7.Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

Since the preliminary task I think I have learnt new skills along with developing and improving the skills I already had. At the beginning I learned basic techniques and rules like match on action, over shoulder shot, the 180 degree rule and how to use either low-key or high-key lighting. These helped me create a successful final product that followed the rules and conventions of a perfect opening sequence.

I used these conventions and technologies throughout my opening sequence to make it more effective and to help it look realistic, so it was easier for my audience to understand and follow. I have also learnt many technical skills like Live Type which I had never used before, and found extremely difficult to begin with, as I was putting myself down and telling myself I couldn't do it. In my preliminary task I didn't use titles, therefore this was completely new for me. My skills in iMovie also improved along with camera skills, as I had studied and researched more thriller opening sequences, the more I was able to really see through the lens of a director and how a scene would be best shot.
I also learnt a more theory side of creating a film. This involved understanding the different conventions to certain genres and the industry of film making. I learnt to use a range of camera angles, movement and lighting to help create a tense atmosphere and allow the audience to understand the events that are happening.
However, I do think that the preliminary task was extremely beneficial as it gave us a taster as to what we were going to do, and what we had to do for it. Although I do believe that I have progressed incredibly from my preliminary task, and this is shown from my opening sequence.
Here is a contact sheet from my opening sequence, showing the different shots that I have used:

This blog has been marked. SJA 08/05/11

Thriller Opening

6. What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?

During the construction of our opening sequence, we were given various media technologies to experiment with.
When filming we were given camera's to use, however as I was the only member from my group that had done media for the previous two years, I was already familiar with the layout of the camera, so this benefited our group greatly. Aswell as hand holding our camera, we were also given tri-pods to use, to help steady some of our shots. This was a new technology for the whole of our group, as I had never needed to use one previously. We also used a fig rig, a construction wheel that is beneficial for tracking shots. We did a few tracking shots of the scenary, and as the scenary was one of our key theme in our opening sequence, we needed to make sure it was filmed and the fig rig was used to perfection.

Once we had completed our filming, we then had to upload our film onto the Macs. Macs specialise in movie editing, and although it took some adjustment and time to get use to, after we had stayed behind school for a few days and played around, we soon enough got the hang of the Macs, and learnt where to save our work to etc.

Once we had uploaded our movie onto the macs, we then had to open it with iMovie.
iMovie was pretty easy to use and to understand. Once you had uploaded all of your movie scenes onto there, you seletcted your best scenes and put them in chronological order. You were then able to cut shots in to two, and use the audio editing tool adding sound effects, a voiceover or background music. What was really helpful about the iMOVIE is that it updated your changes immediately, allowing you to preview and edit your soundtrack. What I found easiest to use on the iMOVIE were the effects tool, which allowed you to either slow things down or speed things up. What me and my group used best were the transition tool, this was where you could transition clips from colour to black and white- which we used in our opening shot. Once we had completed editing on iMOVIE, we then saved our work to a folder.

Lastly, we were then introduced to LiveType, which neither member of our group had ever used. I think that we would all agree that we found this the hardest, as it was an extremely long process and we had to be very patient when getting used to the format. LiveType supports five different tracks; titles, graphics, objects textures and video. We only used two of these tracks, which were the titles and video. Once we had uploaded our video, we then had to create our titles. This was a very stressful process and we were undecided on what title font to use. Once we had finished our draft, we recieved positive critism about our titles. The feedback from the audience was that our titles moved to fast, and at times were difficult to read. We then went back on LiveType and changed our font, as well as the movment of our font, which our audience were then able to read efficiently.

However, something that was introduced to us this year was a website called blogger. On blogger we would blog everything that we had learnt and researched, then this would then go towards our target grade.

Here are some screenshots and printscrrens that me and my group took as evidence of us using iMovie, LiveType etc.

6. What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing this product?

5. How did you attract/ address your audience?

The first thing that me and my group choose to do was to upload our opening sequence onto YouTube. As our film is trying to specifically target teenagers/young adults we felt that by uploading our video onto YouTube this would be a beneficial way of approaching our targeted audience and appealing to them. Pratically every household has the internet, and YouTube has been associated with thousands of people or things being known or even becoming famous.

We also gained some brilliant feedback and opinions from other YouTube users.

