Sound

The sound which we chose to accompany our thriller, was of a young child singing 'Ring a Ring O' Roses'. This was chosen as when sung slowly it sounds haunting and intimidating, but also as it has the connotations of children and innocence it will convey to the audience that the images on the screen aren't right or natural causing them to question what happened, thus building tension. In addition to this we also chose the song as its content is about how people died of the black death, this added meaning to the song, gives the implications that our character is dead, causing narrative engima and creating tension.

'Ring a Ring O' Roses'-

Ring-a-ring-o-roses
A pocket full of posies
A tissue, a tissue
We all fall down

When thinking of ways in which we could have this soundtrack Chris located a version of the song on youtube which was free and matched the style in which we wanted it to be sung like, below is the track.








After listening to the song several times, we decided against it as the lyrics didn't match those we wanted. However from this we made the decision to use someone we knew to sing the song and then edit the soundtrack to sound more haunting but also slow down the tempo of the track in order to allow it to build tension.


We also want to have a non-diegtic sound of a little girl laughing this is as it juxposes the image on the screen causing tension and giving our thriller a haunted feel. When these sounds are not present we will have ambient sound of the woods which will have; wind, trees rustling etc. Also we are going to add the diegetic sound of a twig snapping this will happen when we have a midshot of the charcter where the camera will pan away from her and then back. By doing this we are adding to the tension of the sequence as it makes the audience aleart and aware of the surroundings.


Another piece of sound we are going to include on our thriller, is one to accompany the transitions between titles and one to create tension when we are panning up to our characters face. Chris located a couple possible sounds we could use on a free sound website*, after listening to a few we chose the two below to accompany the specific image or transition.


The first is the sound that will accompany the transitions between titles, in order to see how they would go together, I put the sequence of titles together with the sound playing along side.

Below I embedded the second sound which will be used in the pan up to our characters face to cause tension.






We recorded the song 'Ring a Ring O' Roses' with a singer within our college by doing this we know that the item is copyright free as it's an original piece. All the other sound effects that we used (which are shown above) have been taken off; freesound.org. This shows that all the sound used within our opening sequence is copyright free.

Storyboard

In the making of our storyboard we discussed what shot we were going to use, as to affectivly convey themes we wanted but mainly so that they would create tension. We found that shots that help to create tension are;

• slow moving shots
• close up that create narrative engima
• shots giving a sense of the unknown
• facial expressions.

With this knowledge we were able to apply some of this were relevant within our thriller to ensure that it builds tension for the audience. Once we had discussed and Matt had drawn out the image onto the storyboard we then put all the images together, making them into a clip then adding a soundtrack over the top explaining what was going to happen in the shot and why it was nessacary to contribute in building tension.

Location

We chose the location of a woodland area as we felt that it will be great to build tension for the audience as it will create narrative enigma, but also the woods create a state of isolation and are intimidating. 


The first location I visited was a woodland area near my house, after walking round and taking images of the location. After showing them to the group we came to the agreement that the trees in that area were too spaced apart in order to create a feeling a seclusion from normal life. Also from some angles within the woods there were houses visible in the background and also a large field. Again this wasn't appropriate in order for us to create tension as the character was isolated. In addition as the woods were located between an industrial site and a recreational ground, it was deemed in appropriate as when filming we needed silence but in this particular location there would have been ambient sound from both of the surroundings.

The second location I went round and and photographed was Bramcote Woods, this location was chosen as it has a thick woodland area given the sense of isolation and also when the we have a high angle shot of our character the woods would be intimidating for her, putting emphasis and her innocence. Furthermore, as the trees within the specific area of Bramcote woods are thin it makes them look haunted and creepy, but in addition to this it enables our character to skip about without too much obstruction.

When I presented the images of the second location to the group they agreed that it was the best location for us to film in as it fit our criteria. As the lighting wasn't the same as it would be at the time of day we plan to film, I returned to our chosen location the next day to see if it would still create the same ambiance. Having doing this it was the right setting for our thriller also, due to the time of day there weren't many members of the public around this is good as it means there shouldn't be too many disruptions when we film our thriller.

