Over the shoulder Zoom Out - test shot

After we completed the zoom in over the shoulder shot we decided to move on to the zoom out test shot.  I believe with this one since we had practice on the zoom in we felt more comfortable doing this one and I think this shows in the clip, the camera is even more focused on the paper and is more central on the paper. In addition yet again I believe with our support and guidance within the group all of our shots with many attempts and re shoots will work very well. 

However once researching the Thriller genre films more in depth zoom in and zoom out shots are not really used and not really in the rules of filming. To overcome this I believe using tracking in and out shots would be more effective in our title sequence and would agree more with the code and conventions of a Thriller.

Over the shoulder Zoom in - test shot

After we had doing the pan test shot we decided to move on to the over shoulder shot but with the camera zooming into a piece of paper,however in are title sequence this would be the diary. The zooming in is smooth and has no pauses which we were all pleased with, also the focus onto the paper worked great too and made us all feel positive about how the title sequence would plan out.

This was our first and only practice at the over shoulder zooming in shot and I think it worked well and we now know basically how to create this shot, but obviously when we come to filming we will improve this more.

Pan test shot

Our group had some spare time in school,a week before we planned to start filming the title sequence and we thought to use this time to do some practice shots with a steadicam and the actual camera we would be using for filming. We all chose to do this primarily because we wanted Lucy to get used to filming some of the shots that would be included in the sequence and to see if these shots would be effective and if to use them or not. 


I believe this practice shot for the title sequence was pretty successful considering the lack of other resources such as:lights and actual costume. In addition the space we used was compact and we didn't have much room to move and work with, so when it comes to filming it for real I think it i will work very well.
The only downfall we found in doing this practice shots was the complication we had all using the steadicam, as we all found it hard to get the right angle and tightness to work with because the camera was big and slightly heavy. We discussed maybe using a dolly, this would maybe gives us a clearer pan and be easier to work with the shots we needed for certain scenes.

Voice Recording

In Wednesday's lesson we decided to start are voiceover for are title sequence, we created a script for Maria(female character) that Sophie was going to be doing and the Doctor(male character) which Christian was going to be the voice for. We went to the music department within the school and got access to a recording studio room, this was because the recording of the voices would be clearer and more professional. In addition the application we needed to use, LogicPro was on the Mac in the studio as well. 

By using LogicPro we had more control over the voice recordings, for example: we could distort the voice of the girl to make it sound like she is talking to herself and create an echo to create mystery. In addition for the male character we also distorted the voice but not as much as the girl to give her the more mental thought and power in the title sequence at the beginning. 

I believe the voice recording were very successful and we made sure they were the best all our abilities, however we need to touch up and create a final edit of them so they can be copied over on to our title sequence once we record and upload it.

Final Storyboard for Captive

In Friday's lesson we finalised are storyboard, as a group we finished the sketches and the brief hints of camera angles/movements and how long the shot would last. We have 31 sots to produce for our title sequence but we said that some might get changed and some mmore might be added when we come to filming it. 

First Page

This is the start to the title sequence this is actually going to be 9 separate shots but 8 of them have been put into the same box this is because, they are contrasting shots of the girl Maria and the Doctor doing the same tasks but in their own personal environment. We also estimated how long each shot would be for example the first box says '8 seconds' this would be 4 seconds for each shot because they are to contrasting ones. 

Second Page

The second page of our storyboard follows on from the first and includes pans of the two characters rooms,them getting ready to go out and them both leaving. I believe these section will be simple and quite easy to film because we want to practice some pan shots before we do the final filming. 

Third Page

On the third page of the storyboard we half way through the shots for the title sequence, we have decided to include a lot of close up shots because we want the audience at this point to be slightly confused and not fully sure what is going on or who these characters are.

Fourth Page

This is the climax to the title sequence this 5 shots this really tells the audience about the whole plot of the story but still does not tell them the twist, this is so it gives them false hope and making them believe they know what happens. I think the camera work/movements is crucial to creating a mysterious and tense scene. 

Fifth Page

The fifth page is the towards the ending of the sequence where the girl gets kidnapped and is what the audience believe to be how it actually happened.

Last Page

This is the going to be the last 10 seconds of the title sequence where we are going to take stills when filming of the scenes and then distort them,quickly edit them. It is supposed to foreshadow Maria's state of mind and giving her a clue that something is not right in her mind. 

