Production companies that we would consider for our thriller

Classification suiting our target audience

’15′

Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely  to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

Evaluation of our finished Thriller Opening Sequence

Our Thoughts:

Good Things:

• Build in tension
• Good continuity editing
• Consistent Theme and effects
• Some variation in the music throughout the opening sequence

Bad Things:

• Two minor mistakes in the music
• No change in the title
• 
  

Our final thriller opening sequence

The idea

Although our original ideas have not gone quite to plan, we have not given up and I have really wanted our finished product to be a professional looking product that flows and is a good opening thriller sequence!

The original lift idea would not have been particularly effective and had a lot of flaws and we could not really see where it would lead from a further narrative perspective.

The idea of doors came to me and I thought of some kind of possible detective mystery thriller where there is a mass killer and the detective is searching for the right door to go through so that he can find and take him down. Although the name 'The Door' was not seen as a great name, today at some point we will quickly need to think and decide on a new more effective title for our film!

I think that the planning and production stages, although they may not have gone quite as well as we hoped, have been majorly improved from our previous children's film opening sequence!

The music

We have got inputted some pads of music that we will use at points during our opening sequence. We had previously had a soundtrack running throughout but as that was repetitive and not totally suitable for our thriller we decided after feedback that we would mix in some dietetic and non - diegetic sounds!

Softwear

FinalCut


This is the piece of software that we used to edit and put the video all together.

GarageBand


This is the piece of software we used to create our soundtrack.

Editing of the opening sequence

We are in the process of shortening parts of the clip so that it will gradually speed up as it reached the end and we will add in the music and cut it together so that it will build the tension in the sequence.

We will then add in the locking clip scenes

When the music is into the timeline then we will decide when the pads of the drones and sound fx

Music

We needed to change the music to a more low beat tune and gradually speed it up, for tension and to create atmosphere and to set the mood.

15/3/11

We need to:

• Shorten/ cut the clip length - speed it up as it goes along
• Create some mew music and sounds
• Create a new name
• Alter effects for opening sequence
• Add the locking clips

New film names

• Who's hunting who
• Movement
• The hunt
• Smooth Criminal
• Caution
• 
  

Feedback from our group

We need to:

• Change/ alter the music!
• Change the name of the film
• Shorten the film
• Speed up the transitions and build the tension 
• Add in other shots - locking etc.
• Remove some of the map scenes
• Add diagetic sounds - have pads of music?!

Feedback from other group on our opening sequence

Pro's

• Good range of shot types
• Transitions between shots - good continuity
• 1st 30 secs good
• Credits worked well - looked professional
• you can tell its a thriller because of  costume and music
• Good title - The door

Con's

• Music a bit repetitive
• Map theme
• Music dragged a little and became boring

The Door - Rough Cut

Editing

At lunch time I went to the media room, none of the other members of the group were there.

But, I continued and completed the editing and then exported it to quicktime using the instructions and can quickly upload it to youtube tomorrow morning at the beginning of the lesson.

I feel pleased that it is all done and we can show a finished rough cut to the class tomorrow!

Lesson on Wed 9/3/11

The lesson went fairly well and Armando and I were busy on the editing, with Alex on side adding his thoughts on the order and how the editing should all go together.

Sotiri was trying to find effects for some of the opening sequence with no luck but had no real input with the editing.

The editing, I feel went quite well and it was an effective lesson.

That being the last lesson that we had before the rough cut and us not being finished we said that we would go the following day during lunch time and finish the editing and export it to quicktime etc.

Editing of the Opening Sequence

As I am slightly worried as to whether we will be able to get this totally finished due to the slightly shorter time frame that we have because of the admissions day, I am going to go into the media room tomorrow and do some editing just so that if we do have to show the rough cut on friday, i feel that we will have a better chance of ensuring that it can be achievable.

