Acquiring the audio

A key part of the editing stage was making sure that we had a piece of soundtrack that would fit to our Thriller opening in order to build up suspense for the big reveal at the end of the opening. Unfortunately, we did not possess the means to go out and record a piece of that kind of music ourselves as none of us owned an orchestra and anything that we did try and make ourselves would be too poor in quality to serve our needs.

This meant that we were going to have to acquire music from an artist, whether that be through requesting permission from a professional or through finding a website that offered free downloadable music that artists had put there for uses such as ours.

I started the search by looking for royalty free music, and in doing so came across the website:

freemusicarchive

When I got onto the website, I quickly discovered that within the archive - as they should have - there was a section for soundtrack music, which presented me with the following page:

I went through the various options that it presented, when I came across a song called 'Wounds' by an artist named 'Ketsa.' The name for this piece suggested to me that it would be the kind of thing that I should be looking for. Once I had listened to it, I knew that it would fit perfectly alongside the film that I was busy putting together. Once I knew that it was what I wanted, I selected the desired song which then presented me with the following page:

Seeing as it was royalty free, I was not required to pay nor seek permission for the usage of this piece of music, but seeing as it isn't mine - within the title sequence to our Thriller piece - I credited the artist as the maker of this piece:

Thriller opening Piece: "Anna" - first draft

This is the first draft of the opening to our Thriller film

The Synopsis

As the film opens,  we are introduced to a young woman, who appears to be completely innocent on the outside, and who goes to a police station where she admits that she is a serial killer and has secretly got away with murdering a vast sum of people. The film then goes back in time to the events that lead up to her confession, showing what caused her to adopt this sociopathic, murderous mindset, exploring her personality and mindset through interaction with other characters - particularly a psychologist with whom she is able to form some form of bond (whatever that might be for a sociopath) - and why she eventually decided to turn herself in; therefore following a C, A, B, and then back around to C plot line.

Complicated shot 2: the Confession

Here is a look at our attempts to film the confession shot used to conclude the opening to our Thriller piece. Sound simple? Think again.
- Apologies if the text takes a long time to roll off of the screen.

Complicated shot 1: The Tracking shot

Here is a look at our attempts to film the tracking shot used to open the second half of the opening to our Thriller piece - apologies if the text used takes a long time to roll off the screen.

The filming process (part 3)

Filming, day 3

Date: 11/02/17
Time: 10:00-11:30
Section filmed: Bathroom sequence (shots 4, 5 and 6)
Personnel: Evie (director), Chloe (Anna)
Props/costumes: T-shirt/trousers, Toothbrush, Toothpaste.
Equipment needed: Camera, Tripod.

The last sequence that we needed to film was the bathroom sequence, but unfortunately my bathroom was not the one that we could use - otherwise we would have been able to do that at the same time as the first sequence was filmed. The requirements for this sequence were relatively simple: a bathroom that, above the sink, stood a mirror, so that when Anna is cleaning her teeth she can be looking into the mirror (we wanted to get a couple of mirror shots in there, and felt that if we were going to get a bathroom scene in the whole preparation sequence at the beginning then this was the best way to go about doing that). Once we had found a bathroom that met our requirement, it should have been relatively simple to get the filming done. Unfortunately, due to a slight complication, we had to edit out the mirror from the sequence - something that I found to be incredibly frustrating seeing as it would have been a perfect shot. Nevertheless, with some minor modification, we were able to get the shots that we needed filmed.

Building the box

 One element of getting together all the props that we needed was to construct the box containing pocket possessions of Anna’s victims.

Having this box allowed us to be more creative with the props that we would need for our thriller opening. 
The items contained within the box (of which there were 27) included a variety of different things such as ties, jewelry (necklaces, bracelets, broaches and rings), shoelaces, watches, gloves, and hair bobbles). Once we had a small collection of different pocket items (to add to the creepy/ psychotic nature of Anna) we then added a date of death for the victim who owned each pocket item.

