Cast

The cast of our film is as follows:

Name: Hannah Martin
Character: Hannah

Name: Josh East
Character: Josh

Name: Jasmine Greene
Character: Jasmine

Draft Story Board

When any film is made, a draft story board is used to plan and showcase the ideas of the team. It is very uncommon for the final story board to be the same as the draft story board, as during production, certain ideas are found not to be suitable, and the team come up with ideas that they may not have previously had, or develop the original ideas into ones that they think would be more suitable.

Fitting to this, we created a draft story board to accumulate all of our initial ideas so we had record of them. The plan for this story board is to use it to further adapt our piece to make it better by brainstorming from these initial ideas. 

Existing British & American Production Companies: British Production Companies

In order to understand the production of films better, I decided to do some research into production companies. From my previous knowledge, I knew that there was a difference between American production companies and British production companies. Therefore, I split my research into two halves; existing British production companies, and existing American production companies.

This post will consist of my research on British production companies.

British Production Companies

Aardman Animations

 Aardmann Animations is a British animation studio based in Bristol. It is recognised for its use of stop-motion clay animation techniques, however, during the late 1990's, they began to experiement with computer animation, and has since found success in this area, also. Worlwide, Aardman's films have made $973.2 million, meaning that each film they make earns an average of $163 million.

Camelot Films














Camelot Films is an established multi award winning production company based in London. They have worked with Oscar and BAFTA winning talent, and their film 'Then and Now', has won 11 awards and has showcased at 23 events around the globe. The company is currently in pre-production of their first feature film. In their commercial success, they produce corporate and promotional videos for clients worldwide.

Vertigo

Vertigo films is a UK based Film and Distribution company who aim to "create and distribute commercially driven independent cinema". The films it produces span many genres, and the company prides itself on championing new talent in film. Some of its most recognisable work are 'Horrid Henry: The Movie', 'Monsters' and the box office hit, 'StreetDance 3D,.



Working Title Films







Working Title Films is a British film production company based in London. Owned by Universal Studios, the company produces feature films and also telvison productions. The co-chairs of the company launched a subsidary independent film prodcution company called 'Working Title 2 Productions". This has produced many well-known films including Billy Elliot and Shaun of the Dead.

Hammer Films

Hammer Film Productions is best known for its production of a series of 'Hammer Horror' films. Based in London, the company has produced a range of genres, from thrillers to comedies. Hammer enjoyed its greatest success when it dominated the horror film market, where it had considerable financial success and its films were distributed worldwide. The company has been sold many times, but since its last sale, it has produced films such as 'The Woman in Black' and 'Let Me In'.

Existing British & American Production Companies: American Production Companies

In order to understand the production of films better, I decided to do some research into production companies. From my previous knowledge, I knew that there was a difference between American production companies and British production companies. Therefore, I split my research into two halves; existing British production companies, and existing American production companies.

This post will consist of my research on American production companies.

American Production Companies

American production companies are ruled by the "Hollywood Big Six"; the name given to a collection of America's most well-known and successful production companies. The current "Big Six" were established in the 1990's, and they are: Warner Bros. Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures and Walt Disney Studios. These production companies release a large number of films each year and produce some of the highest grossing films to ever be made.

Warner Bros. Pictures
As the highest grossing studio of 2016, Warner Bros Pictures is at the forefront of the entertainment industry, with 877 film releases, and a total gross of $39,996,451,135. As of the same year, the company is the only studio to cross $1 billion at the domestic box office every year since the millennium. The highest grossing film they have released is The Dark Night.

Walt Disney Studios
Buena Vista, a name often used for divisions of The Walt Disney Company, including the Walt Disney Studios, was the second highest grossing studio of 2016, with 631 film releases, and a total gross of $38,301,278,233. In December of 2016, Walt Disney Studios was the first major studio to reach $7 billion at the global box office. The highest grossing film they have released is Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures, also now known as Sony Pictures, was the third highest grossing studio of 2016, with 900 film releases, and a total gross of $33,740,729,952. The Columbia Pictures empire was sold on September 28, 1989 to Sony for $3.4 billion. The highest grossing film they have released is Spider-Man.

