Script (Between Main Character and Friend)

Friend - Oh sorry! I didn't mean to make you jump.


Main Character - (panicking) No, its okay i just wasn't expecting anyone else to be here. What are you still doing here?


Friend - Just finished work, on my way home now. Why are you here so late? Your shift finished ages ago. 


Main Character - Well its a long story, but i had a load of work that needed doing. 


Friend - (lift door opens) Well i'll see you tomorrow.

Props, Costumes and Location

Props - 

• Mobile phone for scene 15b
• Heels in a bold colour, such as bright pink. Used as identification for victim/main character
• White mask
• Folder and handbag
• Other footwear of the stalker (Black boots)
• Black gloves

Costumes -

Protagonist (Women) - Work like clothing, bright coloured heels (identification), work hairstyle and make-up.

Friend - Work based clothing, hairstyle up and make-up basic. Dolly shoes (identification)

Antagonist - Black top/hoodie, hair inside the hood (cannot tell if it is male/female), black trousers/tracksuit bottoms, white plimsoles and white mask.

Location - 

• Corridor 
• Lifts 
• Toilets 
• Stairs

This can be filmed in the school, as we wont being seeing enough of it to know it is a school, however, we are going to try to obtain permission to use real offices to make it more realistic.

Shot List

1. Titles.
2. Legs walking away from camera- hyperbolic sounds of heels.
3. Low angle shot, legs walking down stairs.
4.Hands pulling on gloves.
5. Reflection of face in mirrior ( fuzzy) (stalker)
6.Back walking out door close up of shoes.
7.Walking downstairs (tilted low angle) through bars.
8.POV of stalker slowly opens door (see lady through gap)
9. Lady presses button to lift (close up)
10.Lady POV looking around frantically
11.Zoom in lady pressing button frantically
12.Track over shoulder, hand on shoulder
13.Conversation with friend.
14.Friend and Lady in lift.
15.Friends exists lift, clsoe up of email on phone.
16.Tilt up to friend walking away. door closes.
17.Get out of lift, looks back sees mask. door closes.
18.Walks down corridor - drops bag.
19.Stalker face turns quick and runs.
20.Women runs - hyperbolic sounds of footprints.
21.Gets to door, Locked, lady bangs on door.
22.Stops banging on door.
23.Running stops, hyperbolic sounds of shivering.
24.Footprints (x5) Lady Stops sees door way (Long shot)
25. Close up of mask.

Synopsis of Thriller

A woman in her 30s is being stalked, after splitting up with her boyfriend things have started to get suspicious. As she receives emails and letter from anonymous people who are watching her every move. The emails refer to her personal details, so she thinks that the stalker is her boyfriend. As she walks to work there is someone following as the camera follows her, her body language shows how scared and nervous she is.

Antagonist: The stalker
Protagonist: The women
Goal: To find out who knows
Setting of opening scene: in an office or workplace.
Why is it a thriller? Because the audience keep asking questions about the stalker.

Opening sequence for Thriller

Our five shots for the start of our opening sequence for a Thriller film are:


Shot one: Titles

Shot two: The audience will see a close up of legs walking slowly wearing heels as the audience hear hyperbolic sounds of heels clicking against the floor walking away from the camera.

Shot three: Black gloved covered hands twitching, towards the camera. Extreme close up.

Shot four: Birds eye view as women walks into the lift, can hear hyperbolic sounds of heel. Then a woman walks out of lift.

Shot five: Extreme close up of black gloved hands pressing the lift button. Then cuts to black gloved hand opening the door.

Wallander - Firewall (MacCormack, 2008 UK)

Firstly, the audience see a black screen with the sound of waves and wind in the background. This makes the audience feel cold and uncomfortable. The camera tracks across the sea and the low key lighting fades from the blackout to reveal the dark, deathlike sea. This establishing shot of the cliftop in the countryside looks deserted and cut off from other people. The camera starts to track towards a car and two people walking away from it, although we do not see this right away until the camera gets closer. As we see them the music then gets higher in pitch, letting the audience know these people and this car is significant.

