Planning: Storyboarding- Ms Begum

What is a Storyboard?:
A story board is a graphical representation of a narrative that has been created, within the storyboard it shows each movement of each character scene by scene. Storyboards may look like square boxes on a piece of paper but they are used by every film maker in order to make filming the actual film less stressful and it also means that the actors, directors, camera operators etc. know what to do and when to do it without having to stop and talk about how they will plan out the next scene.


Storyboards need to contain information about: cinematography, iconography, lighting, actors, sound, narrative, location, duration and the Number of shots.
Including all of these in a storyboard will make producing the scene a lot easier as the producer and the director can work with and around the information they have on the storyboard. Storyboards also ensure that you don't forget any shots/ scenes by accident they make it easy to know where you need to edit the film e.g. fade to black, straight cut etc.

Our Task:
In this lesson we were working within our groups to create a storyboard that represented the narrative my group chose to use. To do this we had to think about how we wanted our thriller to look, how long each scene would be, the locations, dialogue, sounds, lighting and the actors/ people needed to film that shot.

Our storyboards:

Above is the storyboard my group were able to come up with, it's features include clear images and the micro-elements we will use in our thriller. It is well organised and clearly presented, this will help us when it comes to filming our thriller as we can easily understand it and we now know who is needed, when they are needed and where they are needed in each shot. Furthermore, the storyboard  helps us to be sure of our narrative as we can gather an idea of how it will look after filming.

Conclusion:
From creating my own storyboard, i believe it will help me and my group when it comes to filming due to us having a clear understanding of our narrative and how the shots should look when it comes to actually filming. A storyboard will make producing the scene a lot easier as the producer and the director can work with and around the information they have on the storyboard. Also it will help to ensure that we don't forget any shots/ scenes by accident and it will make it easy to know where we need to edit the film e.g. fade to black, straight cut etc.

Planning: Preliminary task- Miss Begum

What is the Purpose of the Preliminary task: The purpose of the preliminary task is to learn how to operate and use a camera. During the task we had to experiment with the camera by playing around with different camera techniques, including the angles, sizes and movements. This was all done to help us gain some sort of experience of filming before we move on to shooting our own thriller films.

Introduction: The preliminary task is where our group is given a camera and told to go out and experiment with the camera enabling us to get used to using the camera. Furthermore we are supposed to make a short scenario in order to show that we have gotten used to controlling and holding the camera effectively.  The preliminary task also tells our group who is the better person behind the camera.

The scenario: In our preliminary task we didnt follow the normal conventions of having a conversation between anyone. Instead we showed two people walking with minimal conversation, and we only focused on the camera angles and movements of two people walking. We chose a few different locations and then edited the clips in order to make the film flow with clarity.

                                                                 

Group Roles: During the preliminary task our group had separate roles in order to carry out the task for example; I was the director of this task and the camera operator, this is because i know how to organize fairly well and i have an eye for different angles and camera movements. that were the group roles and why. The editor of the preliminary task was a joint effort of all the group, this was because we suggested that we needed to all put in our efforts to edit the preliminary task to our best abilities.

Difficulties?: During the preliminary task we was faced with one difficulty, this was the editing of the clips that were filmed, this difficulty came about because my group was not to sure about how to edit the clips and place them together, however,due to us practicing on the preliminary film, we were able to overcome this difficulty and edit the clips together so that they flowed with clarity, and people could understand it easily.

                                                           
Paragraph 4:  Using a hand held camera recorder has helped me to see in myself that I have he eye for angles and angle sizes e.g. Reaction shots/ mid shots etc. These techniques have been developed by my whole group and we now know and understand what is needed to make a thriller film conventional to the thriller genre and we also feel confident to the point where we can look at any genre and create a conventional film for it.

The last technique I have been able to develop and use is to edit the film and clips in order to merge them together to make them flow with clarity and make it understandable for the audience. I will admit that the editing stage came with a few problems and complications, however these were problems were erased with hard work and practice. Within my groups thriller there was many different transitions entwined between the merged clips, these varied from fade to blacks, to montages, to fast-paced editing, these transitions enabled my thriller to look and seem high quality and it also helped to make my thriller look more conventional to the thriller genre. 

