Cumbers's Blog

Final Presentation

Final Prensentation

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Title Ideas.

For the rough cut we have had to make a rough title idea. This is because the titles we require to create for our final cut the system we are using currently does not allow us to do it, but this should change in the next few days. The ideas are all on the page ‘Adobe After Effects’. These are all different ideas and titles we have created.

We have chosen for our rough cut the Energy Wipe (but we will change the colours to a more suttle neutral colour) as this may represent a train going across the screen linking the opening to the titles. This then keeps the continuity in the opening.

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Storyboard Feedback.

As a group we met together with our teacher to discuss our storyboards, and to receive positive feedback and constructive criticism on what we could do to improve our storyboard and overall storyline. We also discussed some of our ideas for when it comes to editing, as this was incorporated in our story idea.

Group Members

George Miller

Alexandra Helsby

 Jessica Stares

Matthew Cumbers

Idea

A group of students are travelling on a train and are scared by a little boy, when the boy disappears they go and investigate.

Strengths Before looking at storyboard

 - Prepared – Meeting Deadlines

 - Organised After looking at storyboard

- The blackouts and lights flickering

- Really involved the Mise-en-scene (pivotal the Mise-en-scene)

- Clear idea

Areas to improve

- Variations of shots, maybe adding more close ups

- Shots to show they are on a train (Shots of the London paper and train signs to show they are on a train)

- Shot 1-12 = Show some high angles shots of the friends to show power.

- Shot 9 = add close ups and reaction shots of the lights flickering or her holding onto something to show they can’t see anything and are scared.

- Shot 13 = We see the boy stand up before it goes dark and a low angle shot of him walking, just showing his feet.

- Shot 16 = When the train stops show outside the train (train station) and the doors opening to show the train has stopped.

- Shot 17-19 = close up of holding hands or grabbing a purse to show they are scared and want each others protection.

- Shot 23-24 = show a close up of the little boy turning on the music box

- Shot 24 = little boy sitting exactly how he was when the friends first saw him on the train – to show repetition of the boy and a reoccurring event.

- Shot 26 = As we don’t see the dog with the little boy one of the friends say “where’s the dog” in a panicked voice to show they are worried at it not being there.

- Shot 34 = A close up of the boy closing the music box, the show his feet to show he is moving and that he is in control. – The final shot = This shot leads into the actual and rest of the film… We see a headline of a newspaper saying something like “No signal leads to chaos at a train station” then quick shots of single words ( Four friends, Missing, Item, Found) are shown with the last word being MUSIC BOX which is shown as the title (using after effect).

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Thriller Shooting Expirience.

We feel our shooting experience went well and resulted in getting a wide range of footage which was needed.

Having a wide range of footage allows us to edit easier as we are not limited on the amount of shots which should make our thriller opening more successful.

It also allows us to change our idea if necessary as we have added extra shots and footage to what was originally composed into our storyboard.

The first thing we had to decide on was when we were all able to film, as its important we were all there not only because we were all part of the story but also to contribute any more ideas to the storyboard. It took us a while to find a date/day when we were all able to film as we needed a time when the train station and train wouldn’t be busy and gave us enough time to film before it got too dark.

During the shooting we organized ourselves well by planning who and what we were taking, the order of shooting and who was filming what shot. We took quite a lot of equipment and props with us (music box, dog, camera, video camera, umbrella, torch etc) which meant we had to stay organized in order to not leave anything behind on the train and keep everything safe.

We organized a friend to come with us to film a few of the shots (when we were all in the shot) this wasn’t as reliable as it would have been if we filmed it ourselves as we have had more experience and practice with using a video camera and know what different places to film from and what buttons function what. However it did work well and the friend that helped us understood how to operate the camera quickly.

We only experienced a couple of problems while filming; one problem involving the dog. A couple of the shots on our storyboard involved the dog running off the train and another was getting the dog to jump up at the two girls, however this didn’t happen. The dog was too scared to get off the train on its own, which meant we had to alter that shot, this didn’t cause too much trouble as we thought of solution, involving another idea to solve it.

