film unstoppable

Unstoppable.

I was watching this movie on channel 5 the other night called unstoppable with wesley snipes the main actor. It was a cross genre between action and thriller which was really interesting. Its about a former Special agent Dean Cage who has been mistaken for a wanted CIA agent, captured by the government, and given mind-controlling drugs that make him deluded and weird. Managing to escape, Cage must now find the antidote for the drugs while fighting the illusions and demons of his own mind, which are easily created and manipulated by the drugs he had been given. There is a scene in the movie where an agent tried to kill him but it's only the shadow of the killer. This is shown by the use of Restricted shots to not let the audience view the characters face. This would make the audience feel tense as they dont know who is the killer. In the film te charactor also walks in front of lights which emphasises the shadow and you see his muscular body shape. The movements made when walking from the light was very slow which created an impression that he was up to something suspicious.

Articles for film.

Tonight I've made some articles for our film. The theme is to add our names into news paper articles and a picture of ourselves for the ending credits. I've also changed the story line to fit in with our story line. This took me a long time to edit them, but will be very effective for our film as we'll have flashing images and special sound effects. Also when we film them I came up with an idea that we could print our fingerprints on each of the articles to add effect, I think it will look quite good.

We should be filming this sequence in the next few weeks, i just wanted to get it over and done with so there available to use what ever day we shoot! Here are the images of the articles I made and a collage of a selection of others that will be flashed at the end with special effects and sounds.

<. Article of myself for credits.

Newspaper article of Trisha for credits. >

<. Article of main story line

Collage of various newsarticles:

Editing day 2

Second day of editing!

Today my group and I managed to edit even more of our film today.
We focused on a small part of our film today because we felt the angles weren't flowing. We also managed to add a few transition to add effect and make parts of our film smoother. We found some really cool transitions which will add to our newspaper effect I mentioned in another post. We haven't yet filmed our new paper credits yet like we planned as we thought we should get he most difficult filming done first. With the newspaper credits my group and I are going to add an effect called 'fade to white' this effect will look really good as it looks as if it's flashing. We thought about doing flash backs with other parts of the film and newspaper articles for the credits at the end to put our names in the newspaper to show our credits, but also to add the effect that their will be other victim which will leave the film on a cliff hanger. In the next few days I'm going to edit some newspaper articles to add our names in the headlines to a article that's relevant to the story line which personally, I think will look effective.
Today we also looked at some sound effects to add to our film. We muted the original sound temporally, but kept some as it sounded effective and added some effects. We added effects like stepping sounds for when the murderer is walking and simple things like the squeak of the gate. We also looked at adding rain sounds because the establishing shot of the house was in rain so this would sound effective and relevant to the picture. These effects are not permanent because when we make our own at garage bank I'm sure we can make them better. This was just to give us an idea into what kind of effects would make our film seem realistic and horror. I'll add a post in the next week of a clip of our film so far.

Editing day 1

Editing day one!

Today was the first day we started to properly edit. Firstly my group and I started to put everything in sequence today, however remembering we having got certain parts of the film. We had to keep this factor in mind so our film will flow. After getting everything in sequence by picking out the parts we intended to use we started to tweak it. We found this very difficult as we learned it's not as easy to get everything to flow. After playing parts back that were edited we realised some of the continuity was incorrect. For example we need to show how the light turned on as in one part it was the dark in the room, next it was light. To over come this problem I was thinking we could take a shot using the emergency camera of the murderer turning on the light. I have to make sure everything flows and the continuity is correct otherwise people can pick up on this. Our film is really coming together even though this was our first proper editing session! We hope to get more done within the next few weeks as this is going to be a long process which will take many monthes. The day we've planned to edit will be on Friday the 27th November.

Uploading first footage

Uploading 2

Today we our group had a de-brief talk about our film after we had uploaded it to our macs!
watching back all our footage was so funny and all the mistakes we made, but obviously these won't be added into our film!
As we have had to give back the cameras yesterday we still have credits to film and parts we missed out. however we did manage to film most of our film within two days.
Today we started to edit parts and put our takes in chronological order because it was not filmed this way. This was because we filmed the hardest part of the filming first which was the bath scene.
As we still have parts to film we will have to access the emergency camera to finish our filming. I never actually realised how time flys as we left filming to the last minute as most of us were busy, next time I have an encounter with something like this i'll have to put filming first. Now I'm just excited to start editing it more and see our film progress.
Tonight I'm going to see the new 'Twilight' movie which will be good; i'll also be looking out for editing techniques their film used to help further my research knowledge.

