Changes we have made

From our initial idea we have made a few changes to develop our production into a better, more professional production.

I feel that as a group we have made a few changes to improve the quality of our production. We have cut a few things out and added something to try to improve the overall feel of our production. One thing that we have taken out is the typewriter scene at the begging as we felt that it didn’t hold the tension and made our opening too long, we took this out and replaced it with our titles at the begging instead of simply being placed at the end. We spent a lot of time thinking about our titles and realised that they worked too well to just be put at the end, so we decided that we would cut them up and include them in the opening shot.

We have also done a lot of discussion about music, we started with a simple song, but when putting it against out video we realised it again didn’t quite work and didn’t hold the tension the way we wanted it too. When we realised this we cut a section of the song that we thought worked and added other non-diegetic music to help build the tension. We have used breathing and different instruments to help build and hold the tension. We now feel that the sound works much better and matches the quality of the video.

We have also added another of Tiny Tim's tracks. We was happy with the sound of our thriller but thought it needed something else to make sure that the tension was kept high as Jake started walking past the 'this is my happy place' graffiti. This song works well with the other sounds that we also have playing and creates a good sense of mystery. The song being called and about his 'Daddy' also fits extremely well in our production.

Something else that we have changed is the ending of the production. We took another shot of blood dripping onto a photo that we have added in earlier in the production. This has worked well and is used just after Jake has been killed. We have put this shot over the shot of us leaving Nocton Hall, this is very effective and almost shows the end. Us leaving and the blood dripping works very well together. When we was doing this we took a few shots, but had to think about continuity to make sure that it tied in with the rest of the production.

We have also changed the name of our production. It was originally called 'Discarded' this was a good title but is something that we was not 100 percent. When our production was deleted and we had to redo it we thought it would only be fitting if we called it 'The Lost Project' this also tied in well with the fact that the child was lost in the fire and the building has been abandoned.

Another thing that we have changes is the positioning of our titles, production ident and production name. Originally we was going to have the production title at the beginning of the production and the ident and titles at the end of the production. We tried this and felt that it didn't work extremely well. We then tried opening with the production ident, followed with our titles which was edited with a clip of Nocton Hall. This worked extremely well and we was happy with is, so we put the title of the movie at the end of the production, this also worked well, we faded it in and out with fades to black with also made it run a lot smoother.

Title Ideas

  

Below are a few ideas we had to do with a title. There were a few things we could chose from to play on. We could use Nocton in the title as it was shot at Nocton Hall, could include something to do with love and pain, memories and hurt, hatred and revenge, as they all go with our production well. I feel that something simple like Nocton Hall could work but then also think that something such as Discarded would also work.
As a group we have decided that Discarded would work well, because of the meaning of the work and the fact 'scar' is within the word. This is cleaver and will work well as our production title.
DISCARDED 

Storyboards

 

Above are our storyboards. These will help us in giving us the initial base of shots that we want to take. We can then add other shots in to develop the thriller opening.

Production Ident

We feel that it would only right to stick with the name that we created for our prelim, which was ‘#ashtag productions’.  Although since our prelim we have created an ident shown below for our thriller opening. We feel it is a little different and creative with the way we want it to come into the production. We ideally would like the ‘ashtag’ or ‘production’ to come in fist, one after each other. Followed by the four lines of the hash tag ‘#’ with some sound effects. We are going to put our production ident at the beginning of the thriller opening along with the title of the thriller and our credits.

Shot List

·         Tracking shot of the exterior of the building with the credits intertwined within it

·         Panning shot of the exterior of the building

·         mid-shot of character walking

·         long shot of character stepping over wire

·         long shot of character walking from inside the building

·         long shot of character from behind walking

·         returning back to long shot of character walking from inside the building

·         long jib shot of character walking into the front of the building

·         low angle shot of character approaching the front of the building from inside

·         close up of character's foot stepping

·         long shot of character climbing over the rumble

·         low angle shot of the character from a person's perspective

·         mid jib shot of character walking through the corridor

·         high angle long shot of character walking through the corridor

·         long shot of character walking down the corridor with clips of the burnt boy flashes on screen.