Universal Pictures 
Universal Pictures was the fourth highest grossing studio of 2016, with 681 film releases, and a total gross of $31,895,482,922. In April 2016, Universal's parent company bought DreamWorks Animation for a grand sum of $3.8 billion. The highest grossing film they have released is Jurassic World.

Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures was the fifth highest grossing studio of 2016, with 624 film releases, and a total gross of $31,819,128,113. Paramount is the fifth oldest surviving film studio in the world, and in 2014, became the first major studio to distribute all of its films in digital form only. The highest grossing film they have released is Titanic.

20th Century Fox
20th Century Fox was the sixth highest grossing studio of 2016, with 614 film releases, and a total gross of $31,279,392,548. The studio is currently owned by 21st Century Fox, and in 2015, it celebrated its 80th anniversary as a studio. The highest grossing film they have released is Avatar.

Analysis: Opening of 'The Secret Window'

Secret Window is a psychological thriller film in which the main focus of the narrative is the psychological aspect of the characters, and focuses strongly on their thoughts and feelings. It also has a key focus on their mental stability. The use of cinematography, editing, sound and mise-en-scene all serve to add to the narrative and to create tension in the audience, which is expected from a thriller film.

Camera:

The first shot of the opening sequence is a close up shot of the male protagonist. A close up shot serves to focus on the emotions of the character, and we can see here that the protagonist has a very stern facial expression, and is staring into this distance. The close up shot also serves as a means to show that the character is isolated, and reflects his reclusive mindset. Having the character staring into the distance results in an almost stare off between the audience and the character on screen, which creates tension. The direct gaze is very intimidating and the audience begin to wonder what the character is actually staring at, and makes them curious as to what has made him go into the fixed expression and mindset.

An establishing shot is used to set the scene of the piece, and here we see that as the car reverses, it reveals an establishing shot of a motel. Due to the tense nature of the first scene, the audience expect a more sinister location to be revealed, such as a old, dilapidated house. As the narration of the first scene suggested that the place the character had driven from was somewhere dangerous, and somewhere that he should not return to, it plants an enigma code in the minds of the audience as to why the motel is such a terrifying place. This serves as a tool to draw in the audience as they wonder what has happened in the motel to make the protagonist to not want to return there, and they anticipate that it is something that filled the character with fear.

The point of view shot when the protagonist is driving towards one of the rooms in the motel reflects the manic mental state of the character. The speed of the car, along with the speed of the windscreen wipers represents how the mind of the character is racing wildly. This makes the audience wonder what is so significant about this motel room to get him into this state of mind.

The medium shot of the character as he runs towards the door of the motel, highlights the urgency of the character to get into the room. This implies the significance of this room to the narrative as he is clearly eager to find out what is behind the door, and it makes the audience expect to see something bad on the other side. The shot of the character hurrying into what is likely to be a bad situation is not stereotypical of thriller films, as typically, characters are running away from situations that are either dangerous or detrimental to the character.

The slightly high angle shot when the protagonist enters the motel room serves to put the audience into the shoes of the character, to see the scene from his point of view. It allows the audience to feel empathy for the character after finding his wife in bed with another man, as the audience imagine how they would feel if they found themselves in a similar situation. The high angle shot also shows how vulnerable the two characters are to the wrath of the protagonist, by making them seem smaller, and less powerful. It highlights how the anger that the protagonist feels has made him physically more powerful than he was before.

Sound:

The piece begins with a sound bridge of the windscreen wipers over the production logo. This creates tension in the audience immediately as the sound of the manic windscreen wipers reflect a fast heart beat. This serves to create suspense for the audience as a fast heartbeat often reflects that someone is frightened or in danger. As the sound bridge means we cannot see what is happening, the audience anticipate an action shot as the first scene that includes an element of danger.