The audience hear a 'whoosh' sound as the camera changes to a mid shot of the two girls from behind. This means we still can’t see their face or any details/information about them. This idea of keeping vital information from the audience is a typical convention of a thriller. From behind we can tell that the girls look scruffy and are not wearing particularly nice clothes. To reinforce this, we then hear sound effects (non-diegetic) which sound like the sharpening of a knife. This goes well with the colours used, which are dull and lacking in vibrancy. All of this makes the audience assume they have been involved in something bad and we ask ourselves what this could be.

The camera then changes position to the inside of the car. We can see that there is a person (who we assume is a man) sitting in the front seat. However, we cannot see his face, so we ask who he is. Through the front of the car, we can see the figures of the two girls walking away. They are blurred as we are meant to be focusing more on the man in the car, however, this reminder of the two of them makes the audience assume they were involved. Still in this shot we see blood on the windscreen. We ask ourselves the question; was it just a car crash or do the girls have something more to do with this?

We then get given a bit more information about the man in a series of close up shots. We first see a taxi badge, which explains why he, and the girls, were in the car. We then see a close-up of his face and his hand, and there are a few small twitches that occur, making us wonder if he is still alive. We see a lot of close-up shits of blood, which make the audience think that maybe this was more than just a car crash and that maybe a violent murder, or attempt at murder, has occurred here. We then switch back to the girls, who are breathing heavily and we see that they are covered in blood. This reminds us about them and increases our suspicion that they were involved. Once again, the camera cuts back to the inside of the car and we see a key ring with the taxi driver and what we assume to be his son. There is blood on it. This makes the audience feel sorry for him and for his son, and also that he is probably the victim in this as, before now, we didn’t know if the two girls had tried to kill him through self defence? Now the audience assume it was a violent attack from them. Lastly, we cut back to the two girls and we see a close up of a bloody knife in the girl’s hand, confirming our suspicions of murder. We then hear the quick sound of a knife being sharpened again and she drops it. At this point we are asking ourselves why these two girls would want to kill an innocent man? Was he really innocent? And will they be caught?

Film Noir (Double Indemnity & Kiss Me Deadly)

Double Indemnity (Wilder, 1944 USA)

The opening starts with strong and dramatic music, with the image of a looming silhouette of a man approaching the screen. His movement changes the scene from an extreme long shot to an extreme close up. We also notice that the man is on crutches and we ask; who is he? Why is he on crutches? He appears more mysterious as his identity is hidden. This then cross fades to an image of the street. We see a man working in a tram line and as he is doing this, a sign lights up telling us that it is set in LA. This is particularly noticeable as it is effectively used in the rule of thirds and it contrasts the dark, low key lighting.

However, our attention is drawn to a car coming down the road. We notice this as it is the only car to appear and we know it is significant. When this happens, the music gets higher and faster the closer it approaches, telling the audience this isn’t an ordinary car and that something is about to happen. The speed of the action then increases as the car almost crashes into another car, which beeps. This all creates tension.

There is then a new shot of a man getting out of a car. His face is hidden and this makes the audience ask; who is he? He then rides in a life with a man whose face we do see. The two characters contrast as the man in the lift is short and cheerful, making the other man seem even more mysterious in comparison. We cut to a low angle shot of the man as he walks along the balcony, which gives him authority and he seems more powerful. The audience still wonder who he is. This air of mystery is then reinforced when he walks into an empty office and the low key lighting means that we see his shadow before we even see him.

