Storyboard Recording

Here we have recorded audio over our story board, both explaining what is happening in each scene and showing it at the same time.

Synopsis interviews

Synopsis Interviews

These are interviews that we did of 4 different people after they read our synopsis.

Garageband task-Oscar Martin

This was difficult to upload so please let me know if you cant play it

Planning

Planning:

Props- We will need a fake weapon which one of us will have to acquire probably from a fancy dress shop; there is one near my location so I will most likely get the fake weapon from the store, we will need a folder with a realistic classified stamp over it we can print one out from Google images, sleeping bag to indicate she’s been on the run, clothes in a pile (female clothes which the actor kim has plenty of) and a big rucksack that she puts her stuff in all these  each of us own a big rucksack so it won’t be hard acquiring the item.

Setting- Thankfully my house is being redone so all the floor has been taken out leaving a dirty temporary floor with tape over it, the walls are dirty and the whole house has parts missing from the walls which will be perfect for our on the run protagonist as she’s on the run sleeping in abandoned locations. We will film in whatever part of my house looks the dirtiest most likely the kitchen and put the sleeping bag on the floor ready to film the scene.
If I cant film there we will try and film in the building next to the college first we will have to ask someone and hopefully they will direct us to the safest part of that place to film.   

Costume- The protagonist will be in ragged clothes we will get clothes we don't wear rub it in dirt and create cuts and holes with scissors in order for effect and make the protagonist wear it along with a big waterproof coat which I Have and also rub it in dirt (we will use natural dirt from outside as that creates a more realistic effect), the assassin will be in a suit with smart shoes neatly ironed, I own a suit so this will be no problem.

Hair and Make up- the protagonist will have messy dirty hair we will get someone to literally scrunch up and mess her hair up and there will be dirt marks on her face to show she’s not clean and on the run we will be using the same format as the dirty clothes and use dirt from outside to create this effect. You never see the Antagonist face just the back of his head which is clean with nicely cut hair we agreed as a group that perhaps I should play the antagonist as I own the suit and have hair similar to the character we want to portray so all I will do is slick my hair back using hair products to make myself look neater.

Sound planning-there is no dialogue in this opening just a tense soundtrack which we will find on YouTube or sound cloud as long as it is copyright free, there will be uses of Foley which we will either create ourselves using a microphone which we will then import into garage band to use our sounds we recorded or just use pre made Foley sounds from garage band itself and a constant sound of footsteps sound bridging from different clips we will be using the sound from a extract of a movie which also does this effect.

Lighting and colour- our opening will be filmed in the dark so a use of lighting will be very important, we will have a direct light source filming directly behind the camera making him easily visible but everything around him will still look dark, in all honesty we aren't very skilled in lighting as we haven't had the same training as we have in the other aspects of the filming industry so we will also ask Sophie or matt (the technicians) to see what other way of lighting in the dark would be good and use their ideas to input them in our opening.

Permission- I will need a lot of permission from different people in order to make this opening, to start with need permission from the technicians to use their camera and their lighting, I will then need permission from my dad or the college to film in either my house or next to the college and then permission from my mother to drive her car etc all these I reckon I will acquire.  .  

Synopsis

Synopsis

Our film follows a female protagonist, Cirilla, running from corrupt authorities in attempt to deliver a document that could change the world and take the corrupt out of power. The main antagonist of the film is a male assassin who follows our protagonist through the suburbs of multiple cities as she attempts to escape and deliver this document to one of the few government officials which isn’t corrupt. There are also sub-antagonists which consist of the government officials that hired the assassin in an attempt to stop this document from being delivered.

The film will begin following the antagonist driving through a residential area, giving no information of the character to the audience apart from the fact that he’s looking for someone. We then see the protagonist quickly packing all of her things in a panicked manner, she sees the antagonist out of the window and leaves the house through the window and begins to make her escape through the alleyways of the suburb. We then follow Cirilla running for a short time, we watch her run through the suburbs until she has escaped the immediate threat. There are then a series of jump cuts of her sleeping and living in a series of rough places, this is mainly to show that time is passing, but it also shows her living conditions and adds to the story. She then meets a childhood friend and asks for help, showing him the folder and explained it to him, he agrees to help whilst slowly gaining affection for each other.

