Experimenting with Mixcraft 5

Today I began experimenting with various sounds and creating a piece of music for a thriller that would be suitable.

Practice filming

Today my group began practising recording shots in our chosen location to experiment with what kinds of shots we could use and help to make improvements before filming the thriller piece.

Thriller storyboard

Here is the storyboard for my groups thriller. Drawn by myself and with the help of Jack Millward for ideas.

Thriller film plan

First two minutes

The film starts in a dark room, there are no lights, just candles. There are lodes of different size candles all over the room. The camera moves through the room, there is no one in the room. The camera moves into a second room .The second room is also dark and filled with candles. There’s a man in this room. This man is dressed in a priest outfit. He is kneeling on the floor drawing a cult sign in blood. The priest stands up and leaves. The priest enters a church. We then see a dead body inside the cult sign. Tittle credits. He then talks to another priest.

The whole film

The film is about a priest who kills criminals for God. The film will start with the priest inside of a house, he has just killed someone. He then returns to his church and takes to another priest. The film follows him as he kills the evil people of the world. Each criminal that he kills will have a flashback of what they have done, in black and white. The police are looking for the murderer. At the end of the film the priest will set himself on fire.

 

 

Written by Jack Millward

Thriller title ideas

Our group have come up with some ideas for the title of the thriller that we are about to produce, some of these ideas are:
De Sanguine Sanctorum, God's Wrath, The Messenger, The Purification, Sanctus, The Crimson Rise and Endurance. The groups favourite so far is De Sanguine Sanctorum because it translates from Latin as 'Blood of the Saints'

Ideas were by Jack Millward.

Thriller locations

Here are the photos for the thriller location ideas, taken in different churches:

 

The shots were taken by Jamie Fraser-Smith

 

Thriller script

Here is the script written for our thriller.



FADE IN:

INT. HOUSE – FIRST ROOM – NIGHT

The room is dark; there are no lights on, just candles. There are candles everywhere. The camera moves through the room into a second room.

HOUSE - SECOND ROOM

The second room is also dark and filled with candles. There’s a man kneeling on the floor. He is the PRIEST. The priest is drawing a cult sign on the floor in blood.

CLOSE UP: the cult sign on the floor.

ON SCENE

The priest stands up.

 CUT TO:

 

EXT. CHURCH – NIGHT

The priest walks to the church door. Stood at the door is a NUN.

 

The nun

It’s a cold night, Father.

 

The priest

It’s never too cold to do the work of the Lord, Sister.

 

The priest and nun both cross themselves. The nun walks off. The priest enters the church.

 

FADE TO BLACK:

 

The priest (v.o)

For he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. He is the shepherd that leads man to the light during the darkest hours. For he is truly the keeper and protector of man.  Romans 13:4.

FADE IN:

INT. HOUSE – SECOND ROOM – NIGHT

There is a dead body in the middle of the cult sign.

Tittle sequence.           





Written by Jack Millward

Moving groups

As of today I have permanently moved into the second group who consist of ; Jamie, Tom and Jack and I will now be helping them complete their thriller.

Audience research- potential audience

I have created 5 questions that I used to ask the target audience and potential viewers for the thriller piece.

The questions I created were:

1. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being strongly dislike, 10 being strongly like. How much do you like thriller films? 
2. What is your favourite film genre?
3. Do the age ratings that films are given affect whether you want to watch them or not? 
4. Do you prefer films made by major film companies or independent filmmakers? 
5. What do you think must be in a thriller film for it to become a good film in your opinion? 

I then asked these 5 questions to; 

Callum, aged 18. 

The answers he gave to the questionnaire; 

1. 7
2. Fantasy/Action 
3. Not really but I think ones with older age ratings are usually more entertaining. 
4. Major film makers because they usually have a bigger budget.
5. A really good soundtrack, I always think that this is what makes or breaks a film because the music reels you in and gets you immersed in the action, it makes you feel something whether its upbeat and exciting or sad and emotional.

