Peer feedback on The Final Piece

1) Describe the type of camera work. Which has been used. Do you think it's effective? Why?
Point of view, long shot, pan, over the shoulder. The pan wasn't clear, jumpy, couldn't see the girl easily. With the over the shoulder shot in the mirror it wasn't as jumpy as it could be.
2) What type of sound has been used? Does it work with the visuals? How?
Minimum use of sound at end made it creepy and sad to show emotion of the girl.
3) How has the mise-en-scene construction had an impact on the thriller genre?
Location- at school, teenagers worked well
Props- car
Costume- dark and for girl, clearly dead, makes her seem pale.
Lighting- low lighting in bathroom when she was in mirror.
4) What editing techniques have been use?
Not a lot. Boy running after ball cut was effective. Cut on to girl in mirror with boy
5) Can you think of any constructive criticism?
Could have cut back on mirror and she was gone. Shot was too quick not jumpy enough.
6) what was the most effective element of the production?
Car crash and mise-en-scene.

Peer feedback on The final piece

1.Describe the type of camera work which has been used, do you think its effective and why?
There is an interesting use of mirrors to disorintate audience of reality and fiction.


2.What type of sound has been used? does it work with the visuals, how?
The music used relates to the protagonists emotional state ' if a bit over the top'


3.How was the mise-en-scene construction impact on the thriller genre?
the use of shots that show the protagonist of the centre convey instability.

4.


5.Can you think of any constructive cristisims?
smoother music transitions

6.What was the most effective element of the production?
camera work

Feedback ting

 Feedback for our opening sequence.
    
1)

  - Long shot
  - Over the shoulder
  - Very effective when showing the dead girl watching the two boys.

2)

 - Cuts between two songs
 - Ambient sound and dialogue
 - The music in the car worked well

3)

 - Disabled toilets seemed out of place

4)

 - Blood on hands
 - Black and white
 - person getting run over

5)

 - Music and scene in the car seemed out of synch and out of keeping with the rest of the sequence.

6)

 - The blood on the hands of Cameron and the 'washing hand' scene.

Credits

For our credits we used transition and a consistent font. The credits included are:

• starring
• filmed by
• directed by
• executive producer

The credits appear on the picture without any transitions as we found this more effective than fading the credits in

Marking criteria

Video - 60 marks. 

Level one - up to 23 marks.

Level two - 24 - 35 marks. Basic ability.

Level three - 36 - 47 marks. Proficient ability.

Level four - 48 - 60 marks. Excellence ability.

• 1. Where appropriate use a steady shot to avoid confusion for the audience.
• 1. Framing a shot including and excluding elements.
• 1. Using a variety of shot distances, angles and types.
• 1. Shooting material appropriate to the task.
• 1. No swearing.
• 1. No young children.
• 1. Selecting the mise-en-scene.
• 1. Editing so that the meaning of the piece is apparent and clear to the audience.
• 1. Using various shot transitions and effects to add to add emphasis where needed.
• 1. Clear dialogue.
• 1. Using titles appropriately - film credits, title - make it interesting and to the point.
     

Changes to colour in film

When Amar gave his feed back he asked us to make it clearer that the scene after Anna is hit is a different day other than just writing saying "24 hours later". He suggested that we put in a clip of the boys getting in the clip the next day but we didn't have any clips like that as we hadn't thought of it. Instead we experimented with a few things to show a different day through effects;

• Fade out, long black pause, fade in to next scene
• The colour sepia
• Black and white

The first option, in our opinions, didn't really show a new day as before we had faded out then in really quickly, the only difference was the black screen for a few seconds longer.

The colour sepia looked good and showed the audience that something was different. The only problem was that it didn't give the right impression, and as there was 2 different sepia settings, they were all different shades, even when we tried to change them.

We then tried black and white which worked better. Black and white was good at showing the audience that something bad had happened which was that Anna had died. Also, there was no shade differences and it put a feeling of gloom over the second half of the opening.

Amar's Feedback

Amar had a look at our opening sequence and gave us some feedback to help make our opening sequence better.

 His first suggestion was change they way that we introduce the next day because it didn't create the right effect with just the text on the screen. He said that we should add in a clip of the boys getting in the car or add making the rest of the sequence different from the the car crash part.