Second day of filming!

Day two

Today was our second day of filming. We managed to get allot filmed today. We changed our minds about our location as we found a better location to shoot, however we will still be having Danielle's bath scene. In this location the house is really big and has banisters. The banisters was the original shot we wanted to use after seeing the technique in Jane Eyre TV drama and The ring 2002 film. today we filmed the murderer entering the house and establishing shots. We added as much footage as possible just in case it would look good in the film.
It did start to rain today but we made sure the camera stayed dry with an umbrella. I thought the rain made a good impact as we filmed outside because it emphasises the fact our film is a thriller/horror because the scene is very gloom and dim which made it seem more scary and gives us a sense of realism.
Also whilst filming there was a very big rottweiler which kept barking, i thought we could maybe use these sounds in our film somewhere to add effect!
Now I'm just excited to start uploading and editing. At the end of filming we hardly had any battery left which was a slight problem as we didn't charge it the night before as we thought the battery would still be relatively full however in our luck it charged quickly and just scraped getting all our footage. We managed to film everything we needed and more! All we have to film now is the credits which will be of the articles. We found this dark alley way by our location which was actually linked to the house which we filmed the murdered walking up, it was very dark and scary. We also found an old cellar which was part of the house which I thought would be good for the articles on the wall.
I took many pictures on my camera. Here are some pictures of our day filming. In the next week or so we hope to film the rest of our film!



Collage I created on Picasa from our filming day!

First day of filming!

Day one

Today we started filming and I took a lot of photos for the main events that happened and decided to put it into a short collage. The filming went very successfully, but unfortunately we only had time to film one scene as one of our characters couldn't make it so we thought it would be practical if we shot the bath scene. This is because we could film the bath part without the murderer and shoot him in the next few days. We made sure we took pictures of everything in the bathroom so the continuity wasn't wrong or our of place. It took us a long time to set the scene up for Danielle with the blood as it was very easy, also making sure we didn't get any on the carpet! (which of course we did.) We had a few disasters for example Trisha's jacket caught on fire from the candles whilst we were filming! But apart from that it was a successful first day!
We also managed to play around with the lighting. We set the camera onto night mode and turned the lights of. Our source of light form mainly form the candles but also we had bright torch with shined towards the bath which we will need to use for every scene in the bath room.
Our next date we've set to film will be on Wednesday which will have the murder scene in. We aim to film in a different location for the next scene ,although we did not plan this in the start. This is because of a better more suitable location for our script. I also made sure I took pictures of the set incase we had to film again so the continuity would be correct.

Collage of the first day.

Watching Se7en.

Se7en

Last lesson the class watched se7en and it was amazing! It had many great ideas of unique and effective shots in it which could be included in our next film of shooting. i really enjoyed the film' but was very scar at times! It's not a film I would personally watch by myself! Our group are aiming towards giving of the same great impact se7en does to our film!
The David Fincher the director or the film has put together se7en in an amazing and mind twisted way. The mixed horror/action sequences are very cleverly designed and the end just tops it of. In my opinion I probably would be more scared if I seen the head, however it plays on your mind and you see it in your mind. So I can't decide which would be more scary.

Story board

Our story board to help us with filming.

Mise-en-sene.

Why are lighting, location, props and costumes important things in our 2 minute film?

All these key factors set out how my film is going to be like; it shows the era it's also set in. These all give a more realistic and atmospheric feeling for the audience and also he characters to work with. So it gives it the sensation of realism.

Lighting.

lighting is very important in our film aswell as it can be a contrast to the person standing in; so we basically look at the person in focus. So for our film the main focus will be on the man when we see him. Size of the person or object is very important; so obviously our murderer is going to be bigger and muscular. In our film most of it will be shot at night time so we will be using low key lighting to create difused shadows and atmospheric pools of light; this makes thrillers more mysterious.
* Making sure the use of lighing and music both fit in well will make a big impact on the film.
In our film we don't want the density of the picture to be to crowded because we want all the attention on the main characters.