Mise En Scene - Captive

A created brainstorm was created by us all for what we would need for our title sequence filming, it was not all going to be used and a few extra things would be added. We chose to do this so we all clearly understood what was required so would have no trouble or problems when it came to filming. Also things that are include in the brainstorm are: Props for maria, props for doctor etc, we decided to include camera movements in this brainstorm so we could bring this with us to filming so it was al on one page. 

Plan of filming for Title Sequence

In Friday's lesson we wanted to create a calendar for:planning the filming process,key thing for the sequences and dates to meet up.

In the half term we have all decided to meet up for two days to get the all filming done in all the settings we want to film in. We planned to do some pre test filming for shots and using the camera equipment so when it comes to the final filming time we have enough practice. However we need to film some scenes in school because the easy access to good quality lighting equipment the school can provide because we wont be able to access this when we film in the half term. 

Sophie created this calendar on Outlook and used our online social chat group to send it to us so we could all have the same plan to follow so no mistakes were made. 

Teacher Feedback/Discussion

In monday's lesson we had a group feedback session with one of our teachers on how we are getting on with the title sequence and what else needs to be done for the preparation of the filming the sequence. She really gave us support and new ideas to look at such as looking at a film called:Hide and Seek, which has similar plot to our film and could support us with new ideas. A new idea came around about in the title sequence to do contrasting shots of the male and female character to show there personalities and there environment to give clues and hints to the audience. I believe after this discussion as group we feel more settled in our ideas and we are now sharing the same outlook for our sequence, also this will benefit the final storyboard. 

Typography Options - Captive

In Wednesday's lesson we looked at typography that we could use for our title sequence using, 'Da Font',we wanted to have a similar looking font to the font we had used previously for our company logo, Silent Studios. We decided to experiment with the two hollywood start characters that would be said to play the two main characters in the film which are, Emma Watson and Leonardo DiCaprio. 

For Leonardo DiCaprio we looked at these font types:

For Emma Watson we looked at these font types:

From these 7 texts types we decided as group we really liked two types, Angel and Old Newspaper. Firstly we decided on the Angel font, this was because we believed that these would nicely fit in with the thriller genre and suit the ideas we have for the title sequence. The only downfall using the Angle font is that it is slightly unclear and might be difficult for an audience member to read or identify the cast or crew names, but we can make these final decisions once we have our title sequence material. The Old Newspaper font I think would fit in the best personally out of the two because I was the one who picked out that font primarily, this is because it can be clearly read and gives a mysterious look. 

Roles of the Group - Title Sequence

As the time to filming our title sequence is coming close to starting which wanted all of our group to have a major role in the title sequence, so we decided to look at our personal strengths and what we could best contribute to the title sequence. 
Our final decisions for our roles were:

• Me: As a group we decided I would be playing the female/main character in the film, 'Maria' who would also be seen in the title sequence. This decision was made because I feel confident in acting and being in front of the camera this is because I did GCSE Drama which has given me confidence.

• Lucy: We chose Lucy to be in charge of filming the title sequence and help direct the sequence because she will be behind the camera most of the time. As a group we came to this decision because Lucy had done GCSE Media and she has slightly more knowledge of camera movements and angles.Also she feels comfortable working with the camera and equipment the most. 

• Christian: The other main character to be included in our title sequence was the doctor/stalker male character and Christian seemed like the best choice to play the role. We believed this because he is doing AS drama and previously did GCSE Drama along with myself. In addition he is tall and has the right frame to be a believable older man. 

• Sophie: She would be the voiceover for the title sequence after we had done the filming and begin to start editing for the final piece. We thought that Sophie has the most innocent voice but is also confident to speak and be recorded. Furthermore she would support Lucy in the camerawork process when we are filming me and Christian.

Survey Results

It has been a while since the,Thriller survey was first created and the responses from participants were given on 'survey-monkey'. I am going to analyse the three key question I believe to be include in our survey so far, these question are:

• What is your favourite movie genre?
• What is your favourite plot theme which is usually found in a thriller film?
• Which of these thriller films have you seen?

I am happy with the results from this question because the most favourite move genre ended up to be the one on our doing, thriller. Also that the other one with the same percantage is the genre of 'horror' which you could say occurs in scenes through our film. This makes me believe by choosing to produce a title sequence for a thriller film we have made the right decision  and makes me confident about the processes to come.

