Saturday, 22 March 2014
Friday, 21 March 2014
Saturday, 15 March 2014
Tuesday, 11 March 2014
Evaluation Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?
Q4: Who would be the audience for your media product?
For our Thriller opening sequence, when we were planning, we were aiming for a 15 rating according to the BFFC guidelines. It states the film is allowed strong violence and language, drug uses, sexual references and violence, and discriminatory language. I believe out film could achieve this rating as it meets these guidelines, because it doesn't really having any of these in our opening sequence, it may even possibly fit into the 12 rating. It's not that we are specifically aiming for a 15 year old audience, but there's no point adding in content just to force the film into the 18 category when it isn't necessary.
As well as following BBFC guidelines, we followed Demographic and Psychographic profiling. From our demographic profiling, we said we would attempt to appeal to teens of our age and young adults, so around 15-30. We said we'd try and appeal to both genders as there are not enough thriller films that try to appeal to females. Race and sexuality we didn't really have a preference for, this was more to do with the availability of actors, which we were limited to. For our opening, we cast a female as the main character, so hopefully our film would gain a greater female audience, as they could relate to her as a character. Also, all the actors fit the teen demographic, again, meaning the teen audience can relate to the characters more, and hopefully take more of an interest into the film. 
Following our Psychographic profiling, we said our target audience would be Reformers and Explorers. Reformers like to be enlightened, have independent judgement and are aware of good taste. Explorers seek discovery; they like to adventure and try new things. Our film is sure to appeal to Explorers as it isn't a Thriller that follows the norm, its quite a melting pot of sub-genres. It might also appeal to Reformers as it challenges the convention of the strong male role in thrillers.
We believe these make up our primary audience. However, I believe we would have a secondary audience in the 30 - 50 age range, as they too enjoy thrillers, and many may still feel young, or not mind the young cast. We believe the story is compelling enough to attract those of any age.
We believe these make up our primary audience. However, I believe we would have a secondary audience in the 30 - 50 age range, as they too enjoy thrillers, and many may still feel young, or not mind the young cast. We believe the story is compelling enough to attract those of any age.
Thursday, 6 March 2014
Evaluation Question 5: How did you attract/address your audience?
Q5: How did you attract/address your audience?
One of the main ways in which we attempted to attract out audience was to use a cast of our age group. Having a cast the same age group as your audience means that the audience can associate with the characters more, and it really highlights that this film is aimed at them. We also used a female for the lead, hopefully attracting the attention of females so that more watch our film, as thrillers often tend to be more male orientated.
We thought Psychological Thriller would be the best sub-genre to follow for our film, as it borders on Horror, and horror is a popular genre with our age group. We feel our opening has elements of Adventure too. All these themes and genres are liked by our age group thanks to a quick survey we took. They seem to enjoy shocks and surprises and mystery, like any youths would. We made sure the story wasn't too complicated or boring, to keep the audience engaged with the film. Playing with two protagonists in different time periods helps to keep the film interesting, following one protagonist for 3 minutes may have gotten boring for our audience.
The score in our film was chosen to really amplify the emotions and feelings we wanted out of our audience at certain moments. Our film has 2 scores, one slower, timid and creepy in the first half, we feel it had an air of mystery to it, and we hoped it would straight away make the audience tense. The second score was the build up to the climax, so it had to ramp up the tension and suspense, so the audience felt the characters were in grave danger. Its faster beat and pounding drums achieve this. The first score is around 0:06 - 1:31, the second around 2:15 - 3:05.
We uploaded our opening sequence to YouTube. This is because this is the main video sharing website on the internet and most people use it all the time. People can comment on your video on YouTube, also, it is easy to post a link to the video onto social media sites to share with your friends and followers, and they can also add comments on them. Majority of people in our audience use Social Networking, its the main way they consume information now. So to address our audience, the ideal place would be social media. So we linked our film to Facebook and Twitter, this was useful as we got some audience feedback. We did screenings with some people at school, some people we asked through Facebook chat what they thought of it, and some were comments and tweets.
Someone via Facebook said that our film had 'brilliant ideas' and was 'properly tense' in many parts. They said that they thought we could have chosen a 'better font' for the credits, and they thought there were 1 or 2 editing 'faults' in it, but that these 'didn't distract from the overall film'. They thought it wasn't 'your typical thriller', which they enjoyed.
After a public viewing, one person said that they were 'very interested' in the story, and thought the cinematography was 'excellent'. The thought it was 'genuinely' creepy at points. However, they thought it could have been shorter as it got a bit boring towards the middle.
