Soundtrack Possibilites

For our film, the sound is very important, and will create a very tense atmosphere. We have been looking around and brainstormed some ideas for a soundtrack. By having a soundtrack scored by someone we know, and sitting in on the process, we can get a real ear for what we want to get.


There were two main points we wanted to make with this potential score before we made it. Firstly we were going to look at what type of instruments we wanted to create the music, after discussion, we decided that a guitar would be the best option. We then wanted to determine the pace of the song, so looked at several different options, like whether we wanted it fast or slow.


The Guitar: We wanted to achieve a heavy, distorted sound from the guitar, so we looked round for inspiration. One track we picked out to try and replicate was 'Just' by Radiohead, we only really looked at trying to replicate a similar sound from the opening riff (0.18-0.30). We liked the squeal like noise from the guitar and the heavy distortion over the top. We then looked at another model which could of suited our film perfectly, 'In a House, In a Heartbeat' by John Murphy was used in the film '28 Days Later'. We found this track to be very eerie and create a good atmosphere for the start of our film. The heavy guitars towards the end and the general build of pace during the whole song really impressed us. We have decided to try and replicate these two guitar tracks in our score.

We also looked at Radiohead again, but only really wanted to look at one particular bit. At the beginning of 'Fake Plastic Trees' an A chord is played, with an alternating strum patters. We believe this type of chord with an electric guitar and some effects, could make a really intimidating sound after we altered the pitch, level and speed.

The Pace: The pace of the song by John Murphy above has the kind of build up into the main chorus which creates tension, which culminates in a big ending, like in a chase scene. So from looking at this video, ourselves and the artists can determine the speed of our piece.

This idea was only a potential idea, so even if we do compose it, it may very well turn out that it may not be used, if it didn't match the shots we had taken.

Tom Smith

Film Trailers

We will be watching a number of different trailers that are already currently in the market. As we will be creating an opening to a thriller, we will only be watching trailers related to this genre. In this post we will show a few different trailers, and then give a brief description of each one analysing what makes them good for the audience and how they successfully promote their films.


Inception                                                                                                                                                                                              
Throughout this trailer, a number of different words appear on screen to try to explain to the audience what is occurring. Vital information is shown such as the actors name, "LEONARDO DICAPRIO". A number of words appear that tell the audience what to expect, such as "Your Mind" and " Is the scene of the crime". This is very common in trailers as it introduces to the audience what the film will consist of.

The soundtrack begins with a loud, slow beat to create a gradual tension. As the intros appear, the music becomes faster paced, still accompanied by the loud beat, which over the course of the trailer changes. A sting happens as a key line is stated "I will have to steal it!" After which the soundtrack continues to play. Towards the end of the trailer, the soundtrack becomes louder and faster. Three consecutive, loud and slow beats end the trailer, at which point the films title is shown "INCEPTION"


The Strangers
Cinematic's are shown at the beginning of the trailer, displaying a forest with a river flowing through it. Then the house is shown where most of the action will be filmed in the movie. A calm and romantic scene starts the trailer to give the audience a relaxed feeling. A loud crashing noise from outside of the house disturbs the tranquillity, which suggests to the audience the bad happening start from here onwards. Words appear on screen saying "Inspired by true events" which will make the audience believe it really did happen, which always creates more fear. Throughout the trailer, it cuts from clips from the film to the words added in, this is to give a suspenseful feel to the movie. When the first villain is revealed, it is completely silent, with just the sound of soft breathing. Following on from this, a numerous amount of shots of different villains are displayed where one minute they are there and the next nowhere to be seen. This will make the audience ask themselves where have they gone? Again the mayhem calms down for a while, this is then interrupted by an axe coming through the door and nearly killing the male victim. Almost immediately a close-up of the woman victims face is shown, to show the fear this is giving her. The trailer is ended with a long shot of one of the villains, where only her face is seen, with everything else is blacked out, this is closely followed by the ending credits.