The non-diegetic voiceover that is featured in the scene where the protagonist is sat in the car, is used as his conscience. It gives the audience an insight into what the character is thinking and feeling, which helps them to find out a little more about his personality. It also creates enigma codes for the audience, as they are unaware of the situation that the character has just come out of. The voiceover could also reflect the psychotic nature of the character, as though he is hearing voices in his head that are telling him what to do. This intrigues the audience as they wonder whether he is mentally stable or not.

The opposition of sound in the motel serves to represent the state of mind of the character in the two different locations in the motel. In the room where he takes the key, what the characters are saying can be heard clearly. However, in the motel room, the voices become hushed and unclear. This suggests that in the room with the keys, the character was thinking clearly, but as soon as he entered the motel room, he became totally overwhelmed with emotion, to the point that it drowned out what was being said. The confusion of the character caused by the situation he has just walked in on is shown through the muffling of the sounds.

The diegetic sound of the car tires is used as a way to emphasise the realism of the piece. It is used to reflect how the character is in hurry to get wherever he is going, and that there is something that he clearly feels like he needs to go back to to solve. Additionally, the fact that the protagonist is speeding in the snow and ice shows that he is not mentally stable, as he is behaving in a reckless manner and is simply thinking of the speed in which he needs to get to his destination.

The use of haunting orchestral sound that begins when the character enters the motel room is stereotypical of the thriller genre. The non-diegetic music builds anxiety in the audience and it makes the atmosphere of the piece become even more sinister and eerie than it previously was. It acts as sound bridge into the next scene of the film, too.

Mise-en-scene:

The lighting throughout the entire opening sequence is very dark and eerie. This is stereotypical of the thriller genre as low lighting foreshadows danger and dark actions. 

In the scene in the car, a wedding finger can be seen on the finger of the protagonist. This helps to give the audience an insight into the narrative, and allows them to link the woman in the motel, to being his wife. The inclusion of the wedding ring is key, otherwise the audience would be left clueless as to who the woman is, and as to why the character becomes overcome with such rage.

The breath of the character is visible, due to the cold, snowy weather. This highlights the icy atmosphere of the piece, and possibly reflects the characters frosty interior. This makes the audience want to learn more about the character to see if his personality is as cold as the weather.

The establishing in the piece presents a run-down looking motel, in which the exterior could represent the mental state of the protagonist, and reflect how his emotions have been battered and abused. This is a very dark shot, apart from the glowing red sign of the motel. This red colour represents danger and disaster, and the fact that it is the main focus of the shot means that theses themes are likely to be a very large part of the narrative. Due to this, the audience anticipate the character running into a dangerous situation, and leave them feeling on edge.

Editing:

During the beginning of the sequence, the shots are very long. This engages the audience as they have to focus on what is happening on the screen, which emphasises the importance of the content of this scene. The length of the shots at the beginning create a mysterious atmosphere for the audience, and allows them to focus on the minute details of the characters facial expressions. 

Jump cuts are introduced when the action becomes more intense, which intensifies what is happening in the shots for the audience. Jump cuts help to create tension as it means that shots are moved from one to another in a sharp, abrupt fashion.

At the end of the sequence, a dissolve is used to transition from the scene in the motel, to a shot of the sea. This is a juxtaposition of atmospheres, as the calm of the shot of the sea, is entirely different to the manic nature of the scene in the motel. In fact, this juxtaposition heightens the intensity of the action in the previous scene. The use of such a tranquil shot after an action shot intrigues the audience, as they wonder what will happen next.

Unfortunately, there is a continuity error in this opening sequence. When the protagonists gets out of the car and runs to the motel room, he shuts the car door. This can be seen in the reflection of the mirror of the car, and can be heard, too. However, when the protagonist runs out of the motel, the door of the car is wide open. It is possible to miss this continuity error, but it takes away from the professional nature and the realism of the opening sequence. 