Conclusion: This task has helped me and my group significantly in creating our own thriller, this is because i now fully understand how to use final cut pro and edit my clips together. Furthermore taking part in the preliminary task has helped me to develop and train my skills of directing and filming a production and then editing it to make the clips understandable and effective with in an audience.

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.

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:

A 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.

Planning: Editing Planning- Miss Begum

The quality of the editing within a film is very important as it can effect the look and feel of the film dramatically. 

It is important to think about the editing, especially in thriller films because the following shot should compliment their predecessor so that the viewer is able to understand what is happening. For example if the editor wishes to make the audience feel a certain emotion such as scared/ surprised then they would need to edit the film in certain ways using special techniques in order to make them feel this way. 

Some of the conventional uses of editing in thrillers are the use of the slow motion technique to emphasize an action scene, a car crash or something that will usually happen at fast pace etc. Another editing technique will be slow paced editing which is used to create suspense and to capture action. In contrast to slow paced editing, there is fast paced editing which is used to create suspense and thrill. Fast paced editing is mostly used within fighting scenes as it makes the fighting look more realistic and keeps the audience intrigued in the scene. Lastly one other conventional uses of editing is the speed of editing this helps determine the mood/atmosphere of that particular scene. It also informs the audience on what kind of editing there is for example fast paced editing which may be used within a chase scene.

The editing techniques I plan to use in my thriller consist of the following:

1. Fade to black which will in turn create suspense among the audience. This will be used when something significant is going to happen, such as Frank looking outside after his daughter seeing someone and then he sees something outside as well and gets scared. This in turn will leave the audience wanting more. This is conventional to the thriller genre as thrillers are known for creating suspense among the audience which this does.

2. We plan on using reaction shots to allow the audience to see the fear on our characters faces or just to see how their feeling for example, in the corridor scene where the family comes face to face with intruder inside their home. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it will allow the audience to form relationships between them and the characters. Also it will make it seem more realistic.

3.We will use a montage to create excitement among the audience. This will be used when we wish the audience to see certain scenes together as our thriller is a trailer, for example the first scene will show someone walking up to four pictures and then de-facing the people in them, after this scene we will see the start of a slow paced montage which starts to steadily speed up, allowing tension and suspense to build. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it will create excitement among the audience allowing the feel of suspense and tension to build.

4. We may use a straight cut when putting clips of our trailer together in order to help the audience follow the narrative easily without creating confusion, e.g the family coming face to face with the intruder and then straight after we see the candle light go out and when it comes back on its standing right in front of the camera, this then allows us to show straight cuts of the family trying to escape. This is conventional to the thriller genre as we don't want our audience to not understand what is going on, so that they feel the full impact of our thriller.

Conclusion:
Planning what editing techniques we will use has helped my group in many ways. Firstly we are able to save time when it comes to the editing of our thriller, furthermore we now know what impact we wish to inflict upon the audience, in turn this will help us to see if we have done a good job when receiving four feedback on the turnout of our thriller.

Planning: Sound planning- Miss Begum

Sound is one of those most important elements within the creation of films. This is because it sets the whole mood and atmosphere of the film. I believe it is very important to plan out the sounds we will use simply because the sounds cause the audience to either be connected to the film or be vidilante in knowing that what their watching is a film with actors. For example if the audience see a gun being fired but hear an alien zapper sound they will become disconnected from the film, realising that it is make- believe where as if they hear a gunshot they will develop a relationship between the characters thinking the situation is a real one.   

Some of the conventional uses of sound in thrillers are:

·         Non-diegetic soundtracks such as voice-overs can be used to explain an event within the scene that wasn't shown to the audience, this in turn gives the audience a better understanding of what happened/ what is happening. Also it helps to create a suspense filled feeling as the audience are then able to determine what will happen next in the scene e.g. someone is going to die etc.

·         Diegetic sounds such as the sounds from the TV or a radio allow the audience to understand what is going on in the scene clearer; as it is based upon realistic sounds it makes the scene a lot more intriguing for the audience to watch.