Actors

• Actor: Erin Vaites
• Character: Erin will play the role of a young mysterious child who is skipping through the woods, she will not have any dialogue, and no facial expressions will be needed except for a gloomy, creepy look at the end of the clip
• Make-up- The young girl will not show her face up until the final shot of the scene were she will have make-up on that makes her look lifeless e.g very pale/purple face, possible cuts and she will also have mud on her face.

Written by Christian Vaites

Costume & Props

Costume*

Normal school uniform

• The image shows the character in a normal school uniform, this is so we can see the contrast between her normal uniform and her uniform with the additional red coat.

Red coat without hood

• In this image the character has a red coat on so we could decide which outfit would be most appropriate.
• In this instance, it would be harder to conceal the identity of the character with the different types of camera angles up until the end on the scene when the girls face is finally revealed, but this type of outfit does provide the ability to show the girls hair more, as it moves around whilst she is skipping, really giving a sense of vulnerability and naivety.
• We chose the colour red as a focal point in terms of colours partially because red is most commonly associated with danger (this was confirmed by the majority of people in our questionnaire), but also because it contrasts against a woodland background, so the character is distinguishable during the opening scenes.
• The general idea is that the girl is in a school uniform, which is why she will be wearing black tights and shoes, as well as a grey or black skirt, this will create a sense of innocence for the audience, which builds up tension.  

Red coat with hood

• The actor is shown wearing a red coat with a red hooded top underneath, this is because we could not find a suitable hooded coat which fitted all of our other criteria. We chose to have the character hooded so that it conceals the identity of the character, creating a feeling of the unknown
• Also a hooded character will project the idea that the film is set in the winter, when it is cold, and cold is synonymous with a strange creepy atmosphere.
• We chose the colour red as a focal point in terms of colours partially because red is most commonly associated with danger (this was confirmed by the majority of people in our questionnaire), but also because it contrasts against a woodland background, so the character is distinguishable during the opening scenes.

Props

As a group we chose against using any props as we deemed them to be irrelevant as we felt that we were able to create tension with the locations, costume and the makeup we use.

*the costume section is written by Christian Vaites

Filming Schedule

Filming Schedule 

Saturday 25th February:

• Film all of the needed shots exculding the final shot (zoom close up to the face of the character)

All of these shots can be filmed together as there is no need for the actor's face to contain the make-up as it is planned that none of these shots will contain her face. The reasoning behind this is that we are unable to apply the make-up to the actor on this date as the make-up artist we are using is unavaialable. 

What will be needed:

• Erin Vaites (Actress)
• The costume for Erin (School Uniform with red jacket)
• Camera Equipment and Tripod

Sunday 26th February:

• Film the final shot (zoom close up to the face of the character)

We have chosen to film this shot the next day as the make-up artist is available to correctly apply the make-up to our actor's face in order to get the best ending we can. We will have to make sure that we film at roughly the same time in order to get the best quality and make all of the opening sequence flow and look professinal.

What will be needed:

• Erin Vaites (Actress)
• The costume for Erin (School Uniform with red jacket)
• Make-Up for Erin's face
• Camera Equipment and Tripod

Written by Matt Peall

Risk Assessment

For our risk assessment Matt evaluated possible dangers that may occur and what we as a group could do to prevent and or solve them should the situation arise. Below is his conclusion of possible risks when filming;


Nearest Emergency Phone- Mobile on all 3 of the group

Risks:

• As we are filming in wooded area there is a hazard of tripping on sticks or things left on the floor e.g glass.

To overcome this we will ensure that the area is clear of anything hazardous before we start filming the different shots of the scene and also ensure that our actress wears shoes that all times.

• We are filming in a public area this may mean that strangers may become interested in the filming and try to disrupt us from our work.

To overcome this we will keep a watchful eye on what is happening while we are filming, as there are 3 of us in the group we will always have somebody stood in a close distance to our Actress just in case something happens.

• As we are filming outside there is a risk of bad weather condition.