However, this may also not be a continuity error, but we cannot establish that unless we watch the rest of the film. Someone might have gone in the car of the character whilst he was in the motel room, and might have run off and left the door open. 

Analysis: Existing AS Media Thriller

Captive

The opening of ‘Captive’ begins with a close up shot of the characters hands tied up, which immediately relates to the title of the film, and how it relates to the narrative. In this shot, we can see that the characters arms are covered in blood, which leads the audience to wonder what has happened to the character to make them covered in blood. 

This is followed by a close up shot of the characters feet and ankles tied to a chair, which further emphasises the main theme of the film, with the character being kept captive. The characters shoes are covered in blood, too, which leads the audience to wonder whether the character has been murdered or not, and adds to the sinister nature of the shot. A little more of the setting is revealed here, with the ground being dirty and covered in puddles, which suggests that the character is being kept in an outdoors location, or a dilapidated building. 

The dripping of what the audience perceives to be water initially, fits with the diegetic sound of what the audience perceive to be water dropping. From a close up of the character, we can see that in fact, the dripping is of blood coming out of the mouth of the character. This plants enigma codes for the audience as they want to know how the character got into such a state, with his face also being all bloody and covered in cuts. The use of the diegetic sound of laboured breathing is used to present the bad state that the character is in, and used to highlight the fear that he is experiencing. 

The use of CCTV shots, of 4 different areas of the location help to establish where the character is. It also makes the audience anticipate seeing another person come up in one of the other sections of footage, other than the one that the captive character is in.

The blurred point of view shots show that the character is extremely drowsy as he is unable to see properly. It also indicates that he might have experienced a blow to the head, which is further indicated by the following extreme close up of the cut on the characters cheek.

The introduction of dramatic, non-diegetic music as the character starts to attempt to break free, builds tension in the audience. This is a stereotypical convention of a thriller, as they often use high-pitched instrumental pieces as a means to build anxiety in the audience, and to make them anticipate danger. The fast paced editing between the shots of the character attempting to get out of his restraints highlights the frantic nature of him trying to escape.

The long shot of the restrained character, that zooms in to a medium shot is used to primarily show the breathing of the character as it starts to become erratic, which symbolises the increasing destress that he is facing. This builds suspense as it foreshadows that danger is approaching.

The CCTV shots return, which are accompanied by non-diegetic, hitch pitched music to build tension. This time, there is another person in the piece of footage at the top right hand corner, in which the footage then goes black and static, and the music intensifies. This focuses the audience on the other character, and reinforces that this character is the one that brings danger.

The music keeps heightening in tension, as the intensity increases, along with the pitch. The diegetic sounds of the captive character screaming, as the other character can be viewed through the window of the dilapidated building, further emphasises that this character is the one responsible for what has happened to him. The intensity of the non-diegetic music, accompanied by the diegetic screams of the character, are really effective in building increasing fear in the audience.

The sequence of shots with fast paced editing between shots of the captive character, and flashback shots to give the audience an insight into how the character became captive. This sequencing is really effective as the juxtaposition between the shots before he was captive, and the shots whilst he is captive show a contrast between freedom and captivity. The flickering of some of the flashback shots, particularly of the shot of the other character, create a sense of foreboding, and reflect a warning sign flashing to alert the character to danger. The close up shots of the dolls create an enigma code for the audience, as they wonder what significance they have to the narrative, and make them want to watch the film to find out why. In this sequence, the shot in the reflection of the puddle, in which the character can be seen to be disappearing, it is unclear as to whether the character is being grabbed from behind, or whether the character is starting to run from something. This makes the audience suspicious and creates tension.

All throughout the sequence of flashbacks, the intensity of the non-diegetic string music continues to build until it comes to a sudden end, and the screen goes black. This makes the audience wonder what will happen to the captive character, when the other character reaches him, and draws them in to watch the film. 

