Evaluation

Notes for evaluation/planning for evaluation;
This will be presented as a directors commentary with clips of the opening sequence and also clips of the preliminary peice.

- Forms and Conventions;
- It take the form of a Thriller opening, it includes the following conventions of a Thriller, titles/credits, production companies, actors, edited by, music by, produced by, directed by ect, and also the title.
- Challenges conventions --> like a trailer for some of it - very fast pace of shots (with diff bits of the storyline in the same sequence) - mysterious - makes audience want to see the rest of it. At the end of opening the "5 days earlier" shows that it is about to carry on into a full film.

- Representation;
--> Teenagers and the supernatural.
- We thought that it would be better if the main character and supernatural character should have long hair because it is a good representation of teenaged girls and long hair on makes a ghostly figure more mysterious because they can hide their face behind it.
- We also thought it would be good for the girl to have blonde hair and the ghostly girl to have dark brown hair because they contrast. Blonde would represent light, purity and goodness, and brown would represent darkness, evil and a dirty slate.
- The main character is wearing bright/light/bold colours to reflect bubbly personality - in 1st opening clips she is wearing white (getting ready for a party clip). In some of the shots she is wearing a darker/bold blue jumper this is showing through her clothes that as the film progresses her personality is getting darker as her mind is being driven insane by the ghostly girl. Also the white jeans on her bottom half are contrasting this and show that she is slowly being taken over and hasn't turned completely insane yet.
- The ghostly girl wears dull and pastel colours, representing her ghostly state, also she can't wear brightly coloured clothes because dull clothes make it easier for her to blend in with the shadows and her scenery, making her a more mysterious and a tense character.
- Girl on round-a-bout represents ghostly girl going round in victims heads and along with the music it represents how the victim will become insane because of her.
- Hannah and I decided that one of us should act out the part of one of the main characters because we knew how we wanted it to look and we would also be more reliable, therefore making it easier to get the finished product we wanted. We also chose Lucy Gent to act out the part of a main character in our production because she is a drama student and would be able to portray mine and Hannah's idea of how her character would act.
- All of these are essential for the creation of a character because if not a lot of thought go into it then the character may be unclear to the audience or have a different affect on them other than what affect you wanted to have on them.

- Media institutions;
- distributed the thriller opening on blogger and youtube. If we had longer on this we would have tried to upload it to more sites like myspace, facebook and bebo to get a wider range of an audience. Usually low budget English films by directors who havent yet been recognised of their talents are distributed on the internet to get hopefully an audience which will watch other films they may put on there. Youtube would be the best place to distribute an opening to a film because youtube has a lot of viewers, and broadcasting videos is the main feature of the website unlike the other sites which are more social.

- Target Audience;
15-24 year olds.
We set out to capture the audience by making it mysterious, making it tense, slightly scary, leaving them asking questions and wanting to know more.
There is a mixture of diff shots taken from what would be the film and they are put into the beginning as like a flashback that our main character is having. This would make the audience want to know what happened for these flashbacks to occur because the images in the flashbacks pose a lot of questions because they are quite mysterious. I collected quite abit of audience feedback, not all of them were media students which makes their opinions more applicable to what an actual audience would look for in a movie not a media student.
- The overall comment of mine and hannah;s thriller opening was that it was really good, there were good comments about the random shots - knife clock round-a-bout ect being scary, good comments on the music adding tension, quite a few people wanted to watch the whole film if we made one, so it fulfilled what we wanted by wanting our audience to want to find out more, making them want to watch the rest of the film. However there was 2 comments on blogger and they thought it was a trailer. This was taken into consideration after we finished storyboarding at first and we extended the original piece to make it seem like it carried on into a film after the title.

- Technologies;
- Internet - the websites used were a source of a large range of free sounds/music - time consuming - often came up with results which were nothing like what we were looking for.
- iMacs/iMovie - learnt how to use different on screen effects to help give an eery feel to the thriller opening, there were some limitations; trouble with the macs; on some clips they kept freezing at the end of them, when creating and removing the titles for the film it duplicated some of the clips, it wouldn't let us do some of the transitions we wanted however that was probably due to the length of the clips and other effects/titles may have affected it.
- Vid cameras - They are pretty easy to work with once gotten to grips with, limitations - some of the shots had to be filmed on the tripod (still) instead of using a tracking shot because the camera would have been too shaky because we didn't have a camera trolly/dolly to get that effect.


- Progress;
- more experimentive with camera movement
- took panning (in preliminary) - moved across then up instead of just across.
- tracking shot
- steadicam
- wider range of shot types and angles.
- put a lot more thought into angles of camera shots, pays off because it makes the opening sequence more interesting to watch if there are a variety of different shots.
- sound quality better - in preliminary voices weren't that clear however in final production the scream (only diegetic voice) was clear, which made it more effective on the audience - if the scream had been quieter because of the distance of the camera or the music was louder then it wouldn't have the same effect on the audience.

This is the final piece of the evaluation, it would have been included in the filming, however there were some problems with the camera i filmed it with and it missed the last bit, and as I haven't had time to re-do the progress section of my evaluation I have written it up with clips aswell.
Hannah and I made quite a lot of progress from the preliminary exercise to our opening to the thriller.
We were more experimentative with camera movement and we took panning, which was in the preliminary exercise, and we moved the camera across then up instead of just across. This is shown in the clip below;

We also used tracking shots and steadicam. We have used a wider range of shot types and angles within the thriller opening. A lot more thought was put into angles of camera shots, this pays off because it makes the opening sequence more interesting to watch if there are a variety of different shots.
The sound quality is better in the thriller opening because in the preliminary piece, the voices weren't that clear however in the final production the scream (which was the only diegetic voice in the pice) was clear, which made it more effective on the audience. If the scream had been quieter because of the distance of the camera or the music was louder then it wouldn't have the same effect on the audience. It is shown in the clip below;

The Mentality.

This is the finished product of mine and Hannah's thriller opening. We are also going to try and put this on myspace, facebook and youtube to try and get a wider range of audience feedback.

Here are some comments made from people who were unable to sign up to blogger but have wrote down to me on msn what they thought;

L u c a s says:
I thought it was really good, the editing was done really well and the timing was spot on also. The bloody knife and the singing kids added effect and makes you wanna watch more ! ! ! lol :P.
WELL DONE !
x x x x x x x

M a r k says:
i liked it, i liked the roundabout bit and also the clock :P the music was good towards the clip it adds the tension to it =D

LEWIS:D LJM* says:
i guess its ok =]

;)(*)Mark(8)(*) says:
looks well gd

Sound for thriller opening

In our title sequence, when the actors are appearing on the screen and there is a series of disturbing images, we will be using a sound clip called ghost 1.wav as it is eery and will add to the effect of mystery in the thriller opening. It starts off quite slow, and gets louder and more eery as the clip goes on.

The next sound we have chosen is distriff_2.wav, which is upbeat and fast paced. This is suitable for the scenes where our main character is running through the woods because the speed of the music reflects the speed of the persons heart rate and the speed in which they are running.

In our first shot we have chosen the sound clip, cellos down down.wav because it is eery and gradually builds up tension which will be suitable for the shot because we want to open our thriller with a tense and mysterious atmosphere. This clip is 21 seconds long, and because of this we will need to extend our first shot slightly and could split the sound clip to carry on in other shots of our main character in the bathroom.

For the shot of the party we will be using diegetic music of this sound clip Chaser RMX 2.wav. We will play this through speakers while we are filming to make it seem more realistic and like it's a real party. It will be difficult to add the sound clip on after because it won't look as realistic if people are dancing at different speeds or out of time to the music. As this clip is 7 secs long we will film for the 7 seconds then cut the shot down during editing as our party shot is only 3 secs long.

For the shots of the trees with the beginning credits and for the shots imbetween, we are going to use The mind of the killer.mp3 this is because it creates a strange and creepy atmosphere while the credits are coming up, it will give the audience the sense that the film they are about to see is going to be quite scary.

The sound clip girls singing-PiSh_01.wav will be used in the beginning credits where there is a spinning round-a-bout and the mysterious ghost like person appears on them. This will represent her going around in her victims heads.

The sound clip Spooky abience with heartbeat.mp3 will be used when the clips start speeding up, when the blonde character turns back around, and also overlapping with the sound clip above to create a very weird and spooky atmosphere.

Shooting Schedule for Thriller Opening

Day one of filming:

Inside Hannah's House:

Location: Hannah's Bathroom.
Props: Tap, Blonde Wig, Black/Dark Brown Wig, Mirror, Make-up bag and Make-up.
Shot Numbers: 1,3,6,7,8,14
Camera shots filmed from the same position: End of 1,3,7,8
- Do these shots first after pan of shot 1.

Location: Hannah's Bedroom.
Props: Wardrobe, T-shirts, Trousers/Jeans, Skirts, Shoe, Mobile phone, Bed, Blonde Wig, TV.
Shot Numbers: 17,24,25,26
Camera shots filmed from the same position: 24,26

Location: Hannah's Kitchen
Props: Knife, Water, Ketchup, Clock.
Shot Numbers: 4,9

Day two of filming:

Location: Blaby Woods, Balskell Park.
Props: Trees, Bike.
Shot Numbers: 12,13,16,18,20,21,22,23
Camera shots filmed from the same position: 16,18,20,23

Day three of filming:

Location: Countesthorpe Community College and Winchester Road.
Props: Flashing Lights from the Drama Studio, Blonde Wig, Black/Brown Wig, Glow sticks.
Shot Numbers: 2,19

Day four of filming:

Location: Ollie Park in Whetstone.
Props: Metal Fence and Gate, Swings, Round-a-bout, Blonde Wig, Black/Brown Wig.
Shot Numbers: 5,15

Location: Whetstone Church.
Props: Gravestones
Shot Numbers: 10,11



Friday 23rd January 2009 Hannah and I started filming.
We filmed shots 4, 9, 17, 24, 25 and 26.
We didn't do the original shots we intended to do on the first day of filming because Lucy was busy and she was needed for 3 of the shots. Also we couldn't shoot the rest of the shots in Hannah's bathroom because we needed to keep the camera in the same position for most of them.

Saturday 24th January 2009 Hannah and I filmed shots 5 and 15 on Ollie Park.
This was meant to be day 3 of filming, however we decided to do the planned days of filming in a different order.
Shot 15 consisted of a range of different shots within it because after we had finished the storyboards we were going over them and decided to extend the actors title sequence and add extra shots in. Hannah managed to film over one of the clips from this sequence, so we will have to re-do it at a later date. We didn't shoot shots 10 and 11 as we were going to on the same day because it was getting dark and so we couldn't film anymore.

Friday 30th January 2009 Hannah and I filmed shots 10, 12, 13, 16, 18, 19, 20, 21, 23.
We filmed a shot of the church in Blaby instead of Whetstone because it was very close to where we were filming the rest of the shots, therefore it was more practical at the time. We also filmed the shot we needed on Winchester road from the 3rd day of filming because we were able to do it at the time.

Friday 13th February 2009 Hannah and I filmed shots 22 and re-filming of the clip from the sequence of shot 15. We were able to complete these successfully.
Also in the week before this day we had booked the theatre to film our party clip. We had got it booked for Friday 27th February, however we have now decided not to film this clip and remove it from the opening sequence because we would have had to film it and edit it on the deadline for our final production.

Opening To Thriller - Main Production

I am working with Hannah for the main production of an opening to a thriller film.

Friday 21st November we started to plan our thriller. We decided on possible casting for our film, locations, props and ideas for clips to be shown.Casting; Charlotte (me) - girl main character (name still to be decided), Lucy - ghost type girl, and extras; Hannah, Luke, David, Helena, Amy, Lewis H, Lewis M, Tom B, Tom C, Jenny, Georgie, Max, Charley, Siobhan. There may be more but we haven't asked people to do it yet, so far me, Hannah and Lewis M are confirmed to be in it.

Locations;
The bathroom, bedroom and kitchen inside Hannah's house.
The woods in blaby.
Winchester Road.
Whetstone Church. (we will need to ask if we could film there).
Possibly the drama studio in Countesthorpe Community College. (that would need booking if we decide to film there).
Ollie Park.

Props and things we need;
Tap, Mirror, Clock, Brush, Kitchen, Knife, Blonde Wig, Dark brown/black Wig, Make-up and Make-up bag, Wardrobe, T-shirts, Trousers/Jeans, Skirts, Shoe, Mobile Phone, Bed, TV, Water, Ketchup, Trees, Bike, Flashing Lights from the Drama Studio, Glow sticks, Metal Fence and Gate, Swings, Round-a-bout, Blonde Wig, and Gravestones.

Tuesday 25th November we carried on planning what clips we would have in the opening sequence, and started on the storyboard. We also came up with names for the production companies which are, Black Forest productions and Film Club productions.

Wednesday 26th Novemeber we decided to just draw out all of the clips on the storyboard (we have have only drawn some though) and then after we have them all we will decide what order they will go in because at the moment we are still gathering ideas together.

Thursday 27th Novemeber, Helena, Amy and Lucy are also confirmed to be in our opening to a thriller production.

Monday 1st December through until Friday 5th December we carried on drawing out our storyboard.

Friday 5th December we also planned the title for our thriller. We made a mind-map for it but i will list our idea's on here.

Friday 12th December, Georgie and Jenny are confirmed to be in our opening to a thriller production.

Thriller;

Psychological;
- unstable.
- Neglect - past - abandoned.
- Memory - blurred.
- Mentality - disposition.

Whisper

Veridical

Dark;
- Hidden.
- Shadows.

Supernatural;
- Haunted.
- Ghost.

Abstract

Mendacious;
- Deceitful.
- Deceptive.
- Dishonest.
- Duplicitous.

Hannah and I decided to call our thriller The Mentality, which means an 'irrational way of thinking'. We decided on this name for our thriller because our main character experiences several things which 'play with her mind' such as hearing voices and seeing weird girls appearing. We also drew inspiration from other thriller titles such as, The Ring, The Others, The Grudge, The Interpreter and The Usual Suspects. We also decided that our title would have more emphasis in it if we had The infront of Mentality instead of just Mentality.

Storyboard for Thriller Opening:

I asked a few people to write down on a peice of paper what they thought of the storyboard for our Thriller opening. I would scan it onto here however you wouldnt be able to see the comments clearly.

Audience feedback for thriller opening;

"Mysterious and draws the audience in to question what has happened" - Pheobe.

"Looks very tense, the short scenes build up the sharp tension" - Amy Potts.

"Tense - want to see it!" - Tilly.

"The suspense is killing me" **** (and a half *) - Mark Lomasney.

"Good" - Jordan.

Risk Assessment for main production

• Tripping over the tripod - be careful when walking near it.
• Using the camera near running water - not take the camera too close to the water (so it won't get splashed).
• Tripping over in the woods when it's dark - make sure we are aware of surroundings and be careful when moving around.
• Using the camera near the road - we need to watch where we are going so we don't end up going off the path by accident.
• Knife in a shot - be extra careful when handling the knife and make sure no one steps on it when it's on the floor.
• Using the camera while riding a bike - make sure we are familiar with the surroundings we will be riding in, be careful whilst riding the back and make sure we don't drop the camera.
• Actress standing in a shower (may slip) - put down a mat to prevent slipping.
• Getting hit by the swings whilst they are swinging - stand away from them to make sure they wouldn't hit us.
• May run into people in the dark - be careful and stay aware of surroundings.
• Hitting people, the camera, or the window whilst throwing objects out of the wardrobe - make sure they aim where they will throw the objects and practice it before using the camera.
• Dogs chasing after us in Balskell Park - make sure there aren't any dogs close by before we film.

Film Certificates

Taken from the The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) website are a list of the ratings and what is seen as acceptable for the particular rating. This is for research into what rating to give our film.

Videos classified 'Uc' are particularly suitable for pre-school children and normally raise none of the issues set out below.

It is impossible to predict what might upset any particular child. But a ‘U’ film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. U films should be set within a positive moral framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror.