Lesson Plan on 9/3/11

Today we need to:

• Really get going with the editing and hopefullly nearly get it finished!!
• Cut in and out the pads of music that we may want, or have it as a soundtrack - make a decision on that
• Hope that we can have friday's lesson too, bearing in mind that we missed Tuesday's lesson. :-)
• Get it all together.

After filming and the lesson on 4/3/11

Sotiri and I had captured all of the footage that we needed for the opening to our sequence and we felt that it did go quite well.

After the camera being brought back into college at 9:00 am friday morning - during the lesson that we had second period, we uploaded the footage and some stills that we had captured and began to sort through and filter the footage that we had.

After doing this, we began to put some of this into the timeline and add the suitable effects and fades that were necessary.

Armando and I did the majority of this, and then sotiri, armando and myself discussed how we were going to edit all of the clips together so that the opening sequence will look good and be effective, appealing to the chosen genre(s) of our thriller.

Alex, coming into the lesson slightlty later then aided us with some more of the editing and effects on the timeline.

The lesson on the whole went pretty well and we did manage to achieve quite a good amount, although next lesson, we are really going to need to get into a new gear to make sure that this gets done.

Plan for filming on thursday 3/3/11

The plan for the filming was to:

4:10 - pick up the camera and tripod

5:30 - meet at sotiri's

5:45 - film criminal walking to and into the door

5:50 - filming locking from criminal and trying to unlock door from detective

6:00 - bolting and chaining door

6:10 - photographing door numbers in eerie light and also road names

6:15 - filming shadow walking etc.

6:25 - back to sotiri's house and pack up equipment

We felt that the filming went to plan although the light closed in on us quickly meaning that we really did have to keep to schedule. The lighting did help to create a sense of thriller in our opinion, hopefully that will be conveyed.

Lesson on 2/3/11

Sotiri and I did another element of the filming which was to film going in and out of doors and also locking.

Alex and Armando continued and almost completed inserting the titles into the timeline.

We booked for filming on thursday 3/3/11 - Sotiri and I

Plan for the next lesson - put footage into the timeline and upload footage from previous filming evening, decide whether more filming is needed.

Plan for tomorrows lesson - 2/3/11

The plan is to:

• Book the camera for filming *******
• Continue inserting titles into the timeline
• Do more filming within the college - trying to open door, looking through peep hole? door numbers, corridoor, lock's etc.
• Blog the target audience for the opening sequence
• Anything else that we think of that needs to be done

Lesson on Friday 18th February

During the lesson on the friday before half term we split the group in half so that we could make full use of the lesson time and hopefully get the greatest amount done overall.

Armando and Alex did some of the title editing and insertion into the timeline with effects etc. and Sotiri and I did the filming of the map and pins. This did seem to work quite well as everyone was doing something rather than more people than there need to be crowded around the camera.

I think that in tomorrows lesson we should adapt the same system although maybe alter it slightly so that everyone gets a chance to do different tasks.

Filming on Friday 18th February

I feel that the filming of the map in the lesson went quite well and that it was good to get some filming done before the half term break.

The shots that we needed for that particular part of the opening sequence are now sorted and in tomorrows lesson 2/3/11 we will insert them into the timeline and then edit them into the sections where they are needed.

This map section of the sequence is in sections and will come in and out at different times throughout the opening section and will hopefully help to build the tension and appeal to the conventions of our genre, thriller/mystery.

The Door Soundtrack

This is the soundtrack that we plan to use in our opening sequence

Friday 18th February

Today we need to:

• Finalise the title graphics and effects
• Get as many titles into the timeline possible
• Take some footage of the map & pins and also some other stills (doors, numbers, locks, trying to open doors etc. - Test footage :-)
• Upload music to blog, didnt work on tuesday
• Decide on a filming date for after half term that we all agree on and that we will definitely all be able to do
• Any sounds effects that we may need?
• Find out if and how we can do a silhouette for our opening sequence
• Lighting etc. consistency when filming
• Props and costume, are we sure what we need?