On the black screen, the title of the film ‘Captive’ flickers into the middle of the frame. The flickering of the title, again, acts as a warning sign and highlights the danger that is faced by the captive character. It also makes the titles seem more eerie and sinister.

Overall, I believe that this thriller opening sequence is very effective in building tension in the audience, and that it fits very well to the typical codes and conventions of thriller films.

Case Study: SEPTEM

SEPTEM - A Thriller Short Film

"Twenty-five minutes. Seven people. One of them must die."

SEPTEM is a thriller short film written and directed by Hazel Hayes and Sammy Paul, two upcoming figures in the world of film. Both creators use their YouTube channels to distribute their short films, of which has proven to be a successful method of getting their work seen. Additionally, by using their YouTube channels showcase their work, they have gained themselves audiences. 

Hazel Hayes (@thehazelhayes)

Sammy Paul  (@ICOEPR)

According to the IMDB page,  SEPTEM was produced with a budget of approximately £10,000. The relatively low budget is typical of a short film made in Britain. The film was released in June 2015, and since then has gained close to 200,000 views, and it's main form of advertisement was through social media platforms. This is telling that social media platforms are an effective way to advertise new films. It was produced without an official production company, but was created with the help of the YouTube Space London. 

This film fits the codes and conventions of the thriller genre by creating tension and keeping the audience of the edge of their seats. The opening of the short film starts with a close up of a box with a pill in it. This immediately creates an enigma code and makes the audience question what is the significance of it. However, un-stereotypically, this enigma code is shattered almost instantly by a voice over which tells that within the next 25 minutes, one of them must take the pill, or they will all die. The voice over falls over a two crabbing shots that reveal the characters to the audience, eventually revealing that the voice over is in fact one of the characters speaking. Although this shatters the suspense creating enigma code, this creates its own tension as the audience are aware that at least one of the characters must die. This makes them question as to what person will meet their end, and how the characters will come about the decision at to who will die. The voice over falls over a two crabbing shots that reveal the characters to the audience, eventually revealing that the voice over is in fact one of the characters speaking. 

The colouring and lighting of the film is stereotypical of a thriller film. It includes lots of dark colours such as deep red, black and brown. The dark colours represent the sinister aspect of the film, and help to create the eerie atmosphere. The lighting used also helps to create an eerie atmosphere as the room is quite dimly lit and this in turn casts lots of shadows. 

The non-diegetic highly pitched strings music used in the opening of the film is stereotypical of the thriller genre. The music creates an eerie atmosphere which puts the audience in suspense as this type of music stereotypically warns of something dangerous and connotes that something bad will happen. The introduction of a bass playing as the title sequence appears creates a sense of foreboding. The use of very low notes in diegetic music is common to scenes of suspense, and typically foreshadows danger. An example of this is the famous sequence used in the Jaws films (included below).

Jaws is a thriller film produced by Universal 

 Studios, and was directed by Steven Spielberg.

The dark red and black background of the title sequence is stereotypical of the colour schemes associated with thriller films. The block capital white writing reveals itself slowly, with the font twisting, and then the title is zoomed in upon. In my opinion, the slow turning of the letters reflects the twist of the plot and how things gradually get revealed to the audience, and creates tension due to the title not being revealed straight away.

The credits sequence (featured below) was composed by Tom Barnes. The non-diegetic music is fitting for the end of the film, as the piano creates a sombre atmosphere. This is fitting with the upsetting ending and projects the feelings of the audience in the music. After the dramatic ending, it also creates a contrasting calmness, which allows the audience to recall and reflect what has happened in the film.

Audience Survey: Thriller Genre

As a means of conducting some research into what people look for in thriller films, I conducted a Survey using Survey Monkey. In my survey, I asked questions to find out my target market and to find out what people look for in thriller films. Additionally, I asked questions to find out which forms of marketing they come into contact with most, and which forms of distribution they use to watch films. 

