We began our ideas for our Thiller Opening with our minds set on filming in Bulby Woods. It soon became apparent to us that this would not be an ideal location to shoot an Interrogation type opening, as the ares of path and grass were too great, not being able to give us the scene we wanted. So after checking out other areas and locations to film, we decided that Lewis' shed would provide much need key elements and features to effectively shoot a Thriller Opening.
The shed is small and compact with a single source of light - the window. Making this very easy to dim lighting, add light and create a closed-off, claustrophobic atmosphere.
After clearing everything out of the shed and removing a few shelves to allow the camera and tripod to be positioned in certain places, we went about looking for the props Lewis had told us he had. Once finding that the initial props had been sold or were never there in the first place, we subbed certain props and carried on perfecting our film set, adding two lamps to give the shed some light and placing certain garden tools leaning against the walls of the shed to create a more worrying atmosphere, as the consisted of: a pick-axe, a sledgehammer, garden shears etc.
Our first scene began with Lewis dunking his head into a bucket of water and myself pulling his head out. This had to be done first, as otherwise Lewis wouldn't have had water on him in the rest of the scenes. After a few failed attempts, too much noise and bad timing, we finally filmed the shot without any laughter.
We let Lewis dry himself off quickly as it was fairly cold outside, especially in the shed, and with him almost drenched, we felt bad leaving him soaked and shivering the whole time.
The rest of filming went very well, with the addition of some added scenes which were originally not featured. We quickly put together the action script for these new scenes and got them filmed right away. Overall, I am very happy with the amount of filming and the effects we believe to have created throughout our Thriller Opening.
Toby - some progress but still a lot of posts missing - these need to be completed over Xmas. At present you won't get more than a D for planning and research. Add:
ReplyDelete Post research and summaries of the thriller genre
Post summary of conventions for opening of a film – re: camera, editing, narrative, mise-en-scene, sound, etc
Post still images and comment on the suitability of mise-en-scene elements for a thriller – e.g. settings, costumes, props, etc
Upload your prelim to your blog. Post an evaluation of your prelim task – strengths, areas for improvement, what you learnt, etc.
On your blog write up detailed analyses of the opening of TWO thrillers that you have studied. Write up an analysis of ONE further thriller opening of your own choice.
Write a questionnaire to explore your audience’s expectations of the genre, distribute it and analyse the results – post copies of questionnaires and results on blog
Explain how your audience research will affect your production
Write 3 potential pitch ideas for openings; include visuals – powerpoint – refer to mise-en-scene, sound, locations etc. Justify with audience research.
Record your target audience’s reactions to your pitches
Explain the rationale behind the idea you have chosen to develop into the finished product; concentrate on justifying your choices in terms of your audience research and knowledge of the conventions of the thriller genre.
Write a 250 word treatment, outlining your proposals for your opening.
You should refer to your audience research in order to justify your planning and ideas.