Pitch

Opening Pitch
We wanted to create a tense thriller, following the exploration of an abondoned building by three characters; however unbeknownst to them, a fourth person is following them throughout their journey.

Mise en Scéne
The most important element for us to achieve with our opening is suspense, meaning the mise en scéne will be extremely important. The location of our film is an abandoned building, containing cracks in the walls and deserted rooms (besides the junk lying around); low-key lit rooms do well to set the scene, normally only offering a single light source. We would also have shots of the characters on the roof of the building, which would of course be fully lit; however the light sources get dimmer and dimmer as they venture deeper into the building, showing their descent into the darkness.

Character Profiles
We were originally planning to have 4 characters within the film, however due to a lack of willing cast members we instead opted for 3.

Leader
This is the character who organised the trip due to his previous experience, and leads the group throughout their journey of exploration. He would constantly reassure certain members and boost the morale of the group. We didn't want him to have any stereotypical defining features of a leader, such as height, build or scars. He needed to be assertive, fair and loyal, and above all responsible for the group. His confidence would contrast greatly to that of the other member of the group.

Scared character
This would be one of our stereotype breaking characters. He was going to be tall and well built, with a seemingly alpha-male attitude which masks his genuinely scared self. He was going to wear clothes that would make him out to be a stereotypical jock or chav, as in many other films they are seen to be cocky and arrogant, the exact opposite of in ours.

Technical character
The tech guy would be the person who records their journey throughout the building, occasionally having a first-person shot from his point of view to reinforce this. His relationship with the alpha-male character would be close, and his overall attitude would be passively positive. Most of the time he would be trying to get to the scared guy, messing with his head etc. He'd never feel a need to turn back as he has all confidence that the building is safe.

Brave, unamused character
This character was originally going to be the scared guy's girlfriend, who wanted to join the exploration. With this couple we are essentially playing on the un-stereotypical views of what their attitudes and feelings would be, by swapping them round. So instead of the big jock-like character who would normally be reassuring his scared girlfriend that nothing's wrong, it's the other-way round. She would find the building interesting, and show more confidence than would be expected of her.

Our final character design was that we dropped the scared guy's girlfriend. Due to this, we had to alter the scared guy's character slightly, because he was originally only there because of his girlfriend. Now that his girlfriend no longer exists, we had to change him from a jock-like character which would look notiably out of place, to a character similar to that of the other two.

Our final characters were the leader, scared character and technical character.

Storyboard

Click the images to view the storyboard.

Brainstorming - Plot ideas

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The Plot - The plot was originally going to involve a number of people who gradually disappear until only one character remained; however we realised that the commitment needed by the cast would be too much for them and would possibly leave us too close to the deadline. Due to this we opted for a cast of 3-4 characters, which we could easily work and go further in-depth with.

The basic outline of the plot would be that 3-4 characters venture into an abondoned location, and that one of them would eventually stray from the group and become lost. There would also be an added element of a hidden figure, following them throughout the opening.

Location - We had a number of various locations for our film to be set. Ranging from:

Hospitals

Hospitals

Car Parks

Abandonded Houses

Mental Homes

Train stations

Our Houses

Forset or Woods

Fields

A Long Valley

Burnt Down Buildings

Sheds

Garages

Airports

The above locations were merely ideas, we didn't actually intend to film in very adventurous places such as airports and hospitals.

Casting and Role Allocation

Our group of 3 consisted of:

Sam Walker (Me) - Acting as the “scared guy” character.

Alex Hawkesford - Acting as the “leader” character.

Jamal Leigh-Hanson - Acting as the “tech-guy” character.

Jack Harrison also helped with filming some shots and acting, and we did the same for him.

The plot for the story was created between all three of us, and is a result of our combined ideas; from this we developed our storyboard and Jamal created a script. Alex was the cameraman for most of the shots, except for those in which he was acting, in which case the cameraperson would be me. For the shots where all three of us had to be on screen, we had an off-screen helper. The responsibilities of the director were split between Alex, Jamal and I, and we used a storyboard to plan out the shots. Alex and Jamal worked collaboratively on the titles, whilst I scouted out potential locations for our filming. I proposed several soundtracks for the film, which we then voted on and chose our favourite. Editing was a joint effort of Alex and I, as I have done previous work with editing videos, and Alex had a decent knowledge of the editing application. All of us acted in our movie to ensure a concise filming schedule.

Questionnaire

In this post I will review my questionnaire findings to assess my target audience and chosen genre of film.

According to the UK Film Council, cinema audiences are mostly young, with the 7–34 age group making up 64% of the audience. This is why I generally asked younger people to complete my questionnaire, as they are the age range that makes up the demographic.

I asked an even amount of female and male voters, then whilst referencing their individual tallies with their favourite film genre; I saw that 3 of each gender voted for thriller, making my target audience female and male.