We then progressed a further step by posting the video of our film onto Facebook. When researching into Facebook I discovered that it has more than 600 million users and is the most popular social networking site to ever be created. This could attract my audience even further as by posting the video onto facebook, if people enjoyed it all they would have to do is post it onto their wall etc. You are also able to comment on the video posts, and therefore me and my group would have easy access when receiving our feedback- whether it be good or bad.

We recieved a fantastic 39 comments, all of which were extremely postive or were positive critism. It really helped me and my group improve on our opening sequence as not only were we able to gain feedback and tips from our media teachers, but from what our target audience thought we could improve on. Here are some of our feedback that I have specifically used for my blog as me and my group found them the most useful, and therefore it enabled us to address our audience more successfully.



We also filmed a classmate giving us some feedback on our thriller opening sequence whilst he was watching it.

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

Our certification for our film would be a 15. It isn't certified as a 15 because it's really gory or is crude in anyway, but because we expect our film to have extremely scary connotations such as creepy, eerie music and low key lighting to set a particular mood and help build the suspense.

We choose thriller as our genre as we thought that it would most likely appeal to our target audience. Our audience is targeted at mostly teenagers and young adults, mostly ranging from the ages from 15 to early twenties. We felt that our genre would appeal to this specific age range and thrillers are probably one of if not the most successful genre in cinema generation. By our group being similar ages to our target audience, we have personally seen and experienced the impact that the thriller genre has on a teenage audience and people in their early twenties. Common methods used in thrillers are mind games, physchological themes, deaths and stalking. Young adults and teenagers are very open minded and enjoy the over-dramatic plotlines and stories that could arguably be said are at times un-realistic.
Our main characters are also teenagers themselves, and therefore our audience might be able to relate to them on many different levels. Perhaps they might be able to show some understanding towards a character, or how they might be feeling. For example during our very first few shots, one of our characters Brooke is seen running through the forest, for our audience to presume that she has been drinking at a party by the props that we have used.
The stereotype of teenagers and young adults are that they're constantly out drinking and taking drugs. So therefore not only can they relate to this character within the first few seconds, but they can also learn from the mistakes that this character might be making. Here is a photo that I have taken of friends drinking when they've been out.
However I'm not suggesting that our film targets only teenagers that drink, I'm just relaying the fact that their may be some similarities between the teenagers regarding the characters in our film. Generally we are targeting outgoing groups of young adults of both genders.
When researching Thriller movie genres on the internet I stumbled across a website called IMDB (international movie database.) On this webpage it featured a voting poll on users favourtie thriller movies. When looking further into this voting poll, i discovered that the majority of the 'favoured' thriller movies were rated at a 15 certificate. These movies included 'The Black Swan,' 'Memento' and movies that you can see in this print screen like Batman Begins and Heat. This reinforces my accusation on how the perfect rating for a thriller is a 15.
We also targeted this age group as we didn't want an audience that would be impressionable or influenced by the storyline.

3.What kind of media institution might distribute my media product and why?

One of the companies that are likely to distribute our thriller movie would be Focus Features. Focus Features distribute mostly indie, quirky films that are not always widely popular once released at the cinema, but are a big success generally when released onto DVD, or who generally are nominated for a number of awards. Focus Features most well known films include; 'Billy Elliot' 'The Pianist' 'Lost in Translation' 'Silent Hill' 'Brokeback Mountain'and 'Milk.' However, even though this particular film wasn't Focus Features biggest hit, 'Brick' is a very similar film to our own. 'Brick' most probably influenced us more than any other thriller, as it's opening sequence left us wanting more and intrigued us. It captivated it's audience with it's uncomfortable quirkiness, something that me and my group were inspired by and wanted to do. Therefore this is why I think that Focus Features would be an ideal distributer for our own thriller movie.


