Practice shots for thriller film

Today I decided to take some practice shots with the main actor. Although it does not match our idea for old fashioned mise en scene. It has made it so that I have a good idea of how we could place the shots and how lighting can set the mood.This is shown in the beginning shots which are a lot darker than the later few.


One Page Pitch

Working Title: A Soul's Redemption

Tagline: Sometimes the kindest of hearts can be tainted

Film Genre: Paranormal thriller

Length: 1 hour and a half. The reason our film is this length is because there is a lot of information which needs to be addressed to the watcher. This is proven with what I have written about the plot below.

Plot:  Bertie has been possessed by the devil when a dark part of his soul has been unlocked after witnessing everyone he loved being killed. This caused him to be possessed due to his soul being caught by the devil after the anger of seeing the murderer kill his family weakening his good will. This means Bertie is still in his body but trapped in the devils grasp.  But then a person comes and triggers a memory which keeps reoccurring meaning that Bertie begins to fight against the devil to return to his body.

Statement of intent: The main theme of our story is that even those who once had such innocent eyes can be changed simply by the devils hand. We want to tell this story in order to teach people how one event can change a person’s life forever and cause them to be someone they may have hated before. However, Bertie gives out the message that it does not define you as a person but can simply just make you stronger.

 Visual realisation: We will put black and white colouring  when editing and use high angled shots, tracking shots and close ups. Cabin in the woods slightly explored this with the use of dark lighting and basic colours like brown. Also the Blair witch project has also done it with night vision, a hand held camera and dark lighting.

Target Audience: We have chosen a target audience of 13-17 year olds. The reason we have done this is because anyone at young age may find parts uncomfortable to watch and agitating due to the way Bertie is acting. We were guided by Cabin in the woods for our target audience which is an inspiration for our thriller. 

Story synopsis: A young boy playing in the woods. Does he mean any good? No one will ever know. All because the devil is in control. While Bertie fights in his mind, hoping that he will survive. 

Extra research: While telling others of our thriller I was told that Bertie was a parallel to Anaken Skywalker from Star Wars. The reason is because Bertie turns evil out of losing the ones he loves. While Anakin does simply from the fear of losing his wife and unborn children. Therefore this shows the common theme in films with good against evil. 

"What if" premise: What if a boy got lost in the darkness? What if the devil finally walked the Earth? What if you lost everything? Would you fight the devil in an invisible battle? Or would you give up and let the bad side take over?

Planning Page 1

Planning Page 3

Planning Page 2









Screenplay and Script writing

Thriller opening - Initial Ideas

The Plan:

Casting:

Elsie Williamson: Actor and singer for cover song in the background
Bertie Williamson: Main actor
Connor Sanderson: Cameraman
Annabel Lowe: Make sure the mise-en-scene is not broken and Creative mind when looking for the best shot/angle

Setting: Widderson Spring Wood

Mise-en-scene:

• Old fashioned which means in the editing process we will change it to black and white.
• Due to it being set in the past the costumes will be arranged to make it look old fashioned. I will wear a dress while Bertie will be dressed in dark clothing to represent that he is dangerous. 
• Newspaper to show missing boy who was acting unusual before he disappeared. 
• Set in woods to create a certain ambiance of mystery and vulnerability for the person passing through. 

Sound: 

There will be a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. I will be doing a cover of "If you go down to the woods today by Henry Hall" using the editing software mix craft to record it after the filing process so I know when to fade the song in certain parts and then turn it back to normal volume. This means that we get a mixture of the uneasiness the song causes and then the natural sound creates a tension due to how quiet it is.

Camera angles and shots:

• At the beginning of the opening we will use an establishing shot to show the setting of thriller.
• Throughout the opening sequence a mixture of panning will be used to follow Bertie running around like something has taken control of his body.
• Also we may use motion tracking and freeze frames when showing the titles like they are following or running away from him. 
• Long shots and close ups may also be used when I am walking down the path on a walk when I hear a noise.
• Finally the last shot we plan to use is a low shot of me falling and then cutting to the title of the screen on a black background and white text. 

Plot: 

It will begin in the woods with nothing there and then you will see a person run across the screen. It will then cut to a newspaper article addressing that a boy who was once full of life started to act unusual to his normal self and then disappeared. This will be easily understood when I create a bold easy to understand title. It will then cut back to Bertie in the woods with a mixture of shots flowing into one another. Bertie will continue to appear to do unusual things and then cut to me walking down the path. Bertie will attack me which will build a climax and cut to the title of the film on a plain black screen with the title in white.