Costume.

Like most thriller movies the murderers are always in black with leather gloves; this is he typical image people have in their heads. In our film were also having the murderer all in black with leather gloves. However I was thinking about the murdered having one type of clothing on him; maybe a scarf? so he stands out the most because of that certain colour because as the lighting is dim he will blend in with the background.

Location.

In our film we will be setting the on at Danielle's house as it fits the criteria well. We want or location to be an old looking building with specific trates inside. For example Danielle has an old looking bath tub which is perfect for the bath scene. We have been testing our locations and made a mini video about each shot we shall take which will be explained in further detail in the next few days when its uploaded.

Props.

The props for our film are very important as without it our film wouldn't seem as scary. The use of a knife is a common symbol in thriller movies; also the use of candles as this creates danger, as does the knife.

Research into music.

Music

Our group need to start thinking of music to include with our film. As the music Will be
Non-Diegetic and only the audience will hear it, we don't need to know yet. However it is a good idea to have a rough idea so we can fit each scene accordingly.
we need to create our own music that would be symbolic for our film, lots of films in the horror genre have creepy or chilling music with them, but it is all recognisable after a while in that film since normally it is played more than once.

For example in the film one missed call the sound motive is a special ringtone on peoples phone, it is played quite a few times so the audience gets used to it and knows what is going to happen when it is played, but also every time it is played it is going to have the same effect on the audience.




The same with all the Jaws films, the music becomes well known to the audience so we know what to expect when we hear the well known music from the film.

we need calm music for our film, since its evening and someone is having a bath, I decided to research creepy but calm music as the sound forms expectations form imagery you've seen before also giving tension and anticipation.
I came across this piece which i thought was an amazing example, because though it is calm it is also sad and I think if something like this was on our film it might make the audience want to watch and find out whats going to happen.

music found.

The Ring

The 'Ring' (2002)

I was browsing through horror/thriller clips today and The 'Ring' 2002 came up so I watched part of it. Part of the stair sequence in the film was a girl going up the stairs gripping the banister and then you see a high angle shot of the girl through the banister. This is what we planned to do as it really does show affect and tense. I love the high angle shot through the banister because it shows power showing the girl is the vulnerable character. This is the part where tension also builds up so adding as many high angle, canted angle etc. shots will empower the tension even more.

Psycho Hitchcock shower scene

The famous shower scene:




In this video I found whilst doing some research it fits our scene perfectly except shes in the shower.

We see her turn on the shower, everything seems normal. In our film the bath will be running whilst shes getting undressed and lighting candles.

The shower is a very vulnerable place to be. The girl is naked so she has no defence, she can't hear anything because of the sound of the water. In our scene the girl will be in the water so she has no defence as she is laying down; vulnerable.

The low angle shot from the shower head is also very interesting because it shows how vulnerable you can get even when your just having a shower; in our film I'm thinking we could maybe add a high angle shot of the girl in the water to show shes vulnerable in the bath.

At about 30seconds into the film the girl is no longer the main focus but the cameras main focus is on the door with the girl to the right then you see a man come in; the girl doesn't know the figures there yet, which adds suspense. In our bath scene were not going to see the man enter the door we'll just see the silhouette of the man striking the curtain to add effect. This will confuse the viewer kind of and make the story more creepier. As it's going to be filming at night time their will be low Key lighting meaning the viewer cannot see who is holding the knife; in the whole movie no-one will see the killers face, this will add suspense to the film. The music here is also quick and dramatic adding to the suspense. The girl in this shower scene is terrified & her reaction makes the viewer scared. in or film were going to have very quick dramatic shots of the girl with blood, adds to the suspense and the horror of the situation. The viewer will become scared thinking it could happen to them. There's a sustained shot of the blood trickling through the bath into the plug hole. In our film were going to have the blood form the knife take out the candles. This ill show the end of the girls life. This will show a close up of the knife and the blood. This creates tension and prolongs the effect.

