Friday 12 February 2010

Our second day of filming



Yesterday we went out to film the attack scene of our thriller. We used Cineworld and a block of flats as our locations. Our aim was to clearly identify the distinctive tattoo on the killer's hand, as well as the appearance of the victim, Ed. We plan to use our footage as the protagonist's memory of the event.

The filming session went well, as we captured a wide range of different shots. The idea is to edit the attack to show hints of it to the viewer. By doing this it will suggest that the memory is faded. Additionally, a characteristic of thrillers is that little of a murder or assault is shown, and this is something we wish to adhere to.

The lighting for the filming was the natural daylight, to make sure there is clarity to our footage. However, we plan to apply a black & white effect to the footage in post production to set it aside as a flashback. We may also add a dark finish to the film to give a grittier feel, as the attack is a grim event.

There will be limited dialogue in this scene. This is because it is representing Micheal's memory, and as he suffers from amnesia, he is unlikely to remember exact conversations.

One of the aims of this scene was to not allow the viewer to see the attacker. We achieved this by having him dressed in black, with a hood covering his face. We also had shots of him following Ed and Micheal, and by having his back to the camera, it suggested the killer was looming over the two friends. By using close ups, we allowed the viewer to distinguish the identity of Ed the victim. Further still, close ups were also used on the distinctive tattoo on the murderer's hand, to clearly show that Micheal could remember it, and also as it proves significant in the next scene. The design of the tattoo is very similar to the signature of the killer in the thriller Zodiac. As Zodiac was one of our inspiration pieces, we are using the same design to pay homage to it (see above).

Jonny Hucker, James Seymour, Danny Chiverton

Wednesday 10 February 2010

Our first day of filming

On the left is the room we decided to film our police interview in at Long Road College

Today we began filiming our thriller opening. We completed our police interview scene, filming in a spare room at Long Road College, as it looks similar to a police questioning room. So the location reflected dark feel of the scene, it was dimly lit. The main character Michael - played by James Seymour - was seen to be under pressure and on the spot by our lighting was a single table lamp. In addtion, the lamp it shining directly at him, much like a spotlight. This shows the viewer Michael is isolated and is the focus in the scene. It also reflects the pressure that is on Michael, as he is the only witness of the murder of his close friend, and is forced to remember any traces of evidence.

We also captured plently of footage using a mixture of shot types throughout the scene. We took large amounts of film so that we are able to edit it later and have a wide range of shots to work with. As he is the director of our project, Danny Chiverton wrote up a shot list to make sure he could get all the types of shots he wanted. Additionally, by working through Danny's storyboard, we could ensure we stuck to the narrative and the actors - Jonny Hucker and James Seymour - were aware of what was required. We found it was useful to have a set plan of what we wanted to film and what the actors were required to do. Futhermore, we were able to experiment with other shots which we felt at the time were useful for the project.

The dialogue was used to set up the narrative of the thriller by making the the story and the mystery of the film known, which is a common feature of thrillers. The script, written by Jonny Hucker, establishes the story by highlighting Michael's amnesia and the stuggle for him to remember an unkown killer. Michael displays confusion under questioning to show he is suffering memory loss. The objective of Jonny's script was to drop hints to the viewer of what the mystery of the thriller is. This was achieved by emotive acting from James, making it clear that Michael truely can't recall the incident. Michael's stuggle is revealed when the detective says he is the suspect of the murder, followed by James preaching his innocene. This forms the mystery of our thriller.

Collectively we feel that our first day of shooting went well. We are confident we will now be bale to move on to film our other scenes before the deadline. We next plan to shoot the murder scene and the scene at the train station.

Jonny Hucker, James Seymour, Danny Chiverton

Friday 5 February 2010

film title

after a group discussion we have all agreed on a name for the film. the name we have chosen is ''Amnesia"". we believe this to be an appropriate and fitting name to our film as one of the main factors of our film and fits the style of the film perfectly. As well as this, it is simple and easy to remember which will work to our advantage.

We have decided to go for an unclear font which will get the viewer to work hard to understand what the title says. We went for this idea as it represents one of the characteristics of amnesia, this being that almost everything is unclear.

