Questionnaire

We wanted to achieve a successful opening two minutes to our film, as to get a good idea, we had to ask the general public what they thought. We asked 20 people from a different age range and genders. We did this to ensure our results were not biased or unfair. These are the questions that we asked the general public. We feel they will help us decide upon locations for our film, the certificate and the name of the film.

Out of these genres, which is your favourite?

1. Thriller
2. Horror
3. Comedy
4. Romance

What would you expect to happen in a thriller film?

1. Murder
2. Theft
3. Kidnapping
4. Action

How often would you say you go to the cinema per month?

1. 1-2 times
2. 3-4 times
3. Over 4 times
4. None of the above

Out of the following films, how many have you watched?

1. Taken, 1, 2 or 3
2. Psycho
3. Jaws
4. The Dark Knight
5. Any of the James Bond films.
6. Any of the Hunger Games

Where would you expect a thriller to be situated?

1. Woods
2. City
3. Shopping Centre
4. Alley Way

Do you prefer having a male or female protagonist? Why?

1. Male
2. Female

Which of these film titles appeal to you the most?

1. Alleyway
2. The Woods
3. Help!
4. Missing

Location Reserch- Coffee shop

We decided that a coffee shop would be an ideal place to film part of our clip. Coffee shops are a local and busy area that the general public enjoy going to at all points in the day. Thriller films, always have a local/ busy place shown in the film, such as restaurants ( in the James bond films) and shopping malls. This is because it shows a sense of reality to the audience. It can make the film more repeatable as people can relate to going to coffee shops, or well known places. We chose the coffee shop "Costa" to film where Tara is supposed to be meeting Ellie. We feel it was a good place, where our characters meet to catch up and have a coffee, until Ellie gets stood up, as Tara does not turn up. We also brought drinks from the shop, to emphasize the reasoning on Ellie being there. ( They were also a good treat to have while filming :) )

We decided to film in a coffee shop, rather than a restaurant. This is because we didn't want our film to appear too formal, and we thought that a restaurant would would do this. The coffee shop is welcoming and homely, which makes the audience feel like they are part of the film. 

In this photograph, i drew boxes around two of the key props that we used at costa. The Larger box, is circulating around the handbag. We thought it was important to include a bag, so that it made our character look more realistic. It could also suggest that she is not seen as a child, as children dont usually have handbags. This suggests that she is aged 16+. Furthermore, the handbag is black, which could be seen as evil, and mysterious, but also seen as formal and sophisticated. We like the idea of both, as it creates  a sense of mystery to our film. 

The second, smaller box I circled was the coffee cup. We brought hot-chocolates from the shop for two reasons. The first, was because we had to buy an item from the shop, in able to film there. The second reason, was because it helps to make the film look more realistic.It helps to set the setting, and shows a clear link between the coffee shop building, and why Ellie is there. 

Location Research- The woods

We filmed at Fetcham's river mole area, also known as "The splash". We thought this would be an effective area to film as it is very quiet, desolate and isolated. Also, as Tara is walking her dog, it seems like an ideal place to walk your dog, as the woodland areas are full of fields, and exciting places to take your dog out.

We thought the woods was a great place to film. As you can see from this picture, there is lots of different types of trees. The interchangeable trees, look overbearing and powerful. As the trees slightly bend inwards towards the pathway, it creates a sinister, and creepy appearance. The use of the fencing on the side of the pathway, suggests that it is an enclosed pathway, which creates the feeling of being trapped. As it was December when we were filming, all the leaves had fallen off the trees, making the tree branches much darker. This creates a darker/harsher lighting to film in, which creates a negative atmosphere for something to happen. The shadowing of the trees is reflective from the dry, dark surface/pathway, which helps to create the negative mood also. By also having the over hanging trees, it means we can use the antagonist to hide behind the trees, without being spotted. As mentioned, we filmed during winter, which means that it gets darker a lot quicker, around 3:30pm. So we had to make sure the timing of filming was accurate, to ensure that some shots weren't darker than others.

As guessed from the location "River mole" there is a river that runs through the woods. The use of using a river, creates a darker mood. Many films and TV dramas use rivers to hide bodies in, as water can destroy all evidence of an assault. Although we do not put anybody into a river... we wanted to include some footage of a river, so that the audience could initially think that, which would already get them precautious of what is going to happen next. The use of broken fencing in the background, suggests that the area is isolated, which seems like the perfect place for an assault to happen...