Here are some YouTube comments that have been written about Focus Features on their intents video:



However distributors like 'Lionsgate are more mainstream rather than attracting a narrow audience. In there past years they have distributed films such as 'Saw' 'The Next Three Days' and the 'Expendables.' Even though these thrillers are more action packed than Focus Features. However not only to Lionsgate distribute movies but they also distribute television series, so as they have a wider and more knowledgable experience they would be beneficial if they were to distribute our film 'Pulse.' Also Lionsgate have a different distribution logo for their horror/thriller films.
Lionsgate horror distribution logo






Lionsgate general distribution logo


The thing that I love most about Lionsgate distribution intent is that they have two seperate one's for a particular film. For example the horror intent appears you are entering the gates of hell, whereas the general Lionsgate intent appears as if you're entering the gates of heaven.
Here I have incorporated Lionsgate's horror distribution intent in my groups horror opening sequence as a contact sheet.
I think that the Lionsgate horror distribution intent would connote with Pulse's opening sequence as the use of red connotes with the blood used on the girls body and on the note that Merlin picks up. If we were to use the normal Lionsgate intent I think that it wouldn't allow for us to capture and intrigue our target audience, as it is rather random and would throw them off course. The non-diegetic sound used for the horror intent is also very eerie and sustains a powerfulness, as if the audience are expecting something dangerous or negative to happen. Whereas the normal intent is quite fluent and chirpy, almost as if it is welcoming the audience into something pleasant- like a feel good movie. Overall the Lionsgate horror intent would be pretty ideal for me and my group to feature and distribute in our thriller movie.

2. How does my media product represent particular social groups?

I don't think that my group really challenged any stereotypes during the course of are thriller opening sequence. I guess that we thought that our target audience would find it easier to adapt and understand our opening sequence if we allowed our characters to be the 'stereotypical' teenage opinion and judgment that society is so quicky to make. Our thriller opening sequence only consists of two main characters, both of the opposite gender.

Our first character is Brooke Morgan, who is played by Rebecca Lake. We based this particular character on Katie Price as she fitted what we believed to be the 'stereotype' of a popular, sixteen year old wild child. Like Katie Price, Rebecca has long blonde hair and big boobs, she also wears a lot of make up which suggest that she is a 'bimbo' and is therefore thick and not very streetwise. These characterisations could have contributed to her death, as she may have not been very street wise when perhaps she is walking home alone at not a very sensible hour. Moreover, in our shots of Brooke she is seen in a short dress and high heels. This connotes where Brooke has been for the night, as she has clearly dressed up for a party or an event that includes drinking and drugs etc. Popular girls are also judged as thinking that they're better than others, which suggests that maybe she made a few enemies and hence the reason tha t she has been followed and murdered. She also dresses slutty as she thrives off male attention, which is another reason as too why she could have been attacked and killed, as she attratced the wrong sort of attention. As we are suggesting to the audience that she is very drunk and vulnerable the audience could feel apologetic towards her, as our target audience are teenagers and are therefore probably are not very sensible and often leave themselves in dangerous positions.

Who we based Brooke Morgan on:


Our character Brooke Morgan played by Rebecca Lake:


Lastly, our only other character was called Merlin and was played by Jamal Mckingley. I guess you could say that Merlin isn't really a stereotypical geek, as he doesn't wear glasses and dress like a nerd, but has the personality of what you might call a geek; he continously looks nervous and anxious as he walks threw the park, which helps build tension for the audience. He is what you would call the opposite to Brooke Morgan, which connotes that this may attract a wider audience as completely different characters may intrigue more people, as different 'groups' of teenagers may be able to relate to each character individually. We have chosen merlin as our other main character as we feel as if he portrays someone who is very self aware and careful, he isn't a party animal who goes out all the time but is sensible and works hard to earn money for his family. He is very independent and lacks social skills so therefore he is our ideal character to cast alongside Brooke, as both there personalities and facial features are a contrast. Arguably you could say that our character was based on Will Smith's character in I am Legend, as he appears very vulnerable and lonely, he also cares and is forever seen with a dog also.

This is Will Smith and his dog in the movie 'I Am Legend'
























Here is our character Merlin with his dog Ruby:





Our other and last character that we decided to use was a dog called Ruby. We used Ruby as Jamal's companion as we though that it would allow our character Merlin to become more vulnerable, almost like a stereotype as a 'geek' as you won't find many teenage boys strolling around with a type of pug dog. If we wanted to portray Jamal as having a 'hard' exterior then we would have used perhaps a rotweiler or another aggressive dog to establish his tough persona. However, as we used a lovable and friendly dog this suggests that Ruby is more of a companion for Merlin, and allows him to become more vulnerable and fit his stereotype as being 'geeky' as he shows his compassion and love for an animal.

