Final Coursework thriller project, complete with music, titles and opening credits...
This experience has taught us a a lot about the film making process from, pre production, to production to finally post production.
Monday 20 April 2009
Wednesday 1 April 2009
HELP (so far again!)
This is some of the progress we have made during one class. Although there is still alot to work on as well as add credits and sound etc we added the rough edit below...
Monday 30 March 2009
HELP (so far)
This is day one of filming, its basically just our character, Fiona walking but we thought it was helpful to add this clip anyway so you'll be able to see our progress. Keep in mind this is unedited...and only day one of filming!
Scream movies
We decided to post these clips up because they are similar to our movie, or storyline...
There is some good ideas in the clips below that will be useful to us when making our movie
Friday 27 March 2009
Thursday 19 March 2009
genre/audience expectations
Our movie "HELP" falls into the thriller/horror category. Throughout the production we will be showing feelings of isolation and depression through a number of shots. There will not be much dialogue in our film and we are going to have to represent feelings and emotion through shot types rather than actual conversation.
One of the most important things in a thriller is making sure you keep the audiences attention and not give the plot away too early in the film, you have to keep then guessing. The main plot in HELP is trying to find out who is talking to Fiona on the computer. The movie moves on and we begin to think about why this person is doing this and what will happen to Fiona. The audience also want to see action so our group will have to try and satisfy all the expecations of our viewers.
On the horror aspect our film is a guessing game. Inspirations have been taken from films such as "taken" and "saw". Our film will not be as graphic as Saw but some aspects have been taken from it. In a horror the audience expect to be scared and they will usually contain killing or violence. Our film will not be focusing too much on these aspects, just on a few.
I think these two clips represent what our group is trying to capture in our production, "Taken" is about a kidnapped girl whos father tracks her down, similar to Help. "Hostel" focuses more on the darker side of our film and obviously Help will not be as graphic. In Hostel a group of friends are kidnapped and try to escape from the place were there being kept, this is the situation Fiona is in toward the end of our movie.
One of the most important things in a thriller is making sure you keep the audiences attention and not give the plot away too early in the film, you have to keep then guessing. The main plot in HELP is trying to find out who is talking to Fiona on the computer. The movie moves on and we begin to think about why this person is doing this and what will happen to Fiona. The audience also want to see action so our group will have to try and satisfy all the expecations of our viewers.
On the horror aspect our film is a guessing game. Inspirations have been taken from films such as "taken" and "saw". Our film will not be as graphic as Saw but some aspects have been taken from it. In a horror the audience expect to be scared and they will usually contain killing or violence. Our film will not be focusing too much on these aspects, just on a few.
I think these two clips represent what our group is trying to capture in our production, "Taken" is about a kidnapped girl whos father tracks her down, similar to Help. "Hostel" focuses more on the darker side of our film and obviously Help will not be as graphic. In Hostel a group of friends are kidnapped and try to escape from the place were there being kept, this is the situation Fiona is in toward the end of our movie.
Friday 20 February 2009
Help Storyboard
This is the storyboard of our movie, showing the main scenes that we plan on including.
Monday 9 February 2009
inspirations
silence of the lambs
blair witch project
nightmare on elmstreet 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY8o0yvDX6I
blair witch project
nightmare on elmstreet 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lY8o0yvDX6I
Friday 6 February 2009
extended plot of help
How much do you really know about the people you talk to online?
Who will you turn to for help?
Our story revolves around Fiona, an average 16 year old girl. Like most girls of her age she spends most of her time at home, online, on chat rooms and instant messenger, she also enjoys basketball but doesn't play for a team. One night the dangers of this world come crashing down upon her with the simplest of things, having a new contact added to her msn.
After Fiona's parents leave the house she heads straight to her bedroom, as usual. She signs online and finds she has a new contact, she begins to talk with this new contact, at the beginning things are fine but then things begin to get a little strange. At first this new "friend" seems fine but then the conversation starts to become a little personal. She's getting messages stating "I know your alone" and "I'm coming over". This person couldn't possibly know this, was it someone messing her around or was this for real. Fiona states " You don't know were I live" the conversation goes dead!
She begins to hear banging on the door, SUSPENSE, when she moves to the door to find that there is no one there but from the reflection of the glass she sees a cloaked being right behind her. She moves for the door only to be grabbed, she struggles pushing the attacker down revealing his black shoes. She finally escapes from her house to run next door. She bangs on her neighbours door for what seems like a century until finally the creepy teenager that lives next door, Ethan, answers her calls.