The first time that we see him is when he is lighting a cigarette and we notice that he can’t use one arm. We, as the audience, wonder why this is. We then see a close-up of him and he is sweating and seems stressed. This contrasts his cool demeanour that we saw before and we ask ourselves what could have happened to make him so stressed? This is then answered when he is recording a confession of a murder he has committed. This confession is used to give the audience additional information about the storyline and to hook them in and ask more questions. Because of this, they will continue to watch to have their questions answered. This kind of extended dialogue is typical of film noir and the same shot is held for a while so that we are solely concentrating on his words. We then go into a flashback where the audience knows they will see the events leading up to this point and their questions will be answered.

Kiss Me Deadly (Aldrich, 1955 USA)

We start with a close-up of running feet. We immediately start asking questions like; who is this person? And why are they running? We then switch to a long shot and we get a bit more information, seeing that it is a women and that she is wearing nothing but a trench coat. She doesn’t even have shoes on. One again we ask why this is. We then see another long shot of her and this time we get more information about her surroundings. We see that she is running down what looks to be a deserted road and is all alone. We can’t even see any city lights behind her which signifies that she has been running for a long time. One again, we wonder why this is, but also who and from where is she running from?

We then cut to a close up of her face and this allows us to see what she looks like, giving us more information about her. The music then gets faster as a car comes by and this close up allows us to see the change in her facial expressions, telling us she is clearly in need of help and we assume that where ever she was before, she was in danger. This makes us ask more questions as to the nature of this. We then see an eyeline shot of her looking at a car. The car screeches to a stop and we hear this thought diegetic sound. The loud sound is used as the car almost hit her and it makes the audience momentarily fear for her. There is also low key lighting used as it is set at night time (a typical convention of a thriller) and it makes the headlights, and the idea of help, stand out more.

The Sixth Sense (Shyamalon, 1999 USA)

The first thing the audience notices when Sixth Sense starts is the non-diegetic music. Instruments used are strings and it creates an eerie and cold feeling right from the start. We the see the opening credits and they are in a blue/white coloured font which reinforce the coldness from the music. The music then reaches a climax and gets louder when the title comes up, the pitch gets higher and makes the audience feel uncomfortable and nervous. There is then a black screen and the actor’s names start to appear. There is then more strings added to the music which makes it become more intense and the tempo increases. This all adds to the tension that is being created. The music then reaches a crescendo of just one string, which creates an eerie gentleness and the feeling that something is not quite right. This all sets the mood and tells you how to feel in anticipation of the first real images.

We then cross fade to a close up of a light bulb coming to life and it is unclear what it is at first. We then meet our first character and the camera is filming her from behind the shelves. This allows a close up of her face so we know what she looks like, and gives the impression that someone is hiding and watching her. We then switch to a low angle shot of her coming down the stairs, this turns from a long shot to a close-up without the camera even moving, she is moving towards it. This makes it seem more natural as if the camera isn’t even there. Later, we see a close-up of her feet running which lets the audience know that she doesn’t feel comfortable or safe down in this cellar alone. This then makes the audience feel uncomfortable and suspect that something is going to happen. When she stops running and turns the camera changes position to a long shot. This allows us to take in the scene with more detail and we see that it is a dark, isolated wine cellar. This makes her look exposed and vulnerable and the audience expect something bad to happen. When we see the women we see that she is wearing a dress, jewellery and heels. This makes her seem even more vulnerable as she doesn't look like she is wearing the right clothes for fighting someone, running away, etc.

There is then a moment of realisation for the character when the camera tracks to her face and we see that she pauses as she hears a noise. This creates alarm for the audience as we sense that someone is there with her, but we can’t see them. We ask the question; what was that noise and who is down there? Because of the position of the camera behind the shelf it obscures our vision of the rest of the cellar and we can’t clearly see if someone is there or not, which creates tension for the audience. This is reinforced by the use of low key lighting and the idea that she is in the 1/3 of the 'rule of thirds' and the other 2/3 are filled with shadows. When we see her visibly shiver and see how scared she is, this makes the audience feel scared and apprehensive too.