Throughout the trailer, different soundtracks are used to emphasise different scenes. To begin, slow soft piano music is played to set a relaxing, romantic feel. This is abruptly disturbed by a loud crashing noise from outside the house. The soundtrack stops and all that can be heard are the voices of the victims and a squeaky swing eerily swing back and forth. Another soundtrack slowly begins to start playing to build suspense. When the first villain is scene the soundtrack stops, and all that can be heard is the gentle breathing of the victim. As the clips start proceeding again, loud beats and different sound effects are used to scare the audience. The soundtrack cuts to that of a record player playing soft music. The scene becomes relaxing again. A large sting is then used to make the audience jump. The record player seems to go out of control and becomes louder and starts to repeat the same thing over and over. Another loud noise is played and the trailer starts to come to an end. The victims and Villain have a quiet conversation and the trailer is ended with an almost ghostly breath.


James Kinsella-Brown

Final Poster Design

Potential Poster

We created a poster for our Facebook page in which we will use to help our demographic recognise our thriller. A poster will allow us to promote our thriller and may lead to further views. In the real industry promoting the thriller is really important as money will be made by doing this.

This is one of the potential posters we wil be using. We decided to put a 5* rating at the top of the poster as we feel that the audience will feel like it is a really must see film. This could boost our viewing count.

It displays three different images of male silhouette figures. The villain is a different colour outline than the other characters and this is too really emphasise his authority over the film. We decided to use a silhouette because it will hide the identities of the figures untill the film is released, this may create tension to our audience and may want them want to find out who the characters really are.

The title is really bold and stands out from all the other parts of the poster. This is to catch the demographics eye and hope that they look out for our film in the future. A choice of faded text in the background was used to enhance the overall effect of the title.


We feel it was important to exclaim to the audience when the thriller will be available to watch because that way they can look out for it in the future. We used blood dripping text to potray some of the horrors that may appear in our film.


James Kinsella-Brown

Editing Software - Sony Vegas

Sony Vegas editing software allows clips to be edited and ordered in a simple way. The timeline enables clips to be viewed before they have even been rendered. The thriller will be put together on this program before it is transferred into Adobe After Effects to add all the extra effects.

The sounds will be done on Vegas as its quite complicated to do on After Effects. We will use a soundtrack throughout the thriller to build up tension and suspense, extra sound effects such as door slams and other sounds associated with horror may also be used.

Before the colour grading is done in After Effects a simple brightness/contrast colour correction will be applied to all the clips just to improve the quality and the overall look of the clips.

The final thriller will be rendered out in 720p at 15fps as that is what the camera films in. This will assure that we get the best quality possible out of the camera and will make our thriller look a lot sharper. The size of the finished thriller will be 1280x720 and will uploaded to both youtube and vimeo.

Alex Cirino

Editing Software - Adobe After Effects

I am going to use Adobe After Effects CS5 when editing our thriller. The software enables me to create ground breaking motion graphics and blockbuster visual effects which will improve the overall look of our thriller. 

I will use After Effects for the colour grading/colour correction as we want a scary vintage style look to the thriller, the colours used will make our thriller stand out from the rest and become more original.

After Effects will also be used for the opening title scene as lots of motion tracking is going to be used on the text so that it stays in the right place. The text is going to be masked and will come out from behind different trees. 

For one of the slow motion close up shots which we are going to use I am going to use a plugin called Twixtor. The plugin enables super smooth slow motion which will make the edit more clean looking. 

Another plugin which we may use is Knoll Light Factory. This plugin is used for fake lighting such as sunsets/moons etc. This may be able to enhance the overall look of our thriller and make it more creepy looking. 

Alex Cirino

Marketing Our Thriller

To help make our film as good as possible we have created several social network pages on sites to help promote our film. By doing this we open ourselves up to a wider audience, and helps create buzz around the film. This twitter page will be giving a daily update on the film's progress, offering a personal character people can approach about the film. Here we will upload pictures, videos and create a diary to help document our film's progress.

