Research: Results (Ms Begum)

In this post I will be showing the results I've got from my questionnaire and why it's important to get and analyse feedback.

Why is it important to get and analyze feedback?

It's important to receive feedback from getting second hand information - by giving people a questionnaire to fill out for your project. Doing this will allow you to see different views from people in different age group and gender for example: After getting back my questionnaire I now know which age group watches thriller films the most.

Here's a screenshot of my results I've received from people:

Conclusion

Doing this research has helped me understand who my audience are, what type of thriller they like and which age group I should aim at for my thriller. I also now know what I need in my thriller openings to attract my audience.

Planning: Mise en scene - Mr Smith

Introduction
In this post I will be talking about the settings, costumes, iconography, hair and make up, body language and facial expressions and lighting - which is the Mise En Scene - in our opening thriller.
Doing this should help everyone in my group have a clear understanding of what's going on, where it's set, what we need etc. in our thriller.

Setting
In our thriller opening, it will consists with only four locations with different characters being in it, each characters will be in a different location for example: The professor will be in a room while the demented women will be located in a different room.
The first scene will start in a room with a professor being in it - with nothing but photos on the wall (behind the professor) and a computer. The atmosphere in that room will be calm and steady because the professor is focusing and observing the demented women. A quiet room will be able to help the professor focus.
The anti-hero will be located in another room with nothing but a chair. And for the flashbacks, the anti hero, antagonist and the lover will be located in the alleyway.
There will be another scene where the flashback will be set in a bathroom, the place where the anti-hero finds out that she's pregnant.


Costumes
(Me: Mohyadin) Professor: The professor will wear a formally suit that he professors wears which is usually a white top, black (or grey) pants and a tie. In our thriller the professor will be wearing a lab coat making the audience immediately see him as a professor. The professor will also wear glasses to look like a scholar.

Lara: She will be wearing a grey top in the mental institution. During the flashback she will be wearing a casual clothes - this will be in the first and second flashback. The third flash she will be wearing a black hoodie. The casual clothes (in the first and second flashbacks) will be light colours, this will represent the good 'version' of her and the positive side of her life. The black hoodie (in the third flashback) will represent the bad 'version' of her and the bad side of her life (for example; the murder of Elizabeth)

Elizabeth: In the flashback she will be wearing a smart-dressing clothes, this will make the audience think that she just came back from her work or important meeting. The actor (which is Aydan) will already be wearing a casual smart clothing because of the school - part of the sixth form uniform.
The scene where she's dead will show her wearing a long white dress with no shoes or socks - showing the audience her bare feet.


Iconography

In the professor's scene there will be items that will make my role more realistic, There will be a:
- Paper and pen - this will signify that he has been taking notes of his observation.
- Laptop - this is used to watch Lara in a different room instead of being in the same room as her.
- Photographs - Pictures of Lara, murder scene, dead bodies etc.
- Coffee - this will signify that he hasn't been sleeping and drinks coffee to improve his concentration & allows him not to sleep, This will also show that he's in a stressful situation.
- Glasses - This can mean many things for example; he started to wear glasses because of the constant staring/watching at the laptop screen - causing it to strain his eyes.

For Lara's scene which is the demented women in a empty white room, there will be:
- Chair
- Tray of food
- Whiteboard
- In the first flashback there will be a rose
- The rose will be shown again in the scene where the dead women, Elizabeth, comes.

In the second flashback there will be:
- A pregnancy test that says it's positive

In the third flash back there will be:
- A gun - this will be used by Lara to kill Elizabeth
-  Blood - there will also be blood shown after Lara kills her.

During the scene of the dead women, Elizabeth will have a blooded wound (that was caused by the gun used by Lara) showing to the audience that she died because of that.


Body language and facial expressions

(Me; Mohyadin) Professor: The scene will show the professor sitting down with a straight posture, this will represent his control over Lara, his ability to release her or to keep her in the mental ward, his decision of what will happen next, environment etc.
At first I may put on a calm-looking face - because that how I am in real life - but during my scene in the opening I will have to put on a serious-look expression at Lara's behavior.
I may scratch my head a couple of times while making notes to show the audience that I'm confused and frustrated

Elizabeth: During the dead women scene, her head will be bowed and her posture will be straight, her body movement will be dull and will show no expressions - this will all indicate that she's no longer alive and that she's dead. In the flashbacks, at first, she will have a calm expression while walking at a 'calm' and slow pace showing that she's not expecting anything shocking to happen. During that flashback she will see the affair and stop walking, at that point she will freeze (her movement, her face etc. will freeze) showing that she's shocked and didn't expect that. Few second later after seeing the affair, she will begin to move again but will be confused with mixed emotions as well as uncontrollable body movement. (Shocked, in tears, shaking, gasping for air etc.)

