Video Clips of 3 Thriller Films.

THE HOLE  – 2001

I chose to look at ‘The Hole’ as it was a film also set in the woods like our idea,  and it had very good twists. From watching the opening sequence and then the rest of the film i found some ideas that i would like to use in my own project. For instance i like how in the opening titles you see one character walking along a road, very dirty and asif she is drugged. There is also lot’s of fliers of missing people and as she look’s at them she gets flash backs from what has happened to her. The camera angles and shot’s are mainly close ups of her face as well. Another thing i liked was that every time a character or production team’s name came up it was in the font of the title on the case of the film and also it appeared with an effect that looked like someone shining a flashlight upon it. I would like to try and use some of these ideas for my own piece.

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT – 1999

I think this has been one of the best film’s to look at as it’s going for the type of action we are looking at. I want to use the idea’s of running through the woods with the characters holding the camera themselves as  it will give a jerky effect and create more panic and tension. i also like how it is in black and white as it creates more shadows and makes it look scarier.

SHROOMS – 2007

I looked at Shroom’s but found the opening sequences not very good so I looked further on through the film to see if there was any ideas that I could use for my opening sequence. I liked how they used shots through the trees of people running with the camera far away from the actor’s panning round them. I also liked how they used low shots of people crawling along the floor. Another part that I liked was the make-up and gore they created as we are looking to make our piece gory as we can to create more fear and tension.

Evaluating the characters and costumes used in the main task.

These are the costumes that we ended up using for each character in the edit of the film.

Karly played by Whitney McKernan

Karly's full costume

We decided to use dark black skinny jeans and the top half of the costume  lighter colours as it then keeps the audiences focus on the body language of the upper half of the character.

Karly's hair and make-up

We decided to leave the hair down as it would look more effective when the character was running as it would show the speed and pace of the piece when it was free and windswept.
We also decided to use a bright purple eyeshadow to show that her character was a bright and loud person. It also helps to show that this is the main character as the other girl character has very naturalistic and plain make-up.

Karly - top half of costume.

We used a blazer and a pashmina scarf to keep in with todays fashion and to show the time zone of the piece and also to show that this charcter is up to date with things such as fashion and the sort of style and personality she has.
We also used a statement teeshirt to show her personality. Idealy i would of been running without a jacket and just a teeshirt like before but it was too cold and raining to continue filming without it.

Karly's costume - attention to detail.

We used these badges to show Karly’s personalty and outlook on life even though it is a tiny detail.
Karly’s character is very outspoken and individual. She makes her own views on life and has her own style.

Karly - Footware

Again footware is also a minor attention to detail but as we shot many shots from ground level just showing the feet we felt it was important to make each charcters footware different so it would help the audience to know which character was which without seeing the upper half of their bodies.
Karly’s footware is plain plimsoles but with bright neon colours to show that she considers every part of her to show who she is to the outside world.

Dannii played by Lauren Kirby

Dannii - Full Costume

We kept the clothing and make-up of this charcter quite plain to help show the status of the charchters and to show the audience to which charcter their focus should be on.

Dannii - Hair and Mke-up

We left the charcters hair down at the beginning of the film and towards the end put her with a hood up. This was to help show that the weather had changed and become colder.
We kept the makeup of this charchter quite plain to show that she was more of a follower in the friendship between her and karly rather than the leader.

Danni - Top half of costume

Due to the weather on the day of filming the actor playing this charcter had to keep her hoody on to keep warm whilst filming. We decided though that this actually helped add effect to the piece as she was wearing dark jeans and a bright purple hoody which helped keep focus on the upper half of her body.

Dannii - Footware

Dannii’s footware is quite distinctive to show that she follows todays fashion rather than alternative fashion.
Sam played by Nik Jones

Sam - Full Costume

For sam we decided that he would also be more into alternative fashion like his girlfriend karly.

Sam - Hair

We decided to keep Sam’s hair natural and wavy like the actors natural hair. This would show contrast to the killer as he has short and straight styled hair.

Sam - Top Half of Costume

Sam’s top half of the costume is quite dark as with this charchter we focused more on filming the bottom half of him so his trousers were of a brighter colour to show the focus. We kept the top half patterened though to still show the type of fahion he followed.

