Check list

Check list of what we have left to do
In order to keep organised and time manage our progress I decided it was a good idea to make a list of the main things we had left to do with our editing and titles so we would have clear aims for each lessons.

• Upload the current draft to youtube.
• Cut out at least an additional 10 seconds of footage. 
• Re Film the clip of the doorbell being pushed as you can see a reflection. 
• Get Evan to re record the audio parts of the sequence and overlay them on the footage.
• Record and add in the audio news reports and make them sound distorted.
• Make the flash backs more edgy and flow more easily. 
• Create/finish the production and main company titles either within adobe editing program or with adobe after effects. 
• Create the titles to go throughout the opening sequence.
• Get audience feedback.
• Make final changes.
• Upload the final draft to youtube.

4th December - Pre-filming preparation

4th December - Pre-filming preparation 
Yesterday my group and I visited the location we will be filming at to take recce shots, view the location and space and create a risk assessment. In addition to this it also allowed us to see the sort of natural lighting we would be working with and what additional lighting would be needed. This was a useful visit and gave me confidence that things will run smoothly on Sunday.
My friend Emma later went back to college to collect the equipment we will be using which included

• Studio lights with stands 
• A camera and camera case 
• A sound microphone 
• Tripods
• Light reflectors

In a previous lesson we were shown how to use all of these by a man who kindly helps out in college and specializes in media so we will be able to use the equipment safely and effectively. 

Risk assessment

Risk assessment 

In order to make sure that we are as safe as possible when filming this Sunday, we visited the
 location and found any potential hazards and addressed how we can prevent them being an issue.

Recce shots and possible shot plans

Recce shots and possible shot plans
After considering Emmas, Tammys and my own house for filming locations  but concluding that none were quite right or available to use our friend Frankie kindly said that we could use her house to film in. In preparation, we visited the house to start to visualize what the footage would look like, where the camera could be positioned in order to get the appropriate shots and conduct a risk assessment.
Here is the front of the house which will be the establishing shot to our film, letting the audience know where the action will take place and setting up the scene and location. The fact that this is a detached house shows the viewers that the character living inside is all by himself as even his house is separate from others. It helps to create the representation that he is a bit strange and independent so even before we meet the character, the audience start to question what they are like.

This is the bathroom which is where the beginning of the scene takes place. This shot angle may be used to show the antagonist looking in the mirrored cabinet as we get to see not only the setting but also him placed within it. The clear shower door will be steamed up and then our actor, evan will wipe away the condensation, leaving a gap where the title of the film will be positioned in during editing.

This hallway can be used to film a tracking shot to show the character moving from the bathroom, into his room. The colour scheme of the hallway and the rest of the house is neutral which seems normal to the audience and therefore the weirdness of the character is shown through objects and his actions. The masks at the end of the wall also seem strange and keep the audience wondering who this man is and what his temperament is like.

Once he's entered the room he can do things which show the audience that he is OCD, solidifying their knowledge that he has mental problems. These tendencies will be shown through straightening things on the bed such as pillows and the duvet andthings on the desk such as a calculator, pens, and note books which may indicate to the audience that he is a teacher. The empty wall shown in the picture picture below will be the wall which all of the pictures and newspaper clippings will be stuck. This is the ideal wall as it is clear and so can be filled with the pictures.

The shots filmed on the stairs will show him approaching the door to meet the unknown (to the audience at this point) person. The low angle shot from the bottom of the stairs is used to show that the antagonist at the top of the stairs holds power in the situation, making the audience feel vulnerable and intimidated. The high angle shot from the top of the stairs allows the audience to see that he's approaching the front door.

                                                                             

When Oliver (the antagonist and main character) goes to open the front door either of these shots can be used to show him, and the person on the other side of the door. The fact that the door is translucent works to our advantage because it will be clear that the character is a girl but we won't be able to see her face and this adds to the suspense of the unknown. 

Filming Schedule for Sunday the 6th of December

Filming schedule 

Here is a copy of our filming schedule. It was important to make this so that our filming was organised and we were efficient with our time and got the footage before we lost the light.

Time schedule	What is required	People required	Equipment required
10.30	Setting up- Putting all props in place, such as medication in cupboards and putting up the photos on the walls.	Izzy Tammy Emma All required to set up	All props listed on prop sheet.
11.00	Put makeup on our actors. Get them into costumes.	Emma Evan Tammy- doing makeup	Make-up Costume.
11.15	Put up lighting and set up camera. Sort out white balance. Set up sound mic. Connect to camera and set tripod up in the first room.	Emma Tammy Izzy	Lights Camera Sound Mic Tripod
11.30	Check all props and in place. Do a camera test shot to ensure all equipment is working.	Izzy Tammy Emma	Lights Camera Sound Mic Tripod
12.00	Film shots 1-8. This includes the establishing shot and the shower scenes.	Izzy, Tammy, Emma required for filming, sound and lighting. Evan acting.	Lights Camera Sound Mic Tripod
12.30	Film shots 9-16. This requires filming the cupboard, and getting dressed.	Izzy, Tammy, Emma required for filming, sound and lighting. Evan acting.	Lights Camera Sound Mic Tripod Pills and needles.
13.00	LUNCH BREAK	LUNCH BREAK	LUNCH BREAK
13.30	Continue filming shots 17-24. This involves the filming of the wall, the flashbacks and close up shots of the antagonist.	All members including Evan.	Lights Camera Sound Mic Tripod Pills.
14.00	Film shots 25-32. This involves the filming of the wall, the flashbacks and close up shots of the antagonist.	All members including Evan.	Lights Camera Sound Mic Tripod Record Player. Pen. Photos of girls on the wall.
14.30	33-35	All members but Emma is required to act with Evan.	Lights Camera Sound Mic Tripod
15.00	Check all footage is how we want it. Re-film shots if necessary.	Izzy Tammy Emma	Camera and then all equipment if re-filming is necessary.
15.30	Tidy and pack equipment and props away.	Izzy Tammy Emma	N/A