Filming

After being unable to film again on Wednesday 16th February due to Sotiri not turning up with the remainder of our group ready for the initial part of yesterday's filming it leaves us unfortunately having to now film the majority of our opening sequence after half term. As we could neither to the bit of filming as a group or the film where him and we need to use Sotiri's house we still have these to do, but tomorrow we will film some of the sequence and do some stills during the lesson so that at least we have some footage and shots before the break over half term.

Testing Title sequence

Some more stills that we can put into our opening sequence - our digital storyboard

Some stills that we can put into our opening sequence - our digital storyboard

        

Script

1. Production logo
2. Door image
3. Titles
4. Image/Video of map with pins to mark possible locations of criminal whereabouts
5. Titles
6. Corridoor
7. Door Number images
8. Titles 
9. Map with pins
10. Hand trying to open door - Close up
11. Peep hole looking through door
12. Titles 
13. Pictures of map surrounded with keys
14. Map with pins
15. Swipe Card? - Close up
16. Trying to open door - Close up
17. Titiles
18. Door Numbers
19. Corridoor
20. Titles
21. Criminal walking through and into a house. - Silhouette with long shot of walking to the door, close up of hand opening the the door and medium close up for entering.

Location

After seeking to get permission to use the travelodge as on of our filming locations, they declined and said that we would not be able to use the location which was a real disapointment after going in twice. We will now have to use a different location, i think that we will shoot a range of different stills of doors, corridoors and other close ups to put into our opening. We will obviously still be filming in cottenham on 16/2/11

Story board Images

Here are the images drawn by Sotiri and created by Chris

Plan of action for lesson on 8/2/11

What we need to get done is:

• Totally finish the titles and get the effects sorted (Alex,Chris,Armando)

• Finish and photograph the storyboard of the opening sequence (Sotiri, Chris)

• Put photos from Fridays lesson on blog (Alex, Chris)

• Get the soundtrack for the sequence finalised (Chris, Sotiri)

• Search for images such as the map/plan that we will need for close ups etc. and other objects? (Alex,Armando)

• Decide on necessary props and costumes for both shoots (travelodge and cottenham) (All of group)

• Do shooting schedules for both locations (All Group)

Postponement of shoot on 7/2/11

We have decided to postpone our shoot today as we are not able to meet at the correct time and both have other work to be getting on with!

We will re-schedule the shoot tomorrow and also schedule filming for the travelodge providing we get permission!

Plan for video shoot on 7/1/11

Chris and Sotiri meet in cottenham at 16:30

Set up ready to film for 17:00

Have Costumes on and ready.

Begin filming the ending sequence to our thriller opening. 

Have the character (Chris) walk to and through the door. 

We will also shoot some close ups and extreme close ups while we are on site of others doors and keys etc.

Location 2

Alex will go and ask for the permission of using the travelodge for part of our filming next tuesday.  8/1/11

New Locations for our Opening sequence

For part of our opening sequence we will plan to use a location in Cottenham, which will be for the ending of the opening sequence, for a door and also for the filming of the close - ups of the plan searching for the door location.

Another location that we will use is the travelodge in cambridge as this will be a place that contains a number of long corridoor's and a variety of different doors that we can use for our clip.

We will plan to do close up's in travelodge, such as a number of different keys, people trying to open doors, swipe cards, keys going into locks, and also an extreme close up of a peep hole in a door.

Costume

The only costume will be worn by the character that is seen at the end of the opening sequence and he will be the only person in the sequence. We're thinking of having him as a silhouette and the audience wont see his face. He'll be wearing dark clothing and will hopefully build tension as he is going to be the main criminal within the film.

We plan to have this is thew last scene of our sequence as for the further narrative the door that is opened and passed through will be very important.

The latest opening sequence idea - 'The Door'

The new idea that we have for our new opening sequence is to have shots of a plan of possible locations of where to find the killer that is being tracked, there will be flashes to corridoor's and other doors while the titles are being over - layered.