Brick (Johnson, 2005 USA)

When watching Brick, the first thing the audience is made aware of is the music, which is low and disturbing. Instruments that are heard sound like a xylophone and maybe a bell. Then the image fades on and we track to a close up of a person’s shoes, they are worn and scruffy looking and will be easy to distinguish our character later on. We can also tell that they are male. There is then a slow dissolve/cross fade to an extreme close up of his face. This slow dissolve/cross fade shows the passing of time, and makes it seem like he has been crouching there for ages, even though we don’t know why yet. A close up of his face lets us take in his features in detail and lets up get a bit more information about the person who is clearly the main character. From this, we see that he is young with glasses, and he is focused on something that we, the audience, can’t see.

We then cut to an establishing shot, and we get much more information. Firstly, we establish the setting and see that they are in a flood drain. We also see a body, lying by the river, which we presume is dead. The lighting in this shot is very atmospheric, as we see the bright sunlight at the top of the screen, which highly contrasts the darkness that we see in the flood drain. This makes it seem even more eerie that he is staring at, what we assume, is a dead body, because at this point we want to know; who he is? Who she is? Has he killed her? Or did he find her? And why has he been sitting there staring at her for so long? Why does he not get help? And how is it that she died?

We then cut to three consecutive close ups of the women. We see he legs, shoes and her dress, both of which are dirty and wet from the river, making us assume this was a violent death. We then cut to a close up of her face, but we cannot clearly see her as her hair is covering it. Her identity is hidden from us so that we ask more questions about who she is. Her hair is floating in the water, and looks lifeless, which reinforces the idea that she is dead and the fats moving river contrasts her still body.

The camera then zooms into her hand and the camera spends more time on this close up shot than it has on the others, so we know this is significant. The camera zooms in so that we see clearly notice the bracelets on her hand. We then presume a flashback occurs as the bracelets remain but the setting changes, and the owner of the bracelets is now alive. There is also a change in sound as the quiet of the river changes to a busy school with a school bell in the background. We then see another close up of the shoes walking, letting us know that the two characters are obviously connected, not just total strangers, which makes us more suspicious of how she died, and how he was involved, as we have very little information about them so far.

Memento (Nolan, 2000, USA)

When Memento starts, the first thing the audience is made aware of is the music. The music is slow and atmospheric and gives the audience the feeling of death and sadness. Sound plays an important part in creating tension in the opening, as the next sound we hear is the first diegetic sound, and is of the main character shaking the photograph. This is significant as it draws our attention to the photograph where we see a lot of blood, which makes the audience aware there has been a violent death, and possible murder of someone. We then ask the questions of: who this man is and why has he been killed? Who is the person with the photograph? Was he the person who killed him? And why does he have a picture of it? Other sounds that we hear are the camera taking a picture, the gun being fired and the loud shout of Teddy at the end, all of which is diegetic and hyperbolic and breaks the silence, making it seem more dramatic and made the audience feel uncomfortable.

As well as the photograph we also see other props, such as the gun, the empty bullet shell and the glasses that have blood on them. These are objects, especially the weapon, that we associate with murder and death and this clearly lets the audience know that something bad has happened, the question we have now is; what has happened and why?

In regards to costume, the man who we assume to be the murderer is wearing a suit, which makes him look respectable and makes the audience doubt that he would kill someone.

Camera shots are also effectively used to show this is a thriller, when we start with a black screen and are followed by a close up of the hand holding the photograph. Because it is a close up we can clearly see the blood and are focused on that, however, we can only see the hand of the person, not their face, and this keeps vital information from us and immediately makes us wonder who he is. This happens again when we see the images of the gun, bullet and glasses which reinforces the idea of the murder. Lastly, we see a low angled shot when the gun fly’s back to the main characters hand, giving him authority and making the audience fear him.

Memento is a typical thriller in the respect that it makes the audience ask many questions and information of the antagonist is slowly reveales throughout, making the audience ask questions and try to figure it out for themselves.

