Casting (Role Allocation)

In our film we are producing we have came up with the following roles of the casting members who are going to be included within the making up of our media product.

Producer - Jodie Heath
Director - Jake Taylor
Editor - Jodie Heath
Cameraperson - Jodie Heath
Writer - Jake Taylor
Actresses - Jessica Bayliss
                - Bethan Perry

Feedback - Miss Spencer

Good research into risk assessments - but can you actually put your own risk assessment on the post please.

The film pitch/idea is also a proficient piece of work. You have gone into detail and thought about how the film fits onto the conventions of the genre.
I would now like to see a full film treatment to ensure you are moving your work into a level 3

Storyboard

The Script

Shadow

This is the script for our film 'Shadow'.




FIRST SCENE - SCHOOL LOCKERS


Beth: Right, I'll see you tomorrow. (Whilst Laughing)

Mollie: See you later!



SECOND SCENE - MOLLIE'S HOUSE


Mollie: Mom I'm Home. (Shouting)



THIRD SCENE - SCHOOL CLASSROOM

Beth: Hiya. (Happy)

Mollie: Oh, hi. (Sad)

Beth: What's up? (Confused)

Mollie: *Sigh* I found this note in my locker yesterday and then the same note was in my house on         the kitchen table. Do you know who it is?

Beth: I wouldn't worry about it, it'll just be someone winding you up. People do it all the time.

Mollie: Are you sure? It's a bit weird isn't it? I'm actually really scared. (Scared)

Beth: Nah, it'll just be a joke, it'll just be somebody winding you up, don't worry about it.

Mollie: Oh I suppose you're right.

Beth: Nothing to worry about.

          Oh can I borrow your memory stick?


Mollie: Yeah... Beth, where's my bag?

Beth: It was there weren't it?... It can't be far.



FOURTH SCENE - SCHOOL TOILETS

Beth and Mollie: OMG!

Mollie: Where's my phone?

Film Pitch

SHADOW

 

A teenage girl called Mollie is being threatened and followed by an anonymous stalker, who knows all of her deepest secrets. She receives constant text messages, emails and notes manipulating her into doing things which result in hurting her family, friends and herself. If she doesn't obey, this mysterious sender, her loved ones will die. At the same time of doing as she's told, she is investigating who this could be tormenting her and why they are after her.

The whole film is a complete mystery as you don't discover who the stalker is until the very end. This will create a lot of tension throughout the film because you will be suspecting everyone who interacts with the main character therefore creating suspense which is a key convention of thriller we are keen to involve in the film. Furthermore the constant secrecy makes the audience feel on edge as they cant trust any of the characters.

The main character is called Mollie, she is a 16 year old girl and is a student at her local sixth form. She is seen as a vulnerable character at the beginning of the film as she gets easily scared and paranoid about the mysterious stalker. But as the film develops, she grows into a strong, confident and fiery character as she has to strengthen herself to deal with these threats and messages in order to find out who is behind it.

If I could choose any director to direct our film, it would be Drew Goddard. He is famous for directing the horror/thriller Cabin In The Woods and has written thrillers like World War Z and Cloverfield. This is an advantage for us as we have an experience director who specialises in this particular genre. The ideal actress to play our main character Mollie is Amanda Seyfried. I think she will be perfect for this role because she is an actress that usually plays innocent characters which is how we want to portray Mollie in the film. The only difference with the role that I would want Amanda Seyfried to play is the fact of being innocent in the beginning but completely changing how the character acts throughout the film as in the beginning she is all sweet and innocent but gradually progressing through the film she become fiery and determined to catch the culprit behind the stalking's and murders of her close family and friends.

The typical conventions of a thriller/horror film that we plan to use are point of view, deaths, gore and CCTV shots. Point of view shots connote that someone is being secretive and hiding something, in this case they are hiding their identity from the audience. CCTV shots also support the fact that the main character is being watched and spied on. The deaths and gore wont be in the opening of our film, but if we were to film the whole of it it would include these conventions.
Furthermore, the use of the pov shots and the over the shoulder shots help show to the audience that they are seeing everything from potentially, the stalker/killers pov which can help create tension as the audience can tell what is about to happen whereas the characters in the film do not so clear conventions of horror/thriller are to be shown throughout.

Feedback - Miss Spencer

You have done some detailed analysis of the films you have chosen Jake, and there are many examples of times when you have thought about the conventions and the effect of camera movement/ angles/ sound on the audience. I would like to see more discussion of editing and also mention of Iconography and character more.
I will talk this through with you in class.
Your work is at a level 2/3 border, in order to improve you need to move away from describing scene by scene and get more into analysing elements of the opening.

Opening Sequence Analysis (Task 2.1) - Drive (Thriller Analysis)

This is the opening sequence of the thriller film, Drive. This is a thriller but is a different kind of thriller. The most well known thriller is mainly a horror/thriller however this film as you can tell by the opening sequence is an action/thriller with an aspect of neo-noir.