The people that voted for thriller the most were the working class.

The results of this questionnaire primarily show that my target audience are male or females in the 20-25 range, generally categorised as the working class.

The results of my questionnaire show that thriller is the preferred option of the three genres, which is why I have chosen it as the genre for my own film opening.

28 Weeks Later - Horror

28 Weeks Later is a 2007 post apocalyptic horror movie, which is a sequel to 28 Days Later, directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.

The film opens straight into a close up of a match, the lighting is low key and the shot is hand held.

The opening shot.

This shot is followed by another closeup, which keeps the viewer in the dark as to the location of the characters.

An extreme close up of Alice's face.

All of the shots in the opening are filmed hand held, which brings the viewer into the movie, and makes them relate to the group of survivors. There is no soundtrack, only diegetic sound and dialogue. The lighting is very low key, and appears to be only lit by candles, this creates a sense of claustrophobia in the movie.

Don and Alice look very dirty and exhausted.

The couple are shown to be coping, but the dialogue in this shot proves otherwise, Don asks Alice "Are you alright sweetheart?" to which she replies "Yeah I'm fine... No I'm not fine, it's all f*cked." This is the first real, solid statement that there is something very wrong.

The film then introduces the new minor characters that will die very shortly, a caring old woman, a man reading a newspaper (that he has obviously read many times), an old man that is trying to hold everyone together, and a young girl that has recently lost her boyfriend.

The young girl is very instrumental in the opening scene, as she is still obviously in denial that her boyfriend is probably dead.

The young girl 'Karen'  passes food to the place where her boyfriend would sit.

The man that was reading the newspaper, 'Jacob' bursts out at Karen in anger, saying that her boyfriend "Isn't breathing" and that "the only food he would be interested in is your neck."

Jacob bluntly tells Karen the truth, a close up is used to emphasise his emotion.

He finishes his speech by saying "There are no survivors, it's just is in here and them out there." This makes the viewer quickly speculate on what could be happening outside, then a heavy knock is heard by the people at the dinner table.

A range of shots, from close up to long are used to show the reactions of the people at the table

A close up on Jacob shows his surprise.

A long shot is used to show the reactions of everyone at the table.

A medium shot is used to show Don and Alice's indecision of whether to help.

Throughout these shots a non-diegetic score is building up, creating a foreboding atmosphere.

Don rushes to the door to help, but still picks up a weapon from the side as a precaution, as he opens the door the scene is flooded with light and the child outside is obviously terrified.

Don on the left, with the child on the right, a contrast between dark and light is used to great effect here.

The child is bought inside and recounts his story as Karen walks off on her own, upset as she thought it would have been her boyfriend.

Karen is then quickly attacked by the "Infected", our first glimpse of them shows them as crazed attackers. A fast series of extreme close ups and medium shots are used along with hand held cameras to create a sense of terror in the film.

Two shots used in quick succession are extreme close ups of eyes, the left shot shows an infected persons, and the right one shows Karens.

Another shot follows quickly and is a close up of an infected person biting Karen, which in turn will infect Karen. Jacob runs in and pulls her away from her attacker, who then falls onto him and turns.

An infected person bites Karen, infecting her.

Karen's eyes turn red, signifying that the infection has taken place.

After Karen is infected she tries to kill Jacob, Don then kills her with the crowbar, and tells the others to run.

The opening scene of this movie relies heavily on contrast, there is constant contrast between light and dark shots, loud and quiet shots, and peaceful and hectic shots.

Promotion

28 Weeks Later uses the colour red throughout its promotional material, this instils a sense of fear and foreboding in the viewer.

The DVD cover.

The DVD cover features one of the main characters of the film and only a simple colour scheme. The viewers eye is drawn to the surgical mask and this suggests that the infection is trying to be beaten.

28 weeks later poster.

The poster for 28 weeks later features the same colour scheme as the DVD cover, but features a more militaristic theme. It is created in the style of a genuine danger poster and draws the viewer in with the contrasting text.

A Clockwork Orange - Thriller

A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 dark thriller directed by Stanley Kubrick.

The titles are very unconventional, using a bold red and blue colour scheme, however the colour red is one of the most striking colours, it makes the viewer think of blood, anger, pain and love all at the same time, which relates to how Alex (the movie's main character) views the above. He thrives on anger and pain, and loves creating it. The titles background then cuts to a medium blue, which marries with Alex's striking blue eyes, shown in the close up opening shot of the film.

Throughout the opening titles and sequence a heavy, off key score is used, with consistently placed heavy drums or gongs. This aids in the buildup of suspense of the opening. The first shot begins as a close up, but then strangely changes into a slow zoom out, revealing Alex's friends or "Droogs" as he calls them (who he briefly introduces through a narrated voiceover), and then reveals an entire room full of strangely attired people.

The opening shot, a close up showing Alex's striking eyes.