Detailed Storyboard

Detailed Storyboard 
Here is a detailed storyboard which my group and I made to show ideas of specific shots and transitions. This will be useful to refer to on our day of filming as rather than having to invent each shot 'on the spot' we will have a resource to refer to and help us. The music that is used in the background of this, is eary sounding music of a classical genre and is similar to the sort which may be used in the project and so helps to set the mood.
Something we were unable to do which would have made it better was keep the pictures shown on screen for the amount of time the shot will be shown for when filmed for real but this was too hard to judge as its the sort of thing that will only become apparent when filming. However, we estimate that our final project will last between 2 and 3 minutes.

3rd December Pre-filming preparation

3rd December Pre-filming preparation
In todays lesson we did some preparation, mainly regarding props for Sunday the 6th, which is the day we will film. We printed off and cut out pictures of girls faces, newspaper reports and missing girl posters which will all be stuck on a wall on the day of filming.We considered making the edges of the pictures wonky and putting a cold tea bag on top of them to make them seem old and worn out but we felt this wouldn't be appropriate as his OCD tendencies wouldn't allow things to look so ragged and disorganized therefore we left them how they were.
 We also went to a supermarket later in the evening and brought empty,clear bottles to look like medication holders. We also got mentos and tictacs to go inside of them to replicate pills/drugs and these bottles will go inside of the cabinet in the bathroom. We also sorted out and planned  that tomorrow we will go and take reccy shots of our location, do a risk assessment and take stills as shot plans. All of this allows us to be more organised and prepared for the day of filming.

Location Planning

Location Planning
We have considered several locations for our filming.
First of all we considered my house but my bedroom is downstairs with only a skylight in it and so it wouldn't provide the natural light that we need. I also have no empty wall in which we could have stuck up all of the pictures. My double bed takes up the majority of space also and so it would have been difficult to fit 4 people plus filming equipment in it so we ruled it out as an option.












Next we considered Tammys house. She has a mirrored cabinet but her shower didn't have a glass door but instead a shower curtain so this would have made filiming the bathroom scene tricky. The room which we would have filmed in had a mirrorred wardrobe and so in the shot we would have seen the camera and people filming, the wall paper on the wall was purple and floral and so not appropriate for a male antagonists room.

We next moved on to emmas house which was the ideal location. Her bathroom contained a glass shower, a mirrored cabinet and was right next to her room which was big and contained lots of natural light. She had a clear wall which we could have stuck up the pictures on. However, we didn't have permission to film there as her house has just been redecorated and couldn't risk getting scrates on the walls or anything.

                                                                               

Character Profile - Victim

Character Profile - Victim
Our victims name is Rosie and shes a normal 17 year old girl. She is a random, ordinary person much like the rest of Olivers students/victims. The whole point of her not being significant is to show that he victimies girls and sees them just as objects rather than human girls with inidividual personalities and this makes it easier for him to kill and hurt them as he doesn't have a personal attachment with them.

Character Profile - Antagonist

Character Profile - Antagonist 

Our antagonist is a maths tutor called Oliver, aged 22.
At the age of 6 and a half, Oliver buried his 5 year old next door neighbour alive when was playing a 'game' with her which resulted in her death. She was missing for 6 days before Oliver mentioned to his parents what had happened. Oliver was then found guilty of murder-  burying her alive. His parents couldn't deal with the mental state and feared that he would harm his little sister. As a result of this paranoia, he was then put up for adoption at the age of 7. His adopted father, sexually and mentally abused his adopted mother, so Oliver therefore began to think that treating women in this way was normal. As a result of this rough upbringing, especially the influence his adopted father gave by abusing his mother, Oliver thought this kind of behaviour was normal and worsened his mental problems. When he was older, he began to victimise girls, luring them in by presenting himself to be an attractive tutor then raping and murdering them. He takes pills in order to try and control the pain in his head from all his problems. 

Costume

Costume
From my research into thriller films i have discovered that most of the antagonists and main characters are dressed in black or dark colours as these are sinister and don't reveal much about the characters personality. Our main character will follow this trend and be dressed in a dark casual shirt and black jeans to show his care with his appearance and it will be perfectly ironed and cleaned to show his OCD tendencies. He will also put on a smart watch, which is where the ticking sound will come from and this will act as a prop but also be a part of his costume as it adds to the representation of his personality.

