Music changes

the music for the rough cut version sounded too happy so to give the best effect and create the correct atmosphere I decided to change the music to something more appropriate.
Our new music piece is a lot more eery than our previous one, and with the effects and darkening we have done on the video, together we think they look fantastic.

Editing

In thursdays lesson we managed to do the majority of editing.
We darkened all the shots, as due to time restrictions we'd filmed at around midday and from the beginning we'd decided it'd be more effective of it looked like night.
For the shot of the eye opening we tinted it red.To lead on from this we tinted the point of view shots slightly red aswell, we also added a light rays effect and altered the saturation. i think this effect worked really well and added alot to the atmosphere of those shots.Seeing the tent from the killers point of view i think was one of the most effective.
We also began adding titles.We decided to put the names in different places on the screen and added an earthquake effect.This instability, constant movement and change reflects the mental state of the killer and means the font fits well within the shots.
Jonny worked on the soundtrack as we felt the music we used for the animatic wasn't quite right, particularly the strings.Johnny and i had tried changing the key but we still weren't convinced it would work, so on thursday he used garageband to create a new piece, that included sounds of a thunderstorm-which has clear links with the thriller genre, he also imported some music that he added to this.

development of ideas

We at least need to make our shots darker, as at the minute they are fairly light, which isn't the ideal when trying to create an eerie atmosphere.We could try putting all our footage in black and white-possibly with red touches, for example the eye.
We also want to make adjustments to the audio, we think the strings sound too 'upbeat', so we're going to try and replace them with something in a minor key, which should fit better with the mood.We also want to take out some of the real sound, from when we were filming, however we may leave a little from the last three shots as we think it could enhance it.
We may refilm the knife part as it was unclear, and doesn't give the right effect as it currently is.

Chains title

these are a few ideas of text we could use for the titles and name of the film.
we could use chain image to replace the I in chains, this would be more interesting for the viewer and keep their attention.

The cutted rough

Our rough cut!

So, I feel that this has gone very well so far and will look even better when we add the finishing touches.
For instance:
We are going to edit the music to continue for longer and maybe add in a scream/breaking sound where there is a gap between the weapon and the next shot.
We will also change the scenes with the running to have less saturation.
The shots with the dead girl will also be edited on photo shop with blood and the eye shot towards the begining will be given a red tint or be less saturated.

The text will also be changed later on. at the moment it is simple but we are going to try to have a set of chains instead of an 'I' which is a rather cool looking effect, the font is 'Handwritten Dakota'
The other titles will have more of a scribble effect (haven't been added yet)

TEXT IDEAS

i found this style of text on a website and thought it very appropriate. firstly as it is in a hand written style which relates to the theme of our film. also it will help create the appropriate atmosphere. finally it is fairly simple and easy to read unlike some of the fonts i looked at. the only problem is that the website name which i found the style of text from appears in the bottom right which would create the completely wrong impression and be very inappropriate.

Text Generator - Handwriting Text - Counters - YourGen.com - Find Sports Online

change of location

Due to problems with borrowing equipment [we were not able to borrow it the over the weekend and that was the only time outside of class we were all free] we have had to change our location so that we can actually film our title sequence in time.
our new location is the wooded area behind long Road. it is not as good as our other two options but it is convenient for filming and provided a good enough location to create the atmosphere we want.

Test Footage.

Test Footage.

we went to the wooded area behind the college to see what the lighting was like during the day.
we also experimented with different styles of shots that may work well with our opeing sequence.
We hope to upload the footage next lesson.

We will probably need to use photoshop to create the blood effect we want in our shots of the dead girl. We used this image to practice on photoshop and see how well we could create a pool of blood.On our real image with lightly more time spent on it, using photoshop should create the right effect.We could do this by using a still and just copying it after the blood is added, trying to do it over a series of frames would be too difficult.

Title

In consideration of the effect we want to produce we need to look at all aspects of the writing, like colour,font,size,transitional effects, background, on-screen effects, transparency, location, duration/speed, orientation and sound effects.

Vonnie has drawn some possibilities of texts. The idea of having a chain for the i is something we're quite keen to use, though we're also interested in the possibility of scrawled writing due its connotations-though we could just use this for the names rather than the film title.

THINGS!!!!!!

Prop list:
Mobile phone
Tent
Sleeping bag
A weapon (undecided, possibly a knife)
A cooker
Torch
General camping stuff (back pack etc...)
(some props maybe hard to get into tent or to the actual site where we wish to film)

Costume:
Pyjamas
Dark clothing (covers as much as possible)
Hat

Shots:
Blank screen
C/U phone
C/U phone being picked up
Medium shot girl answering phone
Extreme C/U phone (message deleted)
Black screen
Extreme C/U of eye
P.O.V shots running through forest
Overhead shots of person running
Low angle shot running through forest
C/U Girl sleeping
Extreme close up of terrified girl
Low angle of weapon
Blood splatter (Ink in water or ink on tent wall)
Medium long shot girl enters tent
Medium long shot girl in sleeping bag, blood in places
Zoom in the close up of phone.