Here is a sneak, peak behind the scenes photo of the conversation between Rosemary and Bella. I chose this picture, as you can see the woodland in the background. The green fields in the background, contrasts with the dark, bear trees in the foreground. I think using the woods to film an assault was a good option. Its quiet with not many people around, its isolated, meaning its not busy so the likelihood of an assault being witnessed by someone is very unlikely, and the woods in general can hold negative connotations, and have a spooky atmosphere.

Costume Research.

For our opening two minutes, we had to ensure the mise- en- scene was representative of our film. We took photographs of all 4 of us, and this post will show you why we used the particular props and clothing...

Character one- Protagonist " Tara" played by Nadiye Killick:

Tara is wearing ordinary clothing. We wanted to keep it simplistic, to make her seem vulnerable and innocent. The use of the hoodie, holds connotations with "chavs" and "gangsters" but can alternatively  be seen as a relaxing item of clothing. The coat, is big, and thick. This suggests that it is cold outside, which creates the idea of bad weather. The bad weather seems more realistic for an assault, than having a hot, summery day, as it creates the negative mood well.  The dog lead we also had to think about. The fact that it is bright purple, it emphasizes the use of the dog, and the reasoning for Tara being in the woods in the first place. Also, when she drops the lead during the assault, it will bring the audiences eyes, towards the lead, due to the bright, vibrant colour of it. Additionally, the walking boots also help to emphasize why she is there, as this particular brand of footwear ( timberlands) are a walking footwear. Without forgetting, the main prop/figure the dog. We thought that using a dog, would, one, give a reasoning for Tara to be in the woods, so it doesn't look random/weird for a girl to be spontaneously walking through the woods on her own, and two, emphasizes the innocence and vulnerability of her character.

Character two- Tara's best friend, Ellie- played by Mae Fisher:

We wanted to keep the concept of reality important during our film. Thriller films, usually have a " ordinary" character, so we wanted to show this through the clothing of our characters. Again, the use of the big, thick jacket emphasizes the cold weather, and creates the negative mood. The black jeans and black trainers, are seen as ordinary clothing. This makes Ellie appear innocent. As she is wearing trainers, it suggests that she is not going to the woods, as trainers are not seen as the type of shoes you would wear to the woods. Instead, she is supposed to be meeting Tara in the coffee shop, until she does not turn up...  The clothing here, is very ordinary and simplistic, which we feel successfully highlights, the innocence of the character, and a sense of realism to the audience.



Character three- Antagonist, Rosemary- played by Chloe Bennett:

Our Antagonists clothing was a very important factor to consider during our filming process. We had to make sure it fitted the conventions of a thriller film, but also have our own individuality to it as well. First and for most, the only colour seen here is black. The colour black is seen as very negative. It holds connotations with, death, power, mystery and evil. This connotations fit Chloe's character well, and so the colour black seemed a logical choice. The use of the footwear, is also significant. Rosemary also, is wearing the same footwear as Tara, but are in black. As they are walking boots, it could suggest that she is going to the woods as well, which builds more tension to the audience. Although the first  photograph does not show it, Rosemary is also wearing a balaclava. (top right) We thought it was effective, as it hides Rosemary's face. By not showing her face, it creates a sense of mystery and confusion. It also allows the audience to not see any of Rosemary's facial expressions, suggesting that she has no empathy or guilt about the assault she has done.

Character four- Antagonists friend/sidekick- Bella, played by Katy Welch:



This costume is also kept very ordinary for the same reasons. The use of the coat, emphasises the weather, and the negativity the cold weather holds. Bella also, is wearing canvas trainers, which suggests that she isn't going to the woods.. or is she? We thought we needed to create a bit of mystery through the clothing Bella is wearing. Bella is actually the primary Protagonist, as she's the character that told Rosemary to kill Tara. So the use of the simple, innocent clothing would immediately suggest to the audience that Bella is an innocent character, but in reality, she is not. This creates mystery, and confusion which fits the conventions of a thriller film.

soundtrack research

• For our film, we had to find non- copyrighted music that would suit each scene in our film. A classic convention of thriller films, is the dramatic climax. We had to make sure that the music that we did, suits the location we are in. In our play we have 3 key locations. ( opening scene with full friendship group, the coffee shop scene and the assault scene in the woods.) As you can already tell, each location has to have a different tempo/ speed of music, to ensure our audience does not get confused. for example, we cannot have the same soundtrack playing in the coffee shop, that we are going to have in the assault scene, as we feel it will break continuity in the film. It will leave our audience confused, and puzzled, which we want to avoid as much as possible.

We used you tube/you tube converter to find non copyrighted music to put into our film, and we found three possible suggestions. 