1. In what ways does my media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Me and my groups thriller opening sequence I think was influenced by aspects of different thriller films. These included the television series 'Wallandar' and films such as 'Kill Your Friends' 'Panic Room' 'Memento' and lastly 'Brick.' However, I would say that 'Brick' was our biggest influence overall as our idea's really evolved around their concept of a thriller film. Like 'Brick' we used what you would call a 'popular' girl to represent the death of a character. 'Brick' used close ups and and high/low angles shots to portray the low status that this character was given. Our idea's stemmed from this as we filmed many close ups of the death of our character from different angles, too add suspense and dimention to our opening sequence. Also like 'Brick' we never really gave away the whole of the dead girls face, adding suspicion within the audience as to how she may have died and where. Rebecca's long hair was very beneficial for our scene as we used it to cover the majority of her face, just like they did with 'Brick.' Other similarities were that both opening sequences used quite deserted settings, too add the suspence of no one being able to escape or cry for help. Although one of our differences was that our main characters representations wasn't a geeky, nerdy boy but was what you could suggest as a 'cool kid.'

Brick opening sequence contact sheet:


Pulse (my opening sequence) contact sheet:

Visually you can see that aspects of a few shots are similar to 'Brick.' Both of the titles in the opening sequences appear in simple colours, with white font on a plain black background. Both have low key lighting to emphasise the negativity that surrounds the shots.
Even though our opening sequence has been influenced by 'Brick' the timeline of our opening sequence was most definately influenced by a film called 'Memento.'
'Memento' was the only film that me and my media class got to watch the full length of, which really helped give us an insight as to what a thriller film and opening sequence produced to match it's conventions. 'Memento' began at the ending of the film, and rewound to develop the story- as it began with a death of a character. Even though 'Brick' also does this, as me and my group watched 'Memento' first that's where our idea's really developed and what inspired us.


Video to show the timeline of 'Memento' opening sequence:

Your mark

Hi Brittany,

I have just been back through the Research & Planning sections of your blog to give a final mark. You have worked really hard on these sections, and you should feel really pleased with the quality of your blog overall. It shows creativity, thought and attention to detail. Keep up the great effort when completing the 'Evaluation' posts.

Current mark: 18/20
Level: 4
Grade: A

My only suggestion to improve is to use the template I emailed to you back before half term to transfer all the information you have down for the post on Shot Lists to that format, then used Scribd to upload this document to your blog.

Well done so far!

SJA

Peer feedback on my groups thriller opening sequence

When me and my group were still editing our thriller opening sequence, we asked one of our peer's from another group to assess our work and give us positive critism, on what we could improve on and what we had done well so far.
Ryan Clark said:
I think that Brittany, Jamal and Becca have worked really hard planning and preparing for their opening sequence. The quality of their shots are of a very high standard, and they have a variety of shots, with focus pull being their most successful. I think that their idea for their opening sequence was very creative, and they used their props and the setting of their location really well.
However, even though they are still editing I think that they need to ensure that their shots are not so choppy, and that they blend in and run smoothly. Also I think that they need to cut some shorts, as even though their well framed shots they need to pick up a bit of speed to add tension and create an atnmosphere. The music still needs to be included, however they have been creative with their titles, connoting with the theme of their opening sequence.

Feedback on research & planning

Hi Brittany,

I have been looking right back through your blog, and I am really pleased with the amount of thought, creativity and effort you have invested in to this recently. I am glad you have responded so well to feedback and developed the Research section further. This is very close to complete now.

Your ideas and effort for the Planning posts is really positive too. Keep up this sustained effort, and we should look forward to a brilliant coursework blog from you!

As I mentioned to you when we went through your blog the other day, I would suggest you come back to the Research section just to improve one or two posts:

4 - What titles (view the Sixth Sense and make a list of all of the titles you see appear on the screen)

17 - Audience research - have you posted your questionnaire?

Planning:

This is starting to look good Brittany. i really like the way you have used multimedia to SHOW your ideas for props, etc. This one is a really good post.

3- Shot lists - use the school template - it's on Frog

5 - Where are your storyboards? i couldn't find them when I looked? I know you have done them

7 - Post for script - even if there is none, just make a post to explain this

8 - Shooting schedule - use the school template

The rest is really good. keep up the level of consistent effort. Your blog is certainly one of the best so far.

