Storyboarding? Yes, they may not be the most interesting part of pre-production and planning but a storyboard is very important in order to pre-visualise a motion picture, graphic or interactive media sequence. It takes a while to put a storyboard together but this will make it easier for me and my group whilst filming our thriller as we can see what shots we need to film from what angle and whilst in the process of doing this we can add or remove shots as well.
Can I also just point out.. I am not an artist, so my drawings aren't the best so I apologise if it is hard to see what is happening in the shot but, hopefully from the descriptions I wrote below you can work it out! ;)
So here is the finished storyboard; If any changes are made whilst filming, don't worry I will be sure to update you in a later blog! See you on my next post, hope you enjoyed!
Hey guys, today I thought I'd do some research on the DSLR camera which I am using to film my thriller. Obviously, I NEED to know how to use the camera but I want to know how I can use this camera without making it obvious I am a beginner when it comes to film making so, I've been on youtube watching a range of videos about the camera and different effects, settings and ways to use it. I thought I'd link them because they are very handy for people like me!
One of the first videos I came across was called 'How to achieve a film look' and I thought this sounded perfect and is perfect for what I am looking for. This covers the basic settings of the camera settings to a achieve a common style and some effective editing techniques. Obviously I can't learn everything in 1 day so this is just a few tips and tricks to get me started. I especially like the three way colour corrector part of this video; as my thriller will be filmed in the dark, I think this editing technique will be very useful if we want to change the lighting or make some shots more highlighted than others.
Another video which I was intrigued to watch was called 'Top 15 Mistakes Beginner Film Makers Make'. Not all of the points mentioned in this video relate to what I am doing however a couple of them were very interesting and are good tips to help me prevent wasting time in post production when I realise I have made a mistake. For example:
Poor shot composition - I need to ensure there is no dead space in shots and use the rule of thirds when shooting to find balance and symmetry in my compositions.
Depth is important in shots to build layers and makes them more dynamic and rich.
Try not to include unnecessary insert shots if they don't add any tension or information. Only have insert close up shots on important areas and objects because by using a close up or insert shot you are telling your audience to pay close attention to it.
There are a few vital parts of the pre-production (planning and research) for my thriller opening and one of them includes the risk assessment which you can see below. If you are unsure what a risk assessment actually it, it is a systematic process of evaluating the potential risks that may be involved in a projected activity or undertaking - in this case, the filming of my thriller opening. Now this may only be a sheet of paper but this sheet of paper is the key to our safety. Although many of the risks on here are VERY over the top and over exaggerated, we wanted to ensure we covered all possible risks and decided how we try to reduce the chance of them happening. By pointing out all the risks which are possible during our production and filming time, it enables us to be more prepared and see how we can work around them. So... DO NOT laugh at the risks such as 'struck by lightening' or 'attacked by animal' because you never know.. a fox may stroll into the garden (where we are filming) and cause a scene, lol. Ok so I'll stop rambling now, here you go!
Hi guys, a few days back I posted a 'one page pitch' post and that basically explained what my thriller opening is going to be based on and what me and my group's main ideas were and here is the the one page pitch being presented to our teachers to further explain the video.
Hi guys so you may be confused when first seeing the title of this post... well today we was given a mark scheme to show how our thrillers are marked and we were able to see what areas the examiner would look at when giving out marks. So after we had a look at the mark scheme, our task was to watch a couple of past AS thriller openings and mark them; it didn't seem too hard but the some clips me (and my class friends) gave a much lower mark than it actually got awarded.
The mark scheme criteria for a level 4 (highest grade) is that there is evidence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:
Material appropriate for the target audience and task;
Using titles appropriately according to institutional conventions;
Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task;
shooting material appropriate for the task set including controlled use of camera, attention to framing, variety of shot distance and close attention to mis en scene;
Using editing so that meaning is apparent to viewer and making selective and appropriate use of shot transitions and other effects.
Here are a couple of examples...
This was the first clip we watched and the one I enjoyed the most. I thought the voice over was a very effective use of sound instead of having any dialogue in the clip and the music in the background coincided with it very well to create an edgy feel to it. Overall I awarded this clip a level 4 which is equivalent to an 'A' grade because the editing skills were excellent, along with the sound choices, titling and they incorporated a wide variety of shots throughout. This clip was awarded a level 4 (48/60) by the real examiner.
Another thriller opened we watched was this one above. This clips first 30 seconds I thought was excellent with the dark eerie shots and the clear titling on screen however after the titling many of the shots were blurry and the black and white effect made it look rather amateur. Also the first shots were taken at night however the rest of the clip was in the day light which shows they hadn't thought it through properly. The class agreed that this clip would be awarded a high level 2 because there was a few mistakes and problems throughout this clip, but, it was actually awarded a high level 3 (47/60).
I found this task really helpful because I was able to spot where people had done really well and what looked good e.g. the different effects, different titling and shots and I could also see which areas people didn't do so well in; so I was basically able to see the do's and dont's when filming my own thriller opening! I learned that acting isn't as important as you may think when filming and the main things you need to focus on and make sure are up done to your best ability is the sound, editing, camera angles/movements and the mis en scene because these are the areas the examiners are going to concentrate on.
Recently me and my group have been working on our screenplay so that when it comes to film we have a basic idea of what camera shots we are going to take, what dialogue is going to be involved and which characters will play each part. Here are our idea's so far! Btw.. when filming out thriller some changes may take place. E.g more dialogue may be added, characters may change etc because we may get different ideas and decide different things will work better. ENJOY :)
Hey guys so if you read my last blog you will of read that I wanted to show you what me and my group have been thinking/planning for our titling of the thriller. Since we want it to be mysterious, eery and loud we wanted to do something similar to 'Insidious'. Here is the opening of their title.
Hola guys, I thought I'd make a brief post about my thriller and my overall ideas so far! These ideas/plans may change but for now this is what we are planning. Hope you enjoy reading :)
I created an one page pitch which briefly explained the ideas of my thriller opening.
The title of the thriller will be 'NOCTURNAL' because the setting will be dark and at night and it sounds mysterious.
Film genre; Horror thriller
Length; 125 minutes (opening around 2 minutes).
Target Audience; Choosing the target audience is such an important step because its based on who you want to aim your film at and which age group you think are going to be most interested (obviously anyone is able to watch the film but we think this age group are likely to enjoy it the most). The age group I chose was 15-24 and this is because they are more likely to be able to relate to this film and the characters are are around this age also.
Story Synopsis; A group of girls and their gay best friend decide to go for a weekend away in a cabin. (The cabin is owned by one of the girl's uncle). One by one throughout the film each character will disappear and not return apart from one girl who is left to believe the killer has been caught and she is safe. The film skips to when the girl has grown up and has a family of her own and her children want to visit the cabin which her uncle owned but turns out the experience which took place when she was younger, may be relapsing...
Visual Realisation; The film will be fast based as it skips from her teenage years to her adulthood.
Similar films include, 'The hills of eyes' and 'Wrong turn'.
How does our thriller differ and why it appeals to our target audience? The thriller will be more realistic and relatable (obviously not the disappearing part) which is directly aimed at the younger audience. The film has a moral and educates young people abut the dangers of being independent in an unsafe area. It shows the consequences of what could happen in different/new situations if people don't be aware and aren't careful.
