Shoot 1

The first day we were shooting, we were filming at the only location we were going to film; Hornchurch, Essex. We planned to do all our filming in one day as we knew our film opening did not need other location shots. We were lucky enough to film all of it in a day as it was a holiday and we all had busy schedules. We planned where we were going to meet up and how we were going to get there by train.

We all met up at college to pick up the equipment needed for filming. We then went to Angel Station, took the northern line to Bank station. From there we took the district line to Hornchurch station. The area in which the house was in was very quiet and it was very unlikely that we were going to be disturbed. One thing which could have went wrong is the time difference; our film opening was set to be filmed at 12 AM at night but we weren’t allowed to film at the location at that time. We were lucky enough that it gets dark quickly so we could pretend that it was actually 12 PM.

There were some problems throughout the course of the filming. One was that we were given the wrong tripod; the camera did fit and secure on to the tripod. This meant that we had to hand hold the camera whilst we were recording and panning. It was quite difficult as we were not sure if we had a steady hand and  we were afraid that it would show in the film. Another problem we had was that the space in the bathroom was very limited and all of us could not fit in there.

We eventually finished all our filming at -- PM and made sure we had double of all recordings so we could see which ones were better than the other. This is important because one shot might lack the power and acting skills than the other. We all agreed that the people who were going to go in to college on Monday 20^th February would take the equipment back to college as it was scheduled to give it back then, at 9 AM. 

Prop Shopping

As a group, we had decided to go prop shopping together to purchase the essential items needed for our thriller opening. A main object that we needed for our thriller was candles. We had chosen to buy white candles as we wanted them to represent innocence for our character whilst he chants as he is also wearing white in opposition to the spirit that later appears who is wearing black.

Before filming

Before we were to start filming our thriller opening, my group was told that we had to book days in the holiday in which we would film on that day. 

we all had to get the equipment from college as we had booked it for that day. It was in the holidays, so we were all avaliable to film on that day.

PITCH

We had pitched our initial idea to our media class and asked for feedback on whether our classmates and teachers thought our idea was achievable. As a group, we had made a presentation going through steps as to how we will accomplish our idea for our film. The areas that we had covered in our pitch are shown in the images above.

Planning -The Treatment.

This is a brief outline to our thriller opening. It shows how we've planned for our opening to go in 10 different steps. Although this is a short outline, it gives a clear idea on how we wish our thriller to go. Whilst filming, we may choose to change the treatment of our opening. However we will aim to stick to this outline.

The Treatment (TWELVE):

1.       A boy in the bathroom
2.       Setting up candles for chant
3.       Begins to chant
4.       Nothing happens, gets fed up and gives up
5.       Looks at his watch
6.       Then turns to look at the mirror
7.       See another character appear in the mirror
8.       Turns around
9.      The other character looks up to the camera
10.       Screen goes black

Planning - Target Audience

—Our thriller is aimed at teenagers from the age of 15. We chose this age and onwards because if younger people were to watch it, they might get scared due to the film being a supernatural. Another reason why we believe this is an appropriate age for this film is because from experience; we know what young people want and what engages them in to a movie. 

Another reason as to why we chose this to be our target audience is because we had researched into the age certificate for other thrillers and they were usually aged 12A or 15.

Examples:

The Woman In Black - 12A 

Orphan - 15

Animatic of the TWELVE storyboard

Storyboard 1;

Storyboard 2;

Storyboard 3;

Props - Thriller Opening - TWELVE

We are going to use a book of chants that our protagonist would be reading from in the opening. Since it is a book of chants, this adds to the subgenre of being a supernatural thriller.

We will use a mirror so we can film and see the reflection of shots from the mirror. This would be useful as we can use various shots for our opening.

Candles will be used in our opening as our protagonist will be lighting them in the opening to add to the process of him chanting. Also, it is relevant as all candles are blown out suddenly adding to the subgenre of being supernatural.

Moodboard

This is a moodboard that we had made on Wordle with words that we found appropriate which can be associated with our thriller opening. We had decided to do the the moodboard in black, white and red to keep to the colours of our opening. The titles in our opening are done in red and white font and the title of the thriller is in white against a black background, therefore we used a black background on Wordle.

Thriller Opening - TWELVE (Storyboard)

For our thriller opening to go successfully, we had planned out our shots on a storyboard allowing us to know which shot goes where and how each shot should be taken. This was useful as it gave us an idea on how we would like our thriller opening to go. We had drawn rough images of what we would like our audience to see and added details on how we would go about filming these shots. The images shown above are our storyboard for out thriller opening called 'TWELVE'.

Planning - Production Schedule

In class, we had made a production schedule allowing us to know when we would do our filming, editing and adding sounds to complete our thriller opening. Below is a weekly schedule of what we plan to do and when we plan to do it.

Thriller Production Schedule:

—09/02/2012 – Equipment booked to collect in class at 1.15pm – Return 10/02/2012 at 9am.

—14/02/2012 – 20/02/2012 (Half Term) – Collect at 4pm and return at 9am.

—22/02/2012 – Check whether reshooting is required

—24/02/2012 – Begin editing if all filming is complete.

—29/02/2012 – Add sounds/music and complete editing

—02/03/2012 – Look over opening, see whether anything needs to be changed

—12/03/2012 – Thriller film and blog deadline.

The Interview - PRELIM

Filming Prelim

The images below show how we had filmed for our prelim work in a group. We had used some props to help us create a scene of a police interview. Also, we used lighting to bring more attention to the central characters in the shot. The filming of the prelim work was rather straightforward as we worked together in a group and assisted each other whilst using the camera.

Prelim storyboard

I had done preliminary work which had allowed me to practise filming and editing for my thriller opening. For the preliminary work to go smoothly, a storyboard was created showing images of how each shot should take place. This was beneficial as it allowed me to have an idea of how the preliminary work would look at the end. I had drawn images and detailed them on how each shot should be taken. For example if there was to be a close up of a face, I would have drawn a close up image of a face and then written below that this shot is a close up.

planning the prelim

In a group of five we had planned together on how we would like our prelim work to go. To do this, we had storyboarded our ideas and made a plan on how we would like each shot to be and in which order we would like it to be shown.

Planning the Film Opening - Inspiration

Our group has been researching videos online and we have been inspired to use a shot from 'The Devil Inside'. We have decided that the shot used in this movie would work for our opening as it portrays a similar image about the supernatural. Since we have decided to make the opening to a supernatural thriller, this shot would be useful to take into consideration.