Lara: In the mental ward, she will have unpredictable movement and expressions for example: She will be crying and in the next minute she will be laughing. Another example is that she will be sitting down on the floor calmly and in the next minute she will move in a violent way.
During the first flashback she will be in a very happy mood with her boyfriend, the second flashback she will be even more happy after finding out that she's pregnant and in the third flashback her character will change - it is as if her personality is different, as if she's a different person - at first she will hesitate a lot to kill the wife but in the end she toughens up and murders her.

Lighting

In our opening thriller, the lighting we will have is:

- Low key lighting for the professor's environment signifying to the audience that he's observing Lara at a late hour.
- Under lighting for Elizabeth's scene to allow the audience to see her bones and pale skin (with the help of make up). This lighting will make Elizabeth look frightening and powerful.
- High key lighting for the second flashback, this will represent happiness because of the lighting that makes it look positive. The high key lighting will also be used for Lara's metal institution room allowing the professor to see her properly because of its lighting.
- Natural lighting will be used for the professor's environment, it will also be used for the scene that's set in a quiet road -  because it's outside.
- Top lightning will be used for Lara's theme, the light will shine down on her to representing her vulnerability.
- Top and under lighting will be used for the professor's theme:
   - under from the laptop
   - top from a lamp


Hair and Makeup 

(Me; Mohyadin) Professors: I will not be wearing no make up but instead I will do something to my hair to make my appearance look older for my role which is the professor. I will either wear a white/grey wig or dye/color my hair white.
Elizabeth: She will be wearing a pale makeup to indicate that her skin is pale and cold because she's dead.
Lara: She will have a ruined mascara showing to the audience that she has been crying a lot - which ruined her make up. Her hair will also be messy,

Conclusion

After planning out our thriller opening together I am now sure that everyone in my group has a clear understand to what will happen, what we need to do, when and where we will be etc. In my opinion, my group has planned this thriller opening perfectly because of the weeks of planning we had (We've shared out idea, picked the best idea for our group, improved the idea by stretching out the story etc.). We all now have confident to what we'll make and are ready to create the opening.

Planning: Preliminary task - Mr Smith

The purpose of preliminary task

The purpose of making a preliminary task is because it gives us a chance of exploring new things - learning how to film and edit, especially when it's our first time doing it. 

The preliminary task helps us learn our mistakes so that the next time we start filming - we will know to do because we've did it before.  

Video

The video we've created for the preliminary task isn't related to our thriller opening that we're going to make.

In this video that we've created for the preliminary task, it's about a young sixth former (boy) asking another young sixth former (girl) out  - to go to the cinema. Because it's a preliminary task, it had to be a 30 second video about anything.

The scenario (Screenshot)

  The scene starts with me asking Suweda a question "What're                                                                  you planning to do later"?

 This bit is where Suweda answers his question saying that she has                                                          nothing planned later.

  This scene shows him  asking if she wants to go out to the cinema                                                         later. She replies saying "Yeah, sure", then I asked her if I should                                                           take her down the stairs.



  This scene is where I took her down the stairs.











This bit is shows Suweda going somewhere else, I decided to go downstairs. I told her that I'll pick her up at seven and she replies to him saying 'Okay'.










This scene shows me walking down the stairs.







This scene shows me still walking down the stairs - this is the ending of the video we've created for the preliminary task. 

Group roles

We all had a role in making the preliminary task:
Actor: Mohyadin
Camera operator: Fatma
Actor: Suweda
Editor: Lara

Difficulties you encountered whilst filming

One of the problems we'd encountered was lighting, while filming there was a problem with lighting during the first 10 second (The scene where I was talking to Suweda next to the window).
Another problem we'd encountered was the echo, because we was in the stairways you can hear our footsteps and our voice echoing sometimes. However, it wasn't that big of a problem because during editing, the echo wasn't loud enough to hear.