Another suggestion was to change the toilet scene and make it look like Cameron can feel that someone is there but not actually being able to see them. This then creates a different feel to the opening sequence. The audience watching will know that someone is there but he wont, it then keeps Cameron in the dark and gets him more freaked out.

And finally he suggested that we cut some clips out of the football scene to make it more creepy and affective with the genre type as we had a lot of seeing Anna just staring at the boys which we thought at first created suspense for the audience to make it seem like something bad was going to happen to the boys soon. We then realised that we could create the same effect with less of Anna as it's the boys playing football and kicking it over near Anna that we needed to concentrate on.

thriller opening sequence

Music choice(s)

Music explanation for the opening of our Thriller...

 our music for the opening section of our thriller was conducted using "Garage Band" - a music program    

 dedicated to helping users create original pieces of music and sequences. We decided, as our opening 

 scene focuses on Jake and Cameron being followed by Anna, to include quite mysterious, ambiguous music to ensure our audience know that something isn't right. We included bass and guitar into our sequence and found it worked successfully. The music fitted in with our thriller genre and didn't take anything away from the original scene - it isn't so overwhelming that our audience loses their focus on the main action taking place. 

Music included and why...

 There are many scenes in our Thriller in which we decided to use music. An example of this is 

 nearer the end when jake and Cameron are playing football - we decided to include music to give it a  

 more supernatural effect - normally football is played without music, so with the intention of using music, this tells our audience that something is not as it seems. We believed that the implementation of music into the scene put forward the message we was trying to get across. We felt that our audience could relate and become engaged with the scene as they themselves are most probably used to playing football themselves, without any sort of consistent sound playing in the background, therefore they will become aware of the fact that something is wrong.

feed back from whole opening sequence ruffcuts

1) Camera shots- is there a variety of shots used?

yes.

2) Mise-en-scene- does it fit with the genre?

yes.

3) Sound- what types of sound have been used?

diagetic sound.

4) Editing- transitions/pace/shot duration

slow paced/long shot duration.

5) Improvements- what can be done to make it better?

More dialogue.

6) Most effective areas- what you liked the most?
The washing the hands with the blood.


We didn't really get much feed back from group U2 58 so we were kind of disappointed.

scene 2 ruff cut

Scene 1 ruff cut

changes to the script

We have decided to move the foot ball scene from the beginning of the opening to the end. Anna will be as she was at the beginning but she will be dead, Jake and Cameron will kick the ball over to her, Cameron will tell Jake "that's her, from earlier". Jake will look at him slightly concerned and tell him there's nothing there and then go and get the ball, he will come back looking confused at the flat ball in his hands. This will be the end of the opening.

Explanation of thriller classification

 

 

 

The classification we have decided to base our thriller film on is "15". This is because the film itself has scenes of violent conduct and may have use of bad langauage. Violence is used during the scene of the car when it hits Anna. Our film  involves death, injury and violence which is dangerously able to influence younger children and so we believe that children should be 15 and above.

However we are use that our film doesn't classify as an 18 as it doesn't contain any sexual activity or nudity. This type of film would be more suitable for adults. We know that our film is a 15 because we show and use  horrifying scenes. We also have death and the use of blood and gore within our film.


Therefore our film is aimed for 15 and above as it does contain the use of violence and criminal activity.

BBFC - (luka and cameron)

All the different classifications from the BBFC

This symbol stands for Universal, this means that the film is suitable for all ages mainly above the aged of 4, as there isn't any scenes that would upset the majority of children although it can be hard to tell as come children are more emotional than others. Films that contain a U classification mean that is contains a positive moral and reassures the audience that it will not contain any type of violence, threat or horror.

A U film usually has any type of theme as long as it doesn't contain descrimination of language or even behaviour or any below. No scenes of mis use of drugs or illigal drugs are used as it can influence young children. Howevere there is an exception to drugs if the film contains a clear message of anti drugs, that can be educational for young children to teach them at an early age of what is bad from them. Bad language and behavous is not allowed within a U as children can be influenced to copy the stunts or behaviour they see. The use of weapons can be seen dangerous as young children may think that they are fun to use and kill. This also comes under the use of horror as children don't like to be scared, and from being scared it could damage them and stay with them for life. Therefore horror isn't allowed unless its very minor and doesn't appear to frightening to children. Sex and nudity can be allowed, for example the use of light kissing or natural nudity without sexual context. However the use of sexual context is not allowed or sexual nudity.