The girl at his door (the victim) will be dressed in normal clothes such as jeans and a /top to show the audience that she's just a normal person and this is a normal environment which will make them feel tense as even they could be placed in this situation without knowing it. This characters clothes will be her own and will be brighter in colour  to show the contrast between her and the main character who will be dressed in very dark colours. Her clothes will also seem more informal than his and this could possibly represent that he has a set agenda whereas she is placed into this situation unknowingly.

Props

Actors

Actors

My group and I decided our main character will be played by Evan Jones, a tall, experienced actor aged 18. We believe is suited to the role due to his appearance and experience in other role similar to this within Alevel drama and also outside of school with independent theatre companies. Our idea has been discussed with him and he likes and agrees with the choices we have made to create tension which will help with the cooperation between acting and direction. He believes, as well as us, that he will do a good job in playing the role of this creepy man.




The girl at the door will be played by Emma Snow, a member of our group who is confident in front of the camera and is also well suited to the role of the victim. She has blonde hair and blue eyes which is often associated with innocence and will help with the representation that he is targeting ordinary girls. In addition to this her and Evan have a friendship outside of this task and so will be able to act well together and create a believable relationship.

Titles

Titles research 
I conducted a questionnaire to find out some information which will help us with the presentation of our titles. Titles are important because they help distinguish a clip as an opening sequence rather than a random insert from the middle. From our research we found that the majority of people would prefer to see the titles appear over the action on screen in a sans serif font thought the whole clip rather than at either end. We found that, almost unanimously, the most popular name was Unorthodox and this was also the most popular name within our group and so this is what we will title our thriller. Unorthodox means contrary to what is normal. This is meant to represent our main character as he clearly deviates from normal social behaviour and lets the audience know, from the start that there is something unusual about him and they will need to keep watching to find out what.

Storyboard

Initial Storyboard
Below is our initial storyboard completed. This was a useful thing to complete in our stages of planning because although we will need to complete a more detailed version later on, it will be a helpful resource to refer back to. 

The narrative

The narrative 
After disregarding our idea based in the woods, today we began to plan a different idea. This time we decided that an effective setting would be a normal house/room but by making the characters and actions creepy and abnormal this would add tension and make people uneasy, leaving them on the edge of their seat wanting to watch more.

The main antagonist will get out of the shower (in a dressing gown or towel) and walk over to a mirrored cupboard in the bathroom. He'll look in the mirror and an over the shoulder shot will allow us to see his face. He puts on a watch and we hear the ticking, loudly. Inside the cupboard there will be rows of pills in bottles and needles and he'll take one off the shelf and swallow it. The ticking sound will then become more muffled and it will represent the noises in his head being tamed by the medication. He will proceed to get dressed into a suit and in getting ready will put on unusual items maybe including a weird ring. He will walk into his bedroom where the whole of one wall will be covered in pictures of girls, newspaper clippings and articles of missing person cases. The rest of his room will be immaculately clean and tidy, like he had OCD, however this wall will be busy and draw the readers attention. He will slowly walk alongside the wall, running his hand along side it over the peoples faces and this will be slowed down in editing for effect. In the background we will hear news reports of missing girls, including their names, and this will cut to a flashback of a cross being drawn over that girls picture then return to him stroking the wall. The sound of these reports will be slightly muffled and sound out of tune at the end to give it a retro feel and like it isn't working properly. Finally he will finish at the picture of a girl and smile (in a creepy way at it) and trace is finger across her cheek. Hearing a noise outside, he'll cross the room to the window, look outside and we will see the girl in the picture outside of his house. The camera will follow him through the house until he reaches the door and opens it for her. There will be a brief exchange of speech and the scene will finish.

We developed our plot by starting to write out each stage of the clip point by point. We also started to make a visual representation of our thriller by creating the start of a story board. This starts to indicate specific shots, positionings of characters and objects and sounds within each part and this allowed us to look into the finer details.

First plot idea

First plot idea
1) The first idea we have come up with is situated in a forest and a childrens playground and will be edited together through parallel editing. In the forest we will have a worried looking man running down a path surrounded by trees. He will keep looking behind him to see if he is being followed and we will insert prerecorded sound of heavy breathing to emphasize his panic and hurry. In the playground there will be a sinister looking character dressed in all black, starting far away from the camera but as each shot cuts back to the play ground he will appear closer and closer. At their meeting point they will come face to face as the man appears out of the forest. A straight cut shot will make the sinister looking man disappear and the other character will look very stressed and unsettled. The screen will cut black and the audience will hear a scream. The final shot will be a close up of the sinister mans face as he smiles then the screen cuts black and the titles appear.

Audience feedback 
By discussing our ideas with peers, family and teachers we decided that we wern't going to use this idea as it was too standard and predictable and we wanted to develop a more unique and effective idea. We therefore took ideas from this, such as a sinister looking main character and possibly a parallel timeline and decided we would incorporate this into our main idea and plot but that this plot wouldn't be used for our thriller.