When I watched this scene I found it scary, after looking at it in a lot of detail I can see that it has been reconstructed I a professional manner making sure they included all the key facts and rules of a horror/thriller scene.

extended story board

Here is our extended story board for our two minute film:

• Pan across of newspaper articles on a wall lit up by torch in the dark. These articles will show the frame the story
• Quick close-ups of some articles. e.g flashing one to another
• Over shoulder of man looking at the wall with articles on. (dressed all in black.)
• Establishing shot showing the girls House. (canted pan across)
• P.O.V shot from the man looking outside the house to the window. (shadow)
  
• Light goes of in window of room
  
• Close up on mans hand on gate(leather gloves) squeaky noise add suspense
• Cut away to girl lighting candles around a running bath
• Cut back to man walking up the stairs (slowly and canted angles on 1st step)
• Shot reverse shot of girl dropping dressing gown to the floor. (see slide of shoulder)
• Behind see the bottom of her legs
• Cut back to him half way up the stairs (banister scene/ canted angle) low lighting.
• Shot reverse shot to her stepping into the bath. (see back of calf)
  
• Then close up of his hand gripping the banister
• Cut back to girl relaxing in the baths (bubbles)
• Music changes to more dramatic/faster/ scary music.
• Quick shots of silhouette of man holding knife through shower curtain
• Girl grips side of the bath
• See blood everywhere on bath and curtain etc.
• Music changes again to slow high pitched
  
• See girl slowly go under water blood marked on bath.
• See medium shot of man hand with knife and dripping blood from the knife onto candles (go out)
• The scene fades to black
• Back to mans room and see man add the last pin to Danielle's picture photo on the wall
• Quick flashing images of me and Trisha to show we're the next victims.
• (all the other articles have finger prints to show they've been killed)
• All our names are shown in the articles for the credits.

This extended storyboard is the framework for our film we should be filming in the next week or so. I will be producing a storyboard as well to help us film our two minute piece. we then shall be ready to film and be properly organise to know how each sequence of our film is conducted.

opening credits research

Credits

For our credits our group were thinking of having them at the end of the film as this would be significant to the beginning. At the beginning we are going to have previous victims shown in news paper articles on a wall to show of the killer’s pride. So at the end our names are going to be put into an article with our picture to show that were the next victims. The camera would pan across these in a canted angle to seem scarier. The music to this clip would have to be very tense, quick and scary.
This gives of a cliff-hanger to show that the story has not ended yet.
Also if this were to be a published film then there could be carried on films like:
Saw1, saw2 etc.
As our film will be set at night shining a torch across the credits would be effective.
For each victim at the beginning we were thinking of putting fingerprints of the victims to add effect; apart from at the end where the next victim’s names are there would be no finger prints. At the end I was thinking about a slow water droplet sound add it would seem scary.

Bath Murders

Background research to our 2min film
The 'brides in the bath' murders.
My independent research into our film

Whilst watching a documentary on discovery channel I came across documentaries about a group of men who murdered a number of women in their bath at home. I found this very significant to the background of our film.
The men involved where named:
George Joseph, Charles James, Henry Williams and John Lloyd.
These four men were all found guilty of the murders of three women named:
Bessie Williams who was found dead in her bath in 1912,
Alice Burnham who was found dead in her bath 1913,
And Margaret Lofty who was found dead in her bath in 1914,
The four murders' all plotted against these innocent women to kill them all in the same way. They wore black leather jackets and black leather gloves. They had planned these killing for years watching each woman.
Each killing was consecutive to another. All four watched their victims for a long period of time before striking.
Charles, Henry and John had all broken in their house before to know their way around and get a key.
On each year one would happen first it was Bessie in 1912, then Alice in 1913, then Margaret in 1914.
George Joseph however was married to Bessie and killed for her money.

As this is a true life story and my group and I film is going to be based on a girl being murdered in a bath; I found this story very significant as now this could be the frame of our film. Although this real life story is not that well known as such of 'Jack The Ripper' I thought in fact this could give the film an advantage as people could be more engaged with to the story to know what happened; especially if they knew it was based on a non-fiction story. Also audience response is very important as if the film was getting published you'd want to sample it on a small group of people to see what their reaction is; if it was poor people aren't going to be motivated enough to it. We had a taster of this when we had audience response back from our preliminary task.