Props and Costumes

We have decide to do a 1950's style for our costumes. As the thriller that we are focusing on is based on a true event which occurred in the 50's. We have chosen a smart look for our actors which represents power and authority.

Connor as one of the main character (John) will be wearing a long dark Paletot coat and a bowler hat.The length of this jackets suggest that its autumn/winter time which brings out the dark and cold times.It also symbolises the harsh/cold crime that goes on at this season as the duration of the days makes people more vulnerable.

Tom as the protagonist (Tim) will be wearing a brown tweed jacket with a matching bowler hat and a brown suit case.The characters costume will stand out from the two policemen which helps focus the audience on Tim as the innocent man.

The inside of the church compliments the constume of Tim as the colours match.This sends a message to the audience which suggests that he blends in with the church as if he was meant to be here.Also the dark jackets of John and Clarence Stand out against the background of the church which helps the audience pick out danger.

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M.B

Final footage.

Final footage.

Our official deadline for which our filming must be completed is Friday 13th December. Yesterday (Wednesday 11th December) myself, Monika and the two other members of our cast finished off the filming. After three separate visits to St Mary's church we came to the conclusion that we had captured sufficient footage; of which we have now begun editing. Getting time alone in the church was quite a struggle as we could only leave once our lessons were done and as we all had different time-tables it was even trickier. Furthermore, all of our free periods were after 1:30pm and with the church closing shortly after and an approx. travelling time of 90 minutes we were forced to negotiate with the vicar himself - whom without we could not have made this opening sequence before the designated deadline. We were given around half an hour each time to shoot inside the church and had unlimited time outside to film the various other scenes which may take place outside of the church itself.

We thought that our filming could go one of two ways; formulate a plan and stick to it, which may well have caused a 'creative block' as to what and how the scenes were filmed. The other way was to sketch a rough outline of what and how and then configure the rest once we had arrived on location. After a short discussion we both agreed that the latter was probably the most effective way to go about things and so did exactly that. This method was indeed as successful as expected and allowed us to obtain a vast variety of shots from a variety of different angles and with a variety of different effects such as panning and zooming. Although this gives us an advantage as to the range of shots available to use, it also drastically impairs our time limit for the editing process as, obviously, the more footage we have the more sifting we must do. In fact, we have over 60 minutes of recordings, less than 2 of which can be salvaged.

The opening sequence that we filmed was set in the 1950's. For this we have researched and developed some outfits to match the fashion and tendencies of the era (shown below). The basic storyline is of a young man who has committed a deep sin and has turned to his faith for redemption. As we are creating an opening sequence and not a film/trailer we are cautious of giving too much information away within the sequence. The young man is led to the church where he enters alone and takes a seat. He begins to pray while outside the man who accompanied him greets another man and both come in to the church and take the young man away once he has had a chance to repent. Although the story does not sound remotely interesting or developed enough to attract an audience, we intend to meet this problem with a series of voiceovers and brief flickers of the past, not to mention the soundtrack which we have yet to create though we are confident that we can come up with something to match, compliment and enhance the sequence.

 

 - C.W -

Time Table of the church and our planned filming times

 This is the Church opening times.

We have looked at the opening times of the church and have constructed our own timetable, which include both the actors and the directors, so that we can all film on scene.

                                                       
                                                       
                                                       -M.B-
         

Health and safety When filming

As we have decide to film in a church in a private location we need to look at the risk that we might face when filming.
First of all the Church is located in Ealing which means we need to use public transport to get there while carrying our filming kit.This can cause accidents If the equipment are not secured properly whilst travelling.

When we arrive we need to consider the safety when filming outside:

• The weather -cold and icy weather could cause injuries to the camera man and to the equipment. Similarly with any other weather conditions.
• When filming outside the placement of the camera and camera man should be considered to avoid any accidents or injuries.Also when setting up the camera equipment we should ensure and check that it is all stable.
• Try to avoid filming in the dark as the visibility is low and there could be damage caused.

When filming inside the church we should consider and check for:

• We should be shown the emergency exits when first arriving.
• The cables to be tidy and neatly set up.
• Make sure we set up in a safe and secure place.
• We should look out for any damage or spill on the floors which could cause injuries and damage to the equipment.
• Keep an eye on the time that the camera man has been filming for.
• Use enough lighting in order to achieve normal visibility to avoid any injuries or equipment damage.

These are some of the safety check that we should follow in order to have an enjoyable and safe journey. Not only when travelling but on set.