Location 2

Our second choice of location was Wandlebery down, also a wooded location. It located near our first site choice and also had a dense wooded area. but as well as this it has an appropriate location to film the running scenes. as well as this there is a bridge that goes over the area where we could run/walk. the only problem with this location is that it is very open to the public so putting up a tent would attract atention and make it harder to film. To get around this problem we could film any scenes involving the tent at college where we would have time to put up a tent and not worry about member of the public being in our scenes .

Location location location

One choice for the location of the opening sequence was Gog Magog. It is a wooded location that had an appropriate atmosphere for our film. however there was no room to pitch a tent in the wood as it was so overgrown. Also as their woodland is so overgrown and in parts on a steep gradient it would be rather dangerous to run through.

Animatic and soundtrack

The first few shots are the phone ringing, it is meant to be a somewhat calm opening but still eerie as it's the only sound that can be heard.
The Heartbeat starts when the eye opens which breaks the eerie calmness in the scene as the music also starts it gets more and more tense as the creature is running though a forest, the tension is finally broken when the thing reaches the tent and a splash of blood is seen.
The rest of the title sequence stays calm again, in that it isn't moving very fast, and tension builds up again as the camera get closer to the phone till you can see it saying 'we warned you.'

The sound was difficult to get right as there is no heartbeat sound on garage band and we had to download it, not to mention the fact that you can't change the speed of a specific sound so the sound in between the heart beats had to be shortened.

problems with music

Not allowed to use Kraftwerk, or other copyright music as it's in the criteria that we mix it ourselves. However we can still use Kraftwerk as inspiration as we liked the electro music style as it fits well with our sequence.

Location

We have decided to use the Gog Magog hills to film our opening sequence as they are easy to get to and the setting is appropriate for the type of atmosphere we are trying to create.

6th October 2008

Vonnies completed a storyboard of our initial ideas, after group discussion.

Ideas for shots

As i was browsing around youtube i found ideas for the kinda of shots we wanted, such as a wood shot where the killer was hiding behind a tree and chased down the victim, also i looked at other A level thriller opening sequences to just look what they got marked and see what we have to do and better to get good marks.

Background Music

Whilst looking for a heartbeat sound we found this track.We're currently experimenting with playing a loud heartbeat over this track.If we can get the heartbeat loud enough it could sound really good,and give the effect we're looking for.It would be good at building tension and adding to the pace.



Could use the heartbeat from Rhianna-Unfaithful.Even the piano kind of worked when it came in-would probably have to alter the tempo though.

Influence

Our inspiration to use blood running down the screen as one of our thriller shots-could be used as a transition shot,from the initial shots to credits?

development of ideas

Instead of having the very first title sequence in a bed room it should be set it a remote location with a group of people camping. this would add to the atmosphere and be an easier setting to film. The shots we wanted to use to create atmosphere, if using a bedroom make that setting difficult, for example through the bedroom window.
So instead of using computers using mobile phones that send chain mail through text.

Ross' ideas

The title should cut from words to short scenes of action like in se7en. The music should be a slow beat and sound like a heartbeat to build up suspense and create tension. Use shots that dont really give away the idea of the character such as an over the head shot with the killer with his/her hood up.

Cat's Idea

Focus on lighting and colours.Over use of colour and alot of daytime shot appeared in previous years work, i thought this detracted from the overall effect.I think we should use alot of dark shots, and use mostly bold colour like red,black and white.Would like to include red screen technique thats often used as can be quite effective.Also quick flashing shots similar to those that appear i the title sequence of se7en-thought they worked really well.Emphasis on music-wrong sound could lead to an unsuccessful final piece.

Jonny's Ideas

using similar idea to se7en and vertigo. start of at a slow pace with someone in a bed room, maybe with the camera looking through the window or a closet. have a simple beat maybe a heart beat. this should create suspense and add to the atmosphere. the have the character in the bed killed in a gruesome way the use a blood splat to go to the credits on different patterns related to the film. not sure yet what style of music to use after the bed room scene.

Vonnies Idea

Use chain mail as an influence for a storyline

Title Sequences

We had to read brief summaries of four films, watch their title sequencesand analyse them.We have to comment on how they use symbolism,characters,events and how the atmosphere is created.

Se7en-1995-David Fincher
Opening sequence of bedroom,use of ticking noise to build up, then titles begin.Titles were a mix of titles and clips-a mix of extremely short clips that flashed up and longer shots.Use of razorblade,needle and images of mutaliation-symbolistic,it's connotations are used to show what kind of film it is.Use of dramatic music,constant background beat, intended to buils suspense and create atmosphere.



Vertigo-1958-Alfred Hitchcock
Begins with extreme close-ups of A woman's face, slot of focus on her eyes-typical of thrillers and horror,particularly from that era.Use of special effects to aid the transition from a shot of the eye to animate swirls,was effective but didn't really add to the atmosphere.Use of Orchestra for the music, also used the changes in tempo or volume of the music in an attempt to build the right atmosphere.Red screen at times to add effect due to it's connotations.

Starting thriller project

Dun dun dun

Cat Hughes
Jonny Womack
Vonnie Pigott
and Ross Munro

i lost the game.

Thinking about using chain mail as our inspiration
...Jonny wants a deserted city...could be hard

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