Together they evade the assassin in numerous close encounters and avoid the corrupt police force, they subsequently deliver the document to the non-corrupt government official. At the end of the film, the facility is exploited and the members are arrested but the main antagonist, the assassin, escaped never to be seen or heard of again.

Thriller Opening Research - Ryan

Film 1: The Bourne Ultimatum

Scene 1:

With the first shot of the opening of Bourne Ultimatum, which is a close up of the back of the protagonist’s feet, we are immediately transported into a seemingly desperate and dangerous situation as Matt Damon’s character is limping through a city street in the snow. It’s night time and the streets aren’t as crowded as they might have been during the day. This is evident in the non-diegetic soundtrack playing over the action, the sound of heavy drums and the very fast pace which it is playing at takes over the shot, adding to the fact that this is a fast paced moment, with a lot of danger and risk. Also notice that the camera work is handheld and very shaky, adding to the feeling of the situation and the character being very unstable and uneasy. After a few second’s we hear the sound of sirens, which adds to the typical manic atmosphere surrounding the character. The camera is speedy and in the same shot spins around and focuses on the speeding police cars, police exit the vehicle and make after him on foot as he runs down into an underground train station. He’s clearly hurt and everything he sees and hears is danger to him. The editing pace is fairly fast at this point, making use of straight cutting with almost one edit every second. This also adds to the feeling of desperation, danger and perhaps even stress.

Scene 2:

We then cut to our protagonist running up the steps onto the station platform, then it cuts almost to a type of reverse shot in which we can see the police running down the steps after him. At this point the music is still running alongside the action, proving that it is parallel sound. The protagonist then jumps onto the train just before the police jump on and follow him. The non-diegetic soundtrack is still continuing at this point, and progressively getting louder. As he is moving through the train, at one point we cut to a POV shot of him looking down the carriage, to see all of the police searching for him. The train is very dimly lit, with the police almost appearing as dark shadows amongst the carriages. Matt Damon’s facial expression demonstrates just how anxious his character is in this particular situation. We then see the protagonist open the carriage door, hang outside and jump off of the train on the passing floor below. The camera is very shaky at this point, the music’s pace is also picking up and increasing in volume as the risk level grows.

Scene 3:

In the next scene, the protagonist is studying the area, from beside a very large building, police and speeding past attempting to pursue him. The editing pace begins to pick up and the police begin to close in on him.


Film 2: Inception

Scene 1:

In the very first shot of Inception, we, as an audience are (in a variety of shot sizes) focused in on ocean waves, there are foley sound effects of the waves crashing and it appears as though the footage has been slightly slowed down. The non-diegetic soundtrack is parallel with what is unfolding on screen, as it consists of slow piano music. These elements all work together in order to achieve a sad atmosphere. However, we as an audience are currently unsure of what to expect at this particular point in the opening. We then cut to the protagonist laying on a beach, with his face and body covered it the waves as they stretch up the beach. He’s clearly been in an unconscious state – just coming to. He slowly lifts his head and glances up, seeing children playing on the beach, there is a foley of children laughing, however it is slightly muffled and echoed, proving he is not entirely back with it just yet, and by his facial expression ,he looks as though he is not aware of where he currently is, and is only just making it out.  He drops his head back down, as if he has fallen back to sleep. There is then a straight cut to a high angle medium shot of a gun poking the protagonist in the back, then a reverse shot of the man holding the gun. The man is wearing what appears to be some kind of officer’s uniform. Using the end of the gun, he pulls back part of the protagonists t shirt to reveal a handgun stuffed in his belt. This adds mystery to the protagonist.

