Thursday 13 December 2012

Planning: Developing ideas in groups (Ms Heath & Ms Gibbings)

During our creation of our narrative's we had to take many things into consideration, such as the characters, the Mise-en-scene and the actual narrative. To do this we had to try our best to make our narratives conventional to the thriller genre, this in turn was done and accomplished by watching thriller movies and trailers in order to see how they build excitement, tension and suspense and then utilize the key information that we was able to pick up. By doing this we have created three very different perceptions of what our narrative is and how it will effect the audience. These factors have been discussed below, along with our final choice.

Narrative ideas:

My idea: To start off the title of my thriller narrative was 'The Descendant'. In this plot we see a young man grow up without his beloved dad. Living with his mum he is a normal boy who goes to high school each day, however, he was blessed with special gifts/ powers which his dad also had, hence the name 'the descendant'. Throughout the thriller we see the young boy turn into a man who some may call a vigilante, how ever he is on a search for his dads killers, fortunately for him, they are also on the search for his dads descendant.

Yasmin's idea: The second idea was Yasmin's. Her thriller narrative was called 'Obsessed'. Her narrative plot follows the tale of a dad who becomes obsessed with his daughter after splitting up from his wife. During the plot we start to see the man battle through depression as he places pictures of his daughter up in an empty room with nothing but a rocking chair and a girls doll. the daughter's mum warns her not to go visit her father simply because she gets a sense of danger/ and anger within him. However the daughter does nit heed her warnings and chooses to visit her dad anyway. So every weekend the daughter travels to see her dad, but on this particular day he is not in and has left the key under his doormat, the girl then goes inside the house and starts exploring the rather large household. She then stumbles into the room where her dad has all these pictures, she is freaked out by the sight. Suddenly she hears her dad come in the house calling her name, he ventures upstairs to the room of pictures where he clocks on to the fact that she has seen the pictures, he then goes on a hunt for his daughter as she attempts to run away without being seen or heard.

Jemar's idea: The chosen idea was Jemar's; he called it 'The Awakening' and it is about as a young girl called Amy who lives with her mum Natalie and her father Tom. Within this film we start off by seeing four pictures on top of a fireplace showing family pictures within different seasons. The audience will not see the person holding the camera which will create tension and suspense among the audience. When the family arrive home they feel as though something is watching them, which it is. As we see the family become disturbed over little Amy's sightings of moving figures around the hosue, we also see each family member attacked mentally while they are sleeping, or while their awake, as they may see something look away and then look back again; they start to hear noises around the house and see what looks like shadows moving around the house. As we move through the opening scene we start to understand what is happening within this hosuehold and how threatening it is for the family who lives their.

These clips will be accompanied by slow- paced music as the audience start to see Amy becoming disturbed by her viewing of something standing outside her house looking at her. She screams and her dad comes running and thinks its nothing until he sees the figure himself and becomes disturbed about what he has seen, his wife comforts him and just tells him that it was nothing.
All the sounds and images build up the tension and suspense in the audience when the family is looking down a corridor they see a shadow walking slowly around the corner, just as it's about to turn around the corner the opening then ends and goes onto a black screen where he hear screaming and the title screen comes up saying "The Awakening".

Summary and choice:  Our group analysed each plot and found many problems and advantages of using each one, for example my plot was the most easiest to actually film as we didnt need many props or angles which meant it was simple, however in order to make the character seem as though they had special powers, we would have to work long and hard in Adobe after effects in order to get it right for viewers, this in turn would waste a lot of time.

Secondly, Yasmin's idea was brilliant simply because it is easy to create tension and suspense each time the girl goes to her dads house, this is because us as the audience know that he is not in the right state of mind to be around her but she doesn't, this makes the audience on edge about anywhere she goes and when she comes in contact with him. However this plot would be hard to create when filming as we would have to find a very big house with specificly designed rooms, for example the room of photos was supposed to have no wall paper and no floor boards, it was to all be bas wood which would have images placed all over, secondly we would have to take a lot of images and have them printed which would cost a lot, also it would take a lot of time.

Our last and final plot was ofcourse Jemar's. Our group chose this plot simply because it had no disadvantages, for example in this plot all we need is someones everyday house, this we decided would be Jemar's, secondly, we needed 4 photo frames which were £1 each from a pound shop. There are many other advantages to following Jemar's plot also, one other that I will touch upon is that it is a simple plot to follow, it is easy to draw up a storyboard on and there are very few risks that we must worry about. All in all Jemar's plot was found to be the best choice for all of us, including the audience. Lastly this thriller narrative is conventional to the thriller genre simply because it is able to build tension and suspense straight from the very beggining, and as soon as the audience notice that the family have entered the same house, they automatically start to emphasize with the characters and start to feel need to tell them that there is someone in the house with them but they unfortunately can't, this in turn builds a relationship between the characters and the audience.



Thursday 6 December 2012

Planning: Pre-production paperwork – Miss Begum

What is it?
Pre-production is the process of planning before the actual filming process of a film begins. Furthermore it is where the producer, director and other crew members choose the locations, actors etc.The pre-production schedule contains the production schedule, location release, location recce, risk assessment and the client release form.

Creating pre-production paperwork helps to give the cast/crew members a sense of direction. If we were to try to go through with the filming process without the pre production paperwork then it would result in many complications including the possibility of being stopped while filming or sued due to any damage etc.

Production Schedule:

                                                                                    
 A production schedule (Shown above)What is a production schedule is a summary of where ceratin scenes will be filmed, what cast members will be needed, the equipment needed and the time the filming will take place. The schedule is handed out to everyone iin the filming team and the cast members so that they have all the information needed.  
Location Recce:
A Location Recce (shown above) is a document that tells our cast/crew members and our teacher where we are filming our thriller film. Also it gives everyone directions on how to get there from our school in case of an emergency. This document is giving to everyone within the cast and crew, this is so they are able to know everything they need to about the filming location.
Risk Assessment:

risk assessment form (shown above) is an analysis of our location and any risks that may arise while being at that location. The risk assessment singles out these risks and summarises how our crew and cast will overcome them. This document will be given to everyone in our filming team so that they have all the information needed about any risks while being on and around the set.

Client release form:


                               
A client release form (shown above) is a legal document that is used to discuss all the terms and agreements that have been set between the actors and the director and producer. This document is given to everyone who will be a part of the cast members. It also thanks the actors for the agreements they have made and for their assistance in taking part in the filming.                                       

Location Release form:


                                                                   
A Location release form (shown above) is a legal document that discusses the terms, conditions and agreements with the company/council/people that are allowing us to film in their location e.g. Jemar's house. This document is given to the company/council/people that are allowing us to use their location in order to make it clear that we have agreed and will follow any terms and conditions they have set. Also it shows that us as a film production team have understood their rights and our own for example, they have the right to tell us when we will be able to use the premises and we have the right to use them etc.

Being able to create our own pre-production paperwork has been absolutely essential when thinking about the production of our thriller. Due to creating this paperwork, our cast and crew members are able to be briefed and gain all the knowledge needed to make the filming of our thriller a smooth process. Furthermore, we have been able to make legal agreements over our filming location etc. For me, creating the paperwork has helped me understand how difficult and complicated it is to film without them, which will help me if I decide to carry on my career within the media and film industry. Furthermore, doing the pre-production paperwork has helped my group to actually know what they are doing, instead of having to waste time checking over with the director; also they know what is expected of them while on set, this is a key factor because people knowing what they need to do and what is expected of them will mean that the film will be of a high standard and the filming process will flow smoothly.