Conventions of a Thriller

Seven Textual Analysis

Lighting Task

This photo has a mysterious feeling to it because it
looks like the character is having a serious
conversation and it is a secret. This could
be used in our horror film to show tension.

This photo once again is used to show that the character

is dominating the picture. Making them seem empowering
and frightening. The light has been placed low down so I could create
a shadow.

In this photo you can see that there 

is as strong light from behind which is used to

 create an unsettling mood and curiosity
for the person viewing. We could use 
this in our main task which is a horror 
film to create suspense. 
This is known back lighting.

In this photo the light has been placed directly
under my chin. This creates uneasy atmosphere and creepy
feel to the photo. This could be used in a horror to shock
or scare someone using a jump cut.

This shot shows natural light from the sun and has
created a tall shadow behind the character. This could be used
to show a dominant character waiting for someone.This
could be used in a horror at the beginning when introducing characters.

Natural lighting from the sun in the background
 of this photo using back-lighting
 shows a contrast between the dark
surroundings and blazing sun. This could be used to
introduce a new character. 

This shows a shot of the setting. The sun could represent the
beginning of a film. 
Then it could appear at the end as the last shot  with the moon and darkness. 
This is due to the sun being
seen as something positive while the moon being seen as
mysterious and unknowing. Therefore, showing the change of events since the start of the film. However, it could be used the opposite way round to show a happy ending

This shot shows a full body shot from behind.
This could be used as a POV shot in a horror to show somebody
sneaking up on the person shown. This creates a spine-chilling feeling
due the unknown of what may happen next. 

There are many types of lighting which can be used in film such as:

3 point fill lighting- 3 lights create a normal looking scene with soft shadows and average colours, used with any object in focus. The opposite of chairoscuro lighting.

Chairoscuro lighting- Harsh lighting that creates an extreme contrast between different areas of the shot, such as a characters face. It can be used with colour, but can also be used in black and white to create a different feeling.

High key lighting- Uses harsh, bright lights to reduce contrast in a scene, giving the scene a white washed, clean look that does not have any shadows in frame.

Back-lighting- Lit directly from behind, usually by some form of natural light, where it used to create a silhouette. Can be used for variety of effects but most common in romantic films.

Natural lighting- Light come from the sun, but it can also refer to light source.

Artificial lighting- Intentional man-made light sources, such as light bulbs or fluorescent light.

Textual Analysis of American Horror Story

Preliminary Film. The Interview

Question 6. Evaluation of my contribution to the groups work

Q6. Evaluation of my contribution to the group's work from Elsiew

Question 5. Feedback from others

Question 4: How well did I meet the brief?

Question 3. Areas for development

Q3. Areas of development from Elsiew

Question 2. Areas of success.

Question 1. What I have learnt during the making of my preliminary task?

Technical aspects:

• I learnt how to set up a tripod by extending the legs and locking them into place making sure it is stable enough to film without it collapsing.
• I also learnt how to attach the camera to the tripod by using a tripod plate and camera point so the camera remained stable and would not fall out and break.
• I also learned how to use premier pro. For instance I learnt how to cut scenes so we could rid of parts of the film we did not need. I also learnt how to add music from mix-craft, title slides and change the colour gradient.
• Finally I learnt the different physical parts of the tripod and how to use them. Such as the arm which is used to make a movement shot for example at the end of my film when 180 degree rule is used to show the interviewer.

Time management:

• As a group I think we had excellent time management. I think this because we planned out before each lesson what we would do and even recognised that we needed to do some extra filming so organized when we would and filmed it.
• We also managed our time so we had enough time to edit the film so there was continuity and it flowed.

Group work:

• I think that me and Tammy worked well as a group because we accepted each others opinions and worked well together creatively, especially during the editing stage when we would have to agree upon something. During the filming we took turns of who was in control of the camera. For instance when I was in the scene Tammy would film and when she was in the scene I would film. 

Storyboarding:

• We did a storyboard to help us plan the general narrative of the film and to organize when we would use the camera angles needed such as match on action and shot/reverse shot. This was helpful because it helped us decide on how the camera would be placed in the sequence of the things happening in the scene and how we would organize it. However we did change the narrative a bit while filming to make the scene more affective. For instance we made it so the interviewee became angry and stormed out rather than just staying calm and saying a general apology to the interviewer.  