There was a light coming behind me from the window, we didn't notice this until we started editing. 

Difficulties you encountered whilst editing (Screenshots)

It was hard cutting down the video from 1 min and 60 seconds to 30 seconds. There was bits we needed to cut out.

None of us have an IMac and cause of that we had to learn how to use it - at first it was difficult to use this software called Final Cut Pro, but then we started  to get a hang of it.

After filming and inputting the video on a program called Final cut pro, we've noticed there was light coming out from the window behind me in the video. We didn't notice it until editing the video. 

What have you learned?

There are many things that I've learned from making the preliminary task. One of the things I've learned is that I now know how difficult and long it is to edit - it wasn't long when editing a 30 second clip but possibly it will take long to edit a 2 min opening which my group will soon make.

Another thing I've learned is that it can be annoying to get distracted and disturbed during filming, randomly someone or something (such as cars, bikes, noise etc.) can disturb you while filming - which will cause to film again. 

 Doing the preliminary task has gave me a hint on how editing and filming can be.

Conclusion: How has the task beneficial 

The preliminary task has helped me realize how hard it is to edit and film, there can be many risks and problems coming in our way during filming.
This practice gave us a good preparation (filming, equipment, editing, final cut etc.)  

Planning: Pre-production paperwork (Ms Begum)

The pre-production paperwork has different types of document that's given to your filming team and cast members. Our group had to do the pre-production paper work, before creating our thriller opening, which was:
(1) Risk Assessment Form
(2) Location Reece Form
(3) Location Release Agreement
(4) Production Schedule
(5) Client Release Form
(6) Camera Shot List

Each people in my group has been assigned to one or two documents to create:

Mohyadin: location reece form and location release agreement
Lara: camera shot list and production schedule
Suweda: client release form
Fatma: risk assessment form

The pre-production paperwork allowed us to figure out what kind of problems and risks we could be facing while making the opening, it also helped us sort out our time management. Not only that but it also helped us tell the cast members the location we'll be filming and the time it will be. Now that we have done this, we can now make our thriller opening more efficiently.

Risk Assessment Form

This is a document that tells you the risks that might come in your way, this is assessed in every location that you have chosen. To create this you will need to analyse your location and identify what risks that might arise and how you plan to overcome them.
The risk assessment form should be given to everyone in your group so that they have the information they need about your location and risks.

Here is a picture of a risk assessment form, this was created by Fatma.








Location Reece Form

Location reece form is a summary of the location that your group have decided for your thriller opening. To create this you will need to show visual information and discuss your reasons and choices of your location.
The location reece form should be given to everyone in your group so they all have the information they need about your chosen location.

Here is a picture of a location reece form, this was created by me.





Location Release Agreement 

Location release agreement is a document that discusses the terms and agreements for the company, council, people etc. that are allowing you to film in their location. This document should be given to them (company, council, people etc.) to show that you have agreed to the terms and condition, When creating this you need to show that you have understood yours and their rights.

Here is a picture of a location release agreement form, this was created by me.




Production Schedule

Production schedule is a summary that tells you what is going to happen in your filming schedule. Everyone in your filming team should be given this document so that they have all the information they need to about your thriller, this also includes cast members. This document should be easy to follow and understand.

Here is a picture of a production schedule form, this was created by Lara


Client Release Form

This is a document that discusses the terms and agreement for any actors that you have chosen for your thriller, and also this should be given to everyone who will be part of your cast.

Here is a picture of a client release form, this was created by Suweda.


Camera Shot List
The camera shot list gives you the information about the shots that the group has chose for the opening. Everyone should have an idea of what shot we will be using each scene we shoot.
The camera shot list has all the shots sizes, angles and movement of each shot that we may use for our thriller opening.

Here is a picture of a camera shot list, this was created by Lara.

Planning: Character Representation

Character Representation

This post will tell who is playing which character in the opening - there are two new students who isn't studying Media but will be part of our group.




Name of the actor: Mohyadin (Me)
Character: Professor
Character role: Protagonist (The professor)
Age: 23-28
Gender Stereotype of role: (Black) British, Intelligent, Mature, Knowledgeable
Costume: The Professor will wear a formally dressed suite (without a blazer) and a lab coat showing to the audience that he is the professor.
Hair and Makeup: No make up, neat hair
Body language and facial expression: Calm expression, straight posture
Represented as: Intelligent man - a professor - whose current job is to observe the demented women. While observing her, he struggles.
Role within the narrative: The professor is observing the demented women to figure out how she became mentally unstable.