Scene 2:

In the next scene, located seemingly inside some sort of huge dojo (evident from the establishing shot) of the building on the rocks, speaking a foreign language, there is a standing man who hands a sitting man the gun, and the extra object the protagonist had. The positions of the characters in this scene demonstrate class and hierarchy, the sitting man is dressed very smart whereas the man handing him the items is simply wearing his uniform. Suddenly, the protagonist is dragged around the room, wearing his scruffy brown clothes, in comparison to the other men around he literally looks ragged and ‘washed up’, and looks somewhat like their puppet.

Film 3: Lovely Bones

Film 3: Lovely Bones

Scene 1:

The first shot of Lovely Bones is a close-up of a snow globe, the camera slowly tracks backwards as, over the top, we hear the slow, eerie soundtrack of a piano playing hard but slow. Then a straight cut reveals a child playing with his toys, then a further cut introduces a man, sat on the sofa, reading book and looking after the child.

Suddenly, a voice over of a person speaking begins. ‘’I remember being small’’ obviously refers to the child in the frame. We see constant shot reverse shots of the child staring at the snow globe, with a penguin sat directly in the middle of it staring back. The slow piano music continues to play over the action unfolding on screen. ‘’There is a snow globe’’. The child faintly smiles at the penguin within the snow globe.

Scene 2:

We then cut to the man lying on a bed next to a woman. The couple begin kissing as jump cuts continuously occur throughout, the camera follows the woman’s hand as she places a book on a bedside table, and it slips off and falls onto an already existent pile of books, suggesting this happens frequently. The camera stays focused on the pile of books for a few minutes, leaving the audience to work out for themselves what’s happening. Then a sudden jump cut shows the woman turning of the lamp just before one further edit cuts to the wall above the bed, on which there are paintings hanging up.

Scene 3:

As the camera lowers from wall-level, a graphic appears on the screen saying ‘’twelve years later’’, we can see nothing has changed, the room looks the same, the lighting is the same, even the pile of books on the floor beside the bed is the same. As she places her book on the bedside table for the second time, a close up follows her arm and then tracks past the placed book towards a framed photo, obviously of the little girl from the beginning.

Scene 4:

As the next scene begins, we are introduced to the girl, now a lot older, she constantly carries a camera, and informs the audience directly (voice over) that she wanted to be a photographer. She’s clearly a very excitable girl which is evident from the way she darts round the house, pulls excitable faces and takes photos of them, runs around outside, takes photos of random people. She grew up to be overly excited and this is a very unusual type of thriller opening.

Film 4: No Country for Old Men

Scene 1:

As the opening to No Country for Old Men begins, we are greeted with a black screen, over the black screen we can hear a voice over. Suddenly a straight cut reveals a desert looking location, during sunset with the land all silhouetted. A second straight cut then reveals another area in the land, then another reveals more. The establishing shots are used to set the tone for the film, as well as the location in which it is set. For about a minute and 13 seconds these shots continue, introducing the audience to the setting of the film, a very slow edit pace goes alongside the slow voice over introducing the story.

Scene 2:

With a final establishing shot of the land, the camera begins to pan to reveal a police car, and man has been handcuffed and is being pushed towards the car. The arrested man is placed into the back of the police car. We don’t get to see the arrested man’s face as he is positioned with his back to the camera. The policeman places a canister in the front of the car, the camera focuses on it for a few second before we see a straight cut, level with the road. The camera raises from the ground, creating another establishing shot as the police car drives off into the distance.

Scene 3:

There’s a cut and we are transported to the police station, a medium shot shows one of the officers on the phone. The arrested man then stands up behind him, he slowly walks over to the officer, as he does, he comes into focus and quickly throws his cuffed hands round the throat of the police officer, the officer is thrown backwards and both men fall to the ground on their backs. The editing pace begins to increase, and the policeman’s facial expression proves that he is close to suffocation. The facial expression of the arrested man is an insidious one. We, as an audience can tell that he is purely focused on murdering the officer, this creates a very eerie and twisted atmosphere in the scene. Blood begins spurting out of the officers neck, the arrested man’s face doesn’t change. The officer finally dies, and the arrested man let’s out a sigh of relief. After a few moments there is a straight cut, a bird’s eye view of a sink.