As you can see, the box appears to be bright and colourful on the outside whilst on the inside its dull and colourless. This is a metaphor for Anna's character: she appears bright and colourful on the outside, whilst in truth (on the inside) she is emotionless and colourless.
Finally, after a lot of effort and enthusiasm (especially from Evie whose idea this was in the first place) we finished constructing the box that you see in the film.

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Uses and Gratifications theory says that we all have different uses for the media and we make choices over what we want to watch. We are expecting something from our use of the media, and that could be one of the following:

1. Information:
We may want to learn about society and the world. So we use the media to satisfy our own curiosity or to complete work for school.

2. Personnel identity:
We may watch TV in order to get role models for our behaviour. We may find that we can identify with certain characters or with the situations in which they find themselves.

3. Integration and social interaction:
We use the media to find out more about the circumstances of other people perhaps through empathy/sympathy.

4. Entertainment:
Lots of people like to use different media as a source for their own personnel entertainment - whether that be for the thrills, so that they can relax and unwind or as a way to pass the time.

Film characters (part 3)

The Villain:

Villains provide the counterbalance to the hero as they are the ones who make the main characters journey into a struggle, whether it is for survival or freedom or an object of desire, the villain’s job is to give the hero a battle to fight. The villain must be almost the antithesis of the hero, equally matched if not better than the hero is. They must be smart, resourceful, determined, cunning and multi-dimensional. As to appropriately challenge the hero, forcing them to fight and grow with each encounter. Because of this, the villain must win almost every clash leaving the hero to either flee or fight harder for a draw or final victory. Jessica Page Morrell said that the villain must be worthy of the viewers hatred or fear, but must be multi dimensional so that the audience can be invited to have ‘sympathy for the devil’.

The villains of the thriller genre tend to also have a little extra (or less) when it comes to a psychological standpoint. Either they are a cold blooded killer, or an unhinged fanatic, or maybe they just follow a set of personal rules that the viewers can’t comprehend. Regardless, the villain role in thriller films are designed to put you on edge and make you feel uncomfortable. To make you want to seek shelter with the hero. Again looking at our ‘favourite’ film No Country for Old Men, the main villain here (Anton) is shown to be a peculiar person, very clever, but slightly unhinged. We can get this by looking at the type of weaponry he uses and his actions (besides just murder, because who hasn’t heard of a villain that kills people). First of all, his weapons are either modified or self built. When looking at his signature air pressure gun we can immediately tell that he is unusual as he carries a large air canister with him, and uses this device with incredible precision to do a number of tasks. This tells us that he doesn’t think in the same way that your ‘average’ person does, and alludes to the idea that maybe our villain is ‘different’. And for a long time writers and directors have used ‘different’ to alienate the villain for a long time.

To conclude, the role of the villain is to oppose the hero and make the viewers uneasy so they seek protection with the hero. Usually portrayed as unhinged or mysterious, the villain counterbalances the hero in almost every way. For an effective challenge the villain is well matched against most of the hero’s defining qualities, and in some cases the villain may be more skilled. For example the villain may be more elusive, more devious or cleverer than the hero, making his path a struggle. This is the case in the film ‘Seven’ where the villain (John Doe) out smarts the heroes all the way through the film, playing them all the way to the end.

Thriller poster analysis post 1980s

Thriller poster analysis pre-1980s

The filming process (part 2)

Filming, day 2

Date: 07/02/2017
Time: 15:20 - 16:40
Section filmed: The police station sequence (shots 14, 15, 16 and 17)
Personnel: Matthew (Camera operator/secondary director), Evie (primary director/police officer), Chloe (Anna), James (tracking shot assistant).
Props/costumes required: Box (+contents), Mac/laptop, desk/table, desk chair, T-shirt/trousers, black coat, black shoes.
Equipment needed: Camera, Tripod, Chair (used to create tracking effect).