This is a screen shot of our page.

Tom Smith

Fonts

The font which we will use to advertise the film and use during the film helps to set the mood of forthcoming events. As our film is a horror thriller called Blanc we needed a simple but effective font to portray our film. Above is a selection of different fonts which match the horror genre. As a group we will decide which font is going to be used for the film and which font is going to be used for the poster.


Alex Cirino

Characters

We have decided upon who will play certain roles within our thriller for various reasons. In the opening sequence, only 3 characters will be involved. We feel that this is important so that the viewers can understand certain characters without being overloaded with too many faces. The actors for each role are explained below:

Alec is a male actor who will act as a vulnerable character being chased. He is appropriate for use in our film because he has acted in many school productions and achieving well in A-level drama. We told him the acting role that he will have to play and he feels that he will be able to carry it out effectively. Having an actor that can successfully play the role of a vulnerable person will enhance the film. His height is smaller than the villain and so can be seen as inferior easily by the audience.

James is going to play the role of the villain in the film. We feel that he will be able to play the role well because he is quite tall and therefore can be clearly seen as the villain in the thriller. He will be wearing the white boiler style suit and the blank, white mask in the chase scene which should add mystery about this character. James also exceeded in drama during lower school years but did not persue it because he wanted a more academic approach to his studies. As he enjoys acting it will help us be able to create an effective chase scene.





 Tom is going to play the role of the boy who wakes up from the nightmare which has turned into reality. He feels that he will be able to effectively look scared in the clip which is important to draw the attention and feelings of the audience in. Although never studying drama, because he is more than willing to act in the scene it helps us improve our thriller.









Thomas Steer 

Storyboard - Thriller

Final Film Name - Blanc

After brainstorming potential ideas for our films name we have decided on the name 'Blanc'. We had a unanimous decision to call our film this. We chose it because it matched the theme of the film, psychologiocal and mystery. It is the French word for 'white' and by having a a foreign word, it evokes emotion as it creates questions amongst the audience. We also chose this word as the outfit the chaser is wearing is all white, this contrasts from the conventions of a thriller, as normally thrillers are dark. Blanc is also looks like the English word 'Blank' which links to the film as the characters mask is white and blank.

Tom Smith

Changing our Character

Our initial idea was to use a young girl as our protagonist figure. However, due to scheduling problems we decided to change our story line that will change the girl to a boy. This will allow us to film on time and when it best suits us.

Although we had a sudden change, by using an older male character, it will be more of a struggle for the antagonistic figure. This will create a more intense atmosphere between the two characters and we can expand on this throughout the opening. We also felt that having a young girl is quite cliché, so by having a male, it creates a different atmosphere for the film.

Another main reason for the change was that the initial girl character was not an actress, whereas the new male actor has received a GCSE and an A-Level in acting. He performs at the globe regularly and will have much more experience around cameras. Hopefully this will gain us greater success and efficiency whilst filming the opening to our thriller.

James Kinsella-Brown

Risk Assessment

Storyline

We have devised a basic Storyline in which we will use when filming to guarantee that everything we have planned will be used during filming. In order to achieve a successful opening to a thriller we must be precise in what we want to include, and story lining will help us meet this priority.


Intro
Camera zooms out along a forest path revealing a line of trees. Each tree has a different student name appear from behind it.


The Chase Scene
To begin with, the vulnerable character runs in front of the camera as a symbol of the chase starting. 


Throughout this scene a number of different shots will be used to keep tension between characters and audience high. a key shot that we will incorporate will be a close-up of a shoe that hits the floor, that in slow motion will elevate leaves into the air.


At the end of the chase, the villain manages to catch the character being chased. the weapon of choice will then swing down at a POV shot of the character on the floor. This will mark the end of the scene and will quickly switch to the next scene in the house.