SJA Feb 8th

What does a title sequence look like? Zombieland analysis

A thriller title sequence is what you can see above that is directly in the centre of the page. This particular title sequence is of Zombieland, and creates suspense and makes an audience intrigued as a title sequence is something that an audience has never seen before, and is created to draw an audience into wanting to continue to watch the film. A title sequence for a thriller genre is made to shock, or perhaps frighten it's target audience. All of the shots used in this particular contact sheet are long shots. Long shots are used to enable the audience to really grasp the full concept of the scenary, which could help add suspicion or create eeriness. The genre of the film is in contrast to the high key lighting of the film, as bright settings are not usually used in thriller genre's. However, as this is also a comedy you could suggest that there is dark humour being used, hence the reason as to why there are negative images central of a positive setting.
Overall I think that this is a very successful contact sheet as even though it is based around the thriller genre, it also adds a lot of humour and horror into it. These key themes are used in the title sequence, allowing it's audience to be always aware of what is going on. Also, this title sequence isn't misleading like some are, and is quite straight forward as it doesn't try to throw you off track. Also, the props are used very cleverly so, as they all represent different aspects of life. For example, it shows a parent at school, a fireman and a man that has been to a strip club. Each man plays a very different role in society, and it is basically saying that this disaster in the country effects everyone, no matter your age or the role you play.
This represents the key theme in thriller genre's, how one thing can effect millions of people, and therefore I think that the purpose of this thriller opening sequence has been portrayed in a positive way, with negative connotations used through the mise-en-scene. There is not much technical aspects following editing as all the shots just flow into each other without any noticeable transitions. I believe this makes a viewer feel calm and relaxed because the transitions are very mellow.

The first shot is a low angle shot, the use of the camera angle is to emphasise the connotations of danger, as in the foreground there is a man jumping out of a building. The body language used in this shot is sort of clumsy, adding humour within the frame. However, the facial expressions identified in this shot are scared and frightened, which contrasts to the expressions of their body language. The foreground image isn't postioned directly in the centre of the frame, but is slightly tilted to the left hand side, which could suggest that the frame isn't perfectly shot, which has connotations that things in this film are far from perfect. The shot is in slow motion, and the soundtrack used is very in your face and energetic to grab the audiences attention. The production companys title is also used in a orangey colour that has connotations of fire.
The second shot is also shown in slow motion, with the same non-diegetic sound used as the soundtrack. The low key lighting adds to the washed out colours used within the shot, connoting the negative imagery used. Also, the foreground of the picture shows a women being chased by a zombie, however the mise-en-scene used here is cleverly done as the women in the foreground is wearing all pink, connoting that she is a girly girl. However, here her facial expressions show her frantic and panicked, which suggests that for once she is not all clean cut and perfect, but running for her life and looking a mess.
The fourth shot is the only shot that is a close up on the contact sheet, and once again used low key lighting to represent the danger in the shot. The police is still shown wearing his uniform, instead of running off and away. This suggests that perhaps he is more powerful than the zombies, but the colours of his clothes suggest otherwise. Even though the policeman has armour and weapons, the use of lighting and colour suggests that he is still in danger.
However, the fifth shot uses low key lighting, and a naturalistic setting with no props such as blood are evident. Even though zombies are used in this, they're used in the background which suggests their lack of importance in this scene. The man in foreground is shown breaking through some glass with a weapon, suggesting that he is breaking free and escaping. The seventh shot has it's similarities with the fifth shot as they both consist of high key lighting. However, the long shot used enables us as viewers to identify the amount of zombies that are chasing these men, connoting that they're in danger. This shot still seems to use humour to engage an audience as the man and his are being chased by other father and sons- who are zombies.

The eighth shot also uses comedy to engage the reader in it's thriller genre as a fireman is seen running away from someone that is on fire. Obviously us as viewers are able to identify that this is a zombie, but it's still funny as firemen are meant to be putting fires out, not running away from them. However, this could also suggest that when unexpected things happen, our job roles change and completely, and instead of humankind being in power, the role is reversed.
The last shot uses biblical imagery to emphasise the humour. The mid-shot used looks as if it has been short from a point of view, as it looks as if the dead zombie is falling onto someones car, and they're filming it through their window screen. The background is the church, which adds humour as it's ironic that something possessed is outside the church. Also, as the church is in the background it coud suggest that it doesn't have much importance, and that not even God can save these people from what is going on; like he is no longer in power.

