Evaluation: Question 4) Who would be the audience for your media product?- Miss Begum

Planning - Mrs Quinlan: Character Representation

Character Representation

Character Analysis: Victim

Name: John Smith

Real Name: Ahmet Turbas

Character Role: John is an average UK student who unfortunately is an victim in this story. The audience at first will think that he is an average teenager however by the end he would come face to face with the antagonist and thats where the opening scene will end.

Age:  17

Gender Stereotype or Role: British, Chubby, laid back but intelligent. An student we dont know what happens to him after the first scene since he face to face with the Antagonist.

Costume: Throughout the whole opening scene we see him wearing an white T-Shirt and black tracksuit bottom. The reason why chose this is because it suggest hes vulnerable also that hes at home comfortable with no cares in the world.
Hair and Make-up: His hair would be very causal looking since hes at home like most other teenagers we are not planning to use make-up for unless there is an visual problem with the camera and him in which case we would use make-up then so hes more visible to the camera
Body Language and Facial Expression: At first he will be very relaxed and seems that hes enjoying himself however as the opening scene progresses his body language and facial expression would change because of the nature of whats going on. he would look more anxious. His facial expression depending on the different part of scene maybe shocked or scared. The emotion and body language would be trigger during events such as the note and the smashing of the glass.
Represented as: He is an character that didn't care about anything at first however is vulnerable since he is home by himself and since this could happen to anyone and he couldn't protect himself
Role within the narrative: He is the victim in the opening scene, he would been seen almost throughout the entire the opening scene he would first appear in the kitchen making snacks to the end where he faced with the antagonist. Throughout the film he would appear vulnerable at all times.

Character Analysis: Antagonist

Name: Unnkown

Real Name: Max Feernandaz

Character Role: An enigma its the antagonist in the first part of this story-line of tragic affairs. He will be appearing at the end of the film for brief moment.

Age: 20+
Gender Stereotype or Role: Again British, Tall, Fearful and also the audience wont know much about the character. But knows that he manages to creep into the apartment without making too much noise.
Costume: The antagonist will appear at the end of the opening scene. He will be wearing dark clothing when he comes in to the room this would be black hoodie as well as dark trousers.. He will be also wearing a mask to cover his identity since he didn't want the victim to know who he is and the audience wont be able to find out who he is.
Hair and Make-up: There wont be no need for hair and make up will be done since his face will be covered with a mask as well as the black hoodie would cover his head.
Body Language and Facial Expression: His body language would show that he means business and and he will be standing in-front of the television this would create black lighting and this would create powerful imagery about the character. Since his Face would be covering the mask we wont be able to see any Facial Expression.
Represented as: When the antagonist appears at the end of the opening scene. The character would be the most powerful character during the opening scene because hes managed to gain access to the apartment and was planning something malicious 
Role within the narrative: Hes role significant and important for the story-line even though he only appears at the end of the opening scene. Since that hes body language shows what malicious intent hes planning to do.

Character Analysis: Kid
Name: Unknown
Real Name: Adra

Character Role: His role is coming round to the victim house and opening the door saying trick or treat.
Age: 10
Gender Stereotype or Role: Small, Slim, weak and innocent by himself since he was trick or treating by himself
Costume: He would be wearing an Halloween costume since hes trick or treating on Halloween
Hair and Make-up: He would have short hair and there wouldn't be any use of make-up since he will be covering his face with an mask since its Halloween
Body Language and Facial Expression: There wouldn't be much to his body language however he would be trying to scare john
Represented as: He will be represented as vulnerable however since hes up late and hes trick or treating
Role within the narrative: Even though he only has samll role within the opening scene its impotrtant to our production as-well as the story line.

Conclusion

Overall once with discussed who the character that we are planning we all discussed how and what costumes there would be wearing as-well as what their hair and make-up would be like. we have tried to conventional to the thriller genre as much as possible. And we consinderd how should characters act during the opening scene and the body language and facial expression they should use

Planning Miss Begum: Production Roles

Production Roles

Production roles are important within films since these assigned different people with different jobs within making an film. These would be people who are normally skilled in a particular are of producing a film. There are several roles in this film this includes The Director, The Producer, Lighting Operator, Location Manager, Camera operator, The Editor, Costume Hair and Makeup, Storyboard artist and the sound operator. Below are which person in our group are assigned to what role and why.

The Current roles are

The Director- Shakil
The director is the person who supervises the making of the film and making sure that the film is
produce properly and then is presented to the production the company. The main responsibility of the the director is to ensure that the film is made, make sure that film is an high quality condition. And give instructions to the crew or make necessary changes to the film. The person in-charge of the film making is shakil since he had good communication skills as well.

The Producer- Baris

The producer work closely with the director on making the film and has quite a lot of response ability over the production and making of the film. Before sending it of to the distributor. The producer has other responsibility including securing rights for using music and choosing people for different roles in the production. For this role we deiced that Baris would be the most suitable for this task.

Editor- Elliot

This is the person who is in charge of the editing and the creation off the film. The person usually creates the film by using editing software and equipment to create a film. The editor may use different techniques to help portray a scene or certain events. An example would be the use of fade to black at the end of an scene or film to either end the film on an cliffhanger or the film is at an end.

The person who is in charge of all editing will be me The reason why is because i had more experience off using editor tools and techniques since i have created videos before for other projects in and outside of schools. Also everyone will be helping me throughout the early editing stages and during the making of final parts of the film

Lighting Operator-Shakil

The Lighting operator is in charge off all the lighting while filming. This includes create lighting for the scenes during filming and in charge of all lighting and the use of lighting on set and during filming. The lighting operator needs to make sure that lighting levels are suitable for that scene and includes the use of back lighting and low key lighting. As well as being mindful of other lighting and how to stop that from interfering with the scene. For this role Shakil was chosen since we discussed as an group that our preliminary task we had too much lighting and shakil noticed this when we were editing and also offed to help us with lighting.