Name of the actor: Lara
Character: Demented women
Character role: Anti-hero
Age: 22-23
Gender stereotype: British, slim, split personality and dark hair 
Costume: Grey top, blue jeans etc. 
Hair and makeup: At the institution, she will have frizzy hair and smudged makeup. During the flashbacks she will have light makeup and straightened hair. 
Body language and facial expression: In the institution she will be crazy and unpredictable. During the flashbacks, first her body language and facial expressions  will be 'casual' and happy, the second flashback will be overwhelming happiness and in the third flashback her body language will be nervous and will put on a expressionless face. 
Represented as: At first she will be good but an offender, then she will be a criminal, then a crazy-mad women. 
Role within the narrative: She's a demented women in a mental institution being observed by a professor. During the opening the demented women's past story will be revealed in the flashback showing her as a home wrecker and a murderer. 




Name of the actor: Ayan
Character role Antagonist

Age: 22/23
Gender stereotype: When she's alive she is slim, British and good. When she's dead she is pale, slim and intimidating.
Costume: When she is alive she wears a formally casual clothe. When she's dqad she wears a raged dirty white dress and barefooted.
Hair and Makeup: When she is alive she has neat straight hair and plain natural makeup. When she's dead she has a messy hair, powdered face and contoured facial structure with blood contacts.
Body language and facial expression: She has a calm and casual body language in the flashback, then soon shocked; facial expression traumatized. When she's dead she has a intimidating and elegant body language and no expression to show that she's dead.
Represented as: Initially a victim, transitioning into a dead antagonist.
Role within the narrative: Sees the affair, gets murdered by the offender and comes back for the women as a dead person (ghost).





Name of the actor: Max
Character role: Lover, cheater etc.
Character role: Age 22/23
Gender stereotype: British, tall, intelligent and mature
Costume: Smart clothing (Black tie, white shirt etc.)
Hair and Makeup: No makeup, near hair
Body language and facial expression: He has a casual body language, happy facial expression and ignorance of the presence of his wife.
Represented as: The secrete lover of the anti-hero and subject of her reason's for murder.
Role within the narrative: He has a secret affair with the anti-hero.

Planning: Production Roles

Productions roles is when everyone in the crew (group) gets involves in making the film. Everyone in the group/crew must have a job role and get involve, doing this will make the process of making the film faster because it will be more well organised. In my group, each person have at least two job roles, everyone has a role that they're suited for.

Here is a list of production roles:

Director - The director is the leader of the films production, he/she finalizes the idea (film).

Producer - The producer supports the director by making important decisions, he/she is the one that runs around making sure that all the roles that each person has been assigned to are being fulfilled. Also the producer makes sure that there is a good communication among the entire team.

Camera Operator - The camera operator is the one who organizes the scenes by working alongside the storyboard using the camera to capture different shots, angles and sizes. He/she is responsible for capturing and bring the ideas alive on screen.

Lighting Operator - He/she is the one who uses and controls the lighting that is being used in the scenes.

Location Manager - The location manager is the one who's responsible of picking out the location.

Costume, hair and make up - He/She is responsible of organizing and does the hair, costume and make up for the actions in the film.

Storyboard - He/she is the one who produces the storyboard for the film - responsible of sketching the film for the film & planning it.

Editor - He/she is responsible of editing the film (Tries to use all the editing styles such as speeding).

Sound Editor - He/she is responsible of taking care/adding sounds to the thriller opening

Our Group roles:

Director: Fatma
Producer: Lara
Camera Operator: Fatma
Storyboard: Mohyadin (Me)
Lighting: Suweda
Sound: Fatma
Costume, Hair & Make: Suweda
Editing: Lara
Location Manager: Mohyadin (Me)

Planning: Storyboarding

Usually, the storyboard is done after the script has been created for the film and before filming, so it goes like this:
Script - Story boarding - Filming.
Storyboard is important because you need to know what the shots may look like and what the setting and props will be, it also includes the narrative and the micro-elements.

What do you think are the relative of a good storyboard?