·         Mid shot of character opening the door

·         close up shot of character walking passed the camera

·         long shot of character walking down the second corridor

·         mid shot of character through broken glass

·         side tracking shot of character walking down a ramp

·         front on tracking shot of character

·         mid shot of character through a gap in the false wall

·         Bird's eye view of character

·         long shot of character

·         mid shot of character walking through a door frame

·         long/mid shot of burnt boy rocking

·         long shot of character peering in the room from a person's perspective

·         long shot of character looking round the wall from inside

·         returning back to boy rocking

·         long shot from inside the room of character walking in and finding the record player

·         close up of record player being switched off

·         long shot of burnt boy standing up in the background

·         mid shot from the burnt's boys perspective standing up

·         close up shot of character turning around the find the burnt boy in his face

·         long tracking shot of the exterior of the building

Credits Planning

As we are doing an old theme, almost RAF based etc we thought that it would be a good idea for us to dress up in the uniform and make ourselves look as realistic as possible for that time eerier. We could then shoot these and pause on each of our names. The names will also be in a typewriter style to add to the old style look along with tea stained paper. To then make it yet more realistic we are going to put pictures of other old RAF / Military men around us, with different photos from the correct time period.

 

 

 

 

These are some photos we took as a group of each member, the idea was to look like RAF officers, the images were then edited and put in black and white to make them look like they are old and intense photos. The images were then tea stained to make them look older and will be used as out titles amongst other old RAF officers and different pictures.

 

 

Make up

As the location of our chosen place burnt down many years ago, we wanted to play on that history, so we have looked into having burns on the face of the character that was left in the fire, we took inspiration from 'The Dark Knight' when Two-Face is first revealed.

We have also completed trial runs on the make up, and it was extremely successful, this will be used in our thriller opening to add extra mystery.

Here are some photos of our trial run.

 

 

 

I feel that the trial run was very successful and will give our production an extremely professional feel.

The British Board of Film Classification

The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), originally British Board of Film Censors, is a non-governmental organisation, funded by the film industry and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom. It has a statutory requirement to classify videos, DVDs and some video games under the Video Recordings Act 2010.

Universal - All ages admitted, there is nothing unsuitable for children.

Parental Guidance - All ages admitted, but certain scenes may be unsuitable for young children. May contain mild language and sex/drugs references. May contain moderate violence if justified by context (e.g. fantasy).

12A - Cinema only. Introduced in 2002.

Films under this category are considered to be unsuitable for very young people. Those aged under 12 years are only admitted if accompanied by an adult, aged at least 18 years, at all times during the motion picture. However, it is generally not recommended that children under 12 years should watch the film. Films under this category can contain mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs, moderate swear words, infrequent strong language and moderate violence, sex references and nudity. Sexual activity may be briefly and discreetly portrayed. Sexual violence may be implied or briefly indicated.

12 - Home media only since 2002. 12A-rated films are usually given a 12 certificate for the VHS/DVD version unless extra material has been added that requires a higher rating.

Nobody younger than 12 can rent or buy a 12-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game. The content guidelines are identical to those used for the 12A certificate.

Only those over 15 years are admitted.

15  - Nobody younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, frequent strong language and limited use of very strong language, strong violence and strong sex references, and nudity without graphic detail. Sexual activity may be portrayed but without any strong detail. Sexual violence may be shown if discreet and justified by context.

18 - Only adults are admitted.

Nobody younger than 18 can rent or buy an 18-rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game, or watch a film in the cinema with this rating. Films under this category do not have limitation on the bad language that is used. Hard drugs are generally allowed, and explicit sex references along with detailed sexual activity are also allowed. Scenes of strong real sex may be permitted if justified by the context. Very strong, gory, and/or sadistic violence is usually permitted. Strong sexual violence is permitted unless it is eroticised or excessively graphic.

Restricted 18 - Can only be shown at licensed adult cinemas or sold at licensed sex shops, and only to adults, those aged 18 or over. Films under this category are always hard-core pornography, defined as material intended for sexual stimulation and containing clear images of real sexual activity, strong fetish material, explicit animated images, or sight of certain acts such as triple simultaneous penetration and snowballing. There remains a range of material that is often cut from the R18 rating: strong images of injury in BDSM or spanking works, urolagnia, scenes suggesting incest even if staged, references to underage sex or childhood sexual development and aggressive behaviour such as hair-pulling or spitting on a performer are not permitted. More cuts are demanded in this category than any other category.