At the end of the sequence we will show a character walking through a door, the door will close and the titles will appear. 'The Door' 

Music throughout the opening sequence - we will create subtle music that will appeal to the thriller and sub genre of mystery conventions  

Some possible created music for a part of our sequence

This hopefully appeals to the genre and sub genre within our sequence.

Name Ideas

The lift

Lift

Elevator

Floor 13

13^th floor

The breakdown

‘Doors closing’

Level 32

Elevator music

Escalate

Descent

The drop

The fall

Further Narrative after the opening sequence

The idea after the opening sequence is to unveil the character that we saw who was in the background of the shots during the opening sequence.

The plot will be centered around the idea of 'Doors Closing' and the antagonist will torment the main character. We would plan to use techniques that would appeal to the genre of a thriller, ie. creating tension and suspense, we would also plan to include some elements of our sub - genre of mystery.

Locations for our Opening sequence

One of our possible locations is the Grand Arcade as there are a number of lifts and a good amount space for us to use for the first sequence of our film. We have some images of this location that can help us to decide where about's we will film. Providing that we get permission to use this area, it will be a useful place for us to film.

Another location that we could use is the grafton centre although that is our back - up as it is not as good a location for what we plan to do.

New Plot Outline

Plot -  The opening sequence will begin with Medium close up's of a character walking through the location with music in background, with cuts during his walk for titles and quick cut transitions between him and the lift and also to another character. This character will be outlined from our opening sequence to always be in the background in relation to the shots that we have of the main character, this will hopefully add to the tension of the sequence and appeal to the genre of it being a thriller. There will be no speech in this sequence. The main character will walk and get to the entrance to the lift, and this is when the music will change. They will enter the lift and select the floor that they want to go to, we will then cut to the antagonist, character? looking at the lift, and then the door will close. 'Doors Closing' The title of the film will then appear.

Music will be created on Garageband

Our titles will be created with effects in Photoshop.

Characters - 1 or possibly 2 - The main character - Protagonist and the antagonist, character? 

Thriller Font Ideas

Doors Closing

Doors closing

DOORS CLOSING*

Doors Closing

Doors Closing

DOORS CLOSING*

Doors Closing

DOORS CLOSING

Doors Closing*

DOORS CLOSING*

Doors Closing

DOORS CLOSING*

Doors Closing

Doors Closing

DOORS CLOSING*

Doors Closing*

Doors Closing

DOORS CLOSING

Doors Closing

Doors Closing

* = These fonts we thought would most suit our thriller opening sequence as both the title and opening credits.

Initial thriller idea

Our initial idea is to create a thriller with the sub - genre of mystery.

The idea that we have is to have a character walking, the camera only showing certain parts of them never going much more than a medium close up of them. This will lead to them going to a lift and the lift beginning to go, although problems then arise / occur for this character. While this is taking place there will be cuts to another character that we believe to be a suspect and someone that could be the person that will cause the main character worry. This, we hope will build tension and suspense for the viewer. The walking will allow for the titles to fit into the screenshots and we will plan to have some of the titles on black screens such as the production logos.

Strike Productions logo and The Learning Experience that we have in the creation of it

This is the Strike Productions logo:

Throughout creating our production logo, we learnt how to use new effects on photoshop and Final Cut Express. We used video filters from Final Cut to create different effects on our images and we used fading tools with the pen tool to fade in text and the main image for our production logo. we encountered some issues at first getting the different image effects, although eventually we were able to get it right. it has been a good learning process and I (Chris) personally feel more confident with using Final express than I did. In Photoshop we used different text types to create a font that suited our production logo and again there has been a learning curve throughout making this.

Learning experience

From the makings of our production logo we learnt to use some of the more advanced feature of Final Cut Express, Garage Band and Photoshop. We were able to heavily edit and manipulate images and to import them, and also to add effects to them in the sequence, sound and music was overlaid over the clip to add depth and movement to the image.

