Feedback On Our Thriller

Positive comments:

The point of view shot of the message was very clear.
The use of music in the introduction works well with transitions and the feeling of the film. The effects of the photographs are good.
The camera angles chosen make it feel like someone is following the character, building tension and creating suspense.
The polaroid picture at 1:30 was good and the sound effects worked well.
The use of handheld camerawork was good and it created a feeling that somebody was constantly watching the character.
The use of the closeups on important props and the characters faces were good as it helped show her emotions to create a mood.
The use of still images in the market scene were good as it helped feel like someone was watching her.
The polaroid photos of her while she was walking through the market were good. It gave a feel of suspense and uncertainty. The main character appears to have no idea of whose taking the photos.
The camerawork was clever such as the zooming in and the slow motion which added suspense.
The sound effects were good as it added tension.
The music was intense and it was good acting.
Good music, it went well with the footage. Good shot of the phone when she gets a text.
The use of the pictures building up on the screen is good as it builds tension as you know she is being stalked for a while.
The use of polaroid pictures was good and they were used well to give a sense of reality.

Things to improve on:


The background sound is too loud.
The scream at the end is too short.
 The zoomed out shot of the stalkers note could of been clearer as you cant read what it says very easily.
To improve the sequence we could have considered a better setting and possibly somewhere not in college as the sound can become crowded and does not go with the sequence.
Couldn't read the note left in the book and the scream at the end sounded slightly unprofessional.
The sound effects of the photographs almost break the tension created with the music.
There should of been more focus on the letter as the viewer doesn't know what it says. Could of made use of the character talking to create more of a mood.
The ending of the sequence was a bit comic, not sure the scream worked well, could of used a fade instead.
The title sequence could of done with being more interesting.
The picture she's holding at 0:46 is hard to read, could of zoomed in further.
Could of made the background noise the same and not notice the change between shots.

Thriller Pane

1- Title to the audience
2- Location and costume (establishing shot)
3- High angle shot
4- Prop and close up- (Use of the thriller convention of something out of the ordinary happening in ordinary situations- Her receiving the letter at school)
5- A thriller convention (gave a sense of danger)
6- Reaction shot showed with mid shot
7- Location
8- Long shot
9- Thriller convention (the build up of pictures gives a sense that the girl is being followed which follows the convention of building up suspense to the thrill of 'the unknown.' at the end.)

Final Thriller Opening Sequence

Production Company Logo Ideas

We have decided to look at successful production company logos to help us decide on ideas when creating our own.

Sound Effects

We have added some tense music to certain parts of the sequence to help build up tension in crucial parts of the scenes. We also added louder more dramatic sounds when the titles came up to keep the viewer interested.

Props And Costume List

Costume for all shots: Everyday clothing.

Shot 1: Props: Umbrella and other items in the locker.

Shot 2: Props: Mobile phone.

Shot 3: Props: Mobile phone.

Shot 4: Props: Folder, Letter written in newspaper cuttings, School bag.

Shots 5 & 6: Props: Folder, Letter.

Shot 7: Props: Photographic paper, Negatives, Processing trays, Tongs, Rubber gloves.

Shot 8 onwards: Props: Mobile phone, Handbag, Shopping bag.

Preparation For Final Shoot

Images From Final Shoot

Storyboard

Risk Assesment.

Script Draft -

INT: College corridor: Day time
A teenage girl is in the college corridor stood by her locker collecting her schoolbooks. She receives a text from an unknown number. She reads the text and realises the sender must be nearby because it is talking about something in her locker. She looks around there is no one there.

INT: Refectory: Morning

The girl receives a letter through the post one morning addressed to herself via newspaper cuttings. The girls is suspicious and worried and takes the letter into college to open with her friends. The letter reads 'have you guessed who i am yet?'

INT: The dark Room: After School
The sender of the texts is busy processing photos of the teenage girl being followed in various different locations and places at different times of the day. The sender of the texts will have made a contact sheet for the viewer to see with one particular picture highlighted. The viewer will see the sender developing a photograph he has taken.