The opening scene with the 4 characters all present:

1) Inspirational Piano Music( possibly)- COPYRIGHT FREE HD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY0U432m8W0

This music is very slow. It has a soft ring to it, which helps to suit the setting of our opening scene. This also fits the conventions of thriller films, as the audience isn't always thrown straight into the action, but sometimes a normal/realistic location which creates a mysterious emotion to the film, as the audience will be confused, as to why there is no action right at the beginning of the film. The use of the piano, is a good instrument to use. Its soft, but can be made more dramatic by pressing the keys harder. We feel this soundtrack could be ideal for our opening scene, as it is not to harsh, and fits the setting well. However, we do feel it is a bit too slow. We feel this may make the audience bored, and uninterested, which we want to avoid as much as possible. 

2) Inspirational and Uplifting Music- Northern Express (Copyright and Royalty Free)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=

We also really like this for another option of for our opening film music. Its very similar to the other one, but is a bit more speeded up. This will create more suspense in the film and will make the audience feel the "dramatic climax" that we want to achieve. The piano keys are pressed slightly harder at some points, which will emphasize the idea of the climax.

Coffee shop scene:

1) Epic and emotional Music- parallel ( copyright and royalty free)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=je9bnuIqVVc

We liked this as a possible option for the coffee shop scene. Its slow, and not too upbeat. This will create a smooth, and simplistic atmosphere, and make the setting seem calm. It will help the audience to understand that there is no harsh action happening in that particular scene.  However, the music sounds slightly mysterious, which will make our audience think something is going to happen. This creates the dramatic climax that we are trying to achieve.

Assault/ murder scene:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOrxwqvfD2E

1)  Scary horror music- Haunted- ( copyright and royalty free)

This is our favorite option of music that we found. Its creepy, sinister and has eary sounds in it. The use of the bell typed sounds, creates a climax, and sounds slightly childlike. The use of the "childlike" music, sounds creepy, and fits the conventions of a thriller film. The music then drops, and becomes very loud, with a sudden drop. Using adobe premiere, we will fit the music to when Tara is first being attacked, for the drop to hit. This will make our audience shocked/ scared. This is my favorite soundtrack of all the research we have done.

Film institutions

Film institutions are fundamental in the film industry, as they provide the money for films to be made. If there was no such things as film institutions, films would bot be credible or decent enough with the available budget.

Warner Bros. Entertainment inc.

Warner Bros is an American entertainment company that produces Film, television and music entertainment. It was invented in 1903 by Albert, Sam, Harry and Jack Warner – they were four Warner brothers.  The first ever genuine talking picture was produced in 1927. The four warner brothers started their careers, showing moving pictures in Ohio and Pennsylvania. Additionally,  in 2009, Warner Bros. became the first studio in history to gross more than $2 billion domestically in a single year. One of the most successful films created by Warner Bros, is the Harry Potter series, which was the worlds highest grossing film series of all time without inflation or adjustment.  The films that they produced are made at a very high budget, and the company has a lot of money. (roughly around 1.15 billion dollars). The films are then sold all over the globe.  Figures from 2007 show that Warner Bros, compromise around 19.7% of the U.S market share and is the biggest  player in the film industry due to the secured rights to so many popular films, making them the No. 1 name in the business.

Paramount:

Paramount pictures cooperation( also known as paramount pictures) is  a film and television production and distribution studio, and is commonly ranked as one of the most top ranked/g grossing film studios.  It is a subsidiary of U.S media conglomerate Viacom. Paramount is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America. (MPAA) ^1]
In 2014, Paramount Pictures became the first major Hollywood studio to distribute all of its films in digital-form only.^[2] Founded in 1912 as the Famous Players Film Company, it is the fifth oldest surviving film company. Paramount Pictures is famous for its distribution of successful film series, such as Star Trek, Transformers and Paranormal Activity. Paramount has 15.5% percent of the US/Canadian market share and continues to be one of the most successful film production companies in the world.

Walt Disney:

The Walt Disney company started in 1923 in a small office occupied by Holly-Vermont Realty placed in Los Angeles. Walt Disney, and his brother Roy, produced a series of short live-action/animated films collectively these were called the ALICE COMEDIES. . The rent was a  $10 a month. Within four months, the ever-growing staff moved next door to larger facilities, where the sign read "Disney Bros. Studio." Walt Disney specialises in family movies and animation, but in recent years it has been expanding more into live action. They also own an incredible amount of film institutions: Touchstone Pictures, Pixar, Marvel, and most recently Lucasfilm. Walt Disney now holds 15.3% of the US/Canadian market share. They have highly rated and popular movies like Pirates of the Caribbean, National Treasure, Meet the Robinsons and Enchanted. His films will be watched for lots of years to come.  Disney specialises on making films for the art from, rather than the money, and they don't make films as often, making every film special. Their films are enjoyable for both children and their parents, giving them an enormous turnover.