Sam - Footware

Although this footware does’nt entirely fit with type of style we were going for for this chrachter, we felt it important that the actor wore comfortable footware as he would be featured in most of the running shots. also with the bright colours it helps to focus the audience in.
Simon played by Kevin Smibert

Simon - Full Costume

We decided to keep this charcter in completely dark clothing to make him seem more scary and to build tension.

Simon - Hair

We decided to have simon’s hair styled and gelled but we also kept his hood up till the end to hide his identity. Also by having it styled and by having him wear a chain it showed that he was from a different stereo type from the other charcters.

Simon - Top Half of Costume

We had him wearing a sports jacket which was black to show what sterotype he was from and that he was different from the other chracters.

Simon - Attention to Detail

We had him wearing gloves to show that he had thought through this plan and he wouldnt leave any DNA. it also makes the chracter seem more terrifying as most of skin apart from the bottom half of his face is covered.

Simon - Footware

We kept the footware within the stereotype and sporty look. We also had it fit in with occuring theme of black/dark clothing.

Evaluation of the main task (2 minute film opening)

For the main task we had to come up with the idea for 2 minute opening titles to a film genre of our choice. The genre my group chose was horror/thriller. At first we were not sure whether to go through with this idea as after to speaking to the rest of our class we realised they had also gone for the same genre and looking at the same location choice as us. We thought through other ideas and then decided to go with my original idea. When planning and story boarding the idea, the 2 other people in my group thought up ways to change the story to make it an idea that we all helped think off, and were all enthusiastic to film.
We decided to pick are target audience as teenagers and young adults. We were aiming for certificate 15 as we wanted to make it as violent and gore as we possibly could with the resources we had and the abilities that the actors had. We started to look at the main ideas and themes we found in our chosen genre and 3 other films that were close to what we were looking at for our own film.
I feel I put a lot of effort in when it came down to the filming date as I organised all props, decided the costumes and brought in people I knew to play the extra actors we needed at short notice. I think the first time we filmed it, it went well as all the actors worked hard on improvising scenes and we got some well structured and interesting shots. When it came to uploading and editing our piece we experienced many problems. First of all our footage would not upload to the system, thirdly when watching it back we realised we had not got enough footage to edit and cut down into a 2 minute piece, and secondly when watching the piece back we realised we had major continuity eras and people who had come down to watch from another group were seen in the background waving at the camera which ruined those shots.
We tried our hardest to do the best we could with the footage we had and to find a way to upload it. When realising there was no possible way we decided to re-film the entire project. Even then we came across problems again. We couldn’t film for a long time because members of the group experienced a variety of personal problems and since we are all taking the same subjects we were trying to get the exam work in for other subjects on their deadlines. Also the actors we had used before were no longer available so we had to use all 3 members of the group and managed to get hold of someone hours before we were due to film. We then had a problem with the cameras battery and ended up having to film the piece over a span of 4 days only leaving us 3 days to upload and edit, also on a few of these days we were filming between and after lessons so we were loosing light fast.
When we first filmed we forgot to add in the original party scene’s to explain why karly is drugged and why she’s suddenly in the wood’s which was probably why we had a lack of footage. I felt this was because when filming the first time we all had a lack of focus and enthusiasm. When we came to deciding to re-film it we decided to set it in a beer garden of a pub and luckily we managed to get permission to film at ‘The Brickmakers’ and they were also kind enough to supply us with some props we were lacking. I felt this was a great location as it was close to the general public to show that the victim is in no kind of danger to begin with from when she is alone in the wood’s. We did experience problems with the sound on this location though as it was next to a main road and we had to try and talk above the noise of traffic.
We also filmed in a wooded and hilly area which I feel gave us fantastic shots and gave a real sense of tension to the piece and made the audience feel like the characters were lost. We also filmed the characters holding the camera themselves and running which gave a sense of terror and can help make the audience feel involved as it looks like it is really happening. This helped to provide a feel that the main girl character really has been drugged by the stalker character as many of the scenes are jolty and also had the actors spinning around with the camera so the audience can see things from the drugged victims point of view.
We decided to film the fight scenes from many angles over and over so we could cut between each scene very quickly adding to the tension we were aiming for and building a sense of fear and terror. It also keeps the audiences interested as it is not filmed from one angle. it also gave us time to cut the scenes and add blood to the people in the fight when it was needed.
I think we created a good effect when editing as all scenes at the pub before the main character, Karly, is drugged is filmed in colour and all scenes after that are in the woods are in black and white which created more shadows. We also cut straight from my character Karly downing the spiked drink to her running in the woods which makes the audience wonder how they got there. Seeing as this was an opening to a film we decided to put the end of the film at the beginning and then add the line “let me show you how an obsession grows” so if it was to be a whole film it would then go on to show you how they got there. Unfortunately due to lack of time and not having the right equipment we couldn’t add this. We also stopped just as the stalker is about to stab the friend, Dannii, which leaves the audience guessing what happens to her.
Due to the genre we chose, we had a lot of health and safety issues as there was someone running with a knife and also holding to another’s throat. We overcame these as we ran through those scenes over and over and blocked them so we got them perfect so no one would get hurt. We also did the same with the fight scenes and ran over the running scenes to make sure everyone knew exactly where they had to go. We also checked the area to make sure there was nothing that could harm us whilst doing falling scenes. With these scene’s i also researched and went through a step by step guide with the group of how to film certain shot’s that would be potentionally halmful to the actors without actually putting them in any danger. For instance, with the angle of the shot and the distance from the actor’s, when the stalker is slitting Karly’s throat you don’t actually realise that the stalker is quite far away from the actor (myself) playing Karly.
Music was also an issue for our piece because only after editting we were told that we were unable to use copyrighted music witthout getting the artist’s pemission. We managed to get hold of the person who discovered ‘The Prodigy’ ,the band who’s music we were using, but he then told us as they had changed record labels it was no longer up to the group or himself to give permission to use the track. We then were told to try get hold of the record label who owned them but we were unable to get hold of anybody who would be able to take the matter further and actually give us permission to use the track. We understand and realise that in a professional situation we would not be able to use the track without the owner’s permission, but due to lack of time and deadline’s we felt we had to go with the edit we had.
Overall, looking over footage and our final edit I think we all worked really hard and I am very pleased and proud with the end result.

