Story Boards

It was incredibly important to organise our day into a shooting schedule to reach a maximum level of efficiency on the day of shooting. Especially since we only have one day to capture all the shots needed to create our peice.

We then decided what props we would need to generate an essential feel of realism in the peice. We also discussed what costumes the antagonists would need to emphasize a level of maximum "scaryness".

We came to a decision as a groupe to use the first three actors as our ideal people to play the characters. There was some concern about exams in January, and who would be available, so we researched some other actors as substitutes. If our ideal actors are able to be in our peice, then i believe the others will serve as extra's in one of the shots.

Our target audience.

Even though our peice could easily be rated an 18, i believe our target audience to be 15-29 year olds, mostly male. To see the film in the cinema, being under 18 may be tricky, but when it comes to DVD purchase, i believe it to be a realistic assumption that our target audience could stem to a younger age. Many under 18's watch films that are rated 18. I believe that our peice would also attract a mainly male audience, due to research suggesting that "gangster-thrillers" normally appeal to more men that women. The audience are most likely to be middle-class young adults due to the fact that they are the dominant movie going population.

Producing a written version of technicalities.

Camera movement, timing and dialogue were all major things to consider in depth. These are all factors that make up the film that we are shooting in January. I wrote the dialogue that the two antagonists would be acting with, using influences from the writings of Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino. We also added in some trademark shots such as the POV car-boot shot, which is a personal favourite of mine. All of these factors were greatly considered to add to emphasize a sense of stylish film making along with key points in the narrative.

Research sources.

The internet was a major source for research in this project. Researching films by influential directors of the genre was a vital step for the project when looking at the content of the narrative and styles of cinematography. I researched directors such as Quentin Tarantino, Martin Scorsese, Guy Ritchie and Robert Rodriguez. Each of these directors have worked on many torture sequences and incorporated extreme forms of violence in their films.

First production group meeting.

We were put into groups of four and given the thrillers that we would be working on for coursework. I was thrilled that my idea was chosen. We finalised narrative elements that were undecided, especially issues revolving around the double act of the two gangsters i.e. what was there motive for abducting the girl etc. A key part or the thriller is also a song that plays twice throughout the opening sequence, choosing the song was not an arduous task but there was some creative conflict

My presentation.

After some research and brainstorming, I was ready with an idea to present to my class in hopes of it being chosen as one of the thrillers that would be shot in January. My presentation consisted of a brief outline of the narrative, which explains that a girl would be abducted from a suburban country road, which quickly destroys a peaceful atmosphere set up at the beginning of the film, to juxtapose with the following events. She wakes up in the boot of a car, and is brutally tortured by two psychotic “gangster-types”, where she is prodded for information. I explained that Quentin Tarantino was a major influence when coming up with the idea. I wanted a major sense of irony within the torture scene which directly corresponds with many of Tarantinos films including, True Romance, Resovoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. Mixing comedy with obscene brutality to create dark humour is something I find incredibly entertaining and I deeply admire the film makers that do this.

"What is a Thriller" Lesson.

We were given a lesson to establish the meening of the word "thriller", when relating to film genres. We discovered that there are many types of thrillers. To name afew:
Crime/Gangster Thriller.
Physcological Thriller.
Mystery Thriller.
These are all sub genres that fall into the genre. "Thriller" can be described as a meta-genre. We looked at the film "Pyscho" directed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1969. We discovered that this film used many techniques to shock and horrify audiences that set the bar for the genre.

Final cut pro.

Final cut pro is a professional non linear editing software application developed by Apple ink. I had previously never used final cut pro and even though we hardly explored into the mechanics of the program in depth; what we did look at, was fairly simple to me. We learnt how to create a log bin and sift and sort your material. The log bin is essentially a folder where you keep your best shots. Because we had to follow a set story board, my group’s creativity was stifled slightly, but we were allowed to add certain shots and actions that were not from the story board.
One we had cut and sorted your best clips into the log bin. We had to stick them together, recognising the fact that the final piece had to make sense chronologically, and even the slightest time over lap could help destroy the illusion.
We then went through the piece and changed any thing that we thought didn’t look right. We then also discovered that the microphone when filming, wasn’t working so we had to overlap our actors’ dialogue with our own voices. We also needed to delete any unwanted noises especially from the background.

Preliminary task evaluation.


For our preliminary task, we were given a location, camera, lighting and several props. The rest was down to us including locating two actors for the piece. The location was a media class room cleared out with a table in the middle. The simplicity of the set led to the idea of making it a police interrogation room. We all shared an equal role in filming though at the beginning I personally focused more on directing the actors then working the camera.

The piece is quite dark due to the lighting we used. We thought this was important to add a sinister feel to the piece which connects to the theme of the paradigm. I thought the lighting was effective, especially the placement of the smaller light which lit up Mr A, and nothing else.

There are many technicalities involved with filming. Apart from setting up the camera correctly, we had to check the tripod was level at each point, check the focus, the shutter speed, the exposure and the lighting. The shot would also have to be framed correctly each time. One of the most important factors for our group would be that we conformed to the 180 degree rule. Because the characters were close to a wall: it wasn’t hard to follow. In a previous lesson, we were introduced to the appropriate terminology to use when on the set. This helped give everyone the same sense of understanding to what was going on.