                                        ---

                                       M.B

Final decision on the location

Yesterday Connor and I went to visit the St Mary's Church in South Ealing to see if the location would be suitable for our thriller. Successfully we have got the permission to film on site and inside the church and will be visiting the church again next week.We are happy that we have permission to film in this church as it is the perfect church and the location from our thriller opening.We have also experimented with a range of different shots of the church which will be used in our opening sequence.

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                                                                       C.W-M.B

Initial Ideas for Opening Sequence.

Firstly, we thought about the sub genres and which we believed we could benefit most from. We thought about producing a supernatural thriller but agreed that this was a bit too obvious. We discussed bringing religion in to the main plot and after sharing some ideas we have decided to make a religious/crime thriller. I think the reason that we both like this particular theme is becasue its differen't and not any of the A level pieces we have seen yet have concerened religion. We thought that this would give us more angles from which to approach without tredding on the cliche themes we have seen so far.

We then talked about setting the opening sequence in or around a church. This could give us a classic gothic feel and some really scenic and suspensful shots. However, filming around a church will further limit our options and what narrative the sequence contains. There are aso troubles around wether we will be able to obtain permission to film in or around the church and how long for. This also limits our ability to put togther a decent reel of footage in the target amount of time. All of these points have cast doubts over our plot ideas and we are still debating wethere or not to go ahead with the religious theme and/or film around a church.

 

-C.W-

Call sheets-- From 1st Dec. to 7 Dec.

These are our call sheet from all of  filming scedules. We have used this to remind ourselves of the days that we have filmed.

This helps us to see how much time we needed to film. It has also helped us attend the location that we were filming in as we have to schedule in order to film inside.This was a struggle as we've started filming at a very busy period which was at the start of December.As Christmas was coming up the time scheduling was key to us.

We have scheduled and booked the times at which we were able to film.Our set time is from the 1st of December till the 7th of December which gives us  a week to do all the filming of the church inside out.We have planned every time that we went out to film in order to use this time efficiently.

---

M.B - C.W

Ideas for our thriller sequence...

After looking at different ideas and opening sequences , we have changed our idea as we discovered something which inspired us more and gave as a wider range of ideas. It also will save us time as we have decided to film closer from our
We have decided to go for a religious/theme e.g. using the church as the main setting. Here are some locations of different churches:





ST Mary's -South Ealing

This church would be great for our opening sequence as it is big and beautiful.I think it is very close to our perfect match of a  church we had in mind.The only let down and possible a problem that we would have to face is the location.The location turns out to be quite far which is a disadvantage as it would waste time to get there. This would mean that we would be wasting time getting to the church rather than filming.

This church is close to our school which would not waste us time to reach the location. It is too small and does not match the church that we had in mind...we wanted something bigger.-----

ST Mary's church-Ealing Rd, Northolt UB5 6AA


--The lighting is set already at the scene which is very useful if we would have to film in the dark.




 ST Mary's Church --Hanwell
 This is the inside of the church which looks beautiful and big. This is also a very good option to film ouropening sequence. However once again the location might be a problem.

 This is the outside of ST Mary's-- Hanwell which is very tall and big. I think this church could be use dfor our opening sequence.We need to make sure that we get the pormission to film inside and outside of the church.              ----------                                                             



                                      ---  
                                    M.B

Our trip to BFI..

We've visited the British Film Institute. There were students in year 12 from different schools who study media.Pete Fraser who has been in the film industry for a long time gave some really useful tips on how to achieve the best grade when making our film opening sequence. There were lots of different examples of openings which we had to analyse and give a grade. We all have enjoyed the experience in meeting Simon Frame who is an editor. Simon Frame has shared his experienced of working with different people and all about film editing. He gave some advise on how to get into the film industry ,there was a straight forward: 'You need to make films'

WE have picked up important tips which need to be considered when planning and making our opening sequence.

• Always blog your research ,planning and ideas as it is evidence which gives you marks.
• Sound is very important and needs to be well used in our opening sequence.
• Tittles are very important we need to make sure we have enough tittles as otherwise it does not look as professional.
• The location is also important and the use of the location to produce a good variety of shots.
• Actors and costumes are also very important ,the director is responsible for giving correct directions and instructions.
• The flow of the story will affect the understanding of the event and would make it look professional.

I think that the most important thing that we should be aiming for is to produce a professional looking opening in order to get the best marks for this part of the course work.This will only work if we plan carefully and in detail.

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                                                                     M.B

                       

Final Production Logo

                                                                              
                                

 This is the final production logo for our opening sequence.We have used Adobe premier 10 to puts and edit it together. We've matched a piece of music to go with the clip which we have extracted from the movie.