Emma, aged 17. 

The answers she gave to the questionnaire; 

1. 7
2. Sci-fi
3. No, i'll watch them all.
4. Mostly major film companies but I'm willing to watching a film regardless of budget. 
5. suspense, but enough of a reveal to make the film worthwhile rather than just trying to make the audience jump or have so many questions they don't actually concentrate on the film.

These responses will allow me to gain vital information about the target audience, and what the potential audience finds key in the making of a good thriller film. 

I gained permission from both respondents to publish their answers given and use photos of them. 

Thriller research and planning- Institutions

After completing my research into film institutions, the thriller piece in theory may be best produced by wither an independent film maker or a large film company.

Independent films are films that are made outside of major studios. Some independent films are only shown in a select number of theaters. Many people believe that independent films are creative and more quirky as than major films are they are not mass marketed so they are not made for a specific audience. Also independent films have a much smaller production budgets than larger more major film companies.


An example of a film created by independent film makers is Donnie Darko (2001) directed by Richard Kelly. An example of a large film company would be Dreamworks who produced films such as Kung Fu Panda and Madagascar.

I think that the thriller I am currently planning would be best suited to be produced by a small independent filmmaker as the thriller contains specific topics that wouldn't appeal to a larger general audience and therefore might not be able to handle mass marketing. Also I feel like if the piece was to be produced by an independent filmmaker would allow more creative freedom despite the smaller production budget.

Thriller audience research and planning- age ratings

Age ratings are in place to protect the younger and/or more vulnerable viewers from watching potentially disturbing videos/films/ television programmes etc...

Examples of age ratings in thriller films:

• The Woman in Black(2012)- PG-13
• Black Swan (2012)- 15
• Se7en (1995)- 18
• Psycho (1960) - X

For my own thriller piece I would suggest my initial ideas would lead to the piece being rated a 15. This is due to there only being a suggested death in the final scene. There is some use of strong violence e.g. the use of guns as props, and the chase scene.
An advantage of the piece possibly being rated a 15 is that it then becomes available for a larger audience to view the piece. However the age rating may put some potential viewers off the piece as they may only wish to watch 18 age rated films as they have a larger potential for use of violence and serious themes. On the other hand if the piece was to be rated an 18 this would restrict more potential viewers.

Thriller piece- group placement

I am currently working between two separate groups. Firstly, my original group- myself and Matt. Matt is possibly leaving the media group soon and therefore I have joined another group consisting of; Jamie, Tom and Jack. I have began planning a thriller piece my original partner Matt, but I have also been contributing to my potential second group. If my original partner leaves then I will move into the second group permanently. However at the moment Matt is unsure about whether he will be leaving soon or not.

Company Research

A production company provides the physical basis for works in the realms of the performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio and video. The production company may be directly responsible for fundraising for the production or may accomplish this through a partner or investor. The production company will handle: budgeting, scheduling, scripting, the supply with talent and resources, the organisation of staff, the production itself, post production, distribution and marketing.

In the UK some of the top production companies include:

• Peapie Films- credits (Stardust, Harry Brown, Kick-Ass)
• Origin Picture- credits (The Awakening, The Crimson Petal)
• Heyday Films- credits (Harry Potter films, I am Legend, The Boy In Striped Pyjamas)
• Hammer- credits (Let Me In, Wake Wood, The Resident, The Woman In Black)
• EON- credits (Quantum of Solace, Casino Royale)

A production company is responsible for the development and filming of a specific production or media broadcast.

Hammer Films is a production company based in the UK who have produced science fiction and thrillers etc..It is well known and includes films such as The Woman In Black (2012). Pscyhological thrillers were made including: Nightmare (1964), Hysteria (1965), Fear in the Night (1972) etc.

Thriller Research

I have done some research into Thriller's and examples of thrillers and possible stories and settings etc... This research can be viewed here:

http://www.slideshare.net/ohitstamsin/thriller-research-29645261