Columbia pictures:

Currently owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, Columbia Pictures was formed in 1919, and Sony Pictures still distribute their films under the Columbia label. It began as a the underdog in Hollywood, but now they are very successful. It is one of the leading film studios in the world, a member of the so-called Big Six. It was one of the so-called Little Three among the eight major film studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. They have released films such as "21 jump street" and "spiderman".It comprises 12.9% of the US/Canadian market share but still remains a big player in the business. Some of this company's recent successes include Casino Royale, The Da Vinci Code, the Spider-Man series and Step Brothers. In 1924, Columbia Pictures used a logo featuring a female Roman soldier holding a shield in her left hand and a stick of wheat in her right hand. The logo changed in 1928 with the figure wearing a draped flag and torch.

Mood Board

This is my mood board that I created. It has various images pasted on there, which I found off of google images. I feel this photographs symbolise a lot in our film. I think that if you hadn't seen any of our ideas, you would be able to get a clear representation of what our film is about. The images are very negative, but also some are positive. For example, the photograph with the girl walking the dog, appears very pleasant and relaxing. It comes across relatable, as many people walk their dogs in the woods, and does not appear suspicious. However, the photograph with someone being suffocated in a bag, and the guy in the hoodie, appears very negative. It makes people feel scared and vulnerable, as they have negative connotations with the element of death.

COSTA IMAGE:
 It makes the audience feel homely, as its a busy and lively. Coffee shops are local places that many of the public go to, we thought that using a coffee shop would make the audience feel more related to the film.

WATCH IMAGE:
The picture of the watch can resemble many things. Its a bit ambiguous, and leaves the audience to presume why its there. This will make the audience want to watch our film even more, as they will want to wonder, why the watch is in the mood board. Obviously, watches are used to tell the time, and timing can be seen as a problem in some horror/thriller films...

   SCARED FACE IMAGE:
The photograph with the girl looking scared we thought was effective. The use of the facial expressions, and body language, of having her hands in her mouth, resembles that she is frightened. We thought this would be a good photograph to include, as it tells our audience some of the emotions that will be shown in our film.

I PHONE IMAGE:
As mentioned in other blog posts, we will be using the mobile phone. Using a mobile phone, allows the audience to see more into the characters, as phones are usually seen as a very personal item. We thought it would be a good idea to include a phone in the mood board, as it suggests to the audience that there will be a mysterious phone call/message. It gives the audience a further insight into our film, without having to use a character on the screen.

FAKE BLOOD IMAGE:
we thought it would be good to include fake blood in our mood board. Blood has very negative connotations such as "death" and "injury". Blood is a common convention used in horror, and we want to include it in our film. We agreed that blood is very negative, and we want our audience to feel the sheer horror, and suspense, and we feel blood can do this effectively.

HOODIE IMAGE:
Hoodies have very negative connotations with them such as " danger".  When people wear hoodies, their faces are hidden, which creates a sense of mysteriousness, and uncertainty. Our antagonist will have their face hidden, which makes a sort of " who done it?" storyline, which is a common convention used in thriller films

TRANSPARENT BAG IMAGE:
This picture comes across strange, as a plastic bag would seem odd to see in a thriller film, which is why I included someone being suffocated in a bag as well. We thought this was an effective way to kill someone as its unique. Most films use weapons such as a gun or a knife. We wanted to take our film one step further, and think outside the box a bit  more. The thought of suffocating someone in a bag is very negative and uncomfortable to watch. ( DONT PANIC, NO ONE WILL BE SUFFOCATED DURING THE MAKING OF OUR FILM!)

MESSAGE ICON IMAGE:

This picture resembles someone receiving a message. I feel this is a secret way of communicating, without anything being verbally said. I think it brings to mind thoughts of secrecy, which is a key aspect in our film.

WALKING THE DOG IMAGE:

As at the beginning of our film, we are having Tara ( Nadiye) walking her dog, we wanted a picture to resemble this. Walking the dog is an every day activity that many people do. It also comes across slightly innocent, and we want our victim to come across like this, as it makes the attack seem more sinister and dangerous.
Overall, if feel this mood board has negative and positive thoughts in it. I included as many images as I could think of, linked to our film. I feel this gives our audience a better understanding of our film, and the use of imagery can be more easier to understand sometimes, than writing everything out.