                                                        
                                                                              -C.W-M.B-

Production logo

For the production logo we thought about using clips from several different films including 'The day after tomorrow', 'Inception' and 'Avatar'. In the end we decided to only use Danny Boyle's epic sci-fi flick 'Sunshine' and searched through the film to find a clip which we thought would be appropriate. In the end we found a clip which lasted around 1min10sec. Here it is before it had been chopped down and edited in to the final production logo-

Sunshine - Mercury transits the Sun.

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                                                                        -C.W-

                              

Production Logo (INITIAL IDEAS)

Ideas for Production Logo

For our final production logo we have both thought hard about what we could use to create an effective logo. As the logo will be the first thing shown in our opening sequence we have decided that it is vital to use something eye-catching and aesthetically pleasing. We thought that the best way around this was to cut a clip from a movie (most likely something high budget) and chop it up to form a brief and abstract piece of film. We'd then add affects to personalise our production logo further (sound would also be removed and replaced).

By doing this we believe we can improve the overall quality of our sequence - as they say; its the first and last seconds that really count. Here are some of the general ideas for clips that we came up with:

-Pacific Rim(2013)
This would be good because the special effects used in the movie are extremely impressive and there are a wide variety of shots and scenes that could work for logo.

-Watchmen(2009)
Watchmen is a visually striking film with a lot of iconic content. It is also a classic superhero comic for adults with that same unmistakable style used throughout the film. We thought that this might be appropriate because it symbolised innovation in the sense that it brought about a new era for Superhero movies.

-Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix(2007)
The Harry Potter franchise is a well absorbed story with a lot of support behind it. It is extremely well known and there are certain scenes with the film (I believe especially this one) that are really awe striking and would belong well in the form of a short clip. However, we would be obliged to edit parts with the characters out as it may seem like a bit of a 'rip-off'.

-Sunshine(2007)
This is my favourite idea because although Sunshine is an epically visual film with high potential for a sci-fi film it is surprisingly unheard of. This would allow us to create a logo which the vast majority of the audience will not recognise.

-Inception(2010)
Although Inception is a more than worthy contender for our final choice - with lots and lots of scenes that could be manipulated in to something visually pleasing we both felt that it was a bit cliché.

 

~C.W~

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes-

Sherlock Holmes (2009) is a film directed by Guy Ritchie and based on the classic novels of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The animated titles were designed and produced by Danny Yount and Prologue Films.

The film is about an social misfit, Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Junior) who has abnormal intellectual abilities which enhance both his physical and mental strength and speed. Renowned for his unorthodox methods, Holmes and his loyal friend Watson (Jude Law) are suddenly cast in to another one of their famous adventures full of deviance and misunderstandings. Pipe smoking Holmes struggles to show little more than curiosity on his face whilst Watson attempts to refrain from going mad. Throughout the film we are introduced to several important characters which have some sort of relevance to the plot. Themes of black magic and science-magic are thrown about during the movie though in the end Holmes, of course, finds a complex explanation for the whole shenanigans while at the same time banishing life from his victims and 'taking down the bad guys'.

The initial ideas for the sequence were a similar design although the titles are shown in a different way than previously planned - fading in and out of cobblestones rather than using puddles and rain to introduce the cast, crew and production teams.

The effect used in the opening titles is quite clever and witty as it introduces each character in the handwritten form of Mr Holmes. Alongside this is a hand drawn sketch of the character with a trademark trait of Holmes himself left on the paper. These include bullet shells, tobacco and alcohol. This could tell us when the film is set and who it is about.

The titles fit extremely well with the genre of movie it is - old fashioned and fast paced. Some of the titles have a paranormal them to them which explains a lot about the film's summary.

C.W

21 Jump Street

I have looked at different tittle sequences and have picked 21 Jump Street as a title sequence to be analysed.

First of all the directors of this comedy/action film are:
Phil Lord and Chris Miller
Release date on 16 March 2012 in USA ,Culambio Pictures studio- Production Studio Imaginary. Forces.
           
                                                             About the film
                                                                      ---

When Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko(Channing Tatum)were in high school, Jenko was the popular guy who made fun of nerds like Schmidt. As the two go through the police academy, they embrace their differences and become friends. After failing an assignment as bicycle cops, they're sent undercover as teenagers to investigate a drug ring in a local high school.

However, high school has changed and the two find themselves having very different experiences. Schmidt is thrilled to finally be considered popular. Jenko worries that his partner has gotten too close to the kids they're investigating ,that he's forgotten the reason they're at the high school in the first place. Now the only hard part about this is possibility of experiencing the torture of their teenage years all over again.