The third shot is very similar to the sixth.
The third shot is very comedic, as the use of the long shot allows the audience to see that in the foreground a man is running away from a stripper who is a zombie, which should be the other way round as in them sort of situations it's the men creeping on the ladies, wanting their attention whereas now they can't wait to get away from them. In the sixth shot there is a good use of props used as there is a fire burning with black smoke surrounding it, mixing the low key lighting with the high key lighting. The props used (blood) are done effectively as the character running in this shot appears to be in danger, and the bloood just emphasises this as it has connotations of danger.

Conventions of your chosen genre

I picked a series of shots from well known thriller films and used them as a contact sheet to discuss why I think that these shots are effective, and why I might use something similar to these imaginative shots when creating my own thriller opening sequence. The first shot is taken from the film 'Sweeney Todd.' It's a mid shot of a photo of the Queen placed upon a wall. The picture and the frame are the only props evident, however it is not in the direct of the shot, but is on the right hand side. I think this is because also in the frame there is a title of the main actors name- Johnny Depp. Johnny Depp is incredibly famous and so the director has not made the only prop in the image as the main focus as he wants the audience's attention also on the actors etc. The use of low-key lighting has connotations of a dark and dangerous theme within the film. The picture of the Queen is drenched in blood, this suggests that the role of society and power is reversed in this film, allowing the audience to feel intrigued and anxious.

The second frame is taken from the thriller movie 'Number 23.' It is a close up shot of typed letters on what appears to be an old fashioned writing letter paper. The only props used for this frame is the fake blood used on the top left hand side. However, what I believe is predominate in this frame is what the typed word says. It reads 'Hitler-Kil' as it sort of trails off, as if not allowing the audience to see the sentence finished. This suggests that there are a lot of things left open in the movie for the audience to intepret differently. The word 'Hitler; represents something evil in itself, which could also suggest corruption or self-destruction. The connotations of the word 'Hiter' and the use of blood suggests that there is a powerful force that is going to cause pain and death for the people in the movie, just like Hitler did during the Second World War. Also, it also suggests the fact that anything can happen at any moment, and it doesn't neccessarily have to be good or bad. However, this could also be a representation of how the human mind can physically cause self-destruction or the destruction, as your mentality is a very powerful thing and can cloud your thought between what is wrong and right. There is no location used and the colour choices are pretty bland, except for the connotations of red used to represent blood or anger.

The third image is taken from another thriller movie called 'Panic Room.' I really like this shot as it is a contrast to the actual genre of the movie.An extreme long shot is used, however you could argue that this could be a point of view shot. The shot has been located in a busy park, with varied architecture in the background. Every person in this shot looks really happy and the whole setting looks quite family orientated. The whole frame and the use of the high-key lighting are what are most impressive about this shot, as it represents the unexpectancy of life. One minute a an area could be happy and enjoying their day out, and the next thing they know they might be fighting for their lives. I think that this would be an excellent idea for me and my groups thriller as I suppose it's different to what everybody else might do. However, with minimal time it's a risk as we might not be able to pull it off correctly, and it might appear as if me and my group don't really understand the connotations of a thriller genre.

The last of my four shots I find to be the most interesting, as it interprets the idea of danger in our world differently. This is an extreme long shot of muslims praying in mosk, but what makes this shot so interesting is that there aren't a couple dozen, but there are thousands. This has connotations of desperation, but also of unity aswell. It could suggest that sometimes bad things may benefit us as mankind, as we only seem to come and work together when unnatural forces occur (or so this is portrayed in many thriller/horror movies.) Also, as this shot is taken from 'Dawn of the Dead' which is an American film is could suggest that they want to show what it's like for people who live a different religion and a complete opposite lives as to some americans. Everyone in this shot appears to be almost symmetrical, suggesting that if your strip down our looks and beliefs then we are pretty much all the same, however we only realise this when something bad occurs. The colour choices are quite gloom and dreary, representing the theme of the movie to be negative, demonstrating the unexistent compassion for one another, that there is no life about anyone in this shot, as something bad is taking place.

Conventions of an opening sequence

Here are some of the conventions of an opening sequence that the viewer will most likely always expect:

* It must be exciting
* Be able to draw the viewer in
* Must make the viewer want to see more
* Have good titles
* Establish the setting
* Do not give anything away
* Should be a good amount of time
* Create an atmosphere
* Have a soundtrack that can set the tone
* Make the viewer be curious and have questions
* Let the viewer be able to see the characters visually
* Lead the viewer into the story

Here are some contact sheets
to show the conventions of an opening sequence:
What does a title sequence look like?