·         Off-screen sounds such as footsteps are used to build suspense and tension e.g creaking floor boards or a window smashing etc.

The sounds I plan to use in my thriller consist of the following:

1. Non- diegetic sound will be used at the start of our film and when we decide that tension/ suspense needs to be built, to do this we will add a soundtrack. We chose to use this because it will help build tension and suspense This is conventional to the thriller genre as it will also build a relationship with the audience and get them to put themselves in our characters shoes.

2. Diegetic sounds will be used when the audience see the characters watching TV or popping a christmas cracker. We chose to use this as it will make our thriller seem more realistic and intriguing for the audience to watch. This is conventional to the thriller genre as most thrillers strive to be realistic so the audience feel the complete impact and not just think that they are watching a make-believe film.

3. On screen sounds will be used when the characters are talking or making a noise. We chose to use this so the audeince can determine the personality of each character from the way they talk. This is conventional to the thriller genre as it will also make the thriller seem more realistic.

4. Off screen sounds will be used when someone is running up the stairs etc. We chose to use this as it will help to build tension and suspense e.g. Creaking floor boards/ windows smashing etc. This is conventional to a thriller because the audience start to guess what is going on making tension and suspense build.

5. Parallel sounds will be used when the audience actually see a window smashing etc. We chose to use this as it creates a sense of reality within a film as the audience understand what is going on in the film and it helps to build and create a humanized atmosphere. This is conventional within the thriller genre as a relationship will be able to be built between the audience and the characters.

Conclusion:
Being able to plan out the sound we will use in our thriller, we have been able to save a lot of time when creating our thriller soundtracks etc. Furthermore we now understand how the sounds will effect the audience and in what ways they will be conventional to the thriller genre.

Planning: Final idea- Miss Begum

the aim of this lesson was to display ideas on the final narrative of our thriller.

What makes a conventional thriller?:

• A good soundtrack- for it to be a good soundtrack it must have some effect/ impact on the audience e.g. shock, surprise, confuse etc.
• Tension/ suspense is built to confuse the audience and/ or get a point across.
• There is a use of different lighting techniques and camera shots to keep the audience entertained e.g. fast pace editing used for an action scene; slow paced editing used in order to emphasize a dramatic scene.
• Different scenes are used to keep the audience interested and entertained.
• Use of costumes to portray the age, class, gender or the personality of a character in order to build relations with the audience or build tension/ suspense.
• The lighting used within each scene has a different and significant impact on the audience, for example, in one of my thriller's scenes we see low key lighting used in the corridoor scene, this had the impact of building tension and suspense throughout the audience. Furthermore the lighting used will make the audience feel as though there is no hope for the family when they come face-to-face with the shadow character.
• Facial expressions have an outstanding impact on the audience also; by following the facial expressions of a character the audience can tell how they are feeling without the movement of the characters body, for example if a character is tied to a chair, then the only way the audience can be helped to understand the mood of this character is by their facial expressions and dialogue used, however if we erase the dialogue the facial expressions still have a big impact on the audience whereas, if we erase the facial expressions then the dialogue would seem meaningless to the audience.

Group choices:

My group came up with three different ideas separately and then we sat down and decided which idea was the best and the most conventional. 

Firstly Yasmin's thriller was called 'psycho obsession. It had the theme of obsession in mind as she came up with the idea of a father that was thrown out of his home after his child's birth he has become obsessed with his daughter.
Advantages:

• This idea was very simple and would be easy to produce
• The idea was great as we didn't need many characters which would make the set less crowded and everyone will know what to do and what is expected of them clearly.

Disadvantages:

• Our group didn't feel that this idea would have the impact on the audience that we were hoping for, e.g build up of suspense and tension, this is because we would have to explain a lot before we actually start the process of the build up.
• The location and setting we needed would not be easy to find, this is because we needed a house that had a room that had no wall paper, was damp and utterly nasty. We know that this could of been done by us but we would have to pay someone to use their house and destroy one of their rooms, this would cost a lot of money.