He opens the door slowly and looks at her fearfully. "Something's happening! there is some guy in my house." Ethan invites her in, She notices his big black shoes, before she has any time to react he closes the door and looks at her with a sickening pleasure building in his eyes. She tries to push past him and run out screaming. He grabs the Fiona and pushes her into a darkened room. There is a strange silence as Ethan locks the door and walks away leaving Fiona in the room.
Fiona begins to panic and notices the only light in the room is illuminating from a computer's screensaver. She gets up from the ground and wakes the computer only to see the conversation on the screen that she had with the stranger earlier that night. He was the person that added her, he was the stranger in her house! She is dragged off screen. All the audience can see is the computer screen.
Suddenly the screaming stops. Heavy constant footsteps grow louder and louder until we see Ethan appear on screen again before the computer and the screen fades out.
The next morning Fiona's mum peeks into Fiona's room and realises shes not there and her computer is still on. She turns off the computer and leaves for work. When she returns Fionas room is in the exact same state as it was that morning. She reliases something is wrong and tries to ring her daughter but her mobile is heard from her room. She begins to panic and rings the school, indeed Fiona had not turned up for school. She rings her former husband Tom, Fionas father, being a retired police officer, he'd know what to do.
Tom arrives within twenty minutes and starts to ask Fionas mother what happened, as she does not know she is not of much help. They ring the local police to inform them before setting off to ask the neighbours if they know anything. After talking to a number of neighbours they reach Ethans house. He does not answer so they look in through the window to see if they can see anything, they see the picture of Fiona, "I forgot how alike they look". Tom busts down the door and storms into the house, they are too late. The house is completely empty, they look in the room were Fiona was held. On one of the dust covered walls there is a handprint with the word HELP printed below it. Her mum begins to cry uncontrollably and both parents know their some what friendly neighbour has taken their daughter somewhere, were are they? Is she safe? what is Ethan doing with her?
Her mum and dad drive around the small town many times hoping to see their lost daughter, not speaking to each other on the journey. Tom remembers that Ethan once had a daughter who died tragically in a car crash at the age of sixteen, after this Ethan's wife left him and since this his life has never been the same. Fiona and kerry (Ethan's daughter) used to be friends a long time ago. After Kerry's death Fiona had never been the same, she isolated her self from her classmates and did not talk much. Her love for basketball did not fade although she did leave the school team. Fiona had always trusted Ethan and never expected him to do such a thing. Had Ethan kidnapped Fiona to try and bring back memories of his daughter? Were were they?
Who will you turn to for help?
Our story revolves around Fiona, an average 16 year old girl. Like most girls of her age she spends most of her time at home, online, on chat rooms and instant messenger, she also enjoys basketball but doesn't play for a team. One night the dangers of this world come crashing down upon her with the simplest of things, having a new contact added to her msn.
After Fiona's parents leave the house she heads straight to her bedroom, as usual. She signs online and finds she has a new contact, she begins to talk with this new contact, at the beginning things are fine but then things begin to get a little strange. At first this new "friend" seems fine but then the conversation starts to become a little personal. She's getting messages stating "I know your alone" and "I'm coming over". This person couldn't possibly know this, was it someone messing her around or was this for real. Fiona states " You don't know were I live" the conversation goes dead!
She begins to hear banging on the door, SUSPENSE, when she moves to the door to find that there is no one there but from the reflection of the glass she sees a cloaked being right behind her. She moves for the door only to be grabbed, she struggles pushing the attacker down revealing his black shoes. She finally escapes from her house to run next door. She bangs on her neighbours door for what seems like a century until finally the creepy teenager that lives next door, Ethan, answers her calls.
He opens the door slowly and looks at her fearfully. "Something's happening! there is some guy in my house." Ethan invites her in, She notices his big black shoes, before she has any time to react he closes the door and looks at her with a sickening pleasure building in his eyes. She tries to push past him and run out screaming. He grabs the Fiona and pushes her into a darkened room. There is a strange silence as Ethan locks the door and walks away leaving Fiona in the room.
Fiona begins to panic and notices the only light in the room is illuminating from a computer's screensaver. She gets up from the ground and wakes the computer only to see the conversation on the screen that she had with the stranger earlier that night. He was the person that added her, he was the stranger in her house! She is dragged off screen. All the audience can see is the computer screen.