As soon as the sequence begins, the first factor you really notice is the music in the background. The music played sounds modernized, like something you would hear on the radio giving you the impression this may be played in someone's car which therefore is relating to the title of the film, 'Drive'.

The first shot that you see is an established shot which shows the view of the whole city in the night time. The shot seems to be filmed quite high, this gives instant conventions to an action/thriller as heights are known for danger and intensity therefore introducing the genre nicely into the opening sequence.

This same shot is then moving slowly around giving a better view of the city by using a 'pan'. This shot is very useful as it gives you more to see as you get to see from different angles.

This the continues until the next shot occurs, this then smoothly transitions to a new shot of a low angle shot which is useful as low angle shots give the impression that the person above it is very powerful which may suggest that they are in charge so instantly you feel that this character is a very powerful man. The male himself is roughly 30 years old, blonde dark hair, who is good looking and has a facial expression which shows no emotion. The character himself is actually played by Ryan Gosling who is a very established Hollywood actor, who is mainly known for roles in the action/thriller genre which is very good as it shows experience but also the audience know that the film is going to be good.

Also the titles throughout are very professional. The colour of purple, makes the titles stand out so the audience actually look and take notice other than being discrete and just being non-existent to the audience so the bright colour is a good addition to the titles. The font itself is neatly joined up with a formal look to it which is unusual for action/thriller but it blends in to the scene which is very important and well done in this opening sequence.

Another aspect is the fact it starts off with the character in the car. The fact he is in the car relates to the fact the title of the film is called 'Drive' and he is actually in the car but also the same original music playing in the background does sound like music on a radio and it may be suggested that it is coming from the radio in the car the male character is driving.

This the cuts to a different shot where you see the male driving away. The shots used as he is driving vary from shots such as an over the shoulder shot but also a pov shot. These shots are used to show the audience what the character himself is seeing which can be good as they may get a feel for the character. 

The next shot in a birds eye view shot of the car itself driving along lots of busy roads. This shot shows the audience exactly where he is and where he is going. Giving the aspect of being followed which can be considered a thriller convention.

The next shot shows the male character in the car again, but this time from a side shot which is also a medium shot of the character. This shot gives you the sense of the male character is driving the car with you, the audience in the passenger seat which may connote the audience being a passenger in the movie as he is going to give you a ride the audience would have never experienced. This is a clever shot to use as it may feel like the audience are being involved in the film itself which gets the audiences attention.

The next shot shows the character parking his car, showing that he is stopping and about to go somewhere. The only thing about this shot is, you don't know whether the character pulling up in the car is the same character as in the previous shots. This can give a sense of mystery which of course creates intensity which are both conventions of the thriller genre.

 The next shot then tells the audience that it actually is the same character pulling up in the car. Even though this is an over the shoulder shot and as the audience, you can only see his back/shoulder you know it's the same character due to what he is wearing as the same clothing is being worn by the character in the previous shots.

Also similarly to previous shots the over the shoulder shot, then cuts to a pov shot in exactly the same way it did earlier on in the sequence. Additionally this gives the audience the satisfaction of knowing they see what the character is seeing and the pov shot itself clarifies that.

These shots show the male getting in an elevator to go upstairs/downstairs in what looks like an apartment building/shopping centre. As the elevator closes this jump cuts to a shot of the same male character opening a door to what looks like is his room/apartment therefore backing up the point that is looked like he was approaching his area of living.

As the male gets inside the property, he looks confused, looks around and then drops a bag and leaves. The shots used in the few seconds are a low angle shot, therefore showing is power and dominance once again but also a shot of the character walking away and leaving the bag. This then gives the audience the thought of 'What was in the bag?' and 'Why did he leave the bag?' therefore creating mystery which makes the audience think about possibilities. This is a major aspect of thriller as you never know what's about to happen so creating mystery and intensity is key in creating a successful thriller film in which this case successfully did.

After the character leaves the building there a jump cut to a birds eye view shot of the character driving his car along busy roads again at night. The fact the same shots are being used is useful as it gives the audience the feel that they know the characters moves and they are watching him. 

This then leads to the last shot before the end of the opening sequence. The last shot is once again, an over the shoulder shot. This time it looks as if as an audience member, you are in the backseat watching the drivers every move as he drives on. As the shot continues the same music that has been playing from the start begins to fade away as the opening sequence is coming to an end. 

In this opening sequence, it does exactly what an opening sequence should do in the thriller genre. This is to create a sense of mystery and intensity without giving too much information away. From this opening sequence nothing was given away at all, there was no dialogue, there was only one character present apart from the woman he walked past and mystery was created. One of the main reason I think this was done successfully was the way the camera was worked and how each shot was put into place. The pov shot for example really gave the audience the feel that they saw what the character himself was seeing showing them his every move but also the birds eye view shot showed the audience that they saw his every move once more but this time they were following him from a distance. 

So this opening sequence showed lots of conventions of thriller and really made that evident which was why it would be a successful opening sequence to a thriller film.