The second idea was mine. The title of my thriller is 'The Descendant' this is because the main character takes his personality and powers from his late father and the word descendant is another word for off spring or child. It is about a young boy who loses his father at the age of  8 and grows up to be just like his father- and that is a super powered crime fighter.
Advantages:

• This narrative was also simple to follow and film, this meant more time could be used to film scenes again and improve the narrative to get the best quality production.
• Furthermore, this narrative had the best settings and locations, for example all of the high priority scenes were to be filmed in locations with great views and places which would in turn help us to improve the impact that each scene would have on the audience.

Disadvantages:

• If we were to film this narrative then we would have to do a lot of travelling in order to get to the locations, this again would cost a lot of money and time.
• Another disadvantage is the effects we wanted to use, for example, in one of the scenes we wanted to create and use the force field effect, this would need a lot of practice and time in order for it to look realistic.

Narrative/ plot:

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 house, 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 household 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".
We chose this narrative simply because it is the simplest idea out of all of them, furthermore it is the most conventional to the thriller genre as our group have done questionnaires on each idea to see which narrative our audience thought would have the biggest impact and would find easiest to build suspense and tension.
This narrative explores a few different themes, for example it explores the themes of being a mystery thriller, this is due to one of our characters identities being a mystery to the audience, also, we are able to state that our thriller also acts as a psychological thriller due to the innocence of a family being played with and slowly stolen from them. The last two genres my thriller explores are mind games and paranoia, the reason i put these two together are becuase mind games lead to paranoia, this is seen as the family start to see sightings of strange shadows around their household and start to feel paranoied within their own home. 
Advantages:

• Jemar's idea had turned out to be the most conventional to the thriller genre, firstly this is due to the setting and location being inside a family home, the audience will at first think that this is the safest place a family could be, however, Jemar's narrative plays around with that idea therefore creating a sense of suspense and tension.
• Secondly our group thought that Jemar's idea was also conventional to the thriller genre due to the fact that the characters were all a family, this was because we thought that the audience would be able to empathize with the families feelings on a whole and not want any one of them to get harmed within the thriller, due to this feeling, they will feel tension and suspense when any one of the family members are in danger.

Disadvantages:

• One disadvantage was that we needed a few different characters, that could look as though they are a family, this would mean that we would have to ask a few people if they would be able to act in our play, while doing this we have to consider time schedules etc. which may or may not work out well.

Characters:

• Amy- young girl 9 years old
• Sarah 35 years old
• Frank 37 years old
• Shadows- mysterious character(s)

Mise-en-scene:

A lot of natural lighting will be used during the calmer scenes in order to make the audience feel as though it is more realistic. e.g. where the parents are seen eating dinner.
Low key lighting will be used when something significant and scary is either going to happen or is going to happen such as Frank looking outside the window to see someone looking up at him.
 We will use a range of camera angles and shots such as close-ups, mid shots etc.
The close-up shot will be used to capture the characters facial expressions when they are screaming or see something e.g. a close up will be used when we see Frank look outside to see someone looking up at him.
A long shot will be used in the corridor scene so that the audience can look at what is happening from each characters point of view seeing what they are seeing, this in turn will cause the audience to empathize with the characters.e.g. the audience will see the families point of view and they will also see the mysterious shadow characters point of view.
 In this opening we will use editing techniques such as a montage, fade to black and straight cuts etc. These will help the audience to follow the narrative closely and it will help them to understand the narrative easier.

Film influences:

• Paranormal activity- this is why we based it inside a house as we feel as though a home is the safest place for a family so invading that sense of safety will have a chilling impact on the audience.
• Sinister- This is because the narrative we chose to use is set within a family house-hold and the family are the victims of an antagonist character, where in our case it is the mysterious shadow character(s). Furthermore one of our scenes is based aroun d

This idea is conventional to a thriller simply because it allows the audience to have expectations of the outcome, it creates tension and suspense among the audience leaving them wanting more from the film. We have explored many different thriller examples and we have found out that a lot of people love to see someone at risk within a normally safe environment as it builds up more tension and creates suspense.
 I believe that our narrative explores many different themes such as mystery and paranoia etc, our thriller's purpose is to be a psychological thriller, which plays with the audiences thoughts and feelings towards their own homes and how safe they really are.