Research and Planning

In our class, we got set an independent study task by our teacher to research different clips and trailers of films and reality TV that could help us when filming our opening title sequence.

When presenting our ideas to the class, we discussed different examples such as Call of Duty. This was a significant example because in Call of Duty when a grenade is thrown there is a loud sound effect of a flash bang and the view of the character is very blurred and distorted. We thought this was relevant because we want our character to experience this when she escapes.

The Missing

In the trailer of the BBC drama, The Missing, a girl gets abducted when she was 13 years old. When she returns something is wrong with her and she seems disturbed. The trailer told me that the whole point of the drama is to find out what happened to the girl when she was abducted. This trailer was very inspirational for our title sequence because it shows me what an abducted girl would behave and look like, for example she has red bags under her eyes and bruises over her face which is very useful. Also, she is very quiet and mysterious which helps us to have an idea how to make our character to behave. The fact that we do not hear the girl speak throughout the whole trailer is very significant as it shows she is hiding everything inside of her, except at the very end when she says "I don't want to be here". This is very interesting as to the dialogue we will include in our opening title sequence as it gives us the idea that is should be very minimalistic.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

In the trailer of the 2011 film, The girl with the Dragon Tattoo, 2 investigators are trying to solve the mystery of the murder of a number of women including a 16 year old girl. The mysterious theme of the trailer is very interesting and the colour palette is very significant as it is grey and black which gives a very dark feel to the film. This is the same colour palette that we want to use in out opening title sequence with the occasional red and blue from police sirens, therefore this trailer is very helpful with inspiring us to fulfil our vision of our colour palette. The main character, the girl, looks very gloomy and dark due to her clothes, hair and facial expressions. 

Martyrs 

In the trailer of the 2008 film, Martyrs, a French girl called Lucie gets abducted and tortured and when she escapes, the people who took her try to find her. There is a lot of blood and murder in this trailer which makes it very disturbing and is clearly a horror. At the beginning of the trailer, you see Lucie when she is abducted, covered in blood and cuts and wearing rags with very scruffy hair. This gives a clear vision of what I see our character looking like in our opening title sequence. Lucie is scared by her experience and we want to show our character to have had something horrible happen to her. When Lucie escapes, she cries and is scared which is the reaction that we want our character to feel with relief. This trailer is very inspiring as it shows the effects and consequences of abduction and the strong emotions. Also, it is very graphic which helps us with details in our piece such as the girl's cuts and facial expressions and what is around her in the barn where she is abducted. 

OUR VISION

For part of our research, our group has created:

• A colour palette 

• A sound palette

• Our 9 key shots frame

Colour Palette

Our chosen colour palette creates a vision that allows us to stick with the look and feel of our opening title sequence. Theses colours suggest a dark and mysterious theme as that is what we want our audience to experience when watching. Our genre is a psychological thriller and we felt that these colours best fit this genre.

Our first two colours on the palette are red and blue as we will have police car sirens in our sequence. The next colour is to show the darkness in the barn where the girl is abducted. Next, the grey and brown show the colours of the long axe that the girl will be dragging along the floor and breaking the door down with.

The two shades of brown shows the wood in the barn. The next colour shows the dirt and marks that will be on the girl, and also the colour of the bucket that we will use to show credits on. The green colour illustrates the trees in the forest that will be outside when the girl escapes from the barn. The dark grey shows more darkness that will occur throughout in the barn and outside.

The white and yellow colours show the bright light that the girl will see when she finally breaks the barn door and escapes. The skin colour shows the pale, washed out colour of the girls face. The black shows the darkness in the location that she is abducted and is a contrast to the white and yellow. Finally, the pale pink colour illustrates certain cuts and bruises on the girl and her lips.

Sound Palette

Our sound palette shows examples of a woman heavily breathing, helicopter sounds for our drone shot, police sirens and water dripping. These are the types of sounds that you will hear into our opening title sequence as they all create suspense and make the audience feel uneasy.

9 Key shots frame

Our 9 key shots are the shots that we thought were most memorable and gave the best impression of the story line to our opening title sequence.

Female Representation

This is good research for our opening title sequence because our story line is that a young girl has been taken potentially by a man and has been abused sexually and physically. This is an example of the male gaze because it shows woman being displayed as prey to men, presenting them as objects of male pleasure.

Storyboard Animatic

Risk Assessment

Research on Lighting

For part of our research, we looked into how we could create the best shots using lighting.

 

 

Title Ideas

After research, we have seen that 4 weeks is 672 hours. This is the amount of time that the character in our opening title sequence would have been locked away for so we feel that this would be an affective title and would keep our audience engaged as it will not give away a lot of information about the film plot.

Iconography

Why iconography is important:

The physical attributions in a scene of a film give a lot of obvious indications to the audience and helps construct the plot line and creates the mood and atmosphere to make the audience feel a certain way. In a psychological thriller, the audience is meant to feel on edge, building up suspense and is very gripping.

Examples of iconography in a psychological thriller:

Small, confined spaces

Small. confined spaces create a feeling of being trapped and a sense of claustrophobia. This makes the audience feel uneasy and maybe even stressed whilst watching.

Shadows

Shadows make the audience feel like someone is always following and watching the 'victim'. Shadows also demonstrate how although there may be darkness, there must be a source of light, which could hint a possible escape.

Darkness

Darkness scares the audience as the feeling of the unknown is present. Darkness suggests that something bad may happen and it shows it is quite a sinister genre of film. When darkness is broken by a source of light this may portray a feeling of freedom.