The score in our film was chosen to really amplify the emotions and feelings we wanted out of our audience at certain moments. Our film has 2 scores, one slower, timid and creepy in the first half, we feel it had an air of mystery to it, and we hoped it would straight away make the audience tense. The second score was the build up to the climax, so it had to ramp up the tension and suspense, so the audience felt the characters were in grave danger. Its faster beat and pounding drums achieve this. The first score is around 0:06 - 1:31, the second around 2:15 - 3:05.
We uploaded our opening sequence to YouTube. This is because this is the main video sharing website on the internet and most people use it all the time. People can comment on your video on YouTube, also, it is easy to post a link to the video onto social media sites to share with your friends and followers, and they can also add comments on them. Majority of people in our audience use Social Networking, its the main way they consume information now. So to address our audience, the ideal place would be social media. So we linked our film to Facebook and Twitter, this was useful as we got some audience feedback. We did screenings with some people at school, some people we asked through Facebook chat what they thought of it, and some were comments and tweets.
Various ways we received audience feedback
Someone via Facebook said that our film had 'brilliant ideas' and was 'properly tense' in many parts. They said that they thought we could have chosen a 'better font' for the credits, and they thought there were 1 or 2 editing 'faults' in it, but that these 'didn't distract from the overall film'. They thought it wasn't 'your typical thriller', which they enjoyed.
After a public viewing, one person said that they were 'very interested' in the story, and thought the cinematography was 'excellent'. The thought it was 'genuinely' creepy at points. However, they thought it could have been shorter as it got a bit boring towards the middle.
Tuesday, 4 March 2014
Evaluation Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the film process of constructing this product?
Q6 What have you learnt about technologies from the film process of constructing this product?
I have learnt a multitude of skills and techniques that I had never known about before, many different types of editing skills, as well as foley sound and voice recording skills.
Before the production process the blogs that we had helped develop and record our ideas so that we would have some key concepts to focus on, this stage influenced our production as we record details online where both me and my partner could access the information whenever we wanted to, what we learnt from this process is how to better organise our thoughts and opinions, as well as helping with our research which would influence our work.
In the production stage the use of camera's was one of the most enlightening procedures, I developed very important recording skills, and matured my use of film angles, shots and movements. I refined skills of operating the camera, such as changing unwanted footage, and uploading on to the lap top.
Furthermore we used lights from the photography department to give effect to our product, I learned how to use this piece of equipment quickly and it provided the perfect mood for our scenes.
To start of with the first important skill that everyone must have acquired is the cutting, this was very simple and allowed my product to use varying montage and prolonged shots efficiently through the ease of use as the cutting was dead straight forward and very quick and efficient to use, as shown below all you had to do was click on the image of your clip and then drag the highlighted picture until you decide you want to keep the rest. The image moves according to the frame at the time of your shot making it extremely simple to understand.
Next the tools that came in handy where the colour correction and filter ones, which enabled my product to have a different feel to it, they are also simple to grasp and very effective at directing the mood and lighting of your film. Next the slow motion and fast forward options allowed to create the desired pace if it wasn't already. This was useful in speeding up certain scenarios however some limitations where that it looked unrealistic if analysed carefully.
Next sound had to be added to the product which required us to use the internet to find some sound effects and score, we also used the voice recorder technology to create some foley sounds that we could use in our project, for example we slammed doors, hit things together to make various sounds which we then uploaded on to our project. Once we had acquired the sound we put it through i movies sound effects which had some useful special effects that it could add to the sound effects/ score as seen in this screenshot. What I learnt from these things was how to use equalisers, how to fade songs/fx in and out and how to connect songs/fx together, this allowed me to develop my film making skills.
There was also a text option which would allow us to have moving titles, this was also informative and cool, we ended up downloading many different fonts of the internet to find one that suited, through this i leant how to pick appropriate text fonts etc.
How did the I movie software affect my work?
I believe that with out the software the film would be incomparable to what it is now, with out any effects, any added sounds, any text, the sequence would look not only less impressive but also more confusing as there would be no cut footage, making it drag along much more slowly. However thanks to the technology used it does look good, it is edited appropriately for the genre and it contains easily visible enigma's, the contrasting, colour correction and brightness adjustment all create a sense of dimension and mood as they are dark and creepy suiting our storyline- all thanks to iMovie.
How has new media influenced in the creation of this product, and distributing finished product on video sharing sites?
New media has helped to make our film even better, for example using a site called freeplaymusic.com -we could download sound effects that would be difficult or impractical to do ourselves, for example getting blizzard wind noises to play in the back ground.
The other major benefit was that we could see other films which gave us an over all understanding of the conventions, watching other peoples AS projects helped me understand and get a better idea of what to do for my own project.
