Title Practise

Title Practise

In todays lesson Hannah and I practised making our title sequence. We experimented with different effects and colours. Neither of us have used Adobe After Effects before, so it took us a while to learn how to use the tools on the programme, however we now have a general idea of the style of text we are going to use. We now feel more prepared for when we have to create titles for our final product.

Filming Schedule

Hannah and I created this table in order to see when we were both available to film our piece. We came to the conclusion that we are either going to film Tuesday evening, or Thursday day time. Thursday seems more suitable as due to the time of year, it gets dark early in the evening and we do not feel comfortable filming in the dark due to our setting choice. 

Risk Assesment

We wrote up a risk assessment in order to understand all of the hazards we may face and how to prevent them. This gives me a greater understanding of what we must do in order to keep safe.

Story Board

 Story Board

 On the left is a detailed story board showing each step of our filming and the different shots we are using. Hannah and myself worked on this together. This will benefit us as it gives us a greater understanding of how our final product will be.

Shot Ideas

Myself and Hannah did some research in order to see what shots look good and effective. We found this long shot of the trees which slowly pans to the left, alongside some non-diegetic music. We are going to include a shot like this in our title sequence. 

Analysing Grade C Work

The Search Analysis
The title sequence starts with a simple, but good, realistic-looking production company, which then fades out and the titles begin. I am particularly fond of the font they have chosen. I believe it was a very individual choice and the style creates enigma. I also like the white and grey colour scheme among the black background, however at one point, the colour choice make this hard to read (on the right is an example of when this happened). This is the most important title as its the name of the actual film, therefore it should be presented in a very clear mannor.  

I think the both the diegetic and none music works well in this piece. The music which appears automatically after the production companyy creates instant tension and suspense as the music has creepy and confusingng connotations This is then followed by the recording of the young girl, and the diegetic sound of the lady talking. I believe this all creates mystery and confusion from the audiences perspective as it automatically skips to the narrative.  The split between titles and recording the young girl is sufficient as it divides the two up so neither last too long, resulting in boring shots. They have recorded the young girl as if she if also being recording by somebody else, demonstrating a family like setting, however the music contrasts this idea, provoking us to think something bad will happen any in any moment. I like the idea of recording the child at the start of the piece whilst the titles appear. The shots go from recordings of the child, to showing pictures of child, this slowly build on the narrative, suggesting the little girl may not with the family any more. The further shots support this. Each shot fades in from the previous shot, i feel this looks very effective and i am going to consider using this editing technique in the final piece. The use of a voice-over, provokes the audiance to understand the narrative more, it also very effective alongside the music. Previously the lighting was bright and happy however towards the end the lighting is dark, creating a sinister look. 

A criticism of this title sequence is that i feel it gives away too more of narrative, it starts off building suspense and confusion, and then a chain of things happen in a short space of time. I believe this would be better if they kept the story line more of a secret from the audience, so then they want to pursue in watching the rest of film. 

Overall, i believe this title sequence fits the conventions of a thriller as it creates suspense, and mystery. I believe the sound fits exetremely well, and without the sound, the sequence would not fit the conventions.

Actors Plan

There is only 3 actors required to fit our narrative. Myself, Jack (on the right) and Harry (below). Harry is the one carry the bag, which myself and jack see dumping in the trees. We chose to use these characters as Harry is Hannah's brother, therefore he is easy to access and refilm if required, and obviously it is easy for myself to be a part in the narrative as I am always available, and Jack is my pet dog, therefore he is also almost always available.

Recce Shots

Recce Shots 
We took photos of possible locations to shoot our thriller opening sequence. Both of these locations share similar attributes as they are both wooded areas.  By giving ourselves more than one place to shoot we can choose to film parts at one location that may suit the narrative more accurately.

Above is a photo of the woods on Chetwynd Barracks.


The shots below are of the woods and part near Toton Sidings:

It helped us visiting the locations when deciding which one we would choose. We decided to film in the woods near Toton Sidings because there is a clear natural pathway for the characters to walk down, giving us better shots. Also the natural lighting at Toton Sidings was better as the area is less over grown and the trees do not hang over the area we decided to film in.

Questionnaire Results

Hannah and I asked 20 people our questionnaires, we asked 10 females and 10 males varying from the ages of around 15 to 45 (ish) 

We found that males mainly liked watching crime thrillers and women are more likely to watch a psychological thrillers. 

We received mainly positive comments about our opening thriller ideas; ''Your idea sounds like it will contain suspense'' was a frequent response, ''The idea sounds intriguing''. 

The main age range of people who tend to watch thrillers more we found was approximately 19-21 years of age.  

Thriller Planning

Narrative:

1.  Starts off in a dark, forest-like setting. There will be an establishing shot of the woods. There will be quick corresponding shots of the woods, and the man dragging along a large bag containing an unknown object inside. The man heading towards the ditch. There is then a forward tracking shot following the man.  
2. Cuts to a different shot of a young girl walking her dog
3. She is followed by the camera walking towards the man, shots switch between the girl and the man. She walks round the corner to see the man, he sees her, and she runs away, he follows her. 
4. The titles will then appear on a black screen. 

Props: 

 To complete the narrative we would like to do we are going to need to use props. The props we will be using is a large bag (black bin liner or old sports bag, still to be confirmed), filled with cushions or old clothes to make the bag appear to be filled with something. A ball for the dog to be playing with.  

Costume: 

The costumes will play a rather big part in our title sequence, the man will be wearing a tracksuit to show how he wants to remain a mystery. The girl will be wearing casual everyday clothes e.g jeans, hoodie, trainers, to add to the verisimilitude of the setting.

Actors: 

To complete our narrative we need three characters. A male character dragging the bag, this role is going to be carried out by Harry and we have arranged to have a back up in case he isn't avaliable - Jay. The reason we have chosen Jay or Harry is because they are often around and would be easy to get a hold of if any re-filming is needed to be completed.  The girl is going to be played by myself. We have kept our choice of actors simple and easy accessible incase something goes wrong.