Scene 4:

The man places his handcuffs into the sink, blood covers his wrists, proving the sheer strength and relentlessness that went into the suffocation. He turns the tap on and begins cleaning the blood from his wrists.

Jacob Knowles - Research task

Research and Analysis task 5.

Hurt locker:

Editing:

At the very beginning of the sequence, we see the world from the POV of a bomb defusal robot. The fact that it is a remote robot being controlled from elsewhere is heavily indicated by the flickering of colour across the screen, showing disruption in the signal and suchlike. We then have a jumpcut to an outside view of the robot, showing what and where it is. We see many jumpcuts between the defusal robot and the people controlling it, showing intense focus on their faces and indicating that they are involved in a high risk operation. When one of the characters is having to approach the bomb in his suit, the editing pace is increased to match the tenacity of the situation, the increase in editing pace puts the viewer on the edge of their seat and foreshadows the explosion of the bomb. When it is made clear to the viewer that the butcher is going to detonate the bomb the pace increases sharply until it reaches it's peak and the bomb explodes.

The fact that it is a remote robot being controlled from elsewhere is heavily indicated by the flickering of colour across the screen, showing disruption in the signal and suchlike.

Camerawork:

At the beginning, a camera which is attached to the robot is seen through in a POV shot, showing directly what the soldiers which are trying to defuse this bomb are seeing, even though the viewer may not realise what they are seeing at first. There is then a cut to a Medium shot of the robot to explain the previous shot. When the man is planting the explosives on the bomb, there is an ELS of him making the viewer feel distanced from the character and showing that he is far away and isolated. There is a lot of camerawork in the sequence that makes use of swaying and shaking the camera to the effect that it makes it look panicked and tense. As mentioned earlier, there are ECU of the soldier's faces when using robot. This adds tension to the scene as it shows how intensely the soldier is concentrating.

As mentioned earlier, there are ECU of the soldier's faces when using robot.

Mise En Scene:

• The Lighting in this scene is constantly bright to match the environment that they are in. This lighting feels natural for the environment and has a very warm feeling. Although this doesn't attribute to the fact that it's a thriller film, it sets the scene well.
• The set design consists of all of the different civilians and the surrounding area. There are a lot of run down buildings that suggest poverty in the area. The area looks very urban and the surroundings are almost 'slumlike'.
• The costume in this sequence consists of Marine's and then the Baghdadi public. The fact that these costumes are used heavily sets the scene and shows that they are there for the purposes of combat. This is also shown through the heavy weapons being carried.
• There are several key props in the sequence, these include the guns being used, the meat being hung at the butchers shop and the robot.

Sound:

Throughout the whole sequence eerie ambient music is played  

How does this work as the opening to a thriller film?

In my opinion this works really well as a thriller opening. For the first 4 minutes of the sequence there is very little pace to it, however this makes the sequence quite eerie since the viewer is not directly told what's happening and is therefore constantly making assumptions about what is happening. The use of the very sharp increase in pace to an eventual climax is used incredibly well in this sequence and excites the viewer.

Audience:

I'd say that this scene is well suited for it's audience of people 16 years+.

Narrative:

The narrative follows 3 soldiers controlling a robot to defuse a bomb, this robot then breaks down so one of the soldiers needs to go and do it's job for it. A 'pedestrian' then detonates the bomb in an attempt to kill the soldier.

Pulp Fiction:

Editing:

At the start of the sequence within the first 50 seconds, there is little to no editing done in the regard that no transitions are made, the cuts begin when they start talking about specifics on robbing a bank and other shops. The camera begins to cut between the two characters as they are conversing and increases in pace as they talk about robbing the coffee shop more and more, this puts the viewer on the edge of their seat. You can see as the characters become more and more restless the cuts become more and more frequent. The 180 degree rule is followed the whole way throughout this sequence, with the camera being at the same angle for the majority of it.