The idea that more information was given to the audience in the form of flashbacks was an idea that myself and my group really liked. We have decided to use this idea in our own thriller, changing it so that information is slowly revealed to the audience through a series of dreams. We hope this will be successful as, in Memento, the audience is constantly changing their minds about who the murderer (in our case, stalker) is everytime they get more information, which keeps them asking questions throughout and also keeps them enticed and watching at all times.

New Topic - What I Learned Today.

In todays media lesson we have temporarily moved on from video games and looked at a number of things. Firstly, we were given our brief. It was: to create the title sequence and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes. We then reviewed the mark scheme as a whole class and looked at what we needed to do. We know that our coursework should all be up to a level 4 if we are to achieve good grades and that involves making sure our research and planning, practical work and evaluation all show excellent work and that we have incuded all of the nessisary conventions.

After this we started to look in depth at the conventions of a thriller film. SOme of the ones we came up with are: tension, a sense of eerie-ness, a protagonist and antagonist, a murder, a setting that usualy takes place at night, low key lighting, lots of action and a quick pace, quick jump cuts between shots, and atmospheric music to create tension. We also had to make sure that we clearly understood the difference of a thriller and a horror; that a thriller is not so "obvious" in the stroy line and lots of things are kept from the audience, making them ask lots of questions and have to think about it and try and work out the problem. Towards the end of the lesson we started watching 'Memento' so that we could try and spot the conventions in a typical thriller.

Starting Again ...

In today's lesson, we found that we had made a mistake whilst filming the 180 degree line. We thought that the 180 degree line was horizontally between the people in the shot rather than vertically between in the people. Because of this, and the fact that we had complicated matters with having three people in the shot, we decided the best thing to do would be to re-shoot the sequence again. We found this difficult, as we had already edited our old footage and we struggling to find the time to re-shoot, however, when we did we found if much quicker and easier, as we had already done it before, and we only had two people in the shot, that made it so much easier. After this, we were glad that we had re-shot everything because it looked so much better and we were happier with the work we had done.

Evaluation

WWW - Overall, i think our task turned out very well. We worked really well as a group and we managed to stick to all the rules of continuity editing. I think out most successful part as the match on action, as we timed these really well so they look professional and the cut between these shots flows well and looks natural.

Also, even though it was coincidental, the background noise we got fit in really well with the storyline we had going on, and made it seem all the more natural. Also, i thing we used a variety of camera shots and angles which made it look more effective and enhanced effect of the continuity editing.

This is a high angle shot that i thought worked very well as it established the spacial distance between the characters and also the setting.


EBI - I think we could have improved if we would have had more time for filming. However, if we could re-do it i think it would be better as we would have a better understanding of how the shots needed to be taken and what we needed to do. Also, we should have made sure that the room we were using for filming was free because, when we went to continue filming in there, there was a lesson going on meaning we had to start from the beginning. Another thing that could be improved was that we had to re-start some scenes because people kept walking through them (although this wasn't out fault).

Overall, i was very pleased with the general outcome of our preliminary task and thought it went very well.

Reflections on Editing

Before we started editing, we had to upload our footage onto iMovie. Once we had done this we first looked through all of our clips and, because we had taken two/three versions of each shot, we started by deleting the ones we didn't want. Once we had done this, we had to edit and cut out the bits of the shot we didn't want and put them all into the right order. After, we had to make sure it all made sense, the cuts between the shots appeared seamless and that we followed all the rules of continuity editing. We did this by cutting out gaps/pauses that we had during filming so that it all flowed properly and looked realistic.

Reflections on Filming

When planning, including continuity editing seemed easier that while filming. Although we never encountered too many difficulties, we had to make sure we were defiantly following all of the rules. Although the concept of it seems the easiest, i think the most difficult to follow was the 180 degree rule. This is because this rule has to apply throughout the whole sequence and, even though we stuck to it, i didn't think it looked clear. However, to make sure we did stick to it, we used a birds eye shot right at the beginning so that we could clearly establish the line, and also the spacial relationships between the characters. Also, because the majority of our sequence was filmed whilst sitting at a table (two tables pushed together) we could use the line between the two tables as the 180 degree line, which really helped when deciding where to place the camera.