What was the initial idea for the sequence ? How did the come up with the concept?

                               

'The concepts for the opening played with color. We wanted to do something simple with blues and reds to express the police-oriented themes of the movie. We presented a variety of options to explore the potential of this conceit. The filmmakers were drawn to two approaches: one which was gritty, 
painterly, and included big, bold typography, and another based around offsetting the colors of the 
typography in a more flickery, light-based fashion. We experimented with variations of each, and in the end landed on a hybrid of the two.'

                                  

Explain the look of some of the still images in the mosaic and what does it suggest about the film?

                                  

      

There are random pictures being presented with the main actor namea on the. This suggest the the movie is full of different events, adventures etc. It shows the audience a lot of links and information in the mosaic which encourages the audience to want to watch more.The tittles match thepictures which they are represented on. It seems as if the names blend in.

From reading the interview with the creative director i have learnt that this film has been planned our alot before being made.However not all ideas come all at once to the directors.It is suprising to know that directors are inspired by others.This show us as a group that we should be looking at different films,actors,themes or directors which inspire us ,to help us when producing our opening sequence.

This opening sequence has given me ideas for my sequence such as a better idea on when making the tittles for our opening sequence.We are thinking of presenting lots of different pictures of different 
locations.this relates to 21 jump street opening sequence as there is alot of different information past to the audience.In order to make the tittles look professional and outstanding we need to make sure they blend in with the background.we could use similar colours but dark or light outlines of the words to make sure the stand out.

                                                                               ---
                                                                             M.B
       
                         

Mood Board

Above is the 'MoodBoard' that we have created. The MoodBoard shows some brief examples of the Shots, Location, Inspiration and Themes which we have decided to use throughout our opening sequence. For the shots we have chosen to use several close-up shots of various bodily features and are trying to avoid face shots. We think that this will help to build and create tension during the opening shots. We also thought that the use of blurred shots may increase the range of viewpoints seen throughout. 

Our main inspiration is 'In Bruges' as the opening sequence consists of many effective yet achievable shots which, realistically, could be obtained with the equipment provided. The use of voice-over is also an effective technique to match/contrast the setting and story. 

The themes that we have decided to go with include crime and perhaps love - with a psychological vein running through. We thought that the contrast between crime and love may create a nice addition to our story.

We have agreed on using Central London as the basis for our location - though there will most likely be several specific locations which we will visit such as Waterloo Station, Millennium Bridge, Horseguard's Parade and St James' Park. All of these settings will give our clip a sort of 'edgy' theme to it.

C.W

Preliminary task - Final film

This is our final Preliminary task film tha we've produced.We both enjoyed filming and experimenting with the camera.It has tought us some important techniques and trick which we will use when making our main task later on.I think we did a good job as we were filming and editing for the first time. We look forward to filming the opening sequence of a thriller.

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                                                                    M.B - C.W

Identity 2003 title sequence timeline - C.W

This is the title sequence that I've produced this lesson. It gave me a better understanding on why the titles are so important.

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C.W

 

Identity 2003 title sequence timeline - M.B

This is what we had to produce this lesson.It is a title sequence of a film called 'Identity 2003'. This has helped me understand the importance of titles when producing a movie. It has given me a clearer picture of what exactly we have to do when we will have to make an opening sequence of a thriller.It shows us that film making has to be planned carefully and it is not just about the storyline ,titles and production logos take a big part in producing a film.

  ---

 M.B

Sub-genres and conventions of Thriller.

 

Sub-genres-

 

Conspiracy - Main character is usually trapped in a fuede witha powerful organisation after making a discovery.

Crime - Usually about the anticipation and execution of a successful/unsuccessful crime.

Disaster - Follows the fight for survival of a particular groupor individual during and after a disaster.

Mystery - Usually about the investigations of a single charater and often their struggle to find the truth, many twists and diversions throughout.

Political - The importance of a single character who ensures political stabiltity of the government which employs them.

Psycological - A vein throughout all thriller sub-genres though focused on in one particular type of film.

Religious - Unravelling the pros and cons of a particular religion and suggesting new theories which could contradict it.

Supernatural - Typically involving ghosts and other inhuman beings which taunt and torment a particular character. A close relative of the horror.

Techno - The catastrophy based around the development of modern and advanced technology.