Camerawork:

The camera is generally at a medium distance throughout the whole of the scene, with some close ups where the characters are conversing. The angle of the camera is slightly low throughout the whole of the sequence, maybe made to indicate that these people are a force to be reckoned with.

Mise En Scene:

• The lighting of this scene, although being the natural lighting of the coffee shop it is darker than usual, this may indicate or foreshadow that there us something 'bad' happening.
• The set design is in a coffee shop with shaded blinds behind the two protagonists, they are sat on an already messy table, this indicating that they've been there for a while still talking about the current subject.
• The costumes in this sequence consist of quite timely clothing from the early to mid 90s and American diner uniforms. This sets the scene well.
• The key props of the sequence are the coffee cups and the guns. The coffee cups are used throughout the scene as the male character uses his hands to exaggerate on what he was saying. The guns are key props as they are used to hold up the shop.

Sound: 

There is a constant ambient noise of traffic and quiet piano music. Both of these help to set the scene as a usually calm environment that doesn't have much abnormal happening in it. Both of these instances of non-diegetic sound are consistent throughout the whole of the sequence until the climax of the pace where some very fast paced music starts playing.

How does this work as the opening to a thriller film?

I'd say that this works very well an opening for a thriller film. It involves two characters very calmly talking about criminal activity with the pace increasing throughout the sequence until it reaches a climax at the end. Towards where the subjects are talking about acting instead of just theorising the camera focuses on their individual facial expression, thus emphasising on what each of them are thinking and feeling. Due to all of these elements put together, this works as an opening to a thriller film.

Audience:

I think the audience that this film is trying to capture is 20 year olds+ due to the fact that from  the opening sequence there is patience required to get to the 'high octane' parts of the film.

Narrative:

The narrative that the sequence follows is two adults talking about criminal activity and ways to make money from it. They talk about this until they start to theorise ways that they plan to act upon until they come to the conclusion that they will hold the diner for their money and the money of all of the customers. They then begin to act upon this and the sequence ends.

Drive:

Editing:

The beginning of the scene is edited to have a low amount of cuts, with most of the camera moving or changing positions being done through the use of panning with the camera. This starts the scene with a very low pace giving it a lot of room to build up throughout the rest of the sequence. The editing pace increases with the pace of the music. There are intermittent cuts to a view of the city from a helicopter throughout the whole of the sequence, this helps to set the scene as it shows the viewer the surrounding area of the protagonist. As the robbery is taking place the cuts become significantly more frequent in an increase of pace to show the tension and despair of the situation.

Camerawork:

At the start of the sequence the camera pans from the table up to the protagonist of the sequence the camera continues to pan around the room and show the viewer the hotel room and further setting the scene. The camera stops panning when it reaches a bag and the protagonist is then seen to leave the room with the bag. The camerawork at the beginning of this sequence is designed to show and explain the current goings on to the viewer without giving anything away about the whole story. When the camera follows the protagonist in his car, we see an over the shoulder shot where you can clearly see his eyes and  part of his mouth. This showing that the character is not expressing much emotion on the situation. The camera then goes to some low angle shots and shows the character's face and upper body from the bottom of the right seat. This shows the expression of the character again and confirms what they may have thought earlier. We later see a long shot camera angle looking out of the car window out towards the action of the robbery outside.

Mise En Scene:

• The lighting of this scene is incredibly dark throughout the whole thing, almost all of it consisting of ambient light from the television set and the street lamps surrounding. This gives an eerie feel to the whole scene
• The set design is in a hotel room with very little objects in it, the main features being the table with the map, the two windows, the television set and the bed. The set then moves into the city with most of it being the interior of a car.
• The costumes in this sequence consist of very dark clothes that consist primarily of leather. There are also balaclavas and other clothing to protect the identity of the thieves, emphasising the fact that it's a robbery.
• One of the key props of this sequence is the mobile phone which is used to make the call at the start. Since this phone was thrown away it shows that the protagonist is committing some kind of illegal action. Another of the key props in the sequence is the bag when one of the thieves is running as it shows that the man has taken something and it's in that bag. 