Finally when we shared our project on youtube and Facebook we could see people's responses to our product and they were pleasantly surprising, everyone thought that it was really well done, which made us happy that our hard work payed off.
We learnt literally infinite skills both major and minor from this project, it would be impossible to list them all but to recap the main things i learnt where, researching, planning, story boarding, directing, acting, filming, lighting, producing, editing, colour correcting, composing, publishing, distributing and many more!
I have learnt a multitude of skills and techniques that I had never known about before, many different types of editing skills, as well as foley sound and voice recording skills.
Before the production process the blogs that we had helped develop and record our ideas so that we would have some key concepts to focus on, this stage influenced our production as we record details online where both me and my partner could access the information whenever we wanted to, what we learnt from this process is how to better organise our thoughts and opinions, as well as helping with our research which would influence our work.
In the production stage the use of camera's was one of the most enlightening procedures, I developed very important recording skills, and matured my use of film angles, shots and movements. I refined skills of operating the camera, such as changing unwanted footage, and uploading on to the lap top.
Furthermore we used lights from the photography department to give effect to our product, I learned how to use this piece of equipment quickly and it provided the perfect mood for our scenes.
To start of with the first important skill that everyone must have acquired is the cutting, this was very simple and allowed my product to use varying montage and prolonged shots efficiently through the ease of use as the cutting was dead straight forward and very quick and efficient to use, as shown below all you had to do was click on the image of your clip and then drag the highlighted picture until you decide you want to keep the rest. The image moves according to the frame at the time of your shot making it extremely simple to understand.
If we wanted to edit the middle of a clip what we had to do was split it, this allowed us every possible cutting option in a simple way.
Next the tools that came in handy where the colour correction and filter ones, which enabled my product to have a different feel to it, they are also simple to grasp and very effective at directing the mood and lighting of your film. Next the slow motion and fast forward options allowed to create the desired pace if it wasn't already. This was useful in speeding up certain scenarios however some limitations where that it looked unrealistic if analysed carefully.
Next sound had to be added to the product which required us to use the internet to find some sound effects and score, we also used the voice recorder technology to create some foley sounds that we could use in our project, for example we slammed doors, hit things together to make various sounds which we then uploaded on to our project. Once we had acquired the sound we put it through i movies sound effects which had some useful special effects that it could add to the sound effects/ score as seen in this screenshot. What I learnt from these things was how to use equalisers, how to fade songs/fx in and out and how to connect songs/fx together, this allowed me to develop my film making skills.There was also a text option which would allow us to have moving titles, this was also informative and cool, we ended up downloading many different fonts of the internet to find one that suited, through this i leant how to pick appropriate text fonts etc.
How did the I movie software affect my work?
I believe that with out the software the film would be incomparable to what it is now, with out any effects, any added sounds, any text, the sequence would look not only less impressive but also more confusing as there would be no cut footage, making it drag along much more slowly. However thanks to the technology used it does look good, it is edited appropriately for the genre and it contains easily visible enigma's, the contrasting, colour correction and brightness adjustment all create a sense of dimension and mood as they are dark and creepy suiting our storyline- all thanks to iMovie.
How has new media influenced in the creation of this product, and distributing finished product on video sharing sites?
New media has helped to make our film even better, for example using a site called freeplaymusic.com -we could download sound effects that would be difficult or impractical to do ourselves, for example getting blizzard wind noises to play in the back ground.
The other major benefit was that we could see other films which gave us an over all understanding of the conventions, watching other peoples AS projects helped me understand and get a better idea of what to do for my own project.
Finally when we shared our project on youtube and Facebook we could see people's responses to our product and they were pleasantly surprising, everyone thought that it was really well done, which made us happy that our hard work payed off.
We learnt literally infinite skills both major and minor from this project, it would be impossible to list them all but to recap the main things i learnt where, researching, planning, story boarding, directing, acting, filming, lighting, producing, editing, colour correcting, composing, publishing, distributing and many more!
Sunday, 2 March 2014
Evaluation Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
When we filmed our preliminary task it was hard at first, operating the camera, directing people and the whole post production process, however I was fortunate enough to have someone in my group who could edit well already, he taught us the basics, so from an early stage our group was ahead of the other ones. However we did of course encounter problems, for example it was hard to direct the actors as everyone kept laughing because they felt awkward in front of the camera, another issue was creativity we didn't know what we where capable of, imagining different shots was not part of the process when we first filmed, however this changed later when we made our own product, as we were not limited to time we were able to think of different shots and incorporate them into our product.
The same was seen with our editing, as we had a chance to mess around with the software we were able to learn more about how to use it.