This symbol of PG is known as Parental Guidance, this is a general viewing although a few scenes may unsuitable for children. Although children of any age are able to watch a PG film as long as they are accompanied by an adult. However children around the age of 8 are more suitable but it is up to the parents of that child whether they should watch it as it can be upsetting for younger children. 

Like universal the use of discriminational language or behaviour is not allowed as children may become ware of people who are different from them. As well as the use of illigal drugs and mis use of drugs are not allowed to be used, although it can be used when addressing an anti drungs message. ONly a mild bad language is allowed to be used although imitable behaviour still isn't allowed as children are presuaded to copy it, especially the use of weapons and violence. However violence is allowed when in the use of comedy, history or even fantacy, this can only be used when moderate violence without detail is used. The use of horror can be used but only when using fantacy might be a mitigating factor, but horrifying scenes are not to be used. The use of sex and nudity is allowed but must be discret, natural nudity is allowed, and also the use of mild sex references only, no sexual content. This classification contains more serious issues for instance the use of domestic violence.

    
This means that its suitable for 12 years and is exactly the same criteria for a 12A . This is suitable for the ages of 12 and over as it may upset children under the age of 12, parents may also believe it is un suitable for their children. 12 A is used only within cinemas as no one under the age of 12 is able to watch the film unless they are accompanied by an adult. This allows parents to allow their child to watch the film as it is the parents decision and they are responsible for them. 12 is mainly for videos as no on younger than 12 is able to purchase that video.




This classification is suitable for 15 years or over  only, no one under the age of 15 is allowed to watch this within a cinema. No one younger than 15 is allowed to purchase a 15 video either.

This classification is mainly for adults, of the age of 18 or over. No one under the age of 18 is allowed to see this in a cinema or purchase a video as it contains violence, bad language and scenes of a sexual nature.

R18 classification is only allowed to be shown in licensed cinemas or within certain adult shops. No one under the age of 18 is allowed to see or purchase an R18 film.  This is specially restricted as it contains sex or the use of strong fetish material involving adults only. Many R18 videos are not supplied by mail order because of the contect used.

Amar's speech

  

                                                                        "Preparation is Key" - Amar.

Location Reece, we must...

Take Photographs
Diagnose any problems with that location
Make notes about the location
Source information about the location

The Shot List

Always have a shot list of all the different shots you're going to be using/may be using.
Helps to organise what needs to be filmed.
Be detailed and cover most aspects of your script.

 

All the different Test Shots

Get a feel for the location your going to use.
Get used the equipment being used.
Identify any props/ costumes needed that haven't already been confirmed.
Doing test shots helps during the edit process.

 

Digitals Storyboard

take pictures of different shots to shows what it is likely to look like
Print them for use when making your actual opening to help
Possibly use google earth to get an overview of the location

The Shooting Schedule

Make you aware of any restrictions people have with location/work ect.
Knowing what your filming and when you're doing so.
Make sure everyone is available to film at a specific time.

Mark hypotheses for Video, Planning and Research.

 

video: level 3 36-47 marks.

As a group we feel we've done enough to reach band three. We believe we've included a variety of shooting material and have selected a number of elements of mise-en-scene such as colour, lightening, objects and setting to use in our film. We've used sound with images that are both appropriate and match the thriller conventions in our film respectively. The reason we haven't reached band foud is because we believe we haven't been hugely creative in our shooting, and we haven't maximized the potential camera shots in our film.

Research and planning: level 4 16-20 marks.

as a group, we've completed and researched a lot of work on thrillers. We feel we have posted an efficient number of posts to maximize our grade and have little room for improvement in this department. As a group we've almost posted 40 blogs, of which I'm sure will increase as time goes by. there is excellent information on thriller conventions, shots, layouts, costume, organising, and target audience - these are just to name a few. 