- Clear images
- Describe what is going on in terms of micro-elements.
- Organisation of the story board
- List of clear movements

Why do you think storyboard are essential when planning a film?

- It helps you be sure of your narrative
- It helps you develop your ideas
- It organizes the shots

What conventions/elements go into the storyboard? (Essentials)

- Narrations
- Setting
- Costume, hair and make-up
- Iconography
- Sound
- Cinematography
- Editing
- Lighting
- Dialogue
- Actors
- Duration
- The number of the shots.

Here is my storyboard planning:

Research: Opening credits

What are opening credits? 

Opening credits is a written information presented to the audience on who produced the film, who is starring in the films and other productions roles.


What is their purpose? 

They are effective in thrillers when accompanied by sound to create tension and fear. Opening credits can be very effective when the images don't make complete sense, making the audience question about 'what is going on'.
Opening credits gives out essential information to connect with the audience, so they know more about the production.

What does the opening credits provide (information)?

Usually the films producer - the one who budgeted the film - will be the first one to show, it comes up about twice on the little logo shown before the actual film starts, after that it is said in the writings again.

After the film producer is shown, usually the director will come up next along with the title of the film following it and then the list of star actors and lead roles will be shown.

However, if the film starts & plays during the opening credits, the credits will most likely appear when the characters are being shot - this is useful because this will help the audience know who the characters is being played by (actors).

Research: Typography

What is typography?

Typography is how the writing is shown/presented to the audience, typography is is presented through font, style, size, letter case and color.Typography is the opening title for the film. When creating a film, you should pick out a correct one - the font, style, letter case and color should be suitable and fits in the film.

Examples of typography:

Thriller - A picture of a thriller (typography) is shown below, the writing looks like it's scratchy, shaky and smudgy (it's as if a rubber has been used to make it), the way it's presented makes the audience feel scared and uncomfortable, it makes them think if something violent (criminal violence) is going to happen in the film.




Science fiction - Below is a opening title of a film called TRON, it's presented as a abnormal looking letters, as if it came from another world. The title also looks like it came from the future making the audience feel and know it's a futuristic film.



Action Genre - Below is a opening title of film called The Expendables, the style is bold and think as well as big giving an idea to the audience that there's going to be a lot of actions in the film.



Conclusion

In my opening thriller, I want my opening title style to be big but scratchy looking -  doing this should make the audience have an unpleasant feeling and uncomfortable.

Research: Questionnaires

What is the importance of primary research?
The importance of primary research is that it allows you to know what the audience wants/expecting from the film, and also what kind of audience they are. Before creating a film, you must know what and who the audience are by asking questions or letting them fill out the questionnaire that you've made for you research, by doing this you''ll know who the audience are and what the audience is expecting from your film that you'll make.

Advantages of questionnaires:

- It's easy to analyse
- You can ask your own questions that you want to know for research
- Easy to collect information
- It's simple, for the person who's answering the questionnaire, to complete
- Mostly anyone can see that it's a questionnaire due to its format.

Disadvantages of questionnaires:

- It can be done by a anonymous person
- Possible for the person, who's answering the questionnaire, to misunderstand the questions.
- People can skip questions
- You cannot go back to the people if they are anonymous.

Who did you ask and why?
I've asked 12 people in year 12 and 13 and a few teachers. I've asked them because they most likely to have experience of watching thrillers because of their age they're at, and cause of that age they can watch thrillers 15 and 18 rated thrillers film. This is why I thought it was best to ask them.

Examples of my questionnaire.

Conclusion 
My research has been beneficial because it has allowed me to collect informations, from people my age and older, on their view of thriller. It has also allowed me to know what type/kind of audience are watching and what they are expecting from a thriller.

Research: Narrative themes

Narrative themes are a prominent or recurring ideas in films, these ideas are often repeated in narrative or scrips in films.

Here is a list of different themes in different genres:

Rom-come: Breakups, Family, Couple, Happiness, Marriage, Commitment
Action: Crime, Battle, Death, Violence, Money, Drugs

Thrillers: Supernatural, Religion, Death, Obsession, Psychological

Crime: Greed, Addition, Money, Good vs Evil, Death

Science Fiction: Religion, Battle, Disaster, Supernatural 

Historic; War, Battle, Deaths, Fighting, Ownership, Hierarchy

Themes are dependent on their genre because without themes, they won't be able to choose the right genre for the themes that is being made for the film, Without them, the films would be horrible.