I have learnt a multitude of skills techniques that I had never known about before, many different types of editing skills, as well as foley sound and voice recording skills.
Before the production process the blogs that we had helped develop and record our ideas so that we would have some key concepts to focus on, this stage influenced our production as we record details online where both me and my partner could access the information whenever we wanted to, what we learnt from this process is how to better organise our thoughts and opinions, as well as helping with our research which would influence our work.
In the production stage the use of camera's was one of the most enlightening procedures, I developed very important recording skills, and matured my use of film angles, shots and movements. I refined skills of operating the camera, such as changing unwanted footage, and uploading on to the lap top.
Furthermore we used lights from the photography department to give effect to our product, I learned how to use this piece of equipment quickly and it provided the perfect mood for our scenes.
To start of with the first important skill that everyone must have acquired on iMovie is the cutting, this was very simple and allowed my product to use varying montage and prolonged shots efficiently through the ease of use as the cutting was dead straight forward. Next the tools that came in handy where the colour correction and filter ones, which enabled my product to have a different feel to it, they are also simple to grasp and very effective at directing the mood and lighting of your film. Next the slow motion and fast forward options allowed to create the desired pace if it wasn't already.
Next sound had to be added to the product which required us to use the internet to find some sound effects and score, we also used the voice recorder technology to create some foley sounds that we could use in our project. Once we acquired the sound we put it through i movies sound effects which had some useful special effects that it could add to the sound effects/ score. What I learnt from these things was how to use equalisers, how to fade songs/fx in and out and how to connect songs/fx together, this allowed me to develop my film making skills.
There was also a text option which would allow us to have moving titles, this was also informative and cool, we ended up downloading many different fonts of the internet to find one that suited, through this i leant how to pick appropriate text fonts etc.
Finally when we shared our project on youtube and Facebook we could see people's responses to our product and they were pleasantly surprising, everyone thought that it was really well done, which made us happy that our hard work payed off. We learnt literally infinite skills both major and minor from this project, it would be impossible to list them all but to recap the main things i learnt where, researching, planning, story boarding, directing, acting, filming, lighting, producing, editing, colour correcting, composing, publishing, distributing and many more!
All of these experiences have progressed my individual abilities from the beginning of the continuum up to this point where I have started making holiday videos for my parents that they really enjoy, as well as teaching my dad to use iMovie.
When we filmed our preliminary task it was hard at first, operating the camera, directing people and the whole post production process, however I was fortunate enough to have someone in my group who could edit well already, he taught us the basics, so from an early stage our group was ahead of the other ones. However we did of course encounter problems, for example it was hard to direct the actors as everyone kept laughing because they felt awkward in front of the camera, another issue was creativity we didn't know what we where capable of, imagining different shots was not part of the process when we first filmed, however this changed later when we made our own product, as we were not limited to time we were able to think of different shots and incorporate them into our product.
The same was seen with our editing, as we had a chance to mess around with the software we were able to learn more about how to use it.
I have learnt a multitude of skills techniques that I had never known about before, many different types of editing skills, as well as foley sound and voice recording skills.
Before the production process the blogs that we had helped develop and record our ideas so that we would have some key concepts to focus on, this stage influenced our production as we record details online where both me and my partner could access the information whenever we wanted to, what we learnt from this process is how to better organise our thoughts and opinions, as well as helping with our research which would influence our work.
In the production stage the use of camera's was one of the most enlightening procedures, I developed very important recording skills, and matured my use of film angles, shots and movements. I refined skills of operating the camera, such as changing unwanted footage, and uploading on to the lap top.
Furthermore we used lights from the photography department to give effect to our product, I learned how to use this piece of equipment quickly and it provided the perfect mood for our scenes.
To start of with the first important skill that everyone must have acquired on iMovie is the cutting, this was very simple and allowed my product to use varying montage and prolonged shots efficiently through the ease of use as the cutting was dead straight forward. Next the tools that came in handy where the colour correction and filter ones, which enabled my product to have a different feel to it, they are also simple to grasp and very effective at directing the mood and lighting of your film. Next the slow motion and fast forward options allowed to create the desired pace if it wasn't already.
Next sound had to be added to the product which required us to use the internet to find some sound effects and score, we also used the voice recorder technology to create some foley sounds that we could use in our project. Once we acquired the sound we put it through i movies sound effects which had some useful special effects that it could add to the sound effects/ score. What I learnt from these things was how to use equalisers, how to fade songs/fx in and out and how to connect songs/fx together, this allowed me to develop my film making skills.
There was also a text option which would allow us to have moving titles, this was also informative and cool, we ended up downloading many different fonts of the internet to find one that suited, through this i leant how to pick appropriate text fonts etc.