I asked ten people if they would answer my survey, and these were the results that I got:

Question 1

The first question I asked was to find out the gender of the person taking the questionnaire. My results tell me that 50% were male and 50% were female. This is important information to consider when deciding the target audience of my piece. This information means that I will make my film suitable for both genders.

Question 2

In used my second question to enquire the age of the person that was taking my questionnaire. From my results, I can see that the highest percentage of people fell under the 16-19 age bracket. This information is important as I need to make sure that my film appears to my target audience. Finding out that 16-19 year olds are the age bracket that most typically watches thrillers means that I will use this as the target audience of my film.

Question 3

My third question asked what thriller sub-genre people preferred. My results tell me that 40% of people prefer crime thrillers. This is closely followed by psychological thrillers and medical thrillers, which were both opted for by 20% of people. This tells me that I should be looking to make either a crime thriller, medical thriller or psychological thriller as these are the most appealing sub-genres and this will entice people to watch my film.

Question 4

In my fourth question, I asked what colour people most associated with the typography in thriller films. My results concluded that people mostly associate the colours white, black and red with the typography of the thriller genre, with white being the most associated, at 40%. These results tell me that I should make the typography of my film white, and possibly include some black or red. Perhaps, I will use white typography on a black background for the titles screen of my film.

Question 5

My fifth question tells me that people believe that cinematography, editing and music are all equally important in making thriller films effective, as they all totalled 30%. This question was very important as it reveals what my focus should be in order to make sure that my thriller is effective for the audience. The results of this question tells me that I should make sure that my cinematography is good by using a range of camera shots and angles to vary the footage and make it more interesting for the audience to watch. It tells me that I should make sure the editing is good by using a range of different techniques such as jump cuts and fades, and by using fast paced editing in dramatic scenes to build tension for the audience. Additionally, it also tells me that I should choose the music carefully so that it fits with the film and the scene well. I could choose music that helps to reflect the narrative of the story, and music that helps to create suspense in the audience to intensify their viewing experience.

Question 6

In this question, I queried as to what is people's preferred narrative of a thriller film. I found that murder was the most popular narrative at 30%, and this was followed by abduction, at 20%. I was surprised to find that a narrative surrounding romantic triangles tied with the popularity of abduction, by also achieving 20% of the votes. The results also tell me that 20% of people preferred other narratives that the ones I had mentioned. From these results, I should consider the narrative of my film to include murder, abduction or a romantic triangle, or perhaps, a narrative I have not specified, such as assassination. 

Question 7

The results of this question tell me that, generally, people believe the opening sequence of a thriller is importance to grab their interest in the film. This means that I will need to make my opening sequence of a thriller interesting and attention grabbing to make sure that the audience become engaged straight away in the piece, and so that it makes them want to watch the rest of the film. To make my opening sequence engaging I will make sure that I include lots of enigma codes that make the audience wonder what is going on, and will entice them to keep watching, in order for them to find out what did happen. 

Question 8

I included a question about what type of marketing that people usually engage with. The results told me that most people find out about new films through social media or through YouTube. This tells me that my target market are more in touch with digital forms of marketing, and therefore, I should look to use digital marketing for my film. Using digital marketing would ensure that my target audience would know about my film.

Question 9

Finally, I included a question to enquire which form of film distribution that people typically engage with. The results tell me that most people normally watch films using digital streaming services. This is fitting with the results of the previous question, as it tells me that not only are my target audience more in touch with digital forms of marketing, but also with digital forms of distribution. This tells me that I should look to use digital forms of distribution for my film, as this would mean it would be most accessible to my target audience.

Conducting a questionnaire has been very useful as it has helped me to decided on the target market of my film, and will help me with the production, marketing and distribution decisions for my film, too. 

Analysis: Title Sequences

What is a title sequence and why are they used?

A title sequence, sometimes called an intro, are used in a piece of film to establish names of key importance to the film. A title sequence will often include the title of the film, the most important actors in the film (If actors names are included in the title sequence they are likely to be the, or at least part of the, USP of the film) and the name of the director, if it is deemed to be of importance to the piece. For example, if the director of the film was Steven Spielberg, this would be included in the title sequence, as he would be part of the USP of the film.