MGM Production Logo

This six second sequence is the logo for the Metro Goldwyn Mayer film production company, MGM are responsible for films like James Bond and Basic Instinct.

Production Logo

This production logo suggests that the film will have horrific elements that could be scary and strange for the viewer.

The logo also may convey that the film may be disturbing from the animation that is used during the logo sequence.

The sort of film that this production logo is used for is SAW

Top Tips for making our Thriller project good

1. Plan Early
2. Film in good time so that we can change anything if we need to
3. Make a good script
4. Choose a suitable location in advance
5. Have costumes ready
6. Plan Title sequence
7. Make sure that we have good storyboards
8. Have suitable music that won't overpower the film opening
9. Make sure that we film plenty of footage
10. Have suitable font for titles

Overview of opening sequence - Taken

The opening sequence of Taken suggests from the name of the film and the build up from the opening sequence, we gather that it is a hybrid of Crime and Thriller.

It appeals to the genre and conventions of a Thriller as there is mysterious and tense music and also there is fairly dark lighting. The titles are white and fade out adding to build up of suspense and tension. The Mise En Scene contrasts between the young girl who looks very happy in a brightly coloured dress and then the man wearing dark clothing. The characters that are introduced in the opening sequence are the man, the young girl and the woman. The girl and the woman are happy and excitable whereas the man looks unhappy and alone. The opening sequence suggests that the story will be based around the young happy girl who may be the one who has issues throughout the film. 

What do we like about this opening sequence?

• We like how the flashback at the beginning contrasts with the present time.
• We like the different lighting
• We like the build up in tension through the music. 

What don't we like about the opening sequence?

• We don't like the fact that there is very little background information given. It is mainly for us to work it out and guess, although that may be a good or bad thing. 
• The titles weren't particularly clear. 

The Valkrie Opening Credit sequence Montage

This is the montage:

The montage of photos are from the opening sequence of Valkyrie.

The opening credits appeal to the genre of thriller as it creates a sense of anticipation as to what will happen and how it will take place. There are images that represent the time when the film is meant to be set and also it shows  some background information surrounding the characters and leaders that were in power at the time .

Valkryie Opening Credit Sequence

This is the opening sequence:

Valkryie Opening Sequence

http://veevr.com/videos/3z18BQ0pf

The Definition of the Thriller Genre

Thriller is a genre of literature, film, and television that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as the main elements.

The primary subgenres are mystery, crime, and psychological thrillers. After the assassination of President Kennedy, political thriller and paranoid thriller films became very popular.

The brightest examples of thrillers are the Hitchcock’s movies.The cover-up of important information from the viewer and fight/chase scenes are common methods in all of the thriller subgenres, although each subgenre has its own characteristics and methods.

Common methods in crime thrillers are mainly ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge, kidnappings. More common in mystery thrillers are investigations and the whodunit technique.

Common elements in psychological thrillers are mind games, psychological themes, stalking, confinement/deathtraps, horror-of-personality, and obsession.

Elements such as conspiracy theories, false accusations, paranoia, and sometimes action are common in paranoid thrillers.

The 180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is a very important concept in video and film production.

It refers to an imaginary line which cuts through the middle of the scene, from side to side with respect to the camera.

Crossing the line changes the viewer's perspective in such a way that it may cause disorientation and confusion.

For this reason, crossing the line is usually something to be avoided.

How we thought our Thriller Preliminary Task went

We think that we managed to incorporate Match on Action, 180 degree rule ,Shot Reverse Shot and Continuity editing.

The piece went well, the sound was reasonably suitable, although we could have had added some suspense when the left broke down.

Shot Reverse Shot

Shot Reverse Shot is when usually a conversation is filmed over the shoulder of a character which then allows both characters to remain in the scene throughout.

Match On Action

Match On Action is when you cut during an action to another camera angle but showing the action from the same point in time that you left it from the previous shot. This is important to continue the flow of the scene.

Our Thriller Preliminary Task