Evaluation of the Preliminary Task.

Considering we had only a few hours to film our preliminary task and the decisions to change the charachters and costumes, i think the end result was as good as we could make it. Are original idea for this task was to have myself playing a clumsy investigator who takes his job seriously interrogating an old woman, played by Jenni Dack. We encountered many problems in finding the costumes and getting into character to play these roles. To sort this out we changed our idea to a serious investigator, now played by Jenni Dack, interrogating a french exchange student played by myself. We decided to keep the genre as a comedy/thriller spoof as it still fitted in with the dialogue we had written and rehearsed.
The story line for this task is that the investigator is looking into a murder and trying to solve it. This leads to her interrogating a french exchange student who is believed to be a suspect. The french exchange student doesn’t entirely understand the english language, resulting in the investigator becoming angrier and angrier and storming out,  leaving the suspect alone in the investigation room. We wrote this story line as it then created some short comical lines for the characters and fitted in with our spoof genre.
We used the shots that were needed for this task such as the shot reverse shot during the investigation, match on action when the investigator is coming down the corridor and then enters the investigation room and we used the 180 degree shot whilst both characters were sat at the table. We came across problems whilst filming these shots as we had to do it all by hand as we couldn’t find a tripod that worked so many of the shots came out shaky. When it came to editting the footage we noticed that we hadn’t succeeded in getting the full 180 degree shot due to not using a tripod.
We had to change our location as well because when we went to film the room we were going to use was not available so we had to use the board room at Sewell Park. This created many problems because the room was too big to make Jenni’s character seem menacing and give it the claustrophobic effect that you usually get from interrogation scenes.  We also noticed that many things in the background made it seem like it wasn’t a real investigation room and ruined the effect and feeling we were trying to create such as students art work. Another problem we encountered with the location was that it was in the center of the school during lesson time so in the background you can often here young children in the corridors.
We used minimal props because it made it easier to keep the continuity. all that was used was a folder for the investigator and a cup of drink and a bag for the suspect. During each shot we had to make sure we kept everything in the same place which was difficult when we had to move stuff around for the next shot. We experienced a lot of difficulties when it came to editing it all together as many of the shots were cut off to soon and did not match the next shot. We could of improved this by watching the footage back whilst filming and making sure they matched up.
Overall after all the difficulties we encountered i think we tryed our best and i am reasonably pleased with the end result.