Title sequences help to introduce the genre of the film with the typography that is used. Additionally, the background of the title sequence differs in every film, ranging from them appearing on footage of the film, them appearing on still images, or them being part of an animation. Being part of an animation is a more rare form of title sequence, but an example of this would be the Pixar title screen with the desk lamp.

Analysis of title screens taken from existing pieces:

Tangled

This title screen is taken from one of Disney’s most popular animated princess movies, Tangled. The typography used here is representative of the focus of the narrative, and of the genre of the film. The use of the golden colour, and of the elongated typography reflects Rapunzel’s hair, which is a very large part of the narrative. Its golden shimmer represents the magical qualities that her hair possesses, and it also suggests that the film is centred around a princess, due to the colour gold having connotations with wealth and royalty. Due to the fact that the title sequence of Tangled on includes the name of the film, this highlights that the target audience of the film is children. This is because children have limited reading abilities, and are only interested in the name of the film, and not any of the actors voicing the characters, or any of the production team. 

Harry Potter 

This title screen is taken from one of the films in the extremely successful Harry Potter franchise. The typography used here helps to reflect Harry’s struggles in life, with the edges of the letters being very sharp and crooked, and it also suggests the dangers that he faces, and that he battered from the conflicts he has endured. The letter ‘P’ is very significant in the Harry Potter franchise, as the typography represents the iconic scar that was created by Voldemort that is located on Harry’s forehead. The icy grey colour used helps to create fear in the audience, and foreshadows danger, destruction and death in the film. Additionally, the words ‘Harry Potter’ appear larger than that of the rest of the words in the title signifies that the importance is not which film it is, but in fact that it i part of the Harry Potter franchise, due to the fame that franchise has created for itself. The dark, cloudy background creates an eerie atmosphere for the audience and almost creates a sense of foreboding, which further foreshadows the dangers that the characters will face in the film.

Deadpool

Deadpool is a film that took a rather unorthodox approach to the title sequence and its use. Instead of using it as a means to state the USP’s of the film, it used it as a means to add yet another comedic element into the film. As you can see in the photos above, instead of using actors/characters names, the production team have simply stated things such as “A CGI Character”. Also, when stating who the film was directed by it said “Directed by An Overpaid Tool”. The swapping of real names for names that are almost an insult to the individual, is a tool used by the production team as a means to draw a laugh from the audience, which is very much a key element of the entire film. Also, doing the title sequence in this way makes it appear as though Deadpool, the character himself, has written these titles, as he is far from complimentary to people, and delivers one liners that are designed to make the audience erupt in laughter. It also makes the film very memorable, as this is not something that is commonly, if ever, seen in films, so it draws attention to the film from the audience. 

Continuity Piece: Final Edit

Here is the final edit of our continuity piece: 

We completed our final edit at the college, using their media facilities. We got to use Premiere Pro which I found to be a really enjoyable experience. I found the demonstration that we got from one of the college lecturers to be very useful and it gave us a good idea of how to use the software. The software was a lot more complicated to use than Serif Movie Plus, but after some time to get used to it, it was actually quite simplistic.

With the software, we were able to make the changes to our continuity piece to make it run much more smoothly, and make the conversation seem more natural. We also found that when we saved our final edit, we found that the quality was a lot better than it was when we had saved it in school, even when we had saved it as an MP4 file. We decided this was because Premiere Pro is a more professional and modern software. 

An extra change that we made during our final edit, was to cut the slow pan from right to left, at the very beginning of the piece. We did this as we felt that it was a little too slow, but when sped it up, it didn’t look natural. It was for this reason that we decided to cut it, as we felt that it ruined the flow of our piece. 

Continuity Piece: 1st Edit

We conducted the first edit of our continuity piece using Serif Movie Plus. This is Microsoft software that is available on our school network. 

