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.