To overcome this issue we will make sure that we take appropriate clothing in order to keep our actress warm if she gets cold, we will also take the appropriate types of umbrellas and coats in order to keep the camera equipment dry and safe. 

Brainstorming

In the session we discussed as a group potential ideas as to what our thriller would consit of above is our initial brainstromming idea that we came up with, once we had found a theme that we all liked and argeed on we then went on to develope these ideas futher (mind map below). In this we brainstormed camera shot, sounds, location and what we want our thriller to convey. In order to ensure that our idea would appeal to a target audience we carried referred to our audience research including information from that were nessecary.

Titles

Once we had all finally decided on a name for our production company, RedTurtle, I then experimented with different style fonts and colours that complimented one another but where also in keeping and relevant to our theme. I presented a few variations to the group some of which are shown below, we voted on which style we preferred.

We decided on the below title for our production company, which was originally green and red but Christian raised the point that colour blind people wouldn't be able to distinguish the difference, so I then played with the colours and we all decided that we preferred the colours red and black.

                                   

After we made these choices, we then went on to discuss possible names for our thriller, I suggested the name of 'Sacrament' which the others liked so we have chosen this for the name of our thriller.

Audience Research Evaluation

Once we had collected the responses to the questionnaire, I put the relevant results into the graph below in order to analyse our results.

The graph shows that our target audience is males aged 17-25 however saying this, both females and people aged 12-16 can be targeted as they are likely to watch thrillers. Also as we had previously decided that we wanted to film our thriller in a woodland setting, we included this in our questionnaire to see if the location is something our audience would be able to identify as a setting for a thriller. In addition we included a question asking what colours people connoted with danger, the results show that red was the top answer, from this we are able to ensure that our characters costume has red in it. By doing this we are able to portray to the audience that the character should be associated with danger, thus creating tension. Lastly by doing the questionnaire we are able to include a character in the sequence that our audience will find creepy and create narrative enigma surrounding the character.

Audience Research

In order to best understand and appeal to our target audience we have carried out a questionnaire through the use of a social networking site and asking people who are willing to take part, by doing this we are able to find out which age group we are targeting at and also with the questions we have used we will get feedback on possible ideas to use in our opening.These include location, age of a the character and colours that connote danger.

Audience Questionnaire:

Are you Male or Female?

Male:

Female:

How old are you?

12-17:

18-25:

26-30:

30+:

Do you like Thrillers?

Yes:

No:

When did you last watch a Thriller film?

Within the last 7 days:

Within the last 2 weeks:

Within the last month:

Within the 6 months:

Within the last year:

 Which location would you associate with a Thriller film?

A wood/woodland area:
A Shop:
A House:

Other (Please Specify):

What colour would you most associate with danger?

Red:
Blue:
Black:
Green:
Other (Please Specify):

What character would you find creepier?

A middle-aged man:

A middle-aged woman:
A young school girl:
A young school boy:
Other (Please Specify):

In addition to the questionnaire we wanted to carry out a focus group however, as the only people available to us at the time were all in the age range of 16-18 we decided against this type of qualitative data as the results wouldn't have been reliable as they aren't representative of a mass audience.

The Industry

The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)

The Dark Knight is the top US grossing thriller film thus far and the 10th grossing film of all time, with the estimated budget for The Dark Knight being recorded as $185million. The thriller took a gross of $533.3m in the USA, £48.7m in the UK and got a staggering gross of $1billion worldwide.


The production companies behind the film where Warner Bros. Pictures, Legendary Pictures, Syncopy and DC Comics having one of the top distributors in the film industry, Warner Brothers, The Dark Knight had a blanket release of 4,366 screens in the USA and 502 screens in the UK with the weekend gross $158.4m in USA and £11.2m in the UK. The film was released in 19 countries 13 of which Warner Bros. distributed to.


The film was accredited with a vast number of awards with their winning total tallying at 85, within this they won the Saturn Award for the Best Action/Adventure/Thriller film and the AFI Movie of the year.

Source IMDb