Issues around continuity:

• We did not have much problems with continuity because we organized which days we would be filming so we would know when to dress in the same clothes. However there was a problem with having a laptop trolley in our room on the beginning day of filming and then on the other not one. But we tried our best to keep it out of shot to make the surroundings were the same. We also noted that on the first day the blinds were mainly closed so we made sure to make them the same on the other days we filmed. 

Thanks for reading. 

                             Elsie

Storyboard for preliminary task

Storyboard for preliminary task 

Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task we will do a task involving filming which the narrative of the story is a character entering a room a sitting and talking with another character. The commentary will involve a serious meeting in which the employer is late so she rushes down the corridor with comedic music in the background, while the business woman is sitting waiting in the meeting room with serious music.The camera angle we will be using for this moment is the match on action shot which will show the other women rushing down the corridor with a panicked look then opening the door.The shot/reverse shot will be used to show the business women's shocked and confused expression. While the late employer we have a worried and apologetic expression.Another shot will then be used called the 180-degree rule which will be used to show both characters sat in front of each other in conversation. These camera angles flow into one another because it will fit the events happening in each shot.

I am working with Tammy and we have decided that I will be the comedic women while she will be the business women. However, we have yet to decide how we will work the camera other than the match on action shot which Tammy will do. But we will figure it out once we start the task. Once we have done the filming we will upload it to the editing software and begin to edit it.  

As shown below we will have a few lines of dialogue but this may change.
Script:
"Sorry I'm late"
"Are you serious?"

The camera angles are presented as shown in the pictures below:

Match on action

Shot Reverse Shot

180 degree rule

                 Thanks for reading!

                                                    Elsie

Shot Types

In this lesson we were told to test out different camera shots.We also had to try and put a storyline to them with.

Establishing shot

This is a establishing shot which is used to set the scene to show where the show is taking place.  The shot would be used during the start of the act to make it clear to the audience where it is taking place, which is shown to be a school

Close up

This is a close up to show how the character is feeling in the current situation and what they may be thinking. In this part of the act the camera shot is used to show that they are trying to hide from the bully and that they are worried what may happen if they are found.   

Long shot

      This is a long shot to show the characters at distance. In this shot the bully is chasing after the victim. This camera angle suits this time in the act is because it shows there whole body and the area that surrounds them. 

Shot/Reverse shot

Shot/Reverse shot

      

      These are both shot/reverse shots which shows conversations between characters. In this part of the act this shows the bully using verbal abuse towards the victim, where the bully is snickering. However the victim is very upset.  

Extreme close up

      This is a extreme close up which is used to show important detail. In this shot it shows an extreme close up of a gesture which is key to the act. In the shot it shows the collision of a fist to a cheek which means the bully has punched the victim. 

Tilt shot

      This is a tilt shot is used to show movement in this act. This shot is used to show that the victim has fallen after being punched by the bully.  

Low shot

  This is a low shot which is used to show a intimidating character and to show power. It is being used in this part of the act to show that the bully has won and got what they wanted from the victim.  I think this because the angle makes it look as though the bully is above everybody else. 

                   Thanks for reading, 

                                                   Elsie

My First Blog

Hello and welcome to my first blog I have set up for my AS media studies


I have done some previous editing for my Music GCSE in which I downloaded videos from YouTube, cut and edited the audio clips and added some affects. This took many hours due to it being my first time doing anything like it which may have caused some frustration and shouting at the editing system of mix-craft. However, I learnt a lot and definitely have improved. Well that's what I hope. Which you can see at the top of the page.  

Although I don't really watch television programs or movies often I do watch a lot of YouTube videos and vloggers. Which also use different camera angles for affect but due to it being a custom, viewers tend to forget that they are used for affect.  For example, they can be used in sketches to show the aura of a situation, to show how a certain character feels or their importance e.g a low shot to show the character they play are intimidating. I also watch a lot of anime which uses a lot of media studies techniques although its an animation.  

I am a singer/songwriter so I have a YouTube channel but that has being inactive quite a bit recently due to GCSE'S and I've been busy but this does mean I am quite used to being filmed. However, that does not mean I am comfortable acting because although I've done singing performances, I am very shy and acting to me is different to singing so that may take me awhile to get used to but I will push myself to get used to it.  I am looking forward to learning about editing and how to use the software. 


Thanks for reading!


                                   Elsie