I think that 'Dexter' is a very successful opening sequence as it's quite quirky but exciting at the same time. It still uses all the connotations needed for the thriller genre, but adds everyday life activities to engage an audience and keep them interested. Red is a very prominate colour used as it has connotations of pain and death, a message that is trying to be portrayed by the television programme. The main character also looks like an ordinary man living his everyday life, however the use of the camera shots suggest otherwise. In all nine of the shots you are never given and long shot of his entire body, which suggests that he might have something to hide.


This contact sheet is from the film 'The Usual Suspects'. All nine framed shots are pretty similar, with the colour black dominating the background, with a refelection being made onto the river that is also in the foreground. This could suggest that people are leading a double life as they're staring into a reflection that they do not recognise. The use of low key lighting also foreshadows that something bad is about to happen, as dark colours have connotations of negative imagery.

Sound

Very successful soundtracks used for thriller films or programmes.
I used these four links from cinema's most successful thriller films and television programmes. Each one of these films or television programmes uses a dramatic appeal by using suspenseful music. However, some of this music that I have incorporated is quite quirky, connoting that certain things happen to people everyday of the week, and that it is just ordinary. (Hence the ordinary, everyday music.)
Knowing pretty much the types of shots and scenes that we're going to use in our opening sequence, all of the below would compliment and flow well with our opening sequence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imamcajBEJs


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QjuEWsdgEc


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpJQ-HX3F8g


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fE7WtWcT64


Music that I think would compliment our thriller opening sequence.
My group researched artists on youtube that we think produce music that would go well with our opening sequence. All the music posted below has an eerie, effective sound to it, and gradually builds tension to produce a dramatic climax. However, some of the music is quite quirky, to represent the normal, everyday life and how people face different dangers everyday.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYIAfiVGluk&ob=av2nm


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEgX64n3T7g&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxVuUoy7Ns4&feature=related


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sn3-1kvv6u4


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BdK9OlOzayE&ob=av2nm


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaVE4WVlsDQ&ob=av2el

During the process of editing our film me and my group went on to a website called:
http://www.freesound.org/
Here we were able to type in any word in the search engine, and all sounds in relation to the word would be downloadable, you'd also be able to test these sounds out to see which one would suit your thriller opening sequence best. This website was extremely useful for my group as we were unsure of what particular style of sound we were looking for. However, having used this website as a tester for music samples we were able to identify what sort of music we might use, deciding on whether it would be fast-paced or slow, and what sort of atmosphere would it create.
Here are some links to the sounds we liked:
http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=6057

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=9695

Titles

When the titles appear in our opening sequence, we have chosen for thw characters names to appear first, and then we will include job roles such as camera men, director and so on after in a bold white font. For the title of our film, we have decided that it will appear slowly using a fading effect, once it has fully appeared it will be in large white font, with capital letters on a black background. We have chose this because it represents the theme of a thriller well and creates quite an uneasy atmosphere. These titles will appear in the bottom centre of the frame so that the audience can still see what is happening to the characters.
The five different fonts that have been chosen all connote to the genre of our film, which is a thriller. All five fonts are quite eerie, and one of them even has a pulse beat running through the font, which would be perfect for our title in the opening sequence. Others seem to appear as if they have been scratched into, connoting the theme of danger and suggesting that sharp objects or tools might be used throughout the film. In one of the other fonts, there are little black dots placed everywhere around the font. This could suggest that these dots are splutters of blood which once again connotes the theme of danger and death. This causes suspicion within the audience, as they're wondering what might happen to cause such violent or thrilling scenes. The last font looks as though there are distorted words all crammed behind it. Perhaps then the role of this film has a lot of mystery to it, hence the reason as to why it leaves the audience feeling puzzled.
Lastly, I think that the font with the pulse running through it is our most likely option to use in our opening sequence. However, the other four are each great potential fonts for our opening sequence.