Suddenly the screaming stops. Heavy constant footsteps grow louder and louder until we see Ethan appear on screen again before the computer and the screen fades out.
The next morning Fiona's mum peeks into Fiona's room and realises shes not there and her computer is still on. She turns off the computer and leaves for work. When she returns Fionas room is in the exact same state as it was that morning. She reliases something is wrong and tries to ring her daughter but her mobile is heard from her room. She begins to panic and rings the school, indeed Fiona had not turned up for school. She rings her former husband Tom, Fionas father, being a retired police officer, he'd know what to do.
Tom arrives within twenty minutes and starts to ask Fionas mother what happened, as she does not know she is not of much help. They ring the local police to inform them before setting off to ask the neighbours if they know anything. After talking to a number of neighbours they reach Ethans house. He does not answer so they look in through the window to see if they can see anything, they see the picture of Fiona, "I forgot how alike they look". Tom busts down the door and storms into the house, they are too late. The house is completely empty, they look in the room were Fiona was held. On one of the dust covered walls there is a handprint with the word HELP printed below it. Her mum begins to cry uncontrollably and both parents know their some what friendly neighbour has taken their daughter somewhere, were are they? Is she safe? what is Ethan doing with her?
Her mum and dad drive around the small town many times hoping to see their lost daughter, not speaking to each other on the journey. Tom remembers that Ethan once had a daughter who died tragically in a car crash at the age of sixteen, after this Ethan's wife left him and since this his life has never been the same. Fiona and kerry (Ethan's daughter) used to be friends a long time ago. After Kerry's death Fiona had never been the same, she isolated her self from her classmates and did not talk much. Her love for basketball did not fade although she did leave the school team. Fiona had always trusted Ethan and never expected him to do such a thing. Had Ethan kidnapped Fiona to try and bring back memories of his daughter? Were were they?
It is now night time, around 9 and the once married couple have been searching all day, driving into different towns and constantly going back to Ethans house hoping to find some sort of clue. The police were no help and said that she had to be missing for 48 hours before they could get involved, Tom, a former police officer has no intentions of waiting that long and is determined to find his daughter.
At 8.30 Tom and Maria call into the house to get something to eat, they haven't eat all day and Tom is eventually persuaded that they must rest for a while before carrying on the search. As soon as they arrive in the house the phone rings. "Hello Mrs Douglas, we think we have found your daughter!" says the policeman. "Oh my God, is she alive, where,where is she!" We found a body near the river bank, we need you to come and identify the body." Tom and Maria drive down to the police station praying that they have not found their daughter dead. The policeman pulls up the cover and a cold pale face is seen. Tom turns around relieved yet scared, "That is not my daughter! come on Maria, we need to find Fiona, she is still alive, I know it."
Fiona's mother goes home as it 9 o'Clock and she is tired, Tom is still determined to find her. She is looking at old photographs and crying, she comes across a photo of Fiona and Kerry at Kerrys sixth birthday party. The date reads 2/11/1998, that was yesterdays date. Maria begins to look at the photo. Her heart nearly bursts at the sight of her daughters happy face, she then looks at Kerry, Ethans daughter and can't help but feel sorry for her, she died just a days after her 16th birthday party. She sees another girl sitting to the left of Kerry and Maria can't take her eyes off her. "I've seen her before" She thinks to herself... a wave of clarity come over her. That girl to the left of Kerry is the same girl that they saw in the city morgue hours before. To this she rings her ex-husband Tom to tell him about her discovery. To this Tom asks "What date did Kerry die on?" Maria replies, "Soon after her birthday last year" Tom Shouts, "What was the exact date!" Maria flicks to the end of the photo album to a paper clipping from last year, Kerry death notice. Maria replies, "4/11/2008". Tom replies, "We have 3 hours to find our daughter. I'm coming to pick you up, we're going to the grave."
The car pulls up at the graveyard, the loud squeaking of the brakes are heard. Tom rushes out of the car and begins searching for kerry's grave. His heart stops as he sees a lifeless body lying across the grave. He stares angrily at Ethan who is standing above Fiona, he is deep in thought and seems like he hasn't even noticed Tom. Tom reaches for his pocket and brings out a gun slowly and steadily, a loud shot is heard, Ethans body drops to the ground.
Friday 30 January 2009
Plot of "Help"
How much do you really know about the people you talk to online?
Who will you turn to for help?
Our story revolves around Fiona, an average 16 year old girl. Like most girls of her age she spends most of her time at home, online, on chat rooms and instant messenger. One night the dangers of this world come crashing down upon her with the simplest of things, having a new contact added to her msn.
After Fiona's parents leave the house she heads straight to her bedroom, as usual. She signs online and finds she has a new contact, she begins to talk with this new contact, at the beginning things are fine but then things begin to get a little strange. At first this new "friend" seems fine but then the conversation starts to become a little personal. She's getting messages stating "I know your alone" and "I'm coming over". This person couldn't possibly know this, was it someone messing her around or was this for real. Fiona states " You don't know were I live" the conversation goes dead!
She begins to hear banging on the door, SUSPENSE, when she moves to the door to find that there is no one there but from the reflection of the glass she sees a cloaked being right behind her. She moves for the door only to be grabbed, she struggles pushing the attacker down revealing his black shoes. She finally escapes from her house to run next door. She bangs on her neighbours door for what seems like a century until finally the creepy teenager that lives next door, Ethan, answers her calls.
He opens the door slowly and looks at her fearfully. "Something's happening! there is some guy in my house." Ethan invites her in, She notices his big black shoes, before she has any time to react he closes the door and looks at her with a sickening pleasure building in his eyes. She tries to push past him and run out screaming. He grabs the Fiona and pushes her into a darkened room. There is a strange silence as Ethan locks the door and walks away leaving Fiona in the room.
Fiona begins to panic and notices the only light in the room is illuminating from a computer's screensaver. She gets up from the ground and wakes the computer only to see the conversation on the screen that she had with the stranger earlier that night. He was the person that added her, he was the stranger in her house! She acts quickly as she has no phone, and her parents wont be back until the morning, she adds her friend to the messenger that is still running. Thankfully her friend is online and she has just enough time to key in "Help!" before Ethan busts in and grabs her again. She is dragged off screen. All the audience can see is the computer screen of the girls friends messages coming up and all they can her is the screaming of the girl.
Suddenly the screaming stops. Heavy constant footsteps grow louder and louder until we see Ethan appear on screen again before the computer. He begins to key into Fiona's friends conversation and the movie fades out.
Thursday 29 January 2009
Inspirations
In the pre-production part for task we have been asked to think about our inspirations in what we are about to set out to do. Most of the inspiration that i have for the creating of the main task comes from movies that i have seen and there are certain openings and particular scenes from these movies that i would love to capture aspects of in the production of our coursework.
Some of these videos are seen below.
Some of these videos are seen below.
Thriller
For our main task, we have decided to take the challenge of creating a thriller opening. One definition of the thriller genre that we have found is as follows,
Thriller: Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains.
Even from reading this definition we can see how this genre has some specific conventions and common characteristics that come with it, we feel that if we are to take up this genre for our main task we should identify some of these conventions in order to see which ones we may apply to our movie opening, or ones that we may challenge.
Below lies a list of what we have found to see seen in most movies of this genre.
Thriller: Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains.
Even from reading this definition we can see how this genre has some specific conventions and common characteristics that come with it, we feel that if we are to take up this genre for our main task we should identify some of these conventions in order to see which ones we may apply to our movie opening, or ones that we may challenge.
Below lies a list of what we have found to see seen in most movies of this genre.
- Thrillers often take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or high seas
- The heroes in most thrillers are frequently "hard men" accustomed to danger: law enforcement officers, spies, soldiers, seamen or aviators.
- Thrillers often overlap with mystery stories, but are distinguished by the structure of their plots.
- In a thriller, the hero must thwart the plans of an enemy, rather than uncover a crime that has already happened.
- In thrillers influenced by film noir and tragedy, the compromised hero is often killed in the process.
- Thrillers have been increasingly influenced by horror or psychological-horror exposure in pop culture, an ominous or monstrous element has become common to heighten tension.
- The monster could be anything, even an inferior physical force made superior only by their intellect, a supernatural entity, aliens, serial killers, or even microbes or chemical agents.
Media Studies Project
This is a blog dedicated to the production of our coursework. The coursework is as follows:
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of
music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.
Our group will try and create a great piece of video, learning from our mistakes made in the preliminary exercise and also using the techniques that helped us succeed in the previous task.
Main task: the titles and opening of a new fiction film, to last a maximum of two minutes.
All video and audio material must be original, produced by the candidate(s), with the exception of
music or audio effects from a copyright-free source.
Our group will try and create a great piece of video, learning from our mistakes made in the preliminary exercise and also using the techniques that helped us succeed in the previous task.
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