James Seymour

Shot list

shot 1- p.o.v medium shot walking towards Edd. ( memory)
shot 2- close up of eye ( Michael in police station )
shot 3- medium shot of Michael with head resting on table.
shot 4- close up of Michael with heads resting in hands.
shot 5- p.o.v medium shot from Michael looking as policeman walks in.
shot 6- p.o.v medium shot from policeman
shot 7-over the shoulder medium shot. ( memory )
shot 8- counter shot ,over the shoulder of Michael and edd. (memory)
shot 9- close up shot of Michael staring (memory)
shot 10 - close up of tattoo (memory)
shot 11- p.o.v medium shot from policeman of Michael.
shot 12-p.o.v medium shot walking towards Edd. ( memory)
shot 13-p.o.v medium shot from policeman of Michael.
shot 14- long shot of micheal and edd (memory)
shot 15- close up of legs walking (memory)
shot 16 - reverse close of legs walking away.(memory)
shot 17- p.o.v shot of micheal staring at ed. (memory)
shot 18- p.o.v medium shot from policeman of Michael.
shot 19- p.o.v shot of Michael as edd gets hit.
shot 20- close up Michael whith head in hands from ground angle.
shot 21- close up of tattoo (memory)
shot 22- p.o.v shot of Michael as edd gets hit.
shot 23- p.o.v close up shot of Michael running falling to the ground.
shot 24- black screen
shot 25-close up of micheals eye.
shot 26-p.o.v medium shot from policeman of Michael.
shot 27- close up of drawn tatoo
shot 28-p.o.v medium shot from policeman of Michael.
shot 29- medium shot of micheal walking down street.
shot 30- p.o.v medium shot walking towards Edd. ( memory)
shot 31- long shot of micheal sitting down at trainstatoin.
shot 32- close up of michels face.
shot 33- p.o.v medium shot of micheal looking at man.
shot 34- close up of mans hand with tatoo.
shot 35- close up of tattoo (memory)
shot 36- close up of micheals face.
shot 37- long shot of micheal folling mysterious man.

danny chiverton

Thursday 4 February 2010

Mise-en-scene

We have decided to have Michael to be a middle class citizen. we decided on this as we want the viewer to be able to relate him and the majority of our target audience will be middle class. we have also selected our location out side a cinema down an alley as this is also a similar place to where some of our target audience could hang out. we chose to film ed being killed during the day. we chose this as we feel this would be a good contrast from Michael being in a dark room to being in the sunlight. as well as this it will make the audience think and challenge them.

here is a picture of what we want Michael to look like


James Seymour

Lighting and effects

Our scenes will involve variations of lighting. During the police interview scene, the lighting will be dark. This will reflect the mood of the scene, which is the grim discussion about the murder of Ed, Michael's best friend. This sets the tone of the opening, ensuring the viewer is aware that the production is a thriller.

The flashback sequences we will use natural lighting, outside the Cineworld complex in Cambridge. The added effect to set aside the flashback from reality will be the use of black and white colouring. Not only will this ensure the viewer is aware this is a different from the interview scene, but also adds darkness and a grim feel to the scene as it is recalling the murder of Ed.

Our final scene at the train station will be filmed at the Cambridge train station. We will use the natural lighting to provide an everyday feel. By filming this scene in the daytime, will contrast the dark emotions that Michael feels after being told he is a suspect for his friends murder. This goes further to highlight the fact that he is on his own in his depressed thoughts, as the real world is not shown as dark and mysterious.




This clip from Memento shows the effectiveness of using black and white to create a dark theme for the protagonist, aswell as a flashback.


Jonny Hucker

Tuesday 2 February 2010




This the effect we will use when creating our interview scene. the idea that you don't see who is doing the interviewing so the focus is completely on the character. This emphasizes the isolation of the interviewee, and shows he is under pressure.

danny chiverton

Script

Script for our thriller opening

Policeman: Whilst you were asleep, we've got nothing
Michael: How long has it been again?
P: 6 months. Doctors said it's a miracle you're alive. You're lucky just to have amnesia, boy.
M: Who did it?
P: There's not a single lead. The attacker's still unknown. Michael, what can you remember?
M: (Draws tattoo after flashback) This, the killer had that tattoo
P: So, what we gathered was you and ed went to the cinema and an indecent took place on your way home, correct?
M: Yes, i think...
P: (Pauses) Our problem, Micheal, is we have no witnesses, no leads, nothing but a tattoo. Micheal, we've only got one suspect.
M: (Alerted) Who?!
P: He's sitting right in front of me.
M: (Stunned) What?! No, no way
P: But how can you be sure? You can't remember anything, Michael.

Jonny Hucker

Story Board








these are in reverse order but we have a copy in our folders to use when shooting


danny chiverton
Costume

Michael is our lead character and he will be wearing normal clothes so the audience can relate to him. He will be wearing the same thing through out because it acts as his uniform this is a trate many film noire films have a there lead character. This picture is from the film Brick, in this the lead character where's the same clothes through out, and normal clothes so the audience can relate to him.


Ed, Michaels friend who died , will be wearing normal clothes , nothing to make him stand out but be more something to make him look like a victim.



killer- will be wearing dark clothes symbolising he is a bad character.we never want to show the killers face because this builds tension through out the film to who it is.


Danny Chiverton