Shots We Will Be Using..

Mid Shot

Extreme Close Up

Over the Shoulder Shot

Long Shot/Establishing Shot

Mid Shot

Long Shot

Shooting Schedule

We are planing on doing most of the filming during the Christmas Holiday and during some of the media lessons. We hope the whole team can turn up to each session which shouldn't be too bad as we all live relatively close to each other. 

Naturalistic Photos - Props

We wanted to have, in the background of some of the shots, family photos showing how close they are and the relationships they all have. We wanted to make it naturalistic so they audience would see it in the corner of a shot and believe that they are close and that they are your normal, everyday family, no different from anyone else. The only issue is that Matt, who kindly stepped in to play Robert for us, looked too young to be a 40 year old man and we had the same issue with Emma playing his wife Wendy also. We have decided to re-shot the photos using different costume choices and try and edit the photo, still keeping it as naturalistic as possible, making them look older.

Testing Panning Clips

Myself and Emma decided to create a short clip displaying some of the shots we are planning to use in the opening sequence of our film. We decided to test out our plan to see if it was effective and would work well in our sequence. In the end, we thought it worked effectively and we credit the university film students opening sequence for 'Kill Your Friends' for giving us the ideas and inspiration for some of these shots which we will now weave into our film. It went well because we thought the clip gives the audience clues into the families life and what the killer may have been after or wanted to find.  Things we can improve on are the steadiness of the camera when filming and trying not to jolt it too much.

Costumes and Locations

For costumes we have decided to choose relativiely dark clothes with a rather casual feel. This way we can show the audience that the film is a thriller yet it is happening to an ordinary person. I hope that by doing this we will achieve a succesful synopsis that makes sense. If the character was wearing suitable cargo clothes that would be good for running around in it would loose the whole mystery of the thriller.



We have decided to include a dark thick coat and a scarf that would indicate the cold weather of the time in the setting. By showing that it is a cold it will reflect the cold feel of the film giving the audience more reason to watch the film. The rest of the clothes will be quite casual, chinos and a shirt. The character will look smart, as though he is prepared to go to dinner with the family he is supposedly meant to have dinner with.

Our location is mainly on a dark busy road near the station. The area needs to seem grey and and urban. The station he gets off at is Cashalton Beeches station. In the morning and evening the area is quite busy, but during the day it is usually very quiet. We would have to film during the day so we can achieve an isolated feel for our thriller film. The idea is to make the area look inhabited but quiet at the same time. This way will be able to make the crime thats about to unfold, believable.

Opening Title Fonts

This title font caught my eye because of eerie handwriting style. The handwriting suggests a criminal and a ransom message. However I decided not to choose this font as it implies the criminal is unprofessional 

This font signifies an Eastern European setting for our thriller. The font is bold and stands out. Because of the European look of the font, it suggests a large grey urban area that would be a perfect setting for our thriller. 

The title immediately signifies a large city like area thanks to the skyline imagery used at the bottom of the font.  Also the font seems to have like a dirt effect that could convey the idea of grit or blood to the audience, possibly highlighting the violence of the film. Also the type of letters suggests a danger like sign warning. maybe foreshadowing the danger for the main character. 

The label like title suggests professional criminals which is a main theme for our thriller. Furthermore it also suggests a police case which also a theme for our thriller. However the title seems old fashioned and our film it set in the present so I have decided not to choose this font. But this font could work for subtitles e.g. crew, cast etc.

I have decided to choose this font for our thriller film title. It stands out bright and bold, there isn't too much going on. The dirt like effect on the font will signify a gritty urban setting, or it will imply blood and violence. This will attract audience members who are fond of action and violence. The title 'danger sign' like font will also highlight the idea of violence and danger. The title in this font will suggest the main themes of the film thus making it a perfect for our film.

GIFSoup

We will have our titles flashing on and off as though as you are not meant to see the title. However unlike Seven (1995, Fincher), the title's will be played over the moving image of the film and not a title a sequence.