Why "Thrillers" thrive

We need to go to the pictures to see our life's reflected on screen to help with the same things that happen in life but with a slight difference. So we have to experience them artificially and the pictures is the best medium for this.  In order to feel how the characters in the film or on stage are feeling we have to put our thoughts in their conscious and when we watch it we don't sit by but we participate. Films put you in the thrillers seat for example the scene in Hells angles your put into the pilots seat and were the ones who are falling to our death. But this does no arm because in reality we no that we are safe in our armchairs.Even though the cinema  can leave a spectator with a subconscious assurance of absolute safety, and yet surprise his imagination into playing tricks on them.

A secondary type of thrill is when the audience seems to participate when they've won the audiences sympathy who is involved in danger.The the screen is more effective then stage because the screen can produce an impression of great danger where there isn't any danger. On screen its easier to make thriller scenes the best as possible because on stage you cannot create that effect as its not a better quality.

Meaning of colours

The general meaning of colors:

Black -- Evil, falsehood, error, grief, despair, death.

Gray -- Formal, conservative

Blue -- Chastity, loyalty, fidelity, faith, modesty, eternity, immortality.

Green -- Love, joy, abundance, hope, youth, mirth, gladness, resurrection, spring.

Purple -- Temperance, royalty

Lavender -- Grace

Red -- Magnanimity, fortitude

White -- Purity, truth, innocence, hope.

Ivory -- Elegance

Brown -- Wholesomeness, earthiness

Beige -- Conservative, relaxing

Orange -- Energy, spontenaeity

Yellow -- Faith, constancy, wisdom, glory, jealousy, inconsistency.

Font and colour scheme for our title sequence.

Se7en:
The font for this film is:

The style looks as if someone has written the writing with jerks and it also looks like who ever has written it has gone over the writing several times possibly for effect or that the first few times it hasn't come out as clear as the writer would have liked e.g. a wall by possibly a psycho as the genre is a thriller. The colour of the font is white as the back ground is black. 

The colour black is generally a symbol of evil, falsehood, error, grief, despair and death. This is in contrast with the colour white which generally symbolizes purity, truth, innocence and hope.

This reflects the film as the story line is about a killer who uses the 7 deadly sins from the bible to kill off his victims. The black is showing the evil, grief, despair and death whereas the white is reflecting the 2 police men who are trying to solve the case; they are giving the people hope that no one else will be hurt and that the killer will be found and brought to justice and off the streets. 

************************************************************************************

As the colour pink is a symbol for being affectionate, compassionate and romantic and the colour black means grief, death and despair, the title cover could have a pink sky from a sunset, with black trees in silhouette to show that Anna wants to be affectionate and romantic towards Cameron but as he doesn't even know she exists, he can't and then as she dies by his fault and doesn't even notice, she wants revenge and to make his life hell which some people could describe as evil which is also symbolized by black. 

One image that i thought would be good to show this is:

The sun in the middle of the tree branches can show the hope that someday he'll notice her. The writing could be in white writing on the top right hand corner in the darkest branches of the trees.

Mind Map for our thriller.

This is the mind map for our thriller. it indicates the type of characters, plots, props, locations and customes we're going to use in our film. it outlines what we're going to include in our film and highlights our film's main purpose.

Shooting schedual

10/02/11 2nd period
11/02/11 4th period

Shot list

Risk Assesment

digital story board

 

These pictures are the locations for our film. The film will not be too insimular to these locations, unless we have to resort to another toilet for example - as the toilet we need to use is preocupide by someone else or another group.  

Location Recce

Some of the disabled toilets maybe taken at the time that we need them and some of them do not have a mirror which we need as one of our main scenes. If this is the case, we'll have to either resort to finding another set of toilets, or find a different location overall.



The field could be really wet which could be very dangerous for the two guys in our opening sequence in case they've not got the appropriate footwear. if this is the case, we'll have to film Jake and Cameron in a different location playing football. perhaps the pavement or another set of grass. (Astro)



This girls toilet could get really busy which means it may not be appropriate to film so we may have difficulty filming. In this case, again we may have to find another set of toilets or resort to finding another location entirely.



The car park may get really busy and could get to dangerous to film. In this case, we'd have to find another carpark. This shouldn't be too difficult as there are many carparks located around Long road and adenbrokes.



The noise in the refectory may get too loud and affect the quality of the filming. If this is the case we'll have to film when we're sure there won't be many people walking about distracting us.



