reasons, whether it any of our ideas will be inconceivable with the time and resources we have.This planning acts as a basis for our later research.

Production on film - group/genre

Our group consists of four people, each will be involved in the development and production of our 2 minute title and opening sequence for a film. We have not yet formerly decided which genre our film will be, however we feel that the Thriller genre would enable us to create some really good visual effects aswell as creating a basis for a plot for the audience to be able to interact with our short production. Initial planning will be research on other types of thriller films and ultimately other genres if we decide to go in a different direction to that of a thriller. I personally think that research helps to connote the various elements of this particular genre, such as those of the classic 'Film Noir' flashbacks, and eventually it will help us to create a film that is effective and that fits into the catorgory of thriller. Another genre i am interested in is horror, however i think research would prove that this specific genre would be difficult to convey in our own 2 minute film as it would need to consist of elements that generally make horror films what they are such as blood,guts and gore. I feel that there could be some potential in creating a film based on this genre, although i think a thriller would incorprate this aswell as providing a sufficient basis for an effective title and opening sequence.