Finally when we shared our project on youtube and Facebook we could see people's responses to our product and they were pleasantly surprising, everyone thought that it was really well done, which made us happy that our hard work payed off. We learnt literally infinite skills both major and minor from this project, it would be impossible to list them all but to recap the main things i learnt where, researching, planning, story boarding, directing, acting, filming, lighting, producing, editing, colour correcting, composing, publishing, distributing and many more!
All of these experiences have progressed my individual abilities from the beginning of the continuum up to this point where I have started making holiday videos for my parents that they really enjoy, as well as teaching my dad to use iMovie.
Sunday, 5 January 2014
Production Pictures
Prop process, me and Clarice (Clara's character) after setting up a makeshift bed, painted ancient druidic, and hieroglyphic symbols on the wall with red "blood paint" which we bought.
Setting the lights up for a shot of Clara walking down the stairs with blinding light behind her back.
-David Ziolkowski
Friday, 27 December 2013
Shooting Schedules
1)
Date: 9/12/13
Time: 3:30
Location: Abandoned Building Exterior
Shots: 0-15, 45-55
Actors: Clarice, Dario
Crew: David (Cameraman + Director), Dario (Director)
Costume and Props: OS Map, Photo, Page, Satchel. Dario, mask, coat, formal. Clarice, ordinary clothes, satchel.
Equipment: Camera, Tripod
Potential Issues: Continuity issues - linking the two settings together. Lighting - Taking too long and it gets too dark, if we film after school. Weather - Filming outside means that if the weather changes during filming, may cause continuity issues.
Risk Assessment: Low - Running/chase, someone could fall and injure themselves. Abandoned building has debris, so actors must be careful when just outside the building.
2)
Date: 11/12/13
Time: 3 - 6 pm
Location: Under School Stage
Shots: 16-44
Actors: Clarice, David, Dario
Crew: Dario (Cameraman + Director), David (Director)
Costume and Props: Lantern, Torch, Map, Matches, Diary, Page. Dario, mask, coat, formal. Clarice, ordinary clothes, satchel. David, shirt, trousers, satchel.
Equipment: Camera, Tripod, Light
Potential Issues: Continuity issues - linking the two settings together. Lighting - issues, dark inside, lack of convenient light source,
Risk Assessment: Low - Running/chase, someone could fall and injure themselves. Dark, we can't see everything in the room. Risk, Candle, must be put out when not in use and kept away from flammable materials.
David Ziolkowski and Dario F-D
Friday, 20 December 2013
Casting
Casting research
Clarice is our first option for our main character choice as seen in our interview above she is the perfect candidate for Clara the character that we would like to display in our opening sequence. She is the right age and appearance that we would like. I have a close contact with her, and she lives close by and is available for filming. Her clothing fits our needs and so does her age appearance as well as drama acting qualifications.
Ana is our second option for Clara's character, she is also very available and lives close by, however we just found out that she will be on holiday during the time that we need to film, which means that we won't be able to use her.
For the reasons above i believe my availability and knowledge of what we want in the sequence makes me appropriate to play this role.
Our final character is Dario who will be the antagonist in our opening sequence, his mise-en-scene also matches what we want, he will be wearing a dark shady and mysterious coat that will make him blend in with the shadows, the availability of this person is high as he is my group partner, and so he will also know what exactly to do according to synopsis that we wrote.
-David Ziolkowski
Sunday, 8 December 2013
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
Location
Our next location was next to the forest and it will be the exterior of the hideout of one of our characters, as you can see from this panorama shot, the building in the middle is where we will focus our filming on however we might have an extreme long shot similar to this to establish the location of the next scene, we don't plan to have more than 4 or 5 shots of this.
Here is a close up view/ one of our potential shots for the first location. It has connotations of abandonment, danger and the fact that it is old adds to our storyline of a mystery being with held for centuries. This is our most likely location at the moment as we cant seem to find one quite like it.
For our second location we want to give it an underground cellar type feel, as we think that this is a key element in helping us create suspense and tension effectively. The location that we have chosen is also extremely convenient as it is in our school and we will likely have authorization to adjust the location to our needs e.g paint symbols on the walls. We also have a few handy props at disposal from the drama department as this location is under the stage, furthermore we will try to get floodlights to light up our cellar from the photography department hopefully; therefore at school we have many opportunities and possibilities and advantages as oppose to filming completely reliant on what me and Dario can get our hands on.