Similar Opening Sequence Ideas

Kill Your Friends Opening Sequence
This is a title sequence made by University students that is similar to the ideas we have for our film. We, as a group, really like the way the titles are film as they appear to be on everyday objects. The slow pans and tracks draw us into wanting to watch the whole film and the way the flashbacks are so fast paced and quick give us snippets into the remains of the film. The way the shots and cuts just show a normal apartment after a night of partying and drinking and the after math and mess of it all.


Our Groups Ideas Inspired by this Clip:

• Slow pans will now be used
• New ideas for titles over everyday objects 

Peer Assessment - Panning

Final Synopsis

A man goes to visit his friend at his house. He rings his friend as he walks there to make sure everything is still okay. There is no answer. The man assumes everything is okay and carries on his journey to his friends house. When he arrives the door is open, he still knocks but there is no answer. He opens the door to see if everything and shouts out his mates name. Still no answer, so he goes inside only to find his mate and his wife dead. He immediately goes into shock and panics desperately trying to bring his mate back to life without realising that he is contaminating the crime scene with his fingerprints. He eventually notices that their daughter is not there and then starts to look for her. He finds her upstairs under the bed, alive.


The man and the daughter then take part in a journey to avoid the people trying to kill her family and the police who believe that he was the one who killed the family and kidnapped their daughter.

Costume, Props and Location

Casting

AWhen deciding on the cast of our film we took into consideration the typeof characters but also we thought about how accessible different people would be when filming was needed to be done.


The first character we decided on was the main character, Mark Wilson. He needs to be someone who looks quite tough and strong. Also he needs to be fearless and knowledgeable.
We have chosen to cast George Blewitt (a member of our group) as Mark as he is well built and suits this role quite well. Another reason for this decision is , as he is in our group he will be easier to get hold of when we need him for filming. Also, he can put his own twist on his character and put ideas to us as a team. He will also be dedicated to the group and we know we can rely on him.

We then cast Megan Thornton, the daughter. She is 17 years old, average teenager therefore she was easy to cast. Also, you only see megans hair in the opening so we didnt have to put much thought into the casting.
Taking all this into consideration we cast Rosie Winton (another member of the group) as Megan Thornton.

Casting the mother/wife, Wendy Thornton, was again very easy to cast as she is not in the opening sequence. Therfore, we cast Emma Chapman (a member of our group) as Wendy Thornton.

The last character we cast was Robert Thornton...

Thriller Opening Sequence Storyboard Animation

Includes:

• Sound effects
• Original shot-by-shot storyline
• Locations
• Soundtrack

Script

Character Profiles

Finished Storyboard

Working on Storyboards

Opening Sequences: Titles

These are the titles that appear in the beginning of the film 'The Sixth Sense' in order.

Hollywood Pictures: The first distribution company.
Spyglass Pictures: The second distribution company.
The two titles above appear again but in the form of text - 'Hollywood Pictures and Spyglass Pictures Present'

Production Company:
'A Kennedy/Marshall/Barry Mendel production'
The main actors name, the most important member of the cast:
'Bruce Willis'

Title of film:
'The Sixth Sense'
The secondary actors and actresses names whom are some of the more important members:
'Toni Collette'
'Olivia Williams'
'Haley Joel Osment'
'Donnie Walburgh'
The supporting cast then appear on screen, these are the least important members of the main cast:
'Glenn Fitzgerald
Mischa Borton'
'Trevor Morgan
Bruce Norris'
The post-production team
(This section of the crew gradually moves to the most important members of the 'behind the scenes' crew)
'Casting by Avy Kaufman'
'Costume Design Joanna Johnston'
'Music by James Newton Howard'
'Edited by Andrew Mondshein'
'Production Designer Larry Fulton'
'Director of Photography Tak Fujimoto, A.S.C.'
'Executive Producer Sam Mercer'
'Produced by Frank Marshall, Kathleen Kennedy and Barry Mendel'
'Written and Directed by M.Night Shyamalan'

Peer Assesments