I learnt that shooting even the simplest sequence must be done with several takes and from a variety of angles to reach acquired standards.

Our first practical excersise.

Our practical exercise consisted of filming a ruff and ready twenty minute sequence. We were instructed to make it simple, and to film each action from different shots for editing purposes. The idea we had in my group was to do a short sequence of shots, entailing of a man running from an invisible foe, slamming into a room, writing something and then chocking on his chair. We also planned a delightfully cliché ending; by a close up shot of what he wrote, which would read “virus”. Unfortunately our piece did not go as well as planned, due to the fact that we did not follow our orders precisely and our composition may have been slightly warped. Despite all this I am happy with our first attempt for mans greatest teacher is failure.

Introduction to video camera.

In our next practical lesson, my classmates and I were introduced to the mechanics of a professional camera and a tripod. It was necessary to learn some of the basics in order to continue with the Media Studies course. We learnt about the general technical operation of the camera paying attention to composition, exposure, controlling lighting, focus, tripod mechanics and shutter speed. This was preparing us for a practical exercise in the upcoming week.

Our introduction to Photoshop.

pIn our accumulation of necessary skills to explore in Media Studies; Photoshop (apart from a few technical terms) was the first mystery we attempted to unravel. We were given an introduction on the programme and then left to our own devices. Photoshop is incredibly important for it allows you to warp any image to your liking. Film posters (which we have looked at) are a very small field in proportion to the gargantuan amount of things you can do with it. Basic skills with Photoshop will be necessary for the course and generally a great skill to have.

Introduction to working in the studio.

Starting Media Studies we were first introduced to a small simulation of work in the studio. Several of my class mates volunteered to either manage the lighting, camera or even be the interviewer. My other classmates and I were then selected to answer a list of simple questions and tell a joke on camera in a TV interview representation.
The idea was to give us a modest idea of either on screen or behind the scenes work that Media Studies would entail. I thoroughly enjoyed it and relished the opportunity to tell a joke on screen. Because the exercise was a rather precise simulation, I learnt that most celebrities when being interviewed will be given second or even third takes if they are not happy with the footage; unless of course it’s live. This has taught me that when observing a TV interview, I must acknowledge that the normally smooth and quick witted answers are not improvised and are possibly even prepared before hand by assistants and other such employees.

Processed deconstruction of my poster

My poster was a taster for a vague story line I created named “Watcher”. The narrative entails a group of students being stalked by a silent and watchful tormenter lurking in the shadows, never far away. They would not be aware of his/her presence until near the end of the film. Hopefully building an eerie tension. It is important to get this idea across in the poster yet in a subtle and possibly insidious way.
Due to the movies concept, I thought it very important to focus on a pair of brooding yet sinister eyes in the poster. Silent, watchful and mysterious; a pair of eyes would be perfect for the job. I put a camera on self timer and after several attempts, finally had a decent close up shot.

For the posters background, I took another close up. Yet this time of a classmates cheek, hoping to create the effect that the underlying tone of the poster is human flesh. I felt this would add a very chilling effect to the piece. I blurred the edges on Adobe Photo-Shop to give a stretch-like affect. Hopefully the piece would appear to be a close up of a face, yet stretched and disfigured, with no mouth, nose or ears. Giving the viewer an idea of a twisted creature; and the horror that is to come. The poster should feel like its watching you. This works well with the title.

The title is meant to look like fabricated lettering (possibly cut out from clothes etc.) which has been stitched into the forehead. This should really give the viewer a sense of horrific gore which should attract many movie buffs of the genre by giving a terrifying taster of the atrocities that are to come.
This is a technique many film makers like to use in their poster to attract the fans of the genre. An example would be the “Saw” saga.

The tagline was supposed to be the words “I see you” etched into the flesh where the mouth should be. Though it is a conspicuous line, I thought the effect would be an interesting example of juxtaposition with the Films title. One word Stitched above, and one word etched in, this would be another taster of the abhorrent things to come in the film. Something that will initiate a certain craving in the genre’s fans to see the movie. The juxtaposition was also important due to the fact that the poster is fairly simple. Without the violence which is insinuated and the contrast in the lettering, the poster would be surly dull. That is why I believe these effects to be a necessity.

Hard at work...

Even though my head has been photo-shopped to Seth Rogans body (poorly), i still enjoy this picture for Seth is a hero of mine and in my opinion a fantastic film writer/actor.

Hello!

I'm Ben and I'm from London. For the next two years this will be my blog for Media Studies, and YOU will have direct access to my genius! I'm a huge movie buff and therefore have a great willingless to learn and improve on this subject. To name afew of my favourite movies:

The Green Mile. Resovoir Dogs. True Romance. The Lion King. Fargo.

I also really enjoy cartoons such as Spongebob and Southpark which proves that I'm very mature and sophisticated.

Theres abit about me. Welcome.