The second sequence that we were going to film was the police station sequence. For this short sequence, we wanted to find a simple location that we could change to appear smart enough to qualify as a police station. In order to get the setup the scene we did the following:

• Shifted all of the 'soft-seats' so that they were out of the way of the main character and would not have much (if any) presence on camera.
• Created a basic police sign so that people would be able to tell what kind of building it was.

• moved a table down into the initial area that you get to when you walk into the building.
• moved a desk chair for the police woman (Evie) to sit in at her desk.

If we were to film this sequence again, perhaps we could have found a more professional location from which to film, but getting access to such places would not have been particularly easy nor would we have been official enough to request such a thing or build a better looking set.

Film openings

Film openings:

The purpose of a film opening is to entice an audience into carrying on watching the film. A film opening should also establish characters and the genre. Directors do this in many different ways.

1. A flashback: s scene set a period of time before the rest of the narrative showing a key event that will define the rest of the movie.
2. Planning of landscape/establishing shot: Used to set the scene and inform the audience where the narrative is taking place.
3.  Narrations: Easy and effective way of getting the audience involved straight away. Technique used to give background information on what has already happened and/or who the main characters are, giving the audience an insight into the world of the narrative so that the rest of the film makes sense to the audience.
4. Action sequence: A fast paced opening to the film that will throw the audience into the action straight away and make them want to watch the remainder of the film – the nature of the sequence reveals to the audience the genre of the film that they are watching so that they know what to expect from the rest of the film.
5. Production logo’s: At the start of most films they will show the production/distribution company’s logo, if the film has a high budget then the logo may be adapted to fit the film.
6. Title sequence: most films have title sequences, this will include the list of names of the key cast and key production team that helped put the film together.
7. Animation: Portrays the beginning of the film in a more creative way and sets it apart from the rest of the film.
8. Soundtrack: rather than having any dialogue, the title sequence will usually contain a piece of soundtrack to play and in a higher budget film they likely will have had a piece of soundtrack specifically designed for the sequence.

Order of credits in the opening to a film

The typical credit order in an opening title sequence:

1.    Name of the studio that is distributing the film.

E.g. Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, 20^th Century Fox, Warner Bros.

2.    Name of the production company responsible for making the film. If an investor financed a substantial portion of the movie, they will usually be credited alongside the production company with “In Association with.”

E.g. MGM, Miramax entertainment, LionsGate Home Entertainment, Marvel Studios, 

3.    A (Producer’s Name) Production.

E.g. Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, George Lucas

4.    A Film by (Director’s Name).

E.g. Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Peter Jackson, Alfred Hitchcock

5.    Starring (this is optional or can be paired with the first cast member’s name), followed by the names of all principal actors.

E.g. Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt, Tom Hanks, Michael Caine Cate Blanchet, Scarlett Johansson, Jennifer Lawrence, Sandra Bullock

6.    Film title.

E.g. Star Wars, Saw, The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings.

7.    Featured cast members. A card that states “Featuring” used to be fairly commonplace but now appears to be falling out of fashion; in some cases, to speed up a title sequence, featured players are held off for the end crawl.

8.    Casting by.

9.    Music, composer, or original score.

E.g. John Williams, Howard Shore, Hanz Zimmer.

10.    Production designer.

11.    At this point it can vary; you might see makeup, costume, or visual effects credits here or skip to the next few credits. At this point it should vary based on what is most important to the movie. If the movie’s a high budget sci-fi bonanza, it’s appropriate to credit the VFX team or supervising visual effects artist here; if it’s an historical epic, costume and makeup should probably get some notice here.

12.    Edited by (the editor is the first of the people whose “thumbprint” is on the movie creatively; the other two are the writer and director).

13.    Director of photography.

14.    Producer, produced by, and executive producers. This is a sticky one. If there is one place in an opening movie title sequence where it is likely to change, it is here. Let’s say you are working on an independent feature that gets picked up by a larger distributer; that means you have more executive producers to add to the title sequence. Also, you may run into the need to add “Also Produced By." Much of what this ends up being is controlled by the contracts of the various players involved at the studio, Production Company, and distributor.