Location Manager-Elliot

This is the person who is in charge of the locations of where the film would take place and the
locations where the scenes will take place. This case i will be the location manager this is because i found an suitable location to film in the preliminary task. As-well as i also offered  several locations for filming throughout the production which we will be using in the opening scene.

Camera Operator-Elliot

This is the person who is in charge of  the camera equipment and the camera. hes also in-charge of the use of camera techniques within the producing the film. This includes the angle of the camera/cameras the movement and the different shots they take with the camera. Also everyone else will help will be helping me throughout the filming since i cant do some certain shots this include shots that are in small spaces.

Costume,Hair and makeup artist-Shakil

This is the person who is in charge of the costume hair and makeup for the actors this includes doing the makeup for the actors or choosing the costume that the character should wear for that particular scene. They need to apply the correct amount of make up and understand whats happening throughout the scene so that they can choose the correct amount of make-up and choose the correct costume.

For this role me and the group deiced that shakil be taking on this role since hes more aware of the storyboard and also know hows to apply makeup and what the actors should wear.


Storyboard Artist

The storyboard Artist is the person who produce the images of an storyboard and notes for the film. The storyboard will help visualize different shots and different parts of the film and is like an guide for the film. Producing the storyboard can be done by one person or as an group of people, For this role all of will be help making the storyboard since we would need to draw different scenes and would be more easier if we all took part.

Sound operator-Baris

The sound operator is in charge of all the sounds that we are planning to use within the film. The person with this role needs to choose the appropriate sound for different as well as working with the director on ways to implement the sound within the film. The sound operator is also in charge of all the sound equipment and the capturing sound and using software that will allow you to edit or manipulate sound.

The person who will be in charge of sound will be baris. Baris has experience in making and creating sounds and would help him develop skills within using the sound editing or manipulation software.

Planning - Mrs Quinlan: Mise En scene

Mise en scene

Mise en scene is term that covers lighting, body language, facial expression, setting, costume, hair, makeup and iconography. These are important within film making as these help to show what happen during the film, hows the film is set, what important things the audience should look out for and the where the film take place. As-well as what the character are like including their behavior there facial expressions and what they are wearing. Also the use of lighting is another important aspect of mise en scene since this shows what type of lighting is being used and what the purpose of the lighting. Using Mise en scene can support a film as is it show whats happening and highlights suspense and characters as well help create an atmosphere during the film.

Lighting (Baris)

At the beginning of thriller opening there will be the use of high-key lighting, so therefore the audiences would be able to understand of the setting which is going to be used within the opening, according to the setting which is going to apartment they will feel calm and safe since an apartment is a place which connotes safety. Straight after, it will move over to the kitchen where the victim is preparing snacks and refreshments for himself, here there will be high-key and top lighting used so that the audience are able to view the actions and movements which is presented by the victim, from the actions which is presented by the victim we continue onto feeling calm and safe since he is freely doing what he wants within the kitchen. As the scene progresses, when the victim has finished preparing, he walks towards the living room where the lighting begins to slow dim. Once the victim has started up the film, there is only low-key lighting used since all of the lights are off and the only light source which is coming from the TV screen, the audience will respond to the use of low-key lighting with tension and possibly suspense since something unexpected could happen. As the scene develops, there will be mixture of high (with top lighting) and low key lighting used, the use of the mixture of different levels of lighting will connote and possibly create confusion and suspense since something which isn’t expected could appear or be presented so therefore. At the end the lighting is going to begin from high-key and slowly fade to black to create tension since the antagonist has entered the apartment without the victim knowing about it and there is the possibility of the antagonist harming the victim, we aim to create mystery by the end of the thriller opening since we are not going to reveal the antagonists identity.

Iconography (Shakil)

Iconography is the objects that are used in movies that can indicate meaning to the audience. The importance of this is so that this can foreshadow events that may occur in the later stages of the movie and to give away certain aspects to the audience and help the audience to feel in suspense. Additionally, an example of this would be a rose. This could signify the sense of love and romance in a movie as the use of Red in a thriller can represent passion and romance as well as other possibilities such as danger or death.
In terms of my thriller opening, there is plenty of iconography that will be used within the clip. Such as the mysterious, creepy looking mask that will be worn by the antagonist at the very end to create suspense and terror to the audience. Furthermore, there will be a note that is shown in the passage, which includes writing of a child and with bloody font, the use of red ink could also indicate danger and death.
Weapons such as the knife would be portrayed in the scene as this could conclude danger towards the end and allow the audience to feel suspense as this could also foreshadow danger in the opening as the knife connotes death and violence.

Setting (Elliot)

The opening scene takes place at the beginning off an apartment/Housing block. the apartment block is located in a estate. Nearby are several other housing blocks and other hoses as well. The reason why we chose this housing blocks is because the opening scene takes place in a home setting. this shows security since that living in a house would make the audience think that living in a house would be secure and that was also maybe a familiar place to the audience, however in the opening scene since the antagonist would manage to infiltrate the house and killing the victim. The use off iconography and lightning will help with the feeling of the setting there are also several advantages for using this location one example is that we could able to move furniture so it shows changes to help support with our script and opening scene narration. An example of this would be the windows opening during the opening scene. This shows insecure that houses can be sometimes to the audience which may make the audience anxious because they know it could happens to anybody.

These are the main elements of Mise En Sence in which me and my group highlighted and discussed whats happening and that were are planning to include in the main part of the thriller. We are planning to stick with these ideas since they highlight and shows to the audience whats happening and create suspense at the same time.

Planning - Miss Begum: Pre-Production Paperwork

Pre-Production Paperwork

Before we start making our film we could start filming we needed to fill in paperwork which was vital for the film. This includes legal documentation that was important for the film. The following documents that we needed before we could start filming were Production Schedule, Location Recce, Location Release Form, Risk assessment and client release forms.Without any of these documents we would not be able to film since they are vital including the Risk assessment that tell you what risks that we may occur during filming. I was in charge of the Location Release form aswell as the Location Recce. Baris was in charge of Risk assessment document and the Client Release document. And Shakil was in charge Production schedule and the Shot List.