Theme;
Treatment of problematic themes must be sensitive and appropriate for a younger audience.
Language;
Infrequent use only of very mild bad language.
Nudity;
Occasional natural nudity, with no sexual context.
Sex;
Mild sexual behaviour (eg kissing) and references only (eg to ‘making love’).
Violence;
Mild violence only. Occasional mild threat or menace only.
Imitable techniques;
No emphasis on realistic or easily accessible weapons. No potentially dangerous behaviour which young children are likely to copy.
Horror;
Horror effects should be mild and brief and should take account of the presence of very young viewers. The outcome should be reassuring.
Drugs;
No references to illegal drugs or drug misuse unless there is a clear educational purpose or clear anti-drug message suitable for the audience.

'PG' Parental Guidance - General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children
Unaccompanied children of any age may watch. A ‘PG’ film should not disturb a child aged around eight or older. However, parents are advised to consider whether the content may upset younger or more sensitive children.

Theme;
Where more serious issues are featured (eg domestic violence, racist abuse) nothing in their treatment should condone the behaviour.
Language;
Mild bad language only.
Nudity;
Natural nudity, with no sexual context.
Sex;
Sexual activity may be implied, but should be discreet and infrequent. Mild sex references and innuendo only.
Violence;
Moderate violence, without detail, may be allowed, if justified by its setting (eg historic, comedy or fantasy).
Imitable techniques;
No glamorisation of realistic or easily accessible weapons. No detail of potentially dangerous behaviour which young children are likely to copy.
Horror;
Frightening sequences should not be prolonged or intense. Fantasy settings may be a mitigating factor.
Drugs;
Any references to illegal drugs or drug misuse must be innocuous or carry a suitable anti-drug message.

12A – Suitable for 12 years and over. No-one younger than 12 may see a ‘12A’ film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. No-one younger than 12 may rent or buy a ‘12’ rated video or DVD. Responsibility for allowing under-12s to view lies with the accompanying or supervising adult.

Theme;
Mature themes are acceptable, but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers.
Language;
The use of strong language (eg 'fuck') must be infrequent. Racist abuse is also of particular concern.
Nudity;
Nudity is allowed, but in a sexual context must be brief and discreet.
Sex;
Sexual activity may be implied. Sex references may reflect what is likely to be familiar to most adolescents but should not go beyond what is suitable for them.
Violence;
Violence must not dwell on detail. There should be no emphasis on injuries or blood. Sexual violence may only be implied or briefly and discreetly indicated.
Imitable techniques;
Dangerous techniques (eg combat, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on imitable detail or appear pain or harm free. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Horror;
Sustained moderate threat and menace are permitted. Occasional gory moments only.
Drugs;
Any misuse of drugs must be infrequent and should not be glamorised or instructional.

'15' – Suitable only for 15 years and over
No-one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video or DVD.

Theme;
No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds.
Language;
There may be frequent use of strong language. But the strongest terms will be acceptable only where justified by the context. Continued aggressive use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.
Nudity;
Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.
Sex;
Sexual activity may be portrayed but without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour.
Violence;
Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief.
Imitable techniques;
Dangerous techniques (eg combat, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on imitable detail. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.
Horror;
Strong threat and menace are permitted. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable.
Drugs;
Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse.

'18' – Suitable only for adults
No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema. No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video.
In line with the consistent findings of the BBFC's public consultations, at '18' the BBFC's guideline concerns will not normally override the wish that adults should be free to chose their own entertainment, within the law. Exceptions are most likely in the following areas:

• where material or treatment appears to the Board to risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society – e.g. any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which is likely to promote the activity. The Board may also intervene with portrayals of sexual violence which might, e.g. eroticise or endorse sexual assault.
• the more explicit images of sexual activity – unless they can be exceptionally justified by context and the work is not a 'sex work' - rated R18.

We have decided to rate our film with the 15 certificate because it would fit into the criteria needed for it to be a 15. It involves images and a storyline which would psychologically harm a younger child and may disturb them. A result of watching this may cause a younger child to have nightmares because the film 'plays with your mind' and a child may think it's real and be scared. There will be scenes of horror, violence, use of strong language, and sexual references in this film which we find will be only suitable for ages 15 and over.