The most popular theme in a thriller film, was deceptive mind games, which is partly include in our film because the mind games are played with the audience. I am not fussed that supernatural events was so low because this is not relevant to our film at all. Furthermore i am delighted that the other three themes that run through our film were also rated highly as well: Demolishing another's mental state, Chase/stalking and Film with a twist ending. This is because the mental state of the female character we are thinking are naming,Maria has problems with her's and suffers from schizophrenia, making me feel that this decision of including the mental illness was a correct choice. In addition the chase/stalking theme, is a relevant part to the illusions that girl has and is written in her diary.More over the twist ending theme is the main theme in our film because the audience have been leaded to follow a certain storyline but it is completely flipped.From all these results on this question I feel very positive and happy with the groups decisions.

The last question include in the survey is some popular thriller films and the participant had to tick what ones they had seen. The film, 'Saw' was the most watched film by participants and the age range of them was teenagers 14-17 years old. This is not wanted I wanted to be the outcome for this question because the film is more gory and horror themed than our film, Captive. However the next most popular theme was, Taken which slightly fits in with part of our film which is chase/stalking. Moreover the next top two films were,Se7en and Shutter island which both films had strongly influenced and given our groups ideas for our film. 

Hopefully more people will fill out our survey so we have more quantitative data to analyse and give us more direction both we start filming/producing our title sequence.

Storyboard - Captive

In Friday lesson's we began to storyboard are title sequence, we had our first ideas individual but to mix with these ideas together became difficult. One person we would want to do one thing then another something else this is because we are all strong characters with strong opinions. However after knuckling down with our ideas and blending them together we began to create a good start to our title sequence. 

We chose our strongest member of the group to start to sketch and include some brief text that would be within certain clips. In the title sequence we don't want to give away the twist at the end of the film we want the audience to believe one storyline would play out, but we wanted to give hints towards the end of the sequence to confuse the audience slightly to something is not all the way it seems.
The only other struggle we had was,how complicated the features we wanted to include would be to add in our title sequence and we all found it hard to have a clear view on how to change this. 

FIRST STORYBOARD

However in Monday's lesson we had a group discussion with Sinead(one of our teachers) on  how we was getting on with our blogs and how the storyboard process was coming along,there is voice recording to be posted of what was spoke about. While this was happening I was taking notes on ideas we was coming up with to how to change and simplify our storyboard, on the main features we wanted to be included. We want there to be comparison shots of the female(mental ill patient) and the male character (teacher who is really a doctor). 

NOTES

WRITEN STORYBOARD

This is our new written out storyboard which is all our new ideas for our title sequence, with the comparison of the female and male character doing similar things but implying what there character is about. 

In our next lesson together we are going to redraw out the storyboard in pictures and finalize our title sequence ideas so we can plan when to start filming and the props etc,we need to have.

Audience Profile - Captive

Gender = Female/Male
Age = 14-17
Education = 6th Form/College
Occupation = Sales assistant/Unemployed
Income(a month) = £0 - £200
Relationship status = Single

• Likes = Media,Film,Shopping,Fashion,Cinema,Chocolate,Fizzy Drinks, McDonalds, Nandos, Social networks, Made in Chelsea, Make-up and Art.
• Dislikes = Early mornings, Running, Cold weather, Water, Eating healthy and PE. 

Demographics = D/E 

Psychographics = Explorers/Aspirers 

I decided the age for my audience profile based on the information the primary evidence on the survey based on the thriller genre , which is the genre of the film, 'Captive'. The most people who had done completed the survey were women, however this could be biased because there are 3 females in our group and only one male, so when people are asked the majority are going to be female. However the males who have answered the survey are not far behind. This is why i have not made a decision for the gender who would watch the film this is because I think the film will appeal to both genders.

I also based the age of my audience member on the findings from the survey as well. The majority of the age range that has completed the survey was: 14-17 years olds, this why I made my age of the audience member to between the ages of 14-17.

I have decide to make the likes and dislikes for the audience member a stereotypical view of teenagers interests. One of the things young people enjoy are social networking meaning they can be become more involved with films through things such as: viral marketing campaigns and competitions. Furthermore this could also link to the second highest age of participants in the survey which is, 18-20 year olds, this is because they also enjoy social media. Also they  share the same interests such as: fashion. In addition I chose the demographics i did because most 14-17 year olds,don't have a lot of spare money to do extra things because they are still in full time education or have a low paid part-time job but will use the spare to money to go out on the weekend to the cinema. Also the psychographics i decided was the explorers/aspirers, this is because this age range is open to new opinions and adventures given to them,which makes them more interested and wanting to see a psychology thriller film(which our film 'Captive' is).