After our first edit, we sat down and discussed what we thought the strengths and weaknesses of our continuity piece were. Our teacher also gave us some feedback. These were our thoughts:

Strengths:

• We successfully kept continuity throughout the piece

• We included a variety of shots and camera angles which made our piece interesting

• Our teacher told us that she liked the high angle shot through the window as it was totally different to any of the other shots we used and it focused on outside, rather than inside

• The first few shots need to be cut shorter, as they are a little too long. Focusing on one thing for too long will bore the audience. Cutting the shots will make no difference to the continuity or sequence of the piece:

Weaknesses:

- To improve the continuity of the conversation towards the end of the piece, the shot of Josh saying “Thank you, I need to finish my homework” needs to be cut shorter. This means that Caitlin’s reply will be straight away, and will seem like the conversation flows.

- The shot of Josh opening the door needs to be cut and sped up. The shot is slightly too long, and as Josh must have opened the door more slowly towards the end of the clip, it almost appears that it is being opened in slow motion. As we need it to look a normal speed, we will have to increase the speed.

When will we make these changes?

We will make the changes to the edit when we go and visit the collage to use their media facilities. In the collage, they have a type of editing software called Premiere Pro, which we have never used before as our school do not have it. As we have never used it before, we have arranged to be given a tutorial on how to do the basics, to give us a basic understanding of the software before we experiment using it for ourselves. I am looking forward to learning how to use Premiere Pro as I have never used it before, and I think it will be interesting to compare it to other editing software I have used such as Serif Movie Plus, and iMovie. 

Were there any issues with Serif Movie Plus?

I thought the software was quite easy to use, and it was simple to navigate. However, we found that when we saved the piece as a Serif Movie Plus file, that it was bad quality and the footage was freezing and jumping. Therefore, we went back and saved it as an MP4 file and we found that this solved all of our issues.

Planning the Continuity Piece

Today in our media studies lesson, we were given a few helpful tips for success when filming our continuity piece. 

Firstly, we were told that we should use a story board and a script to plan what you will film, and so that you can reference back to them if you forget something that you are meant to be doing. The story board can also be used as a form of checklist to make sure that you have filmed all of the shots.

Secondly, we were told that we should always keep the camera steady. In order to achieve stable footage we were advised to use a tripod to film the shots and not to record it hand held.

Then, we were told that we should be sure to consider the shot/reverse shot technique whilst filming in order to make sure that it makes sense, and that there are no continuity errors.

Finally, we were told to include a wide variety of shots such as close ups and extreme close ups. This is to ensure that the footage is interesting to watch and helps to keep the audience engaged.

Caitlin and Hannah drew up the story board for our continuity piece and we all reviewed it to make sure that there was enough variety of shots in it. After reviewing the story board, Josh and I went and created the script. 

Before we were able to start filming, we had to make sure that we were able to set up all the equipment. At the beginning of the year, we had been demonstrated this by our teacher, and had undertaken a task to film some different types of camera shots. As this would only be our second time setting up the camera and tripod, we were watched over by our teacher to make sure that we had set up and secured the tripod correctly so it capsize, and that we had correctly attached the camera to the tripod so it didn’t fall off. We successfully remembered how to set up the camera and tripod, as our teacher gave us the all clear that it was set up correctly and was safe to use. 

The final preparations we made for filming were to clear the memory card of our camera to ensure that we would not run out of storage space whilst filming. We also made sure that we had a spare, fully charged battery on hand with us as a precaution, in case the battery we were using in our camera had/developed a fault.

As a testing shot, Josh filmed an extreme close up of Caitlin’s eye to practice this type of shot, to make sure that the reflection of the camera was not visible. We observed that very small movements of the camera were very noticeable, so we made sure that we kept the camera as still as possible when filming.

Thriller Codes & Conventions

To get a better understanding of the thriller genre, I conducted some research into the codes and conventions of the genre. I created some mind maps with what I found out when researching, and have featured pictures of them below: