BBFC Rating For Our Film

After viewing our thriller and receiving feedback from our YouTube audience we decided to evaluate it and choose a suitable film rating. We looked at the BBFC rating system and decided as a group that it should be a '15'. We chose our thriller to be a '15' because it contains violence and strong language however the scenes are not explicit enough to make it an '18'.

As a group we watched a few other thrillers which helped us to pick a film rating. The thrillers we watched were The Crazies '15', The Strangers '15', Taken '18'. We compared our film idea to the listed thrillers and realised it was not as violent as Taken but was just as creepy as The Strangers and The Crazies. 

Change of Costume

After a having a group meeting about the first video, we noticed several things that we could change. One of the main problems we had with the film was that of the costume. We felt it wasn't believable to have an outfit like that as it looked to far fetched and the quality of the outfit was exposed during filming. James told us about a coat he had which we could use, he said he would wear black trousers with his outfit. We decided to keep the mask as we still though this was an effective prop. Below is a picture of James in his new outfit.

Tom Smith

Diary Of Filming Day 2

With a day set for our second day of filming we had high hopes, plans and high expectations. As detailed in our previous blog, we didn't think the quality of the film was as good as we could achieve so we decided to re shoot it.

We had decided on our costume change but kept just about everything the same. This time however Tom Steer didn't come too filming, but the rest of the team was there. The day went much smoother as we had detailed plan of each shot we needed, and how we wanted them done. This had a massive effect on the filming as it was much more productive and slick.

Another improvement on the last time we filmed was our ability to change our shots and discuss what would be best for the film. By each of us having a positive input we managed to get a wide variety of shots that individually, we wouldn't of thought of. Alec's acting was again just what we wanted so that again made the day more productive.

We also managed to film the second bit of our thriller in the bedroom. We got a lift back to James' house and used his room as he had a window looking down at his garden. We got the second half shot within an hour, bringing the total days filming time to 5 hours. By taking more time, we managed not too rush our filming and got our thriller filmed effectively. It then took Alex 2 days to edit the initial clip and it was then totally finished by Saturday.

Here are some photo's taken throughout the course of the day.

Tom Smith

Diary Of Filming Day 1

We attempted to begin our thriller's filming on 1st April. The weather for this day of filming was good as it hadn't rained, and it wasn't too cold, so our filming skills weren't affected. However this first day did not go as planned to start with. James had to be kept behind by a teacher, so we had to postpone filming for a little bit, whilst waiting for James to come. When we began to start filming, we discovered that the batteries we had to chosen to use, didn't work properly with our camera. We didn't know why, but we found out that the batteries were being used up in about 10 minutes, so we had to go find some more batteries and buy loads, so we had enough for the whole day. Once filming got under way it went rather well, we got all the shots we had put down in our plan. We didn't have time to film the bedroom scene in the second half, so we only filmed the woodland chase scene.

After we had filmed, Alex edited it and put it on Vimeo for everyone to see the finished product, which we had mixed emotions about. We decided that some of the shots looked really good, but others could have looked better. We then ultimately decided that we would have to film again as several bits of the film could be improved dramatically on. We tried not to be too disappointed with the outcome as we knew it was only half of our thriller, but as a group we had a meeting and decided we must reshoot and several changes must be made.

Tom Smith

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