We couldn’t film our storyboard in a chronological order as bits of it were on the train and other bits were on the platform or down the alley. We solved this though by splitting our shots up into the 3 different settings and ticking off each shot when we had filmed it. One success we had during our shooting was actually being allowed to use the setting we wanted. We had some hesitations at the beginning when planning our idea, if we would be allowed to film on a train and on a platform or would it be seen as trespassing. We were lucky in the fact that the train driver supported us and gave us permission to film on the train for how long we wanted, as long as we didn’t cause any disruptions or damage.

Overall we all feel that our filming went well and have all the correct shots needed to make a successful opening to our thriller.

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Storyline, Setting, Title, Roles

It is important when producing a video or trailer to have assigned roles in your group so you know who is doing what and when this will keep you organised, help you meet deadlines and have a very good final piece to be proud of.

Acting – The whole group (Alex Helsby, Jess Stares, Matt Cumbers and George Miller)
Camera Work – When the four friends are all in shot, the little boy who is another character will film
When the two boys (two of the friends) are in the shot Alex Helsby will film
When the two boys (two of the friends) are in the shot George Miller will film
Editing – The whole group will edit together. We will sit and discuss as a group our ideas and all will be
present during the editing process but the boys of the group (George Miller and Matt
Cumbers) will operate the mouse.
Soundtrack – Jess Stares and Alex Helsby will find and cut down the sounds used and wanted then
incorporate them into the edited footage.

Our Original Storyline…
A group of students are travelling on a train home; the train is slow and suddenly stops. A driver’s voice is heard; he states due to unknown causes, the train has to take a different route. While passing through an abandoned station, the lights are out due to no electricity, the train begins to shake and the students find themselves trapped in an abandoned underground station.
As the students awake to find they are trapped, they panic, they are afraid and their goal is now to escape as uninjured as possible. After finding the main exit and entrances are blocked, the group split into pairs and explore the station to find an escape. The students can pass through a series of maze like tunnels and passage ways, at this point, POV shots from the darkness looking at the students can be used to imply other ‘creatures’ lurk in the station.
As a student catches the eye of an unknown creature, it will launch itself at its prey and the viewer will not know if they are captured or not.
While the other pair can be exploring a different section, they hear strange noises, and the music can reflect the fear at this point. As they get closer and closer, we build up suspense and as the door opens, only darkness, leaving the viewer in complete mystery.

Although as a group we liked this idea, when we were developing it further we thought of a better and more detailed idea, which would be easier to film and create. We still based our idea on a train and kept the setting the same, also the idea of their being 4 friends messing around but the actual story itself and what happens to the friends changed. We thought it would be too complicated to create a shaking effect of the setting, so had to change it.

Our New Storyline…
A group of friends are travelling on a train. One of the students is recording the other messing around on their phone when they notice a little boy sitting behind them with his dog. The friend with the phone zooms in on the boy and we can see that he is poorly dressed and is not showing his face; he is facing down. Then there is a power cut and everything is pitch black and we know that the train has stopped because we hear the screeching of the train stopping and the friends confirm the train has stopped, when they discuss it between themselves. When the lights turn back on they see that the little boy has switched places and is now sitting on the seats next to them which freaks them out ad we can hear the girls scream when they see him. The lights turn back of again and back on, this time the darkness lasts about 2 seconds, and this time the little boy is gone leaving only his dog behind. The doors open and the dog walks out. They start to wonder who the boy was? Why was he there next to them? How did he move without them realising? How did he vanish, get off the train when the doors were shut? One of the friends suggest that they split up; two of them stay on the train encase someone comes for them and the other two go and investigate where they are and if there is a way to get out of the station. They check that they all have their phones which they do but they do not have any signal. They decide that there can’t be anything scary or bad out there so go ahead with the plan. One of the students joke ‘If there is something out there we’ll just scream, I’m going to keep recording encase there is anything creeeppppyyyy’, ‘yeah, yeah just go’; the others reply. It is quite clear that this person isn’t scared and finds it all a joke. So two of the students leave the train and go and investigate. They are walking down the poorly lit walkway when they hear a little child’s voice and a music box. They peer round the corner and see the little boy sitting at the end of the walkway. They can see that the little boy is holding a music box and singing along to it. The dog then makes them jump when he runs past them to get to his owner. As the dog makes them jump they scream and the student drops the phone which the dog picks up and lays it in front of his owner. We can now see half of the little boy and the two students behind him, in the frame. When the dog put the phone in front of him the little child stopped singing for 2 seconds, laughed, and then carried on singing. The two students carry on walking towards him as they want to know whether he will be safe or not as he is only a child and they also wanted to get their phone back. Nobody would expect a little kid to be bad so they do not even think of their safety. When the students get really close we can see that the boy closes the music box so there is no music and sings the words ‘and then you will all die’, when he says these words we can see him smiling, giving the dog a treat and then he stands up and turns slowly so that the students can see him but we can only see the back of his legs, then the dog will lunge towards the camera to which our opening to our thriller will end. When the dog does this we can hear the girl scream ‘no!’ and then the title of the film will appear on the screen