In The House
A person in relation to the dead character will suddenly jolt awake in fear of what they have just seen. The characters motion and a possible gasp will alert the audience that they are scared. a noise is heard from outside the bedroom window, and automatically the relative character approaches the window with caution. 


A camera shot of it focussing in and out, to give an effect of the character trying to picture what he can see in the distance. a sting will be used when the character realises its a dead body. at which point the camera will be fully focussed to emphasise this point.


Furthermore, the scene will end up with the villains face in the window, which comes with a sting. The title of the film will appear, marking the end of our intro to a thriller. A police radio call will be played over the background, stating a crime has occurred which will intise the audience to watch on.


James Kinsella-Brown

Marketing our Thriller

Marketing a film is very important to improve its chances of success. For example if a very good film was produced yet it was not advertised then no-one who would have liked to see it would hear about it. We have decided upon two means of marketing our film.

One method is to create a fan page on the very popular social networking website 'Facebook' which means that many people can hear about the film and become a fan of it. We can then update them about the film and they can share the page with friends which widens its fan base. We have gained 21 fans quite quickly which shows how quickly the word can spread about our film and this means that we can keep the fan's updated about how the thriller is progressing. Here is a screenshot of the fan page:

We also decided to create a poster for the film which is currently in creation. A poster is a very good means of advertisement for the film because they can be cheaply produced in large batches and dispatched around areas that meet the target audience. For example if a film was aimed at teenagers then it could be advertised in youth clubs or school billboards. A poster also gets people interested in the film because it reveals a little bit but not everything about the film so the viewer wants to see more.

Thomas Steer

Title Ideas

Here are some ideas for titles that we thought of. We prefer some titles to others, however when we have a wide variety of choices, the best title can be chosen. Idealy, we want to base our title around the theme of the thriller - For example we are using a chase, so a possible title could be "The Chase".

James Kinsella-Brown

Rule Of Thirds

The rule of thirds is a compositional rule where a steady shot is divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines. The main focus in the shot should be placed along these lines.  By using the rule and aligning a subject with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the composition than simply centering the subject would. 

When filming people, it is common to line the body up with a vertical line, and having the person's eyes in line with a horizontal one. If filming a moving subject, the same pattern is often followed, with the majority of the extra room being in front of the person.

Alex Cirino

Selecting a Day To Film

Selecting an appropriate time and date for filming our thriller is essential to ensure that we can create a film in the time given and so that all scenes can be shot as needed. There are many variables that affect when we can and cannot film which include the weather, other commitments (work or previously organised events) and if we can physically get to the location on that specific day. I work on Saturday's so immediately this has become a non-viable day and although all four of the sixth form students could film during school hours/free periods, one of the main acting roles is being played by a girl who attends a primary school so any scene's involving her will not be able to be filmed during school hours. Because of this, it will probably not be possible to film on any weekday because it still gets dark at about half 6 which means that it would not enable us enough time in the light of day to fully film all of the scene's.


It is important that we try out best to film all of the scene's on the same day or during the same weather to ensure continuity during our film. For example if we filmed some during daytime and then suddenly it turns into a night time, windy and rainy setting then it would confuse the audience.
As a group, we have decided to film on Sunday 27th March because it is a date when all four of us media students and the young actress will be available to film. We have decided to start filming from midday to ensure that we will be able to capture every scene that we need during the same day and to a high standard. This date will enable us time to re film any scenes if there is any trouble when it comes to editing the thriller. Despite this, filming will be subject to weather on the day and if  there is adverse weather condition's then we will have to immediately organise a rescheduled filming day.


Thomas Steer

Final Location

This is the location that we are going to use for the chase scene in our thriller. The way in which the forest is laid out allows us to use a perfect variety of shots such as amazing establishing shots and extreme close ups. The props such a barbed wire at the location add to the eerie feeling which should be portrayed in the thriller. The lake and marsh lands also enhance the mood that something bad is going to happen.