List of themes of these scenes/trailer below:

The themes I've identified from this trailer called Black Swan is:

- Psychological

- Jelousy 

- Obsession

- Paranormal 

- Battle

- Good vs Evil

The themes I've identified from this trailer called Stigmata is:

- Religion

- Supernatural

- Forbidden love

The themes I've identified from this trailer called Memento is:

- Depression

- Trust

- Friendship

- Desperate  

- Vengeance

The themes I've identified from this trailer called The Conjuring is:

- Supernatural

- Haunted

- Innocence

- Mystery

- Family

Research: Setting and Iconography

Setting

It's where the film is taking place/set, it can be set on anywhere depending on the story. Setting usually takes place in location relevant to the film or set in a built place (Fake background, classroom, built room etc.).
The setting must be relevant to the film because if it isn't, then it will be confusing for the audience to understand the story setting,


Iconography

It's an object that gives a meaning to the scene, it's important because it shows the audience what objects will be important to the scene and what they can expect from it for example; During the opening of Scream you can see a knife in the victim's kitchen, in the end the antagonist used that knife to kill the victim.

Setting themes of thrillers:

Typical setting for thriller are:
- Dark forest
- Isolated houses
- Homes

All these setting are used in thrillers such as Scream, Paranormal activity, Evil dead tree etc. These settings are used because it's place where everyone will find it scary and upsetting - it keeps the audience on edge of their seats.

Iconography for thrillers

Typical iconography are objects such as weapons, dangerous objects/items, lamps etc. These iconography, all of these can give an idea of what the audience can expect in the film.
 
Here's a list of typical setting thrillers in sub-genres.

Action thriller:
- Streets
- City
- Buildings
- Warehouses

Psychological thrillers -
- Haunted and abandoned houses
- Hospitals
- Schools
- Forest
- Mental institutions

Science fiction thrillers 
- Space
- Forests
- Inside spaceship

Crime thrillers 
- House
- Abandoned buildings
- Streets
- Jail/Prisons

Here's a list of typical iconography used in thrillers:

Action thrillers
- Guns
- Knife
- Money
- Transportation such as motorbikes, cars etc,

Psychological thrillers
- Needles
- Medicines
- Lap equipment

Science fiction thrillers
- Spaceships
- Futuristic guns and equipment
- Robots
- Machines

Crime thrillers
- Guns
- Knife
- Money
- Drugs
- Forensic labs
- Blood

Research: Mise En Scene - Costume, Hair and Makeup, Body language and Facial Expressions

Body Language

Body language means the representation, of their action and movement, of themselves. This is a important convention in film because it helps us, the viewers, to understand what the character is like/going to be for example: the character is/could be a crazy person if their body movement is weird.

Facial expression 

Facial expression is when the character shows his/her emotions through their face, an example of this is sadness - when you can see the character's lips is frowning or you can see tears on the character's eyes you can tell that the character is sad. Many actor/actress does to help the audience to understand how the character is feeling.




Costume 

Costume is a clothe, dress, mask, hat, cosplay etc. that the actor/actress is wearing for their character/role in the film. Costumes is used to represent the characters for example: if a girl is wearing a uniform during the week and a normal outfit on weekends then it's obvious that she's a normal teenage student. Another example is if a child is wearing plain white clothe this will make the audience see the child as a innocent person because of what the child is wearing and its colour.



Hair and Makeup

Hair and Makeup can also represent the character of the way they look for example: if the character's hair is neat and 'smart-looking' the audience might think he's smart and innocent or a protagonist. Another example is if the character is wearing a mask that can show that he might be a antagonist who wants to hide his/her identity.




Here's an example of Costume, Hair and Makeup, Body language and Facial Expressions:



The image above shows a young women in, what it seems like, a building. Her body language shows that she's fragile and weak - she has no muscular features and her height is average, this makes the audience see her as a weak and powerless person who looks like she's unable to defend herself.
 She's wearing a white wedding costume and her hair is neat, this can make the audience think that she's a innocent women who just had a wedding.
Her facial expression makes the audience think that she's is lost and confused of the situation she's in or looks like she's about to uncover the truth.