Production Schedule

The production Schedule tells whats going to happen throughout the filming and what equipment and props we may need and When and where its happening. This will be given to all members of the crew as well as actors since this tells them whats happening on what day and where it would take place and who should come as well.

Location Recce

The Location Recce document is an brief summary of the filming locations where we are planning to film where the location is and how to get their and what public transport is nearby and why are we planning to film at this location. This document would be given all members who are filming as well as the actors since this give important information on where the location is.

Location Release Form

The Location Release form is the document we have to give to the owner of the property that we have agreed to their terms and conditions which they previously stated. This document has to be signed before we can start filming at the locations.

Risk Assessment 

The risk assessment form is an legal document that we must help as it contains all the risks that we may face while making this film and how we can avoid them or mitagate. The document has to be given to all personal since it may show the risk that what we may face during filming. And what we should do to mitage them.

Client Release form

The client release form is another legal document we must have this explains to the terms and aggremeants that we have and the risks involved when making this productions as well as other important information that actors need to know about. All members of the cast must sign this document before we can start filming.

Planning - Miss Begum: Shot List

Shot List

The shot list is the main list of what camera angles that we are planning to use throughout the final product. The document below contain all the shots that we are planning to use. The main purpose of the shot list is to inform the The director,The producer and the Camera operator what shots and what cinematography they will be using throughout the film and in this case opening scene.

Planning - Miss Begum: Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task

The Purpose of the Preliminary task was to find out how good with a camera and organising equipment for filming. In our preliminary task we decided to capture an spontaneous conversation between friends. We had a limit amount of time however we decided on what was our scenario and the how we could film it.

Final Video

The scenario

Our scenario happens when two friends are talking about what recently happened in the news, This was planned as an spontaneous event. Baris and shakil as the main actors. and i was filming and doing the editing. All of us had say what should happen and how we would film and edit it.

The scene starts of baris being called over by shkiall. the purpose of doing this was to show the conversation was spontaneous.

After that the film transitions into seeing them talking with each other about what was happening in Paris.

The scene ends when baris gets up and leave the room, However the film had many problems that we that we didn't anticipated. However we have come up ways of stopping this from happening during the main film.

Has any of our roles changed?

Originally the location manager was shakil however his locations he choose was too loud since they was lessons going as well i intervened and suggested the common room since that was a more quieter place and was more easier to film then in the break out spaces. Because of this all of used talked about who should be location manger however we all decided that i should look for the locations. We also decided to have actors in our final opening scene since Me, baris or shikail cant act also it also it looks unprofessional if we acting in our own films as well as editing, filming and recording.

Problems we had filming

The main problem I had was keeping the camera steady. Since were not provided with an tripod some of the shots were unstable and at some points I had to ask to restart filming again just so that the camera wasn't shaking. Its really hard to keep the camera still because your so focus trying to get an accurate shot its really hard to keep the camera steady. I did use objects where ever possible to keep the camera still however the downside of doing that you might not get an accurate or good shot. Another problem we had was that they wasn't much space to film the preliminary task
 We chose an place which there was not much space to film. Therefore while I was filming I had my back against a window next to a blind and therefore to avoid hearing me banging against a window. We had no choice but to break the 180 degrees rule.


As shown here.





This meant for a part of the preliminary task it looked like we had the camera angle in a weird angle however it wasn't off putting.

Another problem we had during the filming was that i shot an angle wrong. The original idea was it to shot reverse shot however because i didn't have any much room to kneel to take the shot i had to stand up and this was a bad mistake since the angle i decided to film at was at an high angle then i was originally planned. We have thought off ways to stop these mistakes in our final opening scenes. This includes watching playback via my laptop since my laptop has an SD Card reader which allows us to watch the playback of we recorded on our camera.

Difficulties we had Editing

Editing was also another major problem we had since we havnt used apple imovie before. We didnt know how to cut films properly or to split films. We had to learn how to use imoive very quickly however when we started to use imovie the fire alarm went off so I had to work on the film during most of the lunchtime so therefore I had limited time to edit the film however I managed to pull it off we had many clips of us recording the preliminary recordings this meant I was able to slice off clips together, However this was the only mistake i made during editing.

As you can see from this picture the transition happen too early. this was a mistake i made because the first clip before the transition should of last slightly longer however this wasn't an important part could be better.

What have we learned.

we had many issues on how to film and what we should do to resolve these issues. The preliminary task was designed to show us how we would cope since we didn't know how to use the camera or the editor however we learnt what we should do during filming. We also found ways on how we can improve filming and editing and what we shouldn't do while recording. Another point that we learned is that too make any film without mistakes takes time. The preliminary task was rushed however if we had more time we would of spotted and we would of corrected or mitigate these mistakes. However for the final we need to make sure that we spot these mistakes and correct them as quickly as possible.

Conclusion 

Has the task been beneficial for the group?

This task was important and beneficial for me and our group the preliminary task highlighted the mistake i and the group made. We have thought of ways to stop this from happening or ways that we can improve filming and what we can do if these mistakes do happen and what we should mitage these problems. We also understand the difficulty the opening scene maybe this was also great opportunity to test the equipment and software that we are using so that we know how to use it.

Planning - Mrs Quinlan: Micro-Elements

Micro Elements

Micro Elements are important within films since they tell what are you doing for the film.  Below are what we are planning to include what micro elements within the opening scene. All of these are important since these are the most important parts of the opening scene and what we will be including from the cinematography the shots that we many include, to the different type sound types that we may use within film and to the different types of editing that we are planning to use within the opening scene. 

(Shakil) Cinematography

The cinematography we intend on using in our thriller consists of the following;

1. As the opening begins, the cinematography that will be taken place is an establishing shot outside of the victims house in order to showcase the environment of the victims whereabouts and to identify that the theme set in which this thriller opening was set, which is Halloween.

1. The next camera angle that will be taken is a close up of the lit up pumpkins that are displayed outside the victim’s house to indicate that the victim is fairly excited about Halloween and celebrates it to an extent. This will reflect upon the audience as they would already get the idea of what the theme is like and the surroundings of the victim’s location, would be relatively isolated to the ‘busy’ streets and is fairly quiet and settled as well as it being set in Halloween.

1.  Thirdly, as the victim settles in, he prepares his snacks and food in the kitchen, from this point of view it will be a panning shot as to what the victim is preparing so that the audience could get the feeling that the victim is at comfort, as he is wearing home clothing such as white tracksuit bottoms and at shirt to signify that he is at his own comfort and to understand the fact that this is the victims home as we can clearly see that the victim lives on his own.

1. An over the shoulder shot would be taken once the victim is settled into the living room with his fresheners on the side, as well as this shot establishes the movie name of the horror/thriller movie that the victim is due to watch so that this can give the audience the impression that the victim is on the verge of watching a horrifying and tragic film due to this being set on Halloween.

1. A Tilt Shot will be used once the victim hears a knock on his door and suspects kids that are celebrating Halloween but to encounter an empty viewing outside his door, which will cause suspense to the audience as the sound of the knock was relatively loud and aggressive. Therefore the use of tilt shot would be used once the victim opens the door and the angle would be set so that we could see from behind the victims house and witnessing that there is nobody outside which causes tension to the audience and confusion

1. A close up shot will also be used of the written note that was sent to his door, in which it states ‘trick or treating?’ in a child’s handwriting with blood smudged across the letter, the close up would be of the note and the victim hands holding this paper, so that this allows the audience to get an impression of what the letter states and so that we could tell that this letter was sent by a kid.

1. Reaction shot of the victim when he first suspects this letter and to see his reaction which were still relaxed as he thought nothing of this and so that the audience could get the understanding of the emotions used in the victim as he opens the letter, but he was not too fooled easily as he laughs and tears the paper up and throws it in the bin.

1. As the victim locks himself in with the antagonist, a Panning shot will be used once the victim encounters a black, tall figured man wearing a familiar mask with blood dripping across its face, this will automatically allow the audience to understand the environment and setting of the scene in which is low key lighting and to make the audience feel frightened and alarmed because we could understand what the victims impressions and emotions would be like.    

(      (Baris) Sound

Sound is widely used within films in order to create understanding and simplify the scene for the audience so that they have a better knowledge of it. The use of sound allows the audience to create meaning towards the character and also their feelings & emotion.

The sound we intend on using in our thriller consists of the following;

1. On Screen Sound will be used when the victim is watching the film and the sound coming from the film. I have chosen to use this because I want the audience to understand and realise the fact that there is no one in the apartment except the victim. This is conventional to the thriller genre because when using the on screen sound coming from the TV, it will distract the audience so that when something else occurs like the knocks on the door then the audience will respond to.
2. Off Screen Sound will be used when the victim is watching the film and then hears the wind blowing in the background. I have chosen to use this because it’s unusual to hear a wind blowing whiles watching a film, only if there is a windows or door open. This is conventional to the thriller genre because the use of the wind blowing suggest there the victim has left the window open or possibly someone has entered the house.
3. On Screen Sound will be used when the victim approaches the door after the knock, and there is a little kid at the door and says “Trick or Treat” to the victim. I have chosen to use this because we as a group want to portray and imply the fact that the thriller opening is based in Halloween. This is convention to the thriller genre because therefore the use of the pumpkin in the start and also the use of the speech by the little kid supports that it’s Halloween, so as a result the audience understands and knows what to expect.
4.   Off Screen Sound will be used when the victim is watching the film and hears a glass shattering in the background. I have chosen to use this because first the glass shatters in the kitchen and since the victim is in the living room he is unable to visually see where it has occurred. This is conventional to the thriller genre because the audience wouldn’t be able to identify where it has come from since it’s a distinctive sound which suggests danger and perhaps that the victim is in danger.
5. Parallel Sound will be used while the victim is in the kitchen clearing up the shattered glass from the floor, the door for the apartment opens and the victim responds with suspense and fear causing his heart to beat. I have chosen to use this because I want to illustrate the effect which the opening of the door had on the victim whiles he was in apartment by himself. This is conventional to the thriller genre because since the audiences are able to understand and feel what the victim is feeling at that moment with the victim.

(Elliot) Editing

Editing is one of the most important micro-elements in the film. Editing allows you to create complicated scenarios and scenes. All films would use some type of editing, thrillers editing technique would usually consist off Jump cuts, fast pace editing, and straight cuts. These are the most conventional use of editing used in thrillers.

Here are some example of techniques that I will be using in the films.

1. One technique I will be using when I am editing is during one part is a series of jump cuts and Fast pace Editing of him closing windows and barricading himself in. The audience response would be apprehension since they don’t know what’s happening and since the way he close the windows. It creates tension and resonate to the audience because the images are not fluent and going at an fast pace.
2. I will also use fade to black at the end of the opening scene after the antagonist turns around. This leaves the audience guessing since they don’t know what’s going too happened next. This is used in some thrillers and this type of editing is conventional the reason.
3. At the beginning of the film there will be also a dissolve at to show some time has passed. The reason why I had to this was because I want the incident to happen after some time has passed the best way to show this Is by telling the audience that time has passed. If the incidents happened after he put on the TV it would seem unnatural. I wouldn’t expect a reaction from the audience since that occurs a lot in films.
4. Also at the beginning of the film there would be an establishing shot of the pumpkin which would go into a straight cut of the main character preparing snacks. The reason why I added this is because to show when the film is set. In this case it telling the audience that’s its Halloween and this is when the story is set.
5. Also they would be also the use of jump cuts during the door scenes. The reason why is because most of the action of the film will take place at the doorway this during with some scenes they maybe some deliberate scares to show how anxious the character is The audience response at first would be to shrug it off however towards the end the audience response will be more nervous since they don’t know what’s going to happen next.

Conclusion

As an group we need to make sure that we have include micro elements in the opening scene. As a group we chose micro elements that is common micro-elements in thrillers that we have seen.

Planning - Mrs Qunilan: Final Idea

Planning - Mrs Qunilan: Final Idea

FINIAL IDEA.

After me and our group talked about our initial ideas we planned out our final idea. We all had many different ideas on what we should do for our final project. We managed to group most of our ideas into a new narrative for the opening scene. This was different from our initial ideas since most of these were brand new ideas that we all thought off since combining all of our existing ideas wouldn't work.

Title:  The Unseen

Narrative: 

During Halloween, an man stays up for the night to watch a late night film. During the film the person will hear sounds followed by a child at the door after giving the child some sweets there is another knock on the door and there is a note on the floor saying trick or treat then the main character bins the note however there is another knock at the door and there is another note along with blood and a mask saying "Trick or Treat" after locking all the windows and checking if nobody was in the house the main character goes back to the living room, however, the antagonist wearing a black hoody or cloak. This is where the film would end.

Narrative structure: 

The narrative structure we are using in the film would be Barthes. This is because it more suitable for our narrative. Because of several elements within the film such as the pumpkin at the beginning of the opening. The audience needs to understand when the film is set in. In this case, our film will be set during Halloween and the use of popcorn tells the audience that the main character will be watching a film.

Subgenres

• Psychological
• Mystery 

Characters

Victim: White T-Shirt, Tracksuit bottom, 

Child: Wearing a scary Halloween costume.

Antagonist: Wearing a black hoodie or cloak and wearing a mask to hide is identity.

Mise on Scène

Setting: The opening scene takes place in a flat. And will be filmed mostly in the living room and in the kitchen.

Iconography: The window since it keeps being opened and mask since this is what on the note and was also worn by the antagonist.

Sound: We are planning to have diegetic and non-diegetic sounds as well as off-screen sound.

Editing:  we are planning to use in the opening scene Straight Cut Jump Cut, Montage and Fate to black

Lighting: High Key Lighting (at some points during the film) and Top Key Lighting. Low key lighting and they maybe use of backlighting if possible.

Cinematography: We are planing to use various shots this includes Long shot, Medium shot, reaction shot and close up

Hair, Costume and Makeup: The Victim would be wearing a white shirt with a tracksuit bottom. The kid who is trick or treating would be wearing a scary costume since it's Halloween and he's trick or treating. And the Antagonist would be wearing dark clothes with a mask covering his face.

Body Language and Facial expression: The victim would be relaxed at the beginning however throughout the film he would be tenser by the end he would be in shock since he was invaded by the antagonist. Since the antagonist would be wearing a mask we wouldn't be able to see his reaction. However, his body language would be straight and probably from the audience perspective they would think he about to do something

Film Influences: 

The reason why these films influenced our final idea is because they had conventional openings however these openings were unique to thrillers compared to other thrillers. Baris and I like the opening scene for scream since it went straight into some action compared to other films where it would build it up.

• Halloween (1978)
• Se7en (1995)
• Scream 1 (1996)

What are the main advantages of the final idea

• This was a better idea compared to all of our initial ideas, therefore, we able to discuss the new film in detail and how it could look and what can we do to improve our final idea.
• We are using conventional iconography however the narrative is not conventional however we are trying to make it as unique as possible.
• There is less narrative so that the audience will have limited understanding what's happening during the opening scene/
• Also, we won't scenes that we see most thriller openings, for example, the chase scene since its overused most of the time.
• We would be able to use a large variety of shots and different cinematography techniques.
• We would also able to use several different editing techniques such as fade to black and jump cuts.

Disadvantages of the final idea.

• Requires several props that we need to get as soon as possible
• We are using low key lighting during parts of the film and it makes it hard to capture a reaction shot this makes the film difficult to shoot so we may need to re-film that scene if does not work.
• We are using iconography to try to get a sense a fear into the audience however this may take the time to get right with how we did the narrative.
• We only have a limited to film this since we have film on the weekends and some days during the week. Also, we need to film this in the dark.
•  There are technical aspects as well since we need to get the tv to show a movie this could be done via HDMI and a laptop.
• They would be also a lot editing involved since it would be recording a lot of clips that we would need to edit.

Is the film conventional with the thriller genre?

We are trying to be conventional to the thriller genre. we watched many classic thrillers like scream 1 and Halloween and this final idea is based on the film opening. We like about most old thrillers the use of editing and cinematography like reaction shots, the use of montages and the fast pace editing which made the film to one of few best thrillers around. we used those ideas however our narrative is different and way our group planned it makes the film unique, however, conventional with the thriller genre.

Representation of themes in the film.

Mystery-Since the audience will have a limited understanding of what's going on until towards the end because of the narrative.

Psychological- Limited understanding also we see the main character acting peculiar during the opening scene.

What reactions are we expecting our audience could get.

At the beginning of the film we try to make the film as relaxed as possible, however, the film will start to build up tension throughout the film. The main reaction we are expecting would be the surprise and shock as well. The story is building suspense throughout the main opening and we trying to the make the film tense as well and we want to see shock at the end. We also using a cliffhanger to build suspense that what could happen next.

Conclusion

The aim of our film is to create suspense throughout the film and to build up to it. The use of iconography film will help to make the audience tenser and also foreshadow what could happen next. The use of mise on sense at the beginning could help to lull the audience into a false sense of security since what's going on. we also need to amend the final idea if we think that some parts of a film might not work and changing it could help the film however the end product of the opening scene should be tense, however, creates suspense as well.

Planning - Miss Begum: Storyboard

Storyboard.

In this post i will be showing my storyboards. My storyboards shows whats happening during the scenes on my final idea. These pages shows what should happends during the opening. However this is subject to change if we need to change it.

Planning - Miss Begum: Opening Scene Narration

Once we finally come up with a narrative for a film we decided to write the narration for the opening scene. The group and i discussed what should happen during the opening scene.

The opening scene starts off with an establishing shot of a pumpkin to tell the audience that is Halloween. There would be a straight cut to the kitchen were the audience would see a male character making snacks. The would be a use of high key lighting since he would have the kitchen lights on. Then the male character shuts a window since it was windy. The male character would be wearing an T-Shirt (Probably white or brown shirt) And also a Tracksuit bottom (Which maybe grey). Then we see the character would go to sit down in the living room. there will be a mixture of both medium and long range shots with some angles a tilt. the male character switches of the lights and watch the TV from this point on wards most of the film will be shot using low keylighting since most light will come from the television and one or two lights. After a straight cut which shows some time passing there are some wind noises and hear winds also a reaction shot of his reaction. He goes to the kitchen and shuts the same window again.

As the Scene develops He sits back down suddenly someone was knocking on the door he gets up and opens the door and none is at the door. Then he turns around and there would be a little kid who’s at the door says “trick or treat”. After the character gives the kid some sweets the kid leaves. Then there would be another knock on the door he gets up and opens the door. Nobody will be at the door however there would be a note at the door however the male character rips this note and puts it in an adjacent bin. The audience response in the first 45 seconds would be confusion since of the window opening at the beginning off the opening scene also the scene tries to builds up what’s happening during the scene.

Towards the End The victim sits back down for a third time and again and hear more knocking and then window banging. He turns downs the volume to check if it wasn't the film and then there was knocking at the door when he goes back to answer the door we see however there are also notes on the ground it says “Trick or Treat” He rips them up however again he sits back down then door knocks for the fourth time when he goes back to the door and we see another note. This note has a mask and a blood next to it. The note reads “TRICK OR TREAT” the characters starts to get scared he locks all doors. The character then runs round the house locking all windows double checking if he no-one has got into the house. As he goes back to the front room he hears banging form the windows he runs back out of the room goes to the bedroom window checks all the door. The audience response form the middle part of the opening scene is confusion mystery. The audience response is that what’s happening or mysterious.

At the end The victim then tries to sit down again but now we see him shaking he doesn't know what’s happening and then a glass smashes he runs to the kitchen and the window is open again he hurriedly shuts the windows runs back to the living room and then we see someone change the channel. We see a man in wearing black clothing on the sofa. His heads turns around slowly looking towards the victim there is a reaction shot of the victim. The scene then fades to black... To give it suspense and tension. By the end of this scene the audience reaction would be tense or nervous as well as shocked because of the events that were occurring and the fact that they dont wont know what might happen next. The current reocuring theme that is shown in the films will be mystery since we dont know why did the antagonist just invaded the house and why.

Currently the opening scene narration is not final since we maybe making changes to it or improving it. Changes may happened if they wasn't a good audience response to the opening scenes during these scenes and we need to improve it. 

Planning - Miss Begum: Initial ideas

Initial Ideas

When we first met up as a group we had a wide range of ideas on what should our film consist off this includes different narrative structures and different themes and sub genres. Below are our initial ideas of what we had thought off.

 Idea 1 - Shakil

Narrative: There are two friends on a night out, enjoying themselves as it is set in the weekend. Alternatively, the theme that is set is in during Halloween therefore the audience will be expecting some sort of horror, physiological, spirit acts that will be taken place. As the story progresses, the two characters will be chased obliviously by a ghostly figure. This figure the chases them as the two victims get chased into their home. Eventually the mysterious spiritual ghost disappears for a significant amount of time. As this progresses, the two victims will be experiencing paranormal dramas in their house and as the victim goes to check out where the noises were coming from, he then encounters to see his friends dead, laying on the couch. A reaction shot will be set a numerous amount of times within this narrative. The spiritual ghost then poses victim 2 and takes control and goes out for Halloween as nobody is aware of his spiritual state and form.

Title: The Unseen

Sub-Genre: Physiological/Horror

Characters: Antagonists, victim, side-kick

Themes: Halloween, Possession, Murder, Mystery

Narrative Structure:
The two friends are set at the road, on their way home from a great night as they experience horror experiences and gets chased by spirits
Signs of moving items in the house, glasses collapses to the floor, tv turns on and off
The spirit takes control of the victim and the victim is possessed and goes out for Halloween, trick or treating without the people knowing of his awareness.

Sound: Dynamic, off-screen sound

Idea 2 - Baris

Narrative male character is on the search to find out who has killed his girlfriends’ parents, he request help from his friends, however they are also been murdered one by one through the process of finding the murderer. So eventually the boyfriend is left by himself, but he doesn’t give up, one day he identifies a weapon in his girlfriends’ bag covered in blood and also images taken from her phone of his friend’s deaths possibly before the police came. One day he follows her girlfriend to her house, and on the way she begins to act and behaviour unusual, when she spots her boyfriend following her, she scream and running’s away, but she drops her bag. When the boyfriend searches through the bag, he finds a picture of his girlfriend and a girls which looks just like his girlfriend (possibly her twin). He runs to her girlfriend’s house, and shows her the picture. She is shocked that he has found out and begins to explain the whole story, whereas his girlfriend had an identical twin but she was the good one and her twin was the evil one; since when her twin was born with a mental problem she was placed in a mental hospital for several years. Several year after, she escaped and come back to get revenge from her family by murdering them one by one. However the evil twin doesn’t harm the good twins’ boyfriend since she has falling in love with him, without him knowing. One day, the boyfriend and girlfriend is kidnapped by the evil twin, the boyfriend finds a gun and is in the middle to shot one of the twins by since they are identical the same, he can’t decide which one is the evil one since they are both saying the same thing.

Sub-genre:  Crime – The evil twin murders her parents and her good twin’s boyfriend’s friends Drama – The boyfriend is in the middle of both of the twins and he must shot the evil one

Themes: Murder – The evil twin murders her parents first and then her good twins boyfriend’s friends. Revenge – The evil twin gets her revenge from her parents since they placed her into a mental hospital Good vs Evil – Both of the twins begin to fight, at the end

Character: Jack – Boyfriend, 21 - Protagonist·         Elisabeth – Good Twin, 20 - Victim·         Scarlett – Evil Twin, 20 - Antagonist

Narrative Structure am looking forward to use Aristotle’s narrative structure since it will allow me to introduce the main characters and their roles; including firstly the boyfriend which is the protagonist and his girlfriend is the victim, secondly I will then introduce the evil twin towards the middle so that it can confuse the audience and give them time until the end to solve the narrative.

Mise En Scene·        

Iconography: The murder weapon, the image of the twins·         

Lighting: Top, Low-Key·        

Editing: Reaction Shot, Shot Reverse Shot, Fade to Black·         

Sound: Off Screen, Non-Diegetic·         

Cinematography: Long Shot, Two Shot

Title: ‘My TWIN’ or ‘Scarlett’ is going to be my title - The typography is going to be hand-written or using a similar font style, the colour is going to be in-between bright and dark red.

Advantages for choosing this idea

The main advantage will be that the female character will be acting to different roles; but this will take a longer time since the female character would have to leave one role and act the another one.

The evil twin character will allow to create suspense and tension for the audience to respond for. Potential problems and how you plan to overcome them

There may not be parents available to be used for the twins, if I can’t find the parents; I would then just use a picture from the internet and edit that.

A suitable murder weapon might be hard to find or would be expensive to purchase, if I can’t find a murder weapon; I could just show only the denotation of the weapon.

Doing the editing my take time and also getting it in the correct place as well, so there would be more time needed to spend on the editing to get it in the correct position

Idea 3: Elliot Kinkead

Title: Where she lived

Narrative: The antagonist storms a house on a secluded street. His aims was to kidnap someone however when he tries to find the victim. He can’t find the would-be victim moreover the only thing he finds was a doll that was left by the would-be the victim that is also possessed by evil spirit which kills him. Also during the last part of the opening scene there is also flashbacks showing how she managed to leave the trap in the house.

Sub-Genre (Themes) : Psychological, Supernatural

Theory: The theory that I’m planning to use Barthes Semiotics theory  since they would be connotaions

Characters 

Antagonist: The antagonist/victim would be male and wearing dark clothing and he coverd his face with an baraclava it looked like he was planning to murder someone or steal however this attemped failed. At the end of the opening seen the character would be shocked as well as weak and that he would proberley want to run away.
The possessed: Small Female blood over her face Innocent Clothing. She is an possesed woman who recently an mother of two however something happen to her.We would tried to use a lot of make-up with this character since she encounter severe injuries to her face while this was happening.
Narrative Structure: I want the narrative to be unclear at the beginning of the opening scene however towards the end its more clear what's happening during the scene.

Mise on Scène

The setting will take place in a house preferably not much stuff inside the house. However most of the opening scene will take place outside the house. Preferably the film should take place on a cul-de-sac. The main Iconography will be the doll with blood over it to show what the previous occupier left behind. Costumes several costumes will be needed for my opening. The antagonist would be wearing dark clothing with an balaclava covering his face at the end the of the scene we will be using fake/theatrical blood to show that he’s dead. The Possessed person would be wearing an t-shirt however mostly white with a lot of blood covering her head to show something happened. The body language and facial expressions the antagonist/victim will have an angry focused expression however at the end of the scene he would be surprised because of what has happened. The possessed won’t have much facial expression since the camera will be focusing on the victim however the body language will show that that she is about fight someone.

Advantages

Most of the film takes place in a house and we don’t need to visit other places to film. This film is a bit different compared to most other thrillers since there are is repetition of scenes that you will see in that you see in other thrillers. An example would be that there is no running scenes since most films have them I want to try something different

Disadvantages

There are several disadvantages to my idea. The film could be consider as a niche because of the narrative. Another problem I would face that we need to find suitable building to film the opening. We also need several props for the film also the film maybe too confusing or too simple depending when we film and edit it therefore I should revise the narrative before starting to film.

Since this is not a fully developed idea I would need more time to add more information including if I need to change the narrative or that I should change what the characters could wear.

Since this is not a fully developed idea I would need more time to add more information including if I need to change the narrative or that I should change what the characters could wear.

Conclusion

Since we had different ideas we came as a group and tried to see what idea was the best to go with. all of them would need to significant amount of change before would try making a storyboard or even a script for it. Using two ideas would require a large amount of changes off someone ideas however we do now have a basis for an idea which is plausible for our final opening scene which incorporate all three of our ideas together. Discussing our initial ideas helped us on how we should film the opening scene and what props, characters we need as well as trying to develop an idea that would work. 

Research - Miss Begum: Results from Questionnaire

Results from Questionaire

As part of my research about my coursework i research i did a questionnaire to help me decide on my finial idea. This is important since i need to hear feedback from the general public on what there oppions in thrillers and what ideas i have that could work which ive added to the questionnaire. Below is the results and my views on the results on each questions.

Below the Document is embedded for a full document download please click on the link below.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zlj5g-_WRGyidcTBwQJbnT0SuPZMv_0LcYbCNF3YrTA/edit?usp=sharing



The questionnaire has helped me a lot on my initial idea. Since this questionnaire has allowed me to see what are the opinions on the general public views on thrillers and what they think about what they would expect from a thriller. This has helped me decided on what i should include and what scares or intrest the audience them the most about thrillers. The questionnaire influenced me on what i should do with my opening thrillers however there maybe some changes as-well but i will try to follow through what people answered in my questionnaire.

Research - Miss Begum: Questionnaire

Questionnaire

To help with my initial idea, i created a questionnaire on what should be included in my thriller opening and what the general public view on thrillers. This can help me with my initial idea because because help make decisions in some areas like themes mise on sene and get a public oppion what they think should be included with the film and their oppions on the thriller genre Questionnaires are also an primary research since im the person who is collecting the information for my initial ideas

Advantages to making an questionnaire

• To get an public Oppion on the type of thriller the public would like to see.
• Easy to analyse and gather data
• Can be done within an short amount of time
• Information and answers are consistent.
• People answering the question have time to think about it.
• Find out what people disliked about thrillers

Disadvantages to making an Questionnaire.

• Not all people would do the questionnaire
• Some people may not answer some questions in the questionnaire
• Some of the answers may not be good enough to include in the results.
• Some people may get the question wrong or make mistakes
• Some people may not complete the questionnaire if its too long

Who did i ask and why

I ask most of my friends to help me out on my questionnaire. from people who i see day to day at school to people who i play with on multiplayer games or talk to in the late evening on Teamspeak, Skype Facebook aswell as people at an teenager/ young adult age.
______________________________________________________________________

To view the original document. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nnlJdv2uQ2DkJJ42YVPTnK_IqY04nHApupUDRryEq-U/edit?usp=sharing

[You need to scroll down within the embedded page to see the full document]

The questionnaire has been beneficial since i was able to find out what the general public oppnion about thrillers and what i should include in my thriller this can help me with making final decision on my initial and final idea from the research that i conducted with the questionnaire. Also what the audience ideas on what is an good thrillers.

Research - Miss Begum: Censorship

Film Censorship

BBFC or the British Board Film classification role is to judge different types of films and to ban or censor films that weren't appropriate for the general public. another function of the BBFC is to give out age certificates to advise parents on what films are suitable to different age groups.

What are their purpose

For a film to be released in the UK all films must be certified by the BBFC. you can not release a film without certification or BBFC rejects the film. The point of doing this is to drive up standards within the film industry and to stop young children watching films that are not suitable or appropriate to watch. Different countries may have their own rules on what is can be shown to the general public and what couldn't be shown. Some countries maybe more stricter on what films can be allowed to shown like Russia and some countries like the us may have more relaxed laws on what can be shown.

What films get censored and why?

There are many films that were banned from public viewing and publishing in the UK (and in other countries) and across of the world. This because of the attitudes, feelings and behaviour of the general public or that its that is to brutal or sexual for public viewing. the most likely topics of an film to be banned would be the use of sex in that film, unnecessary or overuse of violence. Some films in the past have been banned because they used a lot of blood in scenes or gore in scenes. Most of the time they get banned is to protect the public from watching these types of films as well as younger audiences watching these types of content.

Scum

Scum was a film about young offender rising through the ranks at young offenders intuition. Today this film is still the one of the most controversial films in the UK history. since the use of violence was mostly part of the narrative as well as rape, racism and very strong language. Another reason was that borstal system in the UK didn't have no rehabilitation and the film showed the flaws of the system. The film portrayed all of this however because of this the film was not allowed to be re-broadcasted because of a high court case. The film was allowed to re shown after it was appealed.

The Evil dead

This film is highly rated however there were several scenes within the film that caused some countries to ban it completely. The film is a basically a slasher film however the use of graphic violence and terror within the film and also disturbing scenes within the film including tree raping a girl and several torture films caused the film to be banned in several countries. However this film was allowed to shown in the UK after some scenes were cut.

The Exorcist 

The movie wasn't allowed to be shown for 17 years in the UK after it got banned in the UK. The main reason why it was banned because it was really scary and also for political and religious reasons as well. This was also banned in different towns and there were cases of people being taken to hospital because how shockingly scary.

Hate Crime

This film was recently banned because the film focused alot on terroism, mutilation, physical violence. There was little or now context for the violence that was use apart from small text. Because the content ran throughout the film they decided that cuts weren't going to help and they decided to ban it instead.

What is the difference between films being cut and banned?

Most of the time when a film get banned is when the film is to shockingly scary, too disturbing and controversial. There are some circumstances where the film maybe banned for other reasons which may seen controversial or political correct at the time. There is a difference between films being cut and banned. If films had to cut some of their content this is because the BBFC won’t allow the public to watch the rules since it breaks some of it rules and they can’t have as this age and therefore they need to cut some of the content that may not be following those rules. A film being banned means that the films already at an
18+ however since it has content that may portray something that maybe seen as wrong, illegal and morally wrong and that the content may contain that broke a lot of BBFC rules therefore that film is subject to a ban.

The debate of censorship

There is still an debate on censorship still go on for the for argument and the against argument. i also have an strong opinion regarding censorship.

Forna (For)

Most people for censorship agree that censorship is needed to make sure that films that are not suitable for young kids and also to stop people watching films or media that may influence their behaviour in general public or films that are shocking to show because their use of violence blood, gore or sexual activity's that was shown in the films. However for the most part the reason why there is censorship is that its to protect younger audiences from listing to vile language or to scenes that may not be appropriate for them

Kermode against

There also support against censorship. People making this argument saying that all most of films should be seen to all people regardless of age and should be up to the viewer or parents on what they or there kids should watch. Another reason they make is that censoring films should be made by the audience and not by "people in an office"

My opinion 

Like with most of other people I am in favour with a censorship up to a point censorship allows people to make sure that films are suitable for some audiences and children will not find it offensive, scary or tasteless. However the cons to this is that some films maybe unfairly judged and maybe certified wrongly also some parents may have different views on how and what their children. Most children may find 15 films appropriate to them even though they maybe 12 and they don’t get offended however some parents may find that the film is not acceptable to some there kids and their voices are heard more than other parents views moreover, I don’t certifications should be enforced as such as since that parents should have a say what is deemed appreciable and what isn't also you will find censorship in all other types of media.

Conclusion

I have learnt what dose role dose the bbfc has with the film industry and what they do. BBFC is a slightly controversial topic since what they do may agreeable with some members of public and unreasonable with others. Also I know how films are certified and what is the grade boundaries for all the ages. Its really hard to agree with the BBFC is doing a good job since it has to take account in a lot of people with different background and cultures.