Casting

For our thriller opening sequence we have chosen two actors and a dog to construct the opening sequence. One of the actors chosen is Becca, we have considered her for the reasons that she is a confident and flexible student who is willing to be co-operative and work hard. A person with these decent qualities will not only commit to what she has been asked to do, but she will be able to discuss and assist with any problems with her staging or if she feels uncomfortable. Becca is also an efficient and organised person who likes to try out new challenges therefore we should not have any complications with her during filming schedules. Becca has experienced numerous performances as she has achieved a grade B in her Dance GCSE. Her experience is not so much from a drama prospective however having a Dance qualification she would have had to be able to work in a team also solo so getting her to do duets would not be difficult. Involving the thriller questionnaire, a large 54% the volunteers who completed the questionnaire said that they would prefer a pretty girl character therefore we believe Becca is a perfect candidate for this.


Additionally, the next actor we have selected is Jamal, he is a reliable person and he always has bags of enthusiasm and energy. These abilities will help our group perform to a high standard, as Jamal is very enthusiastic has key acting attributes, which determines that Jamal will be performing to his full poetential. He is most certainly a keen, positive and friendly natured person who does not find it hard to interact with people. Besides, I believe he has a genuine passion for working with people and he has achieved a grade B in GCSE Drama. He has given countless presentations in school and has also performed in various school productions. He is a very c confident person, who is also very good friends with me and Rebecca (our grou) and is well educated in creating a good performance for an audience and knowing what they would like. He is most definately a trustworthy individual as he has excellent attendance and punctuality record at school (100% in Year 11) so there should be no trouble in him being late or letting us down during shooting. Because of his Drama GCSE he has been taught how to select the most effective course of action so if there is any problems with the shooting he will be able to step in and try to solve it.


Lastly we have chosen a dog named Ruby, it is a Pug. Pugs have been featured in television and film, including Frank the Pug in the film Men in Black. Pugs are small in size and have enormous personalities. Ruby is intelligent, affectionate and loves to be the center of attention. She has been trained therefore it should not be a problem whilst getting her to perform in our opening sequence. Since Pugs are small, and cute. It almost breaks the general stereotype of all dogs have to be of a medium size and slightly aggressive. Besides, Ruby should be able to win over peoples hearts as she is well behaved and enjoys attention. Our third group member will be filming our opening sequence.

Character descriptions

Becca Lake as Brooke Morgan

Brooke Morgan is the popular, pretty girl at school. She has longish (dyed) blonde hair that she often backcombs and uses a hairspray to support it. She cares about her appearance a great deal, but doesn't consider herself to be better than others. She is tallish, and always wears heels to make herself look taller and older. She has bright blue eyes, and well moisturised skin. You will never see Brooke without make up on, as she is girly and well groomed. She dresses slutty as she likes attention from the male gender, and loves to flaunt her curves and other assests. She also likes to drink alot and doesn't always consider the dangers of the affects that this might have on her in the future and at this present time. She also does a lot of drugs, which could lead to her being very vulnerable and having a great risk of being in danger. We have chosen this this type of character to be the main character as we thought that this stereotypical portrayal of a party girl would leave her to be more vulnerable, and the audience would be able to understand and relate to this character more.

Merlin

Merlin is a selfless, sensible character who is almost a contrast to the other main character Brooke. He is a tall black male, with brown eyes and a high top. He dresses very smart and casual, and loves his fashion. He mostly wears black as he doesn't really like to stand out in a crowd, and likes to keep himself to himself. We have chosen him to be the character who discovers the body as he is very self-aware and extremely sensible. He lacks a sense of fun and therefore he never seems to find himself in trouble. He often stays home on the weekends and works continuously throughout them. He is very devoted to his work and education, and therefore can lack social skills and friends. He is a complete opposite to Brooke Morgan, so that's the reason as to why we decided to cast this character as our other main character.

Shooting schedule

Shooting Schedule is a timetable of dates in which everybody in our group is available to film. This is essential so that everybody is aware of when they have to film, as well as being able to allow enough time to plan, film and edit our opening sequence. We have chosen these specific dates as they work around our school timetables and give us enough tine to get our opening sequence completed. For all of our filming we have selected parks such as Gillian and Nonsuch Park. Here are a few photo's of our choosen locations.
This photo shows one of our main characters (Jamal) running towards the camera. The foreground has high key lighting, whereas the background uses washed out colours. This could suggest that Jamal is running into the light, as bright lighting does not have any negative connotations.
This is another key location in our shooting schedule, as the majority if not pratically everything is shot in these woods. This adds suspension and creates intensity within our opening sequence, as has key connotations.