 

Conventions-

One of the first things I noticed about the way thrillers are shot in comparison to other various genres was the tracking and panning shots used throughout the film. there was rarely any zooming and the shots are rarely very intimate until later on in the movie. This helps to constantly build up the tension throughout the entire film and also gives the audience a sense of getting to know the main character(s) so that we can make rational judgements as to how they will react to certain stimulus. Though no intimate, a common frame wthin the thriller genr seems to be the close up. This also increases suspense much the same as the panning and tracking shots. Having said this, long shot frames are just as common and help to set the scene around the charcters and give an insight in to character's surroundings. The camra angles are varied amongst different films though they seem to consistently use high angles to, in my opinion, portray the importance between characters. Mise en scene is never nescisarily consistent between films as the location and storyline differ and so I won't touch too much on that although lighting is often a common factor. Depending on the location of the scene the lighting can be made to meet the mood of the scene. Jump cuts are another similarity between many thrillers - filling us in on other events going on at the same time. This is important to give the audience full awareness of the current situation. Sound is, of course, another major contributor to the catagorisation of genre. Thrillers consist of an inconsistent tune - graduating from slow to fast paced with jumps and stops throughout the sounds. This increases the watcher's sense of uneasiness and unsettles the flow of audio and visual display.

 

-C.W-

'Preliminary Task'

What have I learnt?

For our preliminary task we've filmed a group of three people who were planning to rob a bank. We called it 'The Heist''. The idea of bank robbery is great as there is a lot of tension that needs to be filmed using different camera shot and angles.
Preliminary task helped us practise all of the different techniques when making a film. It made me more confident and gave me new ,great , ideas on how to make a short film exciting and tensing to watch.However it has also revealed mistakes which will be considered when we will be filming the 2 minute opening sequence of a Thriller .


We've used a variety of different camera shots. Some of the shots were not perfectly filmed but most contributed well to the story.

One of my favourite shots is Shot reverse shot where one character is shown looking at another and the other looking back at the first character.SIce the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.
Example :

Match on action is where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action.Although the shots counld be shot hours ago ,once edited together it makes it seem as it is continous. The editors often use this technique to build a bridge which hides the mistakes inbetween the two cuts. 
Example:

Overall i think that the Preliminary task when well and most importantly tought us more about film making and editing which is very important.I am looking forward to making the opening sequence of a Thriller as it will be a task which will test all of our skills and ideas.

                                                                   ---
                                                                 M.B  

Opening titles research.

 

 

After some research, I have discovered some obvious and some less obvious guidlines and traits which are shared amongst the vast majority of opening sequences. The most obvious is the titles. The titles usually come in a particular order - firstly we see the production companies and editing team (such as 'Paramount Pictures' etc) and then once clips and sounds of the movie opening sequences begin we see the 'biggest' and known actors/actresses followed by the name of the film and the 'lesser' performers. After the main names are shown we can see either more names of executives and co-producers etc or equally as likely the director's name and a cease to the music and images as the transition in to the main film begins.

Another less obvious trait is the hints and introduction in to the world of the film. Key areas such as location and characters can be explored and an essence of the storyline is revealed. Other things like the genre and the era which the film is set can be determined within the first two minutes of the movie. Although, having said this, there are several films I can think of which encounter some 'red herrings' or misleading truths which can throw the audience off from the very beginning - a useful trick in such genres as the thriller or even a comedy!

The main aim of an opening sequence is to engage the audience and leave a sense of curiosity and mystery for the viewer to want to see more. this can be achieved succesfully by sticking to a traditional sequence or by creating an original piece - both have their pros and cons!

 

Here are two very different examples of opening sequences-

 

1-Conventional opening titles (Shawshank Redemption)

 

2-Uncoventional opening titles (Snatch)

 

-C.W- 

180' Degree Rule

180 * degree rule is very simple.You cannot cross the 'line' when filming to people having a conversation or so. When we are watching something on tv or dvd we engage deeply into the film and we start to notice things like ; what side john is on and what side is amy on ? That means that there should be no mistakes made when filming.

There are some parts when it is very difficult to film e.g when there are a lot of people around the table and lots of cross conversations. This needs to be carefuly filmed using the plan that the director would have to produce.

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M.B

                            

Welcome to our blog!

- Monika Budryte - Connor Walsh -

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Hi there! 

We are students of Northolt High School and we are studying OCR AS Media as part of our course.

 We will be blogging our research, planning and ideas.
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We both chose Media studies because we are interested in film production and learning new techniques involving camera shots, angles etc. By discovering these techniques that are used to produce modern films we will then have the ability to sample and critic these techniques when we come across films and productions in future. We hope to get a job in Media/Film production in the near future and expand our index of media related topics, wether it be for career opportunities or just for general knowledge. We feel that this subject will allow us to acquire the skills that we need in order to make this happen.

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M.B - C.W