When we film in the corridor it may get busy and we need a specific angle which means if people get in way it could ruin the shot. luckily, there are a number of corridors we can use in long road.







There could be a technical fault with the car and we may not be able to use the car or the CD player. this is the most difficult problem as we cannot use another car. We'll have to check the cd player works before hand to ensure we can film successfully.

Shooting scheduel

We will have from the 7th to 18th to shoot our opening thriller sequence which means we have six full media lessons and any spare time to do any extra shooting to make it the best that we can. Our group will only be able to shoot our sequence during college times which is from 9.00 - 4.10 because our location is only at the college.

Mise-en-scene

Costume


Cameron- Casual jeans, top and a hoodie as he needs to look casual as its a normal day at college.

Jake- He would be the name, casual jeans and a top because he is also at college, playing football with Cameron.



 

Anna will need to start of wearing baggy jeans with just  a plain simple top with a dull zippy hoddie. But when she dies her face will come a lot more pale he clothes will be all black which will help tell that shes dyed.


 
Before shes dead.

When shes dead but without the doll and more modern clothes.


Props
Props that we will need:

• A car
• make-up, maskara and eye liner
• football
• bags
• clothes
• Food
• Books
• CD
• Mobile Phone
• Paper towel
• red dye
• mirror
• soap

Location
The location that we will be using is long road sixth form college which is based in Cambridge.
We will be using:

• college toilets
• refectory
• car park 
• playing field
• Hallway

 

Lighting
We are going to be using normal lighting for our thriller to make it feel realistic. And because we are filming during the day.

StoryBoard

Script for Thriller opening sequence

College field:
Cameron is playing football with friends while Anna watches from a distance.
Hallway:
Cameron and Jake are walking down the hallway towards the refectory, Anna is following and watching them. They go into the refectory and sit at a table and start eating their lunch. Anna sits a couple of tables away from them and stares at them. 
Girls toilets- G block:
Anna is putting mascara and eyeliner on. Her friend is watching her efforts to glam her self up.
Anna: I don't know how to make myself any more noticeable! I've tried everything, I mean, I'm everywhere he is all the time!
Friend: Maybe you need to approach him now? Wait for him by his car after school and say hi or something. I'll see you later, I need to get to class. She leaves with out a hug or good luck, not very close friends, shows Anna's loneliness. 
College car park:
Cameron is already leaving college before Anna gets to his car to wait for him. In a desperate attempt to get him to stop so she can say hi, she stands in front of his car just as he looks at a text from Jake and so doesn't see Anna and hits her. As she roles out the way of the car he drives off not even realizing what he's done. She ends up dying.
Next day- car park:
Cameron in the car park driving trying to find a space listening to his CD. As he drives over the place where Anna got knocked down, his track changes half way through a song to 'Bring me to life.'
Cameron: Why do i have this song? It's shit! He changes the song back to the one he was listening to before, it then again changes back to 'Grenade'. Didn't know i had this song on my CD. Starts singing along to it. It cuts out and starts playing 'I don't believe you'. He try's to find 'Grenade again but it's not on his CD. He parks the car and gets out to go to G block. 
Boy's toilets:
Cameron is walking down the hallway towards the toilets. He walks into the disabled toilet in G block and goes to the toilet and then washes his hands. He looks up in the reflection and see's Anna behind him in the mirror. He jumps and turns round but there's no one there. He checks the door to see if he locked it and it's locked. He goes back to washing his hands, looks down and see's red coming off his hands, he looks for the source of blood on his hands or arms but there is none. He try's washing his hands with more soap and washing vigorously but it doesn't work. There's a bang on the door and Jake calls through. 
 Jake: Hey hurry up, we've got lesson!
Cameron: Jumps but opens the door Jake, don't ever do that again, scared the life outta me!
Jake: You look like you've seen a ghost or something! Laughs.
Cameron: I can't get this blood off my hands! I'm not bleeding either. He lifts his hands to show Jake. See?!
Jake: Mate, there's nothing there, look, dry your hands and we'll go play footie or something. Cameron takes the paper towel from Jake and, looking dazed, dry's his hands, looks down and there's no blood or red anywhere, just water. He looks in the sink for any sign of blood but there's nothing. fade-out.