However there was another location that we had been considering which is in Imperial Court in Vauxhall as my dad is refurbishing the building he has access to the extensive cellar system under the building, however we also run the risk of not being allowed there or get permission to film as it is technically a private property. We also considered the factors of price, as we are extremely low budget we have very little money for travel and would preferably stay more local, on the other hand it is a very good location for filming, just all in all not practical enough.
Potential health and safety issues + practicality.
1st location, is in hounslow, the area that we want to film in is dodgy and is a hot spot for local chavs and waste men, shattered glass on the floor and needles from drug use make raise the risk of injury as well as the questionable stability of the building that we would film in. Practicality wise it would be hard to get equipment to this area, furthermore painting our symbols on the walls would possibly be easier to get away with than if we did it in school however this could be debatable, as the paints and brushes are in school.
Our second location in school is fairly safe as there will always be a teacher near by, however there are some safety aspects to be cautious of, for example the myriads of wires that surround the school basement could be a very potential hazard if where not careful, boiling hot copper pipes are severely dangerous to be around in the dark, but these problems can be overcome by staying away from certain parts of the basement. The dark could cause accidental collisions with the many tables scattered around downstairs making this are less ideal.
In conclusion both settings have potential hazards, but we should be fine if we're careful.
-David Ziolkowski
Saturday, 23 November 2013
Script 2nd Draft
I fear I have been followed. If anyone ever finds this, please, reader, you must stop the followers, soon it will be to late ...
They're here.'
Script Draft
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1996
DAVID lights candle. He picks it up, start to light up walls, looking at symbols on the wall, gets out a diary and pencil.
EXT. FOREST, EVENING, PRESENT DAY
CLARA walking through forest with a map, page and photo, looking at them, finding her way to the abandoned building.
DAVID (narration):
April 7th, 1996. After searching for months, finally I have found it, and in good time too...
CLARA approaches and enters the building.
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1996
DAVID writing in diary, by candlelight, on floor.
DAVID (narration) Cont.:
...the followers seem to have been getting closer to stopping me. Desmond's hideout appears to have been abandoned for quite a while.
Behind DAVID, strange noise heard. David looks around, thinks it's nothing, continues to write.
INT. HIDEOUT, EVENING TIME, CELLAR, PRESENT DAY
CLARA rustles around bag, gets out torch. She shines torch about just looking around at first, then notices symbols, crouches, appears to study them in detail.
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1996
DAVID, looking around some more with the candle, discovers a map crumpled in the corner, squinting as he looks closely at it, starts to write some more in the diary, excitedly.
DAVID (narration) Cont.:
The findings seem greater than I had ever perceived. This, changes, everything. Finally we just might be able to understand what happened during the missing days!
DAVID, hears more noises, like creeks, muffled wind noise. Score intensifies. Point of view of David looking around, moving forward, waving candle about. It extinguishes and he rushes to his matches to quickly light it again, panicky sounds under his breath. Lights a match quickly which extinguishes.
INT. HIDEOUT, EVENING TIME, CELLAR, PRESENT DAY
CLARA, finds matches and box on the floor all destroyed, noises heard, she looks around, then continues to search about, shines the torch around the room again. She stumbles upon a candle on the floor. Picks it up and holds it in front of the torchlight, studying it.
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1996
DAVID holding the candle in the same position, panicking, waving the candle about.
DAVID, Quickly he whips out the diary again in a rush writing...
DAVID (narration) Cont.:
CLARA stumbles across the diary on the floor with missing pages, she picks it up carefully. She gets out the page she had and finds where it was ripped out. She starts to read, looking concerned.
A loud noise shocks her and she slams the diary shut, looking around carefully.
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1996
DAVID holding the candle in the same position, panicking, waving the candle about.
DAVID, dialogue:
...Hello?
...Is anyone there?
DAVID (narration) Cont.:
I fear I have been followed.
INT. HIDEOUT, EVENING TIME, CELLAR, PRESENT DAY
CLARA stumbles across the diary on the floor with missing pages, she picks it up carefully. She gets out the page she had and finds where it was ripped out. She starts to read, looking concerned.
DAVID (narration) Cont.:
If anyone ever finds this, please, you must stop the followers, soon it will be too late ...
A loud noise shocks her and she slams the diary shut, looking around carefully.
CLARA dialogue:
...Hello?
...Who's there?
I'm scared, stop scaring me...
Noises behind CLARA. Close up of her face in distress, she begins running towards the exit, Point Of View. She stumbles and trips.
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1996
EXT. FOREST/PARK, EVENING TIME, PRESENT DAY
DAVID dialogue:
Come out, I'm not scared
Tilt up shot of David from a low angle to a high angle. Over shoulder shot of DAVID looking at what appears to be a figure, approaching it he realizes its nothing.EXT. FOREST/PARK, EVENING TIME, PRESENT DAY
CLARA is seen running away in terror from the building, she suddenly halts and notices a hooded and masked figure in the distance, who is slowly walking towards her.