Changes in the plan for Preliminary task.

We have had to of changed our original plan for our preliminary task as we have ran out of time to finish filming and editing it all.
Jenni Dack is now going to play the investigator.
The investigators character is now going to be serious and stern and smartly dressed and is going to be a woman.
Whitney McKernan (myself) is now going to play the suspect.
We have decided to change the character from an old woman to an exchange student which will probably be french.
We made this choice because we found difficulty on finding the costumes for the charachters in time to film it.
We are also going to have to find somewhere in Sewell Park to film it.

Planning for the Preliminary Task.

Plan:

Genre- Horror/comedy spoof
Investigation – investigator interrogating the suspected murderer

Costume and charachters:

Whitney McKernan (investigator) – Serious yet clumsy
Black mac
Grubby jeans
Gaffer tapped trainers
Selotaped glasses
Stained white shirt
Christmas tie
Dirt hanky
Comb over hair style

Jenni Dack (suspect) – old lady, hard of hearing, confused
Big flowery skirt
Blouse and Cardigan
Big Glasses
Hearing aids
Sandles
Long white sports socks
Walking stick
Large bag
Plastic head scarf

Location:

We are planning to film in a small drama room at Sprowston High School as it will give off an office feel and we can control the lighting here.

PLANNING: Ideas for the main task.

OBSESSION

Charachters:
Main girl- Karly
Boyfriend- Sam
Friend- Dannii
Stalker- Simon

Plot:
– At a party in the woods
– loud music and party lighting, people enjoying themselves, dark
– Drink spiking: boyfriend making drink and gets distracted, Stalker spikes the drink and gives it to KArly saying it is from her boyfriend.
– Stalker makes a move.
– Karly’s dialogue, having a go at him finding out about all the ways he has been stalking her.
– She walks off into the woods as you see the drugs take effect.
– He follows her.
– She starts to run.
– He runs after when music kicks in.
– Boyfriend asking the friend where she has gone.
– Realises whats happened and chases.
– Karly hides behind a tree.
– Sam calls her.
– Simon hears phone and goes towards the tree.
– Shot of Karly behind the tree holding a stick.
– When simon is near the tree and Karly comes round and smacks him in the chest.
– Goes down and grabs her leg which brings her down.
– Kicks him in the face (camera) and runs.
– Boyfriend running and shouting name and looking round.
– Hears her scream and runs in that direction.
– Back to Karly and Simon, she runs off, he gets up with bleeding nose and pulls out a knife.
– Boyfriend catches up.
– See fight scene in flashes.
– See simon covered in blood holding knife.
– Wipes hand across face leaving blood, breathing heavily.
– Line “let me show you how an obsession grows.”

Cast:
Karly- Whitney McKernan
Dannii- Lauren Kirby
Simon- Ben Cawdron
Sam- Tom Cowles

PLANNING: Costumes and Props for the Main task.

Costume:

Karly – hair up,
bright make up that stands out,
slim fitting grey printed teeshirt,
black skinny jeans or shorts and long black socks,
trainers,
hoody.

Sam– skinny jeans/ dark jeans,
white or printed teeshirt,
trainers,
black hoody.

Dannii– Skinny jeans,
long top,
cardigan,
hair down.

Simon – Baggy teeshirt,
dirty baggy jeans,
cap,
old hoody or jumper,
roughed shoes.

Props:

Fake knife
Fake blood
Strobe lights
Car
Music system
Alcohol bottles
Neon paint?
Glow sticks?
Smoke machine?
Lazers
Fake spiking drug
Fake drugs