End

Planning for opening sequence

Characters and their seperate roles in the narrative:




Anna (Sophie): Quiet reserved girl who fancy's Cameron. He doesn't even know she exists and doesn't notice her when she's watching from a distance. In a desperate atempt to get him to notice her, she stands in  front of his car while he's driving, hoping that he'll stop and at least ask her to move so at least he's aware of her. As he's coming towards her he's on his phone reading a text and then replying and so he hits her. She dies and the next day, starts to haunt him. She turns the radio on when he's in his car to songs that aren't on the CD that he's listening to. The three tracks will be; Bring me to life By Evanesence, I don't believe you By Pink and Grenade By Bruno Mars. She then makes him see her reflection in the mirror in the bath room and make him see blood on his hands when there's nothing there.

Cameron (Cameron):Popular and out going but doesn't notice many things. One of these things is Anna. While leaving college he recieves a text from a friend which he reads and then replys to even though he's driving. He doesn't realise he's hit Anna and carries on driving and go's to college the next day. As he drives over the place where he hit Anna, his music changes to Bring me to life, he switches the song to the next on his CD, not realising that it's not on the CD, the next sond is Grenade, this time he's happliy suprised, making a comment how he likes the song and starts singing along. The track then changes on it's own to I don't believe you. After this he gets a bit freaked out and turns the CD off and parks his car. He goes to the toilet and when he's washing his hands he looks up and in the mirror he see's Anna's reflection and turns around expecting to see her there, but there's no one. He turns back around and continues to wash his hands and looking down he sees red being washed off his hands but it wont stop. He tries to see where the source of the blood is but there's nothing. He washing more vigorously but still there's the constant red. He gives up with the water and reaches for a paper towel to dry his hands. A boy he knows walks in. Cameron asks him if he saw a girl walk out, he says no, then he asks if he can help with the blood and shows him the towel. The boys says there's nothing there and Cameron looks down to see nothing but a wet towel. 


Jake (Luka):Popular and Cameron's best friend - he's with Cameron at most times throughout college, he is one of the reasons Cameron never notices Anna. Jake and Cameron walk to college one day and are oblivious to the fact that anna is nearby. They play football, and have some lunch at the same time Anna watches them intensively. At the end of the day, Jake texts cameron whilst he is driving home from college, and Cameron replies which consequently causes Anna's death. Both characters are still however unaware of the fact Anna existed, and Cameron has nasty experiences which include a random changing of the radio, and a toilet scene where Cameron sees anna in the mirror, before turning around and seeing nothing. Jake walks in shortly after and sees Cameron shaken up - he questions what's wrong, and Cameron asks Jake if he saw a girl leave the toilets - he replies no, and the sequence shortly ends after this.

Opening finishes here.

Possible Locations: Some possible locations of our Thriller opening sequence are:

• Longroad: Car park, toilets, football field.
• Cambridge.

BBFC:

We think our opening sequence should be rated at 15 as there is no discrimination or drug use. Yes there is a threat but it's not sadistic or sexualised.

Visuals of our planning

This is the car that we are going to be using for the car crash part in our opening thriller sequence.

This is the kind of bathroom that we going to be using for the toliet scene where he thinks he see's her in the mirror but doesn't.


We are having to use mak-up to make the stalker girl look ghostly but its not going to be as drastic as the picture.



Long road sixth form college is going to be the main setting of our thriller and the car park is going to be the place were the car crash happens.

Worst thriller ever?

This thriller sees the brother and fiancee of a dead policeman infiltrate a female-led biker gang to uncover his murderer - uncovering twists and turns on the way.

" This movie is one big motorcycle accident. The plot is awful the cast is awful, everything in this one is awful. A guy's brother is killed so he and his brother's fiance infiltrate a biker gang to look for the his killers. There aren't as many biker chicks as the tagline and title suggest and we mainly see a bunch of people act drunk and once in a while we can understand what they are saying. It is an even worse movie than "Sidehackers" another Ross Hagen movie."

"A very lame attempt to show what the motorcycle culture of the late 1960's was like, the Hellcats was just plain bad."

1/10 stars - officially the lowest-rated thriller film to date.