EXT: Woodland area: Afternoon

The teenage girl is walking alone through the woodland area after college when she trips over a fallen branch. She then receives another text from the same unknown number. The girl keeps looking over her shoulder because she's nervous, she starts to run as she's looking over her shoulder as the pace picks up she trips up and a black out ends the sequence. 

Thriller Final Idea Feedback

After sharing our idea with the rest of the class, we have realised that we need to give less of the plot away during the opening sequence so that the viewer is enticed to carry on watching the film.

In addition to this we also need to develop more of a story behind why the girl is being stalked and what is going to happen to her in the future.

We also need to consider using a wide variety of different lighting and need to be careful of the quality of our footage when filming at night.

We need to consider all possible locations that may suit our thriller and be more adventurous with the places we choose to shoot to make it more imaginative and enticing to the viewer.

Final Thriller Idea

Our final idea is to have a character being stalked by someone and they receive texts and letters from an unknown number. Our film would be a psychological thriller as it is messing with the mind of the character.

The font we would use would be cut out letters from newspapers and magazines in either black, white or red as this would create a sense of mystery before the film begins. Throughout the credits certain words could be circled or highlighted that are of importance which will send out a message which will be picked up on later on in the narrative.

The title we would use for our thriller would be called 'The Unknown'. The reason we would use this title is because it provides a sense of mystery at the start of the film which instantly introduces you to the genre of the film.

The main character in our thriller would be a typical teenage girl being stalked and this would make it easier for others to relate to her. The other main character we will use will be the stalker however he will not see be seen throughout the film providing the audience with a greater sense of the unknown. We will use point of view shots from the stalker making it easier to relate to both characters.

 The location we would use would be mainly in school and outside in Cambridge. When filming our thriller we will have to respect the public and will be willing to explain what we are doing if they ask. The lighting in our thriller will be natural as we are filming outside and as we are filming this time of year gets darker easily so we could choose to film later on in the evenings if we wanted to create a darker atmosphere.

The costume for the main character being stalked would be a typical girls college and later on in the film the costume would change to darker colours as the stalking gets worse. This will show the emotions of the girl how she is feeling and how it's affecting her every day life.

The music we will use will be tense and gripping. At the beginning of our thriller the music would start off with a steady beat and throughout the thriller the music will get more dramatic.

We will use handheld movements when using the camera making the audience feel as if they are there. Close ups of the face would also be used to show facial expressions clearly and the importance of other objects. Tracking will be used when following the girl as it helps add to the point of view to the stalker and increases the pace. Jump cuts will also help to increase the pace as everything will speed up throughout the opening sequence which will have more of a thrilling impact on the audience.

Thriller Ideas

Idea One-
This would be in the genre of a crime thriller. The storyline would involve an unsolved robbery. We would use flashbacks in black and white which would show the character recalling certain memories of the event. The opening credits would show detectives solving the problem and collecting any fingerprints and information. This would be blurred to show the confusion and uncertainty of the memories. We would use a voiceover which would be slightly echoed to create the atmosphere of how distant the memory is.

Idea Two-
This would be based on a storyline of a teenage girl being stalked. This would be a psychological thriller as it messes with the mind of the character. The opening credits will be newspaper cuttings and text using the colours of red black and white. We would use fast editing such as jump cuts to show the pace of the film and handheld camera work to make the audience feel as if they are there.

Idea Three-
This would involve a teenage boy being kidnapped by the father of his ex girlfriend. We would use close ups in the credits and extreme close ups to show that he is tied up to make him look vulnerable. The camera work will involve high shots to show his vulnerability and low angle shots to show how inferior he is to the father. A blackout would be used to create a mysterious atmosphere before we see that he has been tied up.

Preliminary Task

We had to use many different shots, which were: establishing shot, close up shot, match on action shot, reaction shot, long shot, filming conversation.