Alex Cirino  

Casting

To make our thriller as scary and realistic as possible, we have recruited certain people to make this happen. We have recruited a family member of the cast to play a main part in our opening. James' cousin, Katie, is 9 years old, and will be chased in our opening. By having a young girl as opposed to a teenage boy creates more of an enigma. In some horror films, the girls are sometimes the villain or represent evil, it contrasts the fact that young girls may be innocent, so you don't expect it from them. We have taken into account our performers in terms of costume and mise en scene

Tom Smith

Final Costume Design - Young Girl

We have decided on a final costume for our victim. As she is a young girl we have chosen pure and innocent colours such as white. We all got together as a group, sat down and discussed which costume would be best for the young girl in order to create a scary and natural look to the film. The plain white dress is fits the scenes perfectly because it makes the girl seem vulnerable and alone. The battered teddy bear as a prop for the young innocent girl help makes the opening to the thriller alot more scary. We are going to purchase the costume and props from amazon.co.uk because it is a trusted website and the props have good reviews from previous customers. We will use first class delivery to make sure that the costumes arrive on time for filming.

By Alex Cirino

Final Costume Design - Villain

We have decided on a final costume for our villain. As a group we sat down and discussed which costume would be best for a villain in order to create a scary and suspenseful film. The plain white costume is good because it hides the identity of the person chasing and makes the audience ask questions about their motive and who they are. As their identity is hidden, it furthers away from a normal human because emotion of the character is not revealed. We are going to splat some fake blood onto the costume to improve the prop.

We are going to purchase the costume from amazon.co.uk because it is a trusted website and the props have good reviews from previous customers. This ensures that we will receive the costume in time for filming our thriller. Overall, this costume will work well in our film because it will make the audience ask questions about the film early and the viewers will feel scared for the small girls well being.

Thomas Steer

Adapted Idea

We have changed our original idea of a male being chased by another male. This is because this would not have created the impression we wanted and we feared that it would look like two friends chasing each other around rather than being able to believe the film and what is going on. We have chosen to include a young girl in a white dress being chased by a large male. We think that this would improve the films appeal because the audience feel that a young girl is vulnerable and scary if she is holding a small teddy.

We were going to film in a forest in Kelvedon hatch originally but when we went there to investigate and assess the quality for filming, we decided that it would be better to film in a forest in Shenfield for various reasons explained in the image below.

Thomas Steer

Demographics and Psychographics

Demographics are the characteristics of the target audience. This data is used mostly in marketing, and we will use it to help market our film in the most successful way. Commonly used demographics include gender, race, age, and location.

Choosing the right target audience is one of the most important aspects of marketing a product. We need to decide what the consumers needs and wants in order to cater for everyone in the right demographic. As a team we will need to decide what the best ways are to help promote our thriller, in order to market towards the right target audience. There are a number of different ways in which major film companies promote their films. These include: Trailers (on TV and on YouTube), Posters, Reviews in Newspapers, Cinema Adverts and in magazines.

The demographic we aim to market towards is of an age of 15+, this is because the elements in for film matches the guidelines set by the BBFC. By using the BBFC Rating guideline it helped us understand what rating our film would be and to ensure we didn’t break any rules and offend people during the film’s making and showing.

Here are the demographic breakdowns:

A: Higher management, bankers, lawyers, doctors and other professionals.

B: Middle management, teachers, creative and media people e.g. graphic designers etc.

C1: Office supervisors, junior managers, nurses, specialist clerical staff.

C2: Skilled manual workers, plumbers, builders.

D: Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers.

E: Unemployed, students, pensioners, casual workers.

Here are the Psycholgraphic profiles:

We are looking to make our film fairly psychological, so everyone can relate too it, by doing this we don't cut out any groups who may potentially may want too see the film.


James Kinsella-Brown & Tom Smith