 

When looking at certificates of different movies, I feel that it would be appropriate for ours to be rated a 15 by the BBFC. This is because it is hinted throughout the opening that somebody has been killed or something unpleasant has happened. I don't think that it would be an 18 because there is not strong language or any scenes of sexual references.

RAF Nocton Hall History

RAF Nocton Hall was a 740-bed hospital under RAF control from the 1940s until 1984. It was used by civilians and forces personnel until 1984, when it was leased to the USAF as a United States Air Force wartime contingency hospital. During the Gulf War, over 1,300 US medical staff were sent to the Hall and many were billeted at RAF Scampton. Fortunately only 35 casualties had to be treated. In its later days 13 American personnel remained to keep the hospital serviceable. RAF Nocton Hall was handed back to the Her Majesty's Government by the USAF on 30 September 1995.

Health, Safety and Behaviour

When filming there are a few things that we need to do to make sure everybody is safe and nobody gets injured. We are going to do the following to ensure our safety:

·         Make sure that each of us has an emergency contact number in case anything was to go wrong and make sure that we have each other’s phone numbers.

·         Everybody must be calm and take responsibility for their own actions

·         Everybody will be dressed in relation to the weather, wearing suitable footwear so we do not slip, fall and become injured.

·         No one is to act stupidly, running around our location, climbing etc. Make sure we are careful in where we step and what we do.

·         Make sure each member of the group knows how to use the equipment so that nothing gets broke and nobody hurts themselves with the equipment.

We have visited the location to make sure we know of any potential dangers when we are shooting. This will help us to make sure that nobody gets hurt and the opening to this thriller is a good one. We must also make sure that each of us act responsibly and respect our surroundings.

Audience Research Questionnaire

Are you male or female?

Male           

Female       
 
What is your age range?

12-14         
15-17         
18+  

What is your ethnic background?

White British                  

Mixed British        
Asian                    
Black African                  
Black Caribbean    
Chinese                
Other                   

Do you watch thrillers?

Yes   
No     

Do you like thrillers?

Yes   

No     

What location would best suit a thriller?

Woods
Abandoned
Everyday Setting
Bedroom
Other

(If yes) What type of thriller do you like?

Crime thriller                  

Action thriller                 
Psychological thriller      
Religious thriller             
Medical thriller               
Mystery thriller               
Legal thriller                   

Who do you watch thrillers with?

Family        

Friends       
Other          

Where do you tend to watch films?

 

At home               
At the cinema       
Other                   

Where do you hear about films?

Newspaper  

TV              
Internet      
Radio
Magazines  
Other

What makes an advert catch your attention? (Pick Two)

Bold colours         

Bold title              
Dramatic music    
Pictures                
Special effects      
All                        

In the beginning of a thriller do you like a main event taking place to set the story?

Yes   

No     

Do you prefer old fashioned thrillers (e.g. Psycho) or the newer thrillers (e.g. Cabin In The Woods)?

Old fashioned       

New                     

What music do you prefer at the start of a thriller?

Bold and Dramatic         

Quiet and Tense            

At the beginning of a thriller do you prefer?

Dark and mysterious      

Weird and eerie
Other          

How much would you consider on paying for a movie?

£0 - £5
£5-£10
£10-£15
£15-£20

Does the opening of a thriller to you have to be?

Action packed       
Gun fighting        
Mysterious  
Other          

Results

 

 

 

We handed our questionnaire to 15 different people to gain knowledge and feedback on what people look for in a thriller. There are a few things that immediately stood out when looking at the results. We found that most people enjoy thrillers and that people want the main plot to be set straight away. This is interesting and will try to do this in our thriller. Another thing we realised is that the people we asked would prefer a newer thriller compared to an old fashioned thriller. When considering the location we found that an everyday setting was the most popular closely followed by an abandoned theme, if we could combine both of these i feel that we could get the look we want. Asking and looking at the results of these questionnaires have given us a good insight to what people want and what we need to include.