Distinct sounds

An example of the generic sounds heard in a psychological thriller are diegetic conversations that suggest something bad may happen, also screaming and scratchings on the doors or walls of a location. Non-diegetic sound heard may be atmospheric music, that build up suspense and make the audience feel tense.

Very small amounts of light

Very small amounts of light can suggest a small chance of escaping or even survival. But could also suggest that wherever there is light there is hope. In a psychological thriller, there is normally minimal light to disturb the audience.

Objects in rooms that create thrill (sharp objects/ concealed objects)

Concealed objects create suspicion and a tense atmosphere as the 'villain' may be hiding something that could harm others. Sharp objects such a knives and axes also suggest harm and sometimes even murder.

Target Audience

As a group, we have decided that our target audience will be both male and female between the ages of 15-35. This is due to the fact that our film is a psychological thriller and may contain brutal violence, sexual violence along with frightening scenes and disturbing content, therefore will be classified as a 15. The reason we feel that our film will appeal to both men and women is because our film is not gender specific and allows both genders to portray the film in a similar way.

We have created 2 avatars that show our typical viewers. They are both aged 17 because our film is based on current issues in our modern society, mainly affecting teenagers, which older generations may not be able to relate to as much.

Location Recce

• Our first location idea is Eloise's neighbour's barn as the barn is quite run down and untidy. This suits our genre as a psychological thriller needs a location to create suspense and thrill. It is also ideal that this location is by Eloise's house and as she knows the owners of this private land, it will be easier to get in contact and use the land when we need to.

• If we are unable to use this location, then our back-up location is Ruby's barn as it is away from any other people and has a barn that has potential to fit the brief of our wanted location. An only downfall of this location is that it is used for storage and is next to other buildings so doesn't have a field or surrounding woodland.

Timetable

Date	Time of day	Location	Characters	Shots required	Props required	What happens
04/02/17	Midday	Barn		Medium	Dripping water	Water dripping onto the floor
04/02/17	Midday	Barn		Medium	Scratched wall	Focused shot of scratching’s on the wall
04/02/17	Midday	Barn	Ruby	Close up		Girl’s hand twitches
04/02/17	Midday	Barn		Close up	Spider web	Spider web in corner of the barn
04/02/17	Midday	Barn		Close up	Bucket, dirty blanket, wood	Bucket, blanket and wood left on the floor
04/02/17	Midday	Barn	Ruby	Close up		Girl’s heavy breathing with chapped lips
04/02/17	Midday	Barn	Ruby	Close up		Girl’s heavy breathing chest
04/02/17	Midday	Barn	Ruby	Close up	Axe	Girl walking, dragging axe
04/02/17	Midday	Barn	Ruby	Close up	Axe	Girl walking, axe swinging
04/02/17	Midday	Barn	Ruby	Medium	Axe	Girl with axe on shoulder walking to door
04/02/17	Midday	Barn	Ruby	Medium	Axe, padlock, chain	Girl swinging axe to break door
04/02/17	Midday	Barn	Ruby	Medium	Axe, padlock, chain	Girl swinging axe to break door
04/02/17	Midday	Barn		Medium	Padlock, chain	Door swinging open to release bright light
04/02/17	Midday	Barn	Ruby	Long	Axe	Police POV of girl standing with axe outside
04/02/17	Midday	Barn	Police officers	Long		Girls blurred POV of lights and police
04/02/17	Midday	Barn	Ruby	Long	Axe	Police POV of girl collapsed on ground
04/02/17	Midday	Barn	Ruby, police officers	Aerial	Axe	Girl on floor and surrounded by police

Props list

• Water dripping from above (make a hole in a bottle of water and let it drip out) 
• Chalk – for the markings made on the wall 
• Spider web and possibly a spider 
• Old, dirty bucket 
• Dirty blanket 
• Wooden objects for behind the bucket and blanket 
• Makeup for bruises, scratches and dirt on the girls face and body 
• Clothes for the girl – worn out, dirty t-shirt 
• Axe 
• Chain and padlock 
• Excess wood to smash in half (instead of barn door) 
• Red and blue flashing lights 
• Drone – to take the aerial shot
• Toy guns

Shooting Script

We created a shooting script to keep us on track and keep us focused on what we need to achieve during our days of filming. We keep organised by having a folder which we will take with us whenever we are shooting.

 

 

Actress Profile

I am the chosen actress for our opening title sequence. My group feel I am perfect for the role because of my image, my age and my ability to perform professionally infront of a camera.

In these images above, you can see that my hair is very long which is suitable for our opening title sequence because it can be stayed to create an unwashed, scruffy look to portray the harsh conditions she is being kept in. My defined jawline could illustrate the fact that my character has been starved and makes the harsh conditions I am in more believable.

• Makeup testing

This video shows our makeup testing. The white pale makeup makes our character looked washed out. We used different types of makeup to show bruises around the neck and face and it shows the dark bags under the eyes. On the neck, we did hand prints to show the audience that our character was abused. This is also shown through the scratches and blood on their face.

Costumes

We will be using 4 or 5 boys to act as policeman in our opening sequence for the last few shots. We might also have 1 woman detective to create a convincing scene, and is also part of gender representation as we do not want to portray a negative view of women in power.
To ensure our actors costumes look authentic and realistic, we have thought very carefully about the clothing, props and shots we will use to create convincing police-like characters.

Our chosen bbfc rating