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1996
DAVID is heading towards the exit, as he is a shadow can be seen following his on the wall, a shot of a high angle on David, antagonist is seen over DAVID'S shoulder. He writes one last thing at a steady pace. He then shuts the book in his hand and slowly turns around. He looks in shock, and lets go of the diary, dropping it to the floor. The antagonist steps towards him, this time seen up close.
DAVID (narration) Cont.:
They're here.
EXT. FOREST/PARK, EVENING TIME, PRESENT DAY
CLARA still running. The pursuer is seen following her, chasing CLARA at a slightly slower speed. CLARA drops her bag. She stops running and turns and looks at both the bag and the pursuer, unsure if she should attempt to retrieve it. She leaps for it, but the pursuer reaches her, the score reaches a dramatic climax as we look at the pursuer looming over CLARA. Cuts to black. Film title over black.
By Dario Feddersen-Doyle and David Ziolkowski
By Dario Feddersen-Doyle and David Ziolkowski
Wednesday, 20 November 2013
Script 1st Draft
Based on the ideas from our brainstorm of what should occur in our opening sequence, we decided that we like the idea of a diary being found and narrating events in the past, but having some kind of parallel to the present. The diary entry that is read over the top of the scene had to set up enigmas and add to the suspense of the scene. This is what we has in mind for the diary entry.
I fear I have been followed. If anyone ever finds this and if something happens to me, please, reader, you must stop the (hidden) from hiding the truth forever. For the sake of all that is human, you must reveal everything.
They're here.'
Script Draft
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1989
DAVID lights candle. He picks it up, start to light up walls, looking at symbols on the wall, gets out a diary and pencil.
EXT. FOREST, EVENING, PRESENT DAY
CLARA walking through forest with a map, page and photo, looking at them, finding here way to the abandoned building.
DAVID (narration):
April 7th, 1989. After hunting and searching for months, finally I have found it, and in good time too...
CLARA approaches and enters the building.
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1989
DAVID writing in diary, by candlelight, on floor.
DAVID (narration) Cont.:
...the followers seem to have been getting closer to stopping me. Desmond's hideout appears to have been abandoned for quite a while.
Behind DAVID, mysterious figures rushes past for a split second, strange noise heard. David looks around, thinks it's nothing, continues to write.
INT. HIDEOUT, EVENING TIME, CELLAR, PRESENT DAY
CLARA rustles around bag, gets out torch. She shines torch about just looking around at first, then notices symbols, crouches, appears to study them in detail.
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1989
DAVID, looking around some more with the candle, discovers a map crumpled in the corner, squinting as he looks closely at it, starts to write some more in the diary, excitedly.
DAVID (narration) Cont.:
It's hard to make things out with candlelight, but the findings seem greater than I had ever perceived. This, changes, everything. Finally we just might be able to understand what happened during the missing days!
DAVID, hears more noises, like creeks, muffled wind noise. Score intensifies. Point of view of David looking around, moving forward, waving candle about. It extinguishes and he rushes to his matches to quickly light it again, panicky sounds under his breath.
INT. HIDEOUT, EVENING TIME, CELLAR, PRESENT DAY
CLARA, finds matches and box on the floor, noises can start to be heard in the background, she looks around, then continues to search about, shines the torch around the room some more. She stumbles upon a candle on the floor. Picks it up and holds it in front of the torchlight, studying it.
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1989
DAVID holding the candle in the same position, panicking, waving the candle about, looking for his follower. Quickly he whips out the diary again, in a rush writing.
CLARA stumbles across the diary on the floor, she picks it up carefully. She gets out the page she had and finds where it was ripped out. She starts to read, looking concerned.
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1989
DAVID holding the candle in the same position, panicking, waving the candle about, looking for his follower. Quickly he whips out the diary again, in a rush writing.
DAVID (narration) Cont.:
I fear I have been followed.
INT. HIDEOUT, EVENING TIME, CELLAR, PRESENT DAY
CLARA stumbles across the diary on the floor, she picks it up carefully. She gets out the page she had and finds where it was ripped out. She starts to read, looking concerned.
DAVID (narration) Cont.:
If I get caught then no one will ever know of the missing days events, and all of humankind will be in danger.
Noises behind CLARA. She knows she has been followed, looks shocked. She runs out the hideout, pack her things in her bag in the process.
EXT. FOREST/PARK, EVENING TIME, PRESENT DAY
CLARA is seen running away in terror from the building, looking back to see her pursuer.