15.    Based on the (media name or title) by (Author’s Name). This is highly dependent on the project; if the movie is based on an existing work, this credit is necessary.

Film script

Anna, opening script:

1) The BEDROOM:

·      FADE IN; CAMERA positioned under the bed – looking out to the left hand side of the room; ANNA lowers legs down from on the BED, gets out of BED and WALKS RIGHT and out of the shot; FADE OUT.

* BEGIN TITLE SEQUENCE *

·      FADE IN; CAMERA positioned slightly to the left of ANNA, looking into the WARDROBE; ANNA REACHES into the WARDROBE with her RIGHT ARM and pulls out AN ITEM OF CLOTHING; FADE OUT.

·      FADE IN; set a few minutes after the end of the last shot – ANNA is now fully dressed; CAMERA positioned back under bed (SAME SETUP AND LOCATION AS SHOT 1); ANNA WALKS from RIGHT to LEFT across the screen and EXITS through the DOOR – DOOR is LEFT OPEN; FADE OUT.

2) The BATHROOM:

·      FADE IN; CAMERA looks into the MIRROR, ANNA’s FACE is reflected; ANNA is CLEANING her TEETH with a TOOTHBRUSH; CUT.

·      CAMERA looks down into the SINK; SPIT of TOOTHPASTE falls down into the SINK, TAP is turned ON; ANNA puts her HANDS into the WATER; CUT.

·      CAMERA looks into the MIRROR (SAME SETUP AND LOCATION AS SHOT 4); ANNA uses her WET HANDS to WASH her FACE; FADE OUT.

3) The BEDROOM:

·      FADE IN; CAMERA UNDER the BED (SAME LOCATION AND SETUP AS SHOT 1); ANNA WALKS in through the DOOR, CLOSES the DOOR as she does so; FADE OUT.

·      FADE IN; CAMERA CU to ANNA’s FACE, from the SIDE so that focus on her HAIR; ANNA combing her HAIR; FADE OUT.

·      FADE IN; CAMERA positioned CLOSE UP to ANNA’s FEET; HAND REACHES DOWN, TIES up the LACES of her SHOES; FADE OUT.

·      FADE IN; CAMERA positioned CLOSE UP to ANNA’s HAND; ANNA’s HANDs do the buttons on her COAT (Shows 3); FADE OUT.

·      FADE IN; CAMERA BEHIND ANNA; ANNA WALKS towards the DOOR, FREEZES; CUT.

·      CAMERA UNDER the BED (SAME LOCATION AS SHOT 1); ANNA LOOKS directly at the CAMERA, SLOWLY WALKS towards the CAMERA; FADE OUT.

·      FADE IN; CU, CAMERA looks down to the bed; ANNA’s LEFT HAND REACHES under the BED and begins to PULL OUT a BOX; FADE OUT.

*  END OF TITLE SEQUENCE *

4) POLICE STATION:

·      FADE IN; CAMERA at MEDIUM CU facing the DOOR; DOOR OPENS, ANNA WALKS into the room; CUT.

·      CAMERA POSITIONED in front of ANNA; ANNA WALKS towards the CAMERA; CAMERA will move BACK as ANNA WALKS forwards until she reaches the DESK (no cuts until she gets there); CUT.

·      CAMERA positioned over ANNA’s shoulder (OTS shot); ANNA PUTS the BOX down onto the DESK; CUT.

·      CAMERA positioned at a moderately high angle ABOVE the DESK – looking down at the BOX; ANNA SLIDES the BOX across the table and LIFTS the LID off of the BOX revealing the contents; CUT.

·      CAMERA positioned IN FRONT of ANNA’s FACE, ECU shot; EMOTIONLESSLY:

 ANNA: “I’ve killed X (exact figure to be decided later) people.”

·      FADE (quicker than previous)

“ANNA” (Film title) to FADE onto the screen.

END