Sound: 

Throughout the sequence there is a drum beat with synthesised tones played, at most points this is pretty low key but it then increases to a fast paced song at other points with a lot happening in it. The song reaches a crescendo at multiple times. When the song hits a crescendo the editing pace increases in a similar way.

How does this work as the opening to a thriller film?

This works reasonably well as a thriller opening, it is fairly calm throughout the whole sequence with multiple peaks where a character is doing something against the law or about to do so. Due to these peaks, the viewer is made to be on the edge of their seat throughout the system because of the foreshadowing.

Audience:

The audience for this film is likely to be for people aged 16 and over, this is due to the intense nature of the opening sequence and the fact that a lot of assumptions need to be made by viewer at first, however I expect that these assumptions will be pieced together by the narrative over time.

Narrative:

The narrative of this sequence is of a man who picks up a car from a garage, this car is then used as a getaway vehicle to rob what looks like a building in an industrial estate. 2 men come out of this building, the getaway begins and the sequence ends.

Alice Creed:

Editing:

In this sequence, the editing immediately starts with a fade, then quickly cutting between several different shots of the car park that the protagonists are in. The pace starts immediately high due to a combination of both this and the music.  There are many subsequent jump cuts showing a lot of action within a short period of time, jumping to various scenes including changing the license plate of a car, buying things at a hardware store and beginning to renovate a home. All of this happens within the first minute of the sequence. This immediate pace is due to the planned continuation throughout the rest of the sequence. The editing pace slows down slightly when the camera is in the bedroom, however as soon as the protagonists are back in the scene the pace increases back to it's isual high speed.

Camerawork:

At the very start of the sequence, the camera shows the surroundings and then immediately cuts to the protagonists stealing a van with a medium close up shot. Due to this shot type it shows that they are trying to do the activity in a lot of secrecy. We then see a camera angle as if it was attached to a car coming in the other direction, showing that the public would not have seen or noticed anything. There is an establishing shot of the scrapyard. We see an extreme low angle shot with a limited focus on the wheels of the shopping cart, this then pans up to a medium shot of the two protagonists walking around in the hardware store. We see extreme close ups of each of the items that the protagonists are going to buy, this is a narrative technique to explain the story. There is a long pan around the desolate room showing what the assumed criminals are going to be converting. Later in the sequence we see a camera angle inside of the van which is stolen earlier, we see the protagonists enter the van and alter the inside of it. In the whole sequence, any shot with one character in will also have the other. I believe this was done on purpose in order to show that the two men are trying to work as efficiently and as goal oriented as possible.

Mise En Scene:

• The lighting in this scene is fairly dark throughout, with just enough light to emphasise shadows. This shadiness may be indicative of the criminal activity that the two men are involved in. 
• The set design here covers a variety of locations within a short amount of time, ranging from a car park, a garage, a hardware store, and an apartment. The very fast change in sets may indicate that the protagonists cannot stay in the same place for too long else they may get caught doing something.
• The costumes that the protagonists wear here are generally very dark, yet casual clothes. Towards the end they begin to very smart, suit clothes.

Sound: 

Throughout the whole of the sequence there is a drum beat playing with some other instruments over the top. The music holds the pace throughout the whole of the scene, at the points where the music crescendos the pace of the scene increases accordingly 

How does this work as the opening to a thriller film?

This works very well as the opening to a thriller film due to the the constant fast pace which was set at the very beginning of the sequence, the pace then gains at certain points in synchronisation with the music. Due to this, the viewer is constantly on edge waiting for an event of significance.

Audience:

The audience for the film is around ages 14+ judging by this sequence, it seems to be more pure action than anything else you can see in the sequence.

Narrative:

The narrative follows two male protagonists which are preparing to commit some kind of illicit activity. It follows them setting up the activity and preparing to commit it then the sequence ends.