INT. HIDEOUT, PITCH BLACK, CELLAR, 1989
DAVID knows the antagonist is right behind him, they are seen over DAVID'S shoulder. He writes one last thing at a steady pace. He then shuts the book in his hand and slowly turns around. He looks in shock, and lets go of the diary, dropping it to the floor. The antagonist steps towards him, this time seen up close.
DAVID (narration) Cont.:
They're here.
EXT. FOREST/PARK, EVENING TIME, PRESENT DAY
CLARA still running. The pursuer is seen following her, chasing CLARA at a slightly slower speed. CLARA drops her bag. She stops running and turns and looks at both the bag and the pursuer, unsure if she should attempt to retrieve it. She leaps for it, but the pursuer reaches her, the score reaches a dramatic climax as we look at the pursuer looming over CLARA. Cuts to black. Film title over black.
By Dario Feddersen-Doyle and David Ziolkowski
By Dario Feddersen-Doyle and David Ziolkowski
Thriller Genres
There are numerous thriller sub genres, as each incorporates
its different conventions, storylines and elements it creates a unique atmosphere
as each different factor adds demonstrates different attitudes to the audience.
Some of the most prominent thriller sub genres are:
Conspiracy thriller: is a type where the hero/heroine
confronts challenging and numerous group of enemies, or organisations which the main character often is the only one who realises the extent of the enemies power. Conspiracies sometimes based of sects, like freemasonry and illuminati, and/or integrated with political corruption and evil.
Crime thriller: This kind of genre is a hybrid of both crime films
and thrillers that may be an attempt at a crime, or the police side trying to stop the crime, which is the main story plot convention for crime thrillers. These films often focus on the criminal(s) but can also be viewed from the perspective of detective or policeman.
Central topics of these films include serial killers/murders, robberies,
chases, shootouts,
heists
and double-crosses. Scarface by Al Pacino could most likely be an example.
Legal thriller: A type of film involving lawyers and their employees, that are often faced with a situation of having to present a case at court and defend the protagonist.
Political thriller: In which the hero/heroine must
ensure the stability of the government that employs him. The success of Seven Days in
May (1962) by Fletcher
Knebel,
Psychological thriller: In which (until the often violent
resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional,
rather than physical. Characters, either by accident or their own curiousness,
are dragged into a dangerous conflict or situation that they are not prepared
to resolve. At times, the characters attempt solving, or are involved in, a
mystery. The suspense created by psychological thrillers often comes from two
or more characters preying upon one another's minds, either by playing
deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's
mental state. The Alfred Hitchcock films Suspicion
Or the more recent film silence of the lambs,
Comedy
thriller: A genre
that combines the contrapuntal elements of comedy and thrillers, a combination of humour and
suspense or action. Films such as Silver Streak.
Spy thriller: In which the protagonist is generally a government agent who must take
violent action against agents of a rival government or (in recent years)
terrorists. It is a significant aspect of British cinema, with leading British
directors such as Alfred Hitchcock
making notable contributions and many films set in the British Secret Service. The spy film
usually fuses the action and science fiction genres, however, some spy films
fall safely in the action genre rather than thriller (e.g. James Bond),
especially those having frequent shootouts, car chases and such.
Supernatural thriller: In which the film brings in an otherworldly
element (such as fantasy and/or the supernatural)
mixed with tension, suspense and plot twists. Sometimes the protagonist and/or
villain have some psychic
ability and superpowers. Examples of this could be films like 6th sense.
Sub Genre Audiences
There is a correlation and connection between different sub genres and different audiences, you are likely to find the same kinds of people who are sharing similar interests to watch the same kind of movies as each other. Each sub genre attracts or repels certain demographics for example, many people are repelled by watching horror as they find it to gruesome, whereas some people get a thrill from it and enjoy it. The type of genre you prefer can usually depend on your age, with children enjoying animated or family friendly movies, teenagers enjoying thrillers and horrors and adults enjoying drama etc. The last demographic separation of film tastes is through gender, boys and girls respond differently to different stimuli, therefore one sex may prefer certain plots and story lines more than the other gender, this can be displayed by the example of girls enjoying romantic films.
There is a narrow area for a thriller to modify its conventions and morph into a different genre before it is a different genre, so what this means for thrillers is that they have to involve suspense and tension, otherwise they would be classed as a different genre which would mean audiences everywhere would never be sure what kind of film their watching. So it is hard to classify these films as they are not an easily categorized. Audiences are not always particularly bothered about genre and dont always look out for certain genres, however knowing the exact genre helps narrow down the films that the audience would be interested in.
-David Ziolkowski
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