The end of the opening shot, a long shot revealing the entire room, strange and futuristic clothing is used.

Throughout the zoom, Alex narrates what is happening in the room, and why they are there. The last word used in the opening is "ultraviolence" which is one of the major subjects of the film.

The next shot plays upon stereotypes, it features a drunken Irish man singing a famous Irish song in a tunnel. The lighting is low key, and the Irish man is lower than Alex and his gang, and they are mostly silouhetted by the light.

Alex and his gang prepare to beat up the old man.

Anaylsis of Alex

Alex is obviously the leader of the group, his speech is poetic, and slightly unnerving. From the offset he is shown to be disturbed, via his speech and the poses he acts in.

Alex speaks to his first victim.

He is clad in white, a surprisingly contradicting choice for someone of his nature, you would expect him to wear dark, or black clothes. The colour white could also represent his psychological instability, as it is the colour of mental asylum gowns.

Alex's face as he speaks to his next set of victims.

In the opening of the film the lighting on Alex is usually low key, and doesn't reveal all of his face he usually snarls at his prey.

All in all, Alex is portrayed as a controlling, psychotic dictator and tyrant of his group.

Promotion


The cover of the movie features a cartoon of Alex holding a blade, with an eye, which relates to his correctional regime at the asylum.

Movie box cover.

The poster for the film features the same image as the film cover, but with the added text "Being the adventures of a young man whose principal interests are rape, ultra-violence and Beethoven." This is a very strange summary of the film, as it gets straight to the point and allows a reader to envisualise the movie. It is also strange to pair Beethoven with the words rape, and ultra-violence.

A Clockwork Orange poster.

As A Clockwork Orange is adapted from a novel by Anthony Burgess, I thought I should include the book cover, which shows the eye that Alex has with the false eyelashes, and the same hat.

A Clockwork Orange book cover.

Codes and Conventions of Horrors

The genre of movies "Horrors" have a wide range of codes and conventions that usually appear in them, these codes and conventions define the horror genre.


Camera

The opening shot of most horrors is an establishing shot of the location it is shot in, the camera is usually fixed and steady. The first shot is usually followed by a series of close ups of props or plot devices that instill a feeling of horror within the audience.

Editing

The only editing present in horrors may be desaturating the image to create a more moody feel, and fast cuts of footage to build suspense.

Sound

Horrors usually begin with diegetic sound, i.e a murderer hiding in bushes, and a non diegetic sountrack or score will fade in. It will usually be an off key high pitched piece, it will be erratic. No dialogue will generally be used at first.

Mise en Scéne

The mise en scéne of horrors differs depending on where it was set. However the antagonist in the movie will generally be concealed or wearing strange and disturbing outfits. The lighting will usually be low key to create an ominous atmosphere.

Codes and Conventions of Thrillers

The genre of movies "Thrillers" have a wide range of codes and conventions that usually appear in them, these codes and conventions define the thriller genre.

Camera

The opening shot of most thrillers is an establishing shot of the location it is shot in, the camera is usually fixed and steady. The first shot is usually followed by a series of close ups and medium shots to keep the audience guessing.

Editing

The only editing present in thrillers may be desaturating the image to create a more clinical feel, and fast cuts of footage to build suspense.

Sound

Thrillers almost always begin with a non diegetic soundtrack or score, it will usually be a heavy or bassy piece of music, it will be consistent and deep. The diegetic sound will usually be quiet or muted until the shot changes to a shot of a character, when the music will suddenly cur out. Dialogue or a voice over can sometimes be used to introduce the protagonist.

Mise en Scéne

The mise en scéne of thrillers differs depending on where it was set. However the antagonist in the movie will generally be wearing darker clothes, that are loose and concealing. The lighting will usually be low key to create an ominous atmosphere.

Codes and Conventions of Romantic Comedies

The genre of movies "Romantic Comedies" have a wide range of codes and conventions that usually appear in them, these codes and conventions define the romantic comedy genre.

Camera

The opening shot of most romantic comedies is an establishing shot of the location it is shot in, the camera is usually fixed and steady. The first shot is usually followed by a close up to introduce the main characters in the movie.

Editing

There isn't many instances of editing in romantic comedies, however there can be a cross cut to another main character of the movie, or from an establishing shot of the setting to a long shot of a characters home.

Sound

Romantic comedies almost always begin with a non diegetic soundtrack or score, it will usually be a strings instrument or a jazzy piece of music, it will be upbeat and light hearted. The diegetic sound will usually be quiet or muted until the shot changes to a shot of a character. Dialogue or a voice over will usually be used to introduce them.

Mise en Scéne

The mise en scéne of romantic comedies differs depending on where it was set. Those set in England play on stereotypes of British middle class people, however those set in America usually feature the stereotypes of a suburban person, or a businessperson. The lighting is usually mid key or high key, which gives a light hearted feel to the movie.