After long discussions and many ideas, we decided and came up with the idea of naming our Thriller, ‘Music Box’. We thought this title was short but to the point and will make the audience think and try and guess how a music box is involved in the story, if it is at all? We first called it ‘The Music Box’ but then thought there are many film titles including many thrillers beginning with the word ‘The’; The Ring, The Godfather, The Silence of the Lambs, The Great Escape, The Shining, these are a few examples .

As our task is to create an opening sequence of a thriller we decided a good but different location to film our thriller is on a train station platform and on a train, also incorporated in this idea we may do some filming down a poorly lit alley. We have decided to film at a train station, near where we live because this setting is easy to access and it has the mysterious effect which we need, especially when it’s dark. A Thriller convention which shows how the setting fits in is ‘Extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations’, the ordinary situation is four friends being at a train station and on a train but the extraordinary event is finding the little boy sitting on the floor singing along and humming to a music box he is holding, its not an event you would see everyday. Another thriller convention in which the setting fits into is, ‘Mise-en-scene which echoes/mirrors the protagonist’s plight’. The protagonist who could be said to be the young boy lives a very dull and saddened life, we see this by his dirty, ripped clothes; the Mise-en-scene mirrors this a trains stations are also dull and dirty and some don’t have much light or hope like the little boy.

Images of our setting…

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Costume, Props, Setting, Mise-en Scene

Apart from sound another important element we have to focus on and research, if necessary, is the Mise-en-scene which includes the props we will use, the setting and costumes. When coming up with an idea for opening sequence of a thriller, we thought about the props we would use and obviously where we were going to film it (the location); however we discussed this further and finalized the props, costume and setting after coming up with our idea.

Mise-en-scene
Even though costume and props are included in the Mise-en-scene, we are going to talk about them separately. As our task is to create an opening sequence of a thriller we decided a good but different location to film our thriller is on a train station platform and on a train, also incorporated in this idea we may do some filming down a poorly lit alley. We have decided to film at a train station, near where we live because this setting is easy to access and it has the mysterious effect which we need, especially when its dark. The Mise-en-scene will need to be extremely effective to add tension and suspense to the thriller. The lighting we will use will be quite dull and dark and at times we may have the setting pitch black which allows the audience to feel what we the characters are feeling, also to add to the mystery and not tell the audience what is happening. The protagonist of the thriller will be a little mysterious boy, at a point in the opening sequence he will be filmed down a poorly lit alley way as I have said; the lighting here will be dull which will add to the effect and elaborate to the audience how poorly dressed and scruffy he looks, also add to the mysterious effect that the boy brings.
The colours we will use when filming will be fairly dull, dark and plain to add to the puzzling atmosphere that the lighting shows, plus helping convey an enigma. In a previous blog entry we discussed the sounds from past horror films soundtracks that we may use, adding to this we may add other sounds to symbolize something (an object) or how someone is feeling. Sound effects like heavy breathing denote the sense of loneliness and fright to the audience when heard in a thriller. High pitched screams and shouts will also make the audience jump or feel threatened especially if the sound is heard when a black screen is being shown. We will use sound effects and noises like these in our opening sequence.

Costumes
There are six characters including the dog in our opening sequence. Four of the characters are friends who are on a trip out when the event of finding the little boy occurