Plans and Ideas

Charlotte and I plan to continue filming this Sunday. We are hoping to film the rest of the shots, so that on the Monday that we return to school we are able to edit the film as a whole. By doing this we will be able to decipher what we need to change and film again and what works really well and may get us a better overall grade. We have not yet decided whether we plan to keep the same soundtrack throughout the opening two minutes or whether we should use two songs. I personally feel that the first song that we have used is enough, however I think we should try another, so we know for sure that it is the best thing to do. Our chosen artist at the moment is Devendra Banhart however we may use Damien Rice as well or as an alternative.

Amy Reeve

Editing

I decided that whilst editing the opening shots of my film, the end shot that zooms in on the words; "every heart is ticklish to love" went far too quickly, meaning that the viewer may not be able to read the words in time. I overcame this by cutting the scene where I thought the time should start to slow down. I then right clicked on the shot and scrolled down to find the option that allowed me to slow down the amount of seconds it would take to zoom in on the phrase. When we replayed the footage through, the last shot was in slow motion, allowing the viewer to realise the importance of the words.

Amy Reeve

The difference between the Horror genre and the Thriller genre...

A Thriller movie can often be mistaken for a Horror film as it can be difficult to differentiate between the two, from the very nature of a film to the way the film industry prefers to split the two or blur the lines between them. Here are some of the main differences between thriller movies and horror movies.

Every film is written with a purpose, how it wants to affect the audience. Thriller movies are meant to thrill, whereas horror films are meant to leave the viewer horrified, hence the name 'horror' film. Though Thriller films may have some elements of terror, they are usually more suspenseful. Horror movies aim to get you jumping from your seat. A thriller leaves room for discussion and can generate some real fear, whereas horror will simply leave you feeling scared without much reason, as the events are usually improbable.

Thriller movies always have a good plot as many are book based. You can expect the unexpected with thrillers. You don't know exactly who is doing what or why, but it is revealed to you and there's sure to be twists in the story. With horror, almost everything is predictable. You typically know who is doing what, though a motive may or may not be given. You can typically tell what happens next and to whom. The line between thrillers and horror is drawn here. Thrillers are films that could happen. They're about stalkers, serial killers who stay dead when they die and practical phenomenon. Horror films stray from reality, with killers returning from the dead and other supernatural elements taking place.

Horror focuses on gore and body count. A thriller might kill off a significant number of characters, but any grotesque deaths will only be implied, not shown.

Many times genres are mixed and for the sake of attracting more viewers they are categorised in a non traditional way. What may have been a horror might be released as a suspense thriller. This way the film industry is sure to attract as many viewers as possible.

Amy Reeve and Charlotte Bone

Typical conventions of a Horror

Conventions of a Horror: - Horror films are described to strive for the emotions of fear, disgust and horror from viewers. They frequently overlap with the thriller genre and play on the viewers worst fears and nightmares which is what creates such an impact from the viewers. They sometimes contain supernatural elements and ‘jump scenes’. - The atmosphere established a supernatural world, where fear is the common currency. Gloomy weather, shadowy locations and strange noises in the distance are just a few ways to establish that something wicked this way comes. Often, the amount of time and detail devoted to the atmosphere of a work of horror allows the environment to become a leading character in the work. -Works of horror often use graphic violence, strong language and sexual situations to evoke fear, anger and tension, respectively. While any or all of these devices may be implied, they are often explicit in today's horror. -Typically, the endings of horror works are left unresolved. Although cynics may claim that this device is used to create room for sequels, the traditional open-ended conclusion also gives the audience a sense that the threat still waits just around the corner. Amy Reeve and Charlotte Bone

Typical conventions of a Thriller

Conventions of a Thriller:
- Essentially about the battle of justice vs. injustice.
- There is often a price to be paid for the conclusion of the story.
- Often a thriller is a film of suspense with a plot structure that reinforces the elements of gamesmanship and the chase.
- Thrillers can be spy based, tales of geopolitical crisis, legal thrillers, medical thrillers, technothrillers or domestic thrillers.
- Commonly thrillers progress with a growing sense of threat or danger and the excitement of pursuit.
-Thriller films are normally shown from two charachter points of view.
-The story is occasionaly told from the view of the villain, which can lead to empathy for the villain also at their twisted understanding or peraps disturbiing past that has led to the present.
-Events in the storyline enable the film to progress, and allow the audience to second guess what will happen next. In many films this will be wrong so adds to suspense.


Amy Reeve

Progress and filming

Reeve and I re-filmed the first section of our thriller. We managed to get a close up shot of me crying and different close up shots of the 'burn book' which Amy made containing images of Ross the male character and scribbled writing stating things like 'I love you' and newspaper cut outs stating 'heart broken' etc. We filmed close up shots of the writing and pictures in the book. We edited the colour to black and white, and inserted the music: Insect Eyes by Devendra Banhart. Reeve and I mutually agreed on the music, we both think it fits our film perfectly and creates the right feeling. We sampled another song which held a more sad tone, whereas 'Insect eyes' creates a creepy mood, which is more relevant as my character is more revengeful than simply full of remorse. We intend to only use this music for this first particular bit of filming however. We inserted 2 second gradient wipes between shots of the book to enable a better fade. We also inserted a fade to black after the shot of me crying as the shot changes to the book.

This particular bit of filming took place at Amy's house, though you cannot really see the room or surroundings. For the next part we are going to film at my house, where I will hopefully be doing the majority of the filming as Amy filmed the first part. We have arranged to continue filming on Sunday at mine.

Charlotte Bone

Camera!

I have been able to acquire a camera, meaning that charlotte and I won't have the issue of misplacing it at school, or having other people film over our footage. We won't have to take it into school to be charged, which means we won't have the problem of leaving it at school by accident. I was also able to get a fisheye lens meaning Charlotte and I can play around with what type of lens we will use for each shot. It also came with a lens that meant we could constantly film with a close up shot. With our own camera, we will find it much easier to film and edit our footage as we won't have to return it at any point and we will be in possession of it 24/7. I particularly liked the effect of the fisheye lens and I am hoping to incorporate it into some of our shots.

Amy Reeve

A change of plan...

Charlotte and I have discussed the issue of the setting of our Thriller. We found that both of us live in rural areas which is the kind of location we are wanting to film at. Seeing as Charlotte lives in Wickham St Pauls and I live in Greenstead Green we have changed our plans to film at Charlotte's house and have decided to film at mine instead. As Greenstead Green is a 5 minute drive from Halstead, we thought that getting the bus home from school to Halstead and then getting to Greenstead Green, made much more sense than having to catch the Sudbury bus aswell as the Halstead one. We haven't made any changes in the plot however and I have some effective locations that we can use in different scenes.

Greenstead Green:

There are plenty of fields and woodland in Greenstead Green which means that we will be able to create the right atmosphere when filming the murder scene. With the weather conditions being quite dark and murky at the moment, depending on the time of day, there can be some extremely evocative scenery, with a low mist sometimes appearing across the fields and often the open expanse of skies show beautiful cloud formations and atmospheric light and colour.

Amy Reeve

Sunday 16th January

On this date Charlotte and I plan to make good inroads into our media project. We feel that we have kept up to date with our blogging, however we are falling behind with filming, as we found the Christmas holidays were not the best time for either of us to meet up and film inside the house, as there were aspects such as Christmas decorations and family members that we had to take into account. This Sunday morning, we both plan to meet at my house with the diary, photographs and costumes, so we can do as much filming as possible. Hopefully in a couple of weeks time we will be finished filming and can focus on editing and evaluating our work.

Amy Reeve

Summary of ideas

I have decided to convert our idea for our thriller into a short story, to bring it alive before we finish filming it, and help us to picture it more clearly.

Across the room she sat, staring into the tatty brown book as if it held the answer. She took the cold silver pen in her pale hands, and began to write, slowly at first, but gradually getting faster, pressing the pen onto the paper harder, writing manically, until it was too much. She stopped, and a single tear trickled gently down the curve of her face.

The edges of the photograph had curled and browned slightly, but that didn't matter to her. What truly mattered was that this picture, this single moment in time that was captured, was to her, the most memorable and beautiful time she could remember. She brushed her fingertips over the boys' face, knowing that she could not grasp him and pull him out of the picture, despite longing to. She began to write: "It's been 136 days since I lost you, and not a day goes by when I don't think about it. You still control my life, you remain the reason for my existence, yet you do not belong to me. I still cannot fathom why. So I've been thinking, why can't I have you Indeed, why. Because of that repulsive, selfish, ugly cow who took you from me! Well, you know me better than anyone, I always get what I want, and this is no exception. I'm going to get you back, Ross, and if I fail, I'm going to make sure no one gets you. You were made for ME, can't you see that? I'll make you see it."

The crumpled pages of the book began to blow, flicking back through all the memories she shared with her beloved, all the memories that the other girl had destroyed the day she took Ross from Charlotte.

A slender silhouette was standing at the window, pacing slowly along the room. Charlotte daren't remove her eyes from it, in case it was the other girl. What if it was? What could she do to stop her from being in Ross' room? 'Kill her!', the voice in Charlotte's head screamed. She shook it off, and continued to stare at the window. Another silhouette could be seen approaching the window, larger than the one that was already there. 'Ross', Charlotte thought instantly. Her hands began to quiver, goosebumps grew across her arms, and a shiver ran down the nape of her neck, chasing her spine. Her heartbeat thumped with such force she felt it in her head, and her chest visibly moved at each heart beat.

Everything had become a blur. Charlotte questioned her actions over and over again, trying to atone what she had done. Did she actually care? No. She wanted him dead. The overwhelming need for him to die had overpowered the urge to do it herself. Her aide knew what he was doing, he could dispose of all evidence, ensure no reporcussions prevailed. However much she wanted to see his death, she couldn't risk following it through herself, if she couldnt have him, no one could. She wondered how Amy felt. Was she worried by now? Was she completely lost without her precious Ross? A smile grew across Charlotte's face, perpetuating her evil mind. She could care less, but then it wouldn't be as fun.

The next thing she knew, Charlotte was walking quickly down a muddy path, her eyes fixated on the woods. She had been told that the job was done, but she needed to see it herself. Perhaps people will believe that he took his own life, maybe that was why he was hung up rather than shot or stabbed. As long as he was dead, none of it mattered anymore. She could feel the blood pulsating through her protruding veins as her heart beat drummed in her head. She pushed her way through branches and collections of leaves, There he was. Propped up perfectly in a tree, a rope tied round his neck, his feet swaying gently in the wind. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath and imagined his thoughts before the air from his lungs was squeezed out of him by the taut rope.

Had anyone heard his cries? Had anyone noticed his disappearance? Who actually cared? A name echoed in Charlotte's mind. Amy. If she loved Ross, would she attempt to find his killer, or perhaps even avenge his death? Surely not.

Would the first black hole in Amy's life, the emptiness of lonely arms and no warm neck to put them around, drive her to where Charlotte had found herself that very morning?

Charlotte Bone

Answers for Questionnaire:

We asked a number of people ranging from the ages of 12-50 years old, on what they would expect from our Thriller film. We asked 5 different people for each question, so we had a range of answers.

1.

A) Children of Men

B) The Godfather Part 2

C) Seven

D) Heat

E) Psycho

2.

A) A stalker

B) A Femme Fatale

C) A heroine

D) A murderer

E) A victim

3.

A) Classical

B) Electro

C) Classical

D) Rock/Indie

E) Country and Western

4.

A) Story line

B) Story line

C) Shots that set the scene

D) Story line

E) Shots that set the scene

5.

A) Night time

B) Twilight

C) Night time

D) Dusk

E) Early morning

6.

A) The woods

B) An abandoned warehouse

C) In the city

D) In an empty school

E) A run down house

7.

A) Dialect

B) No Dialect

C) Dialect

D) No Dialect

E) No Dialect

8.

A) Soundtrack

B) Soundtrack

C) Soundtrack

D) No Soundtrack

E) Soundtrack

9.

A) Extreme Close-ups

B) Panning Shots

C) Mid-shots

D) Birds Eye view shots

E) Close-ups

10.

A) "Thriller films make me feel tense"

B) "I find that they keep me on edge"

C) "I associate the Thriller genre with violence"

D) "Some Thrillers scare me"

E) "I always associate Thrillers with good guys and bad guys."

Charlotte Bone

Questionnaire

1. What is your favourite thriller film?

2. What characters would you expect to find in a typical thriller film?

3. What genre of music do you associate with thriller films?

4. In the opening scenes of a thriller film would you expect a story line or shots that set the scene?

5. At what time in the day do you believe is the most appropriate time to set a thriller?

6. What kind of locations would you expect of a typical thriller film?

7. Would you prefer dialect/no dialect?

8. Soundtrack/no soundtrack?

9. What type of camera shots/angles would you expect to see?

10. What personal associations do you make with thriller films?

Charlotte Bone

To do list:

- Get photos of me and the male character

- Find a suitable diary and fill in with photographs and writing/annotations

- Take pictures of location and post on blog

- Choose costumes for each character

- Continue filming the opening titles

- Start filming the opening scene

Amy and I are hoping to proceed with the filming over the next few weeks and we aim to accomplish the tasks we have set ourselves as soon as possible.

Charlotte Bone

Filming progress:

Charlotte and I met up once over the Christmas period and decided to begin filming. We spent the majority of the day solving issues that cropped up, for example we needed to find a diary where the pages would blow open. We had several options, however the ring binder diaries did not have the right effect and many of the books that we had collected would not stay open, or when we filled in some of the diary and stuck in photographs and bits and pieces, the pages were too heavy to blow open. We also tested the scene where we film the feet hanging from the tree and found that by sitting on a branch, the feet would not hang straight. We decided that the male character would have to hold on to a branch for the killing scene. We timed how long I could hold on for and found that it was plenty of time to get the right shots. We then began filming the opening titles in the style of those of the film 'Seven'. We had a successful day filming and managed to overcome a few problems that arose during the day.

Amy Reeve