The equipment we needed was pretty basic; we used a camera to record all of our shots, a tape on which to record it all and a tri-pod so that we could get a variety of difference shot types and angles and could also track the movement of people without having to hold it, else the shots look unprofessional. In terms of props, we didn't use much, only a tape recorder (as would be used in a police station) and paper and a pen.

Reflection on Planning the Sequence

When we first started planning, we found it quite difficult as we couldn't think of a suitable story line where we could easily include the continuity editing. However, when we finally did determine a plot, it was a matter of breaking down the scenes onto a storyboard and that made it much easier to decide where we could include continuity editing. When storyboarding, i mostly dictated the ideas, with input from Lucy and Laura, while Lucy drew the ideas out and Laura wrote out the details of the shots. We then checked over the storyboard and made sure that all of the shots that contained continuity editing followed the rules and changed anything that didn't.

The equipment we needed was pretty basic; for planning purposes we just needed our storyboards and our notes so we made sure we fully understood all of the requirements for continuity editing.

Explanation of the Task Set

For the preliminary task we had to produce a short filmed and edited sequence which contained the key areas of continuity editing. The sequence had to start with someone walking through a door and across a room. After this, it was up to us to decide what happened.

For the task, we were put into groups of no more than three and had to plan the sequence. To start this we discussed possible ideas of how we would include the key areas of continuity editing (mastershot, 180 degree rule, match on action, shot reverse shot and eyeline match) and made a story board, showing shot by shot how we would film the sequence and also giving details on sound, dialogue, lighting, camera shots, angles and movement and the length of each shot.

Definitions and Explanations of Continuity Editing

Continuity Editing - Is used to make edits between shots as unobtrusive as possible. This way, you wont notice the editing most of the time and the shot will look 'natural' as it appears to flow from one shot to another. Continuity editing has to ensure the continuity of time, space and action to help the viewer maintain an imagined space in their minds.

The Techniques of Continuity Editing -

• Master Shot - This shot sets up the spacial relationship between the characters.

• 180 Degree Rule - The rule starts with two characters facing each other. We then draw an imaginary line between the characters and decide where to place the camera. Once you have placed the camera, it MUST stay on the same side of the line. This is because, if the camera suddenly cuts across the line, the characters will have switched places without the audience seeing it and this will appear strange. The only time the camera can cross the line is if the camera is seen to be tracking across the line, not just a sudden cut.

• Match on Action - This comprises of a first shot, where one character is carrying out an action. This shot may be from one shot type/angle and during the second shot, it will cut to another shot type/angle. The edit can cut on this action to hide the cut, and make the edit seamless. We viewed two examples for this. In example one, the character is sitting around a table, surrounded by other characters and is dealing a deck of cards. The camera then changes position and ends up behind her. This looks seamless because the people hadn't moved and there was no break in the dealing of the cards. It all appeared very natural. In the second example, the match on action happens when a close up of a man playing the piano (only his hands can be seen) cuts to a long shot (where we can see the whole of the piano and his face). During this he is singing and the cut appears seamless because his singing doesn't stop and is in the same place as it was before the cut.

• Eyeline Match - This happens when there is a cut between a character looking off screen to the item they are looking at. This is used to hide the cut. For example, eyeline match can be used when someone knocks on a door, and the character looks towards the door. The effect is that spacial awareness is created so the audience can see the distance between one character in relation to another.

• Shot Reverse Shot - This is usually used to show conversations between characters. The camera will switch between MCU/CU of characters as they speak to each other, showing response to action. During shot reverse shot it is vital that the 180 degree rule is adhered to. Also, when looking over the shoulders of characters they must stay on the same side.