Music:
The music we used in our production was used to build up tension in the piece and to emphasize certain key parts in the thriller opening. Rather than the fast paced music of such thrillers, such as 'Speed', we opted for the more mysterious thought provoking music heard in openings like 'The Interpreter' and 'Silence of the Lambs'. The reasoning behind this was simply because it suited our piece more as it wasnt fast paced, therefore fast paced music would not have fit aswell. Also as we were a low/no budget production company we used the internet source of http://www.freesound.org/ to obtain music and sounds for our piece.
Character Representation:
The first two characters we see are the owner of the factory and a worker of the factory. The first one we see is the owner who ends up being murdered. The first character, the victim, is dressed smartly to show he is higher status over the other character and that he also owns the factory. He is the one asking the questions about the business and shipping their stock out. This represents this character as the one who's in charge and making sure the audience knows that he is higher up in the ranks for the business. The other character is dressed in a normal working mans uniform, which is mainly just casual clothes. We did this to show the difference from the status and to show which characters do what for the business.
Social Groups:
The minor character of the factory worker represents the working class. Stereotypical factory workers wear low budget clothing such as tracksuit bottoms and/or sports gear. This is why the character of the factory working was wearing such clothing as it creates a feeling of verisimilitude. The factory boss is represented in the way he is dressed and in his actions. He is dressed in a smart sweater and a collarred shirt combination with black trousers, instantly making him seen as an authority figure. As he confidently strides round the factory and is also working his way to lock the factory up he is no standard worker. In many thriller films alot of the tension and suspense is created in not knowing who the killer is or what his face looks like such as in 'Halloween' and 'Phone Booth'. This is why the killer's identity in our piece is concealed as it creates suspense and in lehman's terms keeps the audience guessing. This represents a typical killer in a thriller film.
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Evaluation 1
Mise-en-scene:
The location of our thriller was actually at my dad's sock factory, but we filmed the actual piece in the storage section of the complex. The use of boxes arranged in rows with little room for movement conveys the idea of claustrophobia and tightly closed spaces. This was good for a thriller as playing on the fear of a phobia creates tension amongst the audience. Also as the set was owned by my dad we didnt have to pay anything to use the space needed. For props we decided that if someone was to be murdered it needed to be from a more physical up close and personal weapon. This is because they tend to strike up more fear than a weapon like a gun. Also as a hammer is used in industrial settings it raises many questions as the victim was supposed to be alone in the factory at the time and he's been killed by a weapon associated with his line of work.
Choice of Actors:
Because are group was a low budget production we had to use actors that would be free to work with. We used two of the members of our group, one of them being myself. We also chose to do the two actors that had acted in previous tasks so they had better experience of how the filming works or who do drama and know the basic acting skills. The two actors were also chosen because as they were in our group, which means therefore they would have to follow the shooting schedule anyway, this would make it easier to film and work as a team.
Choice of Colours:
The use of drab browns and greys in the piece was honestly just how the factory was set out. It helped as in the dark spaces there were barely visible colours. Also the dark colours could convey the darkness of the piece but in all fairness we didnt set out to show this so if that is how the audience interprets it then its a bonus for our groups work.
The location of our thriller was actually at my dad's sock factory, but we filmed the actual piece in the storage section of the complex. The use of boxes arranged in rows with little room for movement conveys the idea of claustrophobia and tightly closed spaces. This was good for a thriller as playing on the fear of a phobia creates tension amongst the audience. Also as the set was owned by my dad we didnt have to pay anything to use the space needed. For props we decided that if someone was to be murdered it needed to be from a more physical up close and personal weapon. This is because they tend to strike up more fear than a weapon like a gun. Also as a hammer is used in industrial settings it raises many questions as the victim was supposed to be alone in the factory at the time and he's been killed by a weapon associated with his line of work.
Choice of Actors:
Because are group was a low budget production we had to use actors that would be free to work with. We used two of the members of our group, one of them being myself. We also chose to do the two actors that had acted in previous tasks so they had better experience of how the filming works or who do drama and know the basic acting skills. The two actors were also chosen because as they were in our group, which means therefore they would have to follow the shooting schedule anyway, this would make it easier to film and work as a team.
Choice of Colours:
The use of drab browns and greys in the piece was honestly just how the factory was set out. It helped as in the dark spaces there were barely visible colours. Also the dark colours could convey the darkness of the piece but in all fairness we didnt set out to show this so if that is how the audience interprets it then its a bonus for our groups work.
Friday, 27 February 2009
Title Research
Many thriller films fall victim to being given in many opinion's awful name titles. Having a poor title can really put people back from seeing a movie especially when from a low budget production company such as ourselves. This is why rather than think up a name for our film ourselves and run the risk of an awful name that we were too blind to see we decided to do a questionaire where we showed people out thriller opening and got their suggestions on what we should call the film. After the questionnaire the names suggested were as followed;
-Night Shift
-The Factory
-Lights Out
-The Chosen
-In The Shadows
-Betrayal
-The Phantom of the Factory
-The Hammer
Instantly we could see some ideas that were strong so we compiled a list of these names and passed round the list and the previous viewers ticked which name they thought was the strongest of the bunch. With names such as "Lights Out" and "Betrayal" getting a few votes, but there was a clear title that got the most votes, this was "Night Shift" that had just under 70% of the vote. It was obvious to us that with such as huge percentage of the public vote "Night Shift" was the new name for our thriller.
-Night Shift
-The Factory
-Lights Out
-The Chosen
-In The Shadows
-Betrayal
-The Phantom of the Factory
-The Hammer
Instantly we could see some ideas that were strong so we compiled a list of these names and passed round the list and the previous viewers ticked which name they thought was the strongest of the bunch. With names such as "Lights Out" and "Betrayal" getting a few votes, but there was a clear title that got the most votes, this was "Night Shift" that had just under 70% of the vote. It was obvious to us that with such as huge percentage of the public vote "Night Shift" was the new name for our thriller.
Sound Plan for Final Piece
We used our sound and music from the website www.freesound.org , we also used some diagetic sounds from filming as there was machinery around us making alot of noise, we kept this in to show realism of the film. This website will be free to download and copyright free for our piece. Using this site it will give us a wider variety of sound which we could add together to other sounds and make our piece sound alot better rather than just a normal song being pushed in. Our sound was made dark and tense in order to fit in with our atmosphere and mood of the piece. We also used sudden sounds and big hitting sounds to emphasise certain movements of the thriller such as the murder scene or if the killer is seen at any point.
Final Piece Plan
Location:
For our thriller project we decided to work and film in a factory. We decided this as it would give dark thriller effects and sounds. This also gave us a large area to work in which we could then control the lighting alot easier, this gave us the oppurtunity to make good shots at any time of the day. Also whilst filming in private property it made it a safer environment to use any weapons needed in our piece with out the worry from the public.
Planning:
Our planning was done as a team effort, with decisions on location and the general plot of our piece. The planning took longer than expected as we had to think of every little detail and think thoroughly about the murder scene. We started our planning quite early but didnt start filming till this year in January, it then took us a following three weeks to complete the filming including little bits that needed to be added.
Props:
-Weapon, this only included a hammer which could be clearly seen in the dark.
-Costume, this was just a standard working mans uniform and a big coat that covered the murderer from head to toe, so he could not be seen!
-Cellotape, This was used in one scene where a light switch got stuck down to stop it from flickering back on.
Target Audience:
The main target audience for our final piece will be certificate 15. The main reason for this is because there is some violent scenes shown by murders and some bad language. Another reason for this certificate rating is because the themes contained in it are more popular with people aged between 15+. Also this certificate is the main cinema viewing audience so there could be a lot more different age groups viewing our piece ranging from 15 onwards, as if it was a certificate of a lower rating the piece would get rated lower as there wouldnt be much point in violent scenes as they couldnt be shown.
For our thriller project we decided to work and film in a factory. We decided this as it would give dark thriller effects and sounds. This also gave us a large area to work in which we could then control the lighting alot easier, this gave us the oppurtunity to make good shots at any time of the day. Also whilst filming in private property it made it a safer environment to use any weapons needed in our piece with out the worry from the public.
Planning:
Our planning was done as a team effort, with decisions on location and the general plot of our piece. The planning took longer than expected as we had to think of every little detail and think thoroughly about the murder scene. We started our planning quite early but didnt start filming till this year in January, it then took us a following three weeks to complete the filming including little bits that needed to be added.
Props:
-Weapon, this only included a hammer which could be clearly seen in the dark.
-Costume, this was just a standard working mans uniform and a big coat that covered the murderer from head to toe, so he could not be seen!
-Cellotape, This was used in one scene where a light switch got stuck down to stop it from flickering back on.
Target Audience:
The main target audience for our final piece will be certificate 15. The main reason for this is because there is some violent scenes shown by murders and some bad language. Another reason for this certificate rating is because the themes contained in it are more popular with people aged between 15+. Also this certificate is the main cinema viewing audience so there could be a lot more different age groups viewing our piece ranging from 15 onwards, as if it was a certificate of a lower rating the piece would get rated lower as there wouldnt be much point in violent scenes as they couldnt be shown.
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Certification of Films
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is the organisation responisble for film, DVD and some video game classification within the United Kingdom. The BBFC currently issues the following certificates:
Parental Guidance - All ages admitted, but parents are advised that certain scenes may be unsuitable for children under 13.
Accompanied - Suitable for those aged 12 and over, children under 12 are admitted if they are accompanied by an adult at all times during the performance.
15 - Suitable for those aged 15 and over, no-one younger than 15 may see a film rated 15 in cinema or rent or buy a 15 rated VHS, DVD or game.
18 - Suitable for those aged 18 and over, no-one younger than 18 may see a film rated 18 in cinema or buy or rent an 18 rated VHS, DVD or game.
Restricted 18 - suitable for those aged 18 and over, may only be shown at licensed cinemas and only to people aged 18 or over.
Universal Children - suitable for all, but ecspecially made for children under 7 years of age.
Universal - All ages admitted, there is nothing unsuitable for children.
Parental Guidance - All ages admitted, but parents are advised that certain scenes may be unsuitable for children under 13.
Accompanied - Suitable for those aged 12 and over, children under 12 are admitted if they are accompanied by an adult at all times during the performance.
12 - Suitable for those aged 12 and over, no-one younger than 12 may rent or buy a 12 rated VHS, DVD or game.
15 - Suitable for those aged 15 and over, no-one younger than 15 may see a film rated 15 in cinema or rent or buy a 15 rated VHS, DVD or game.
18 - Suitable for those aged 18 and over, no-one younger than 18 may see a film rated 18 in cinema or buy or rent an 18 rated VHS, DVD or game.
Restricted 18 - suitable for those aged 18 and over, may only be shown at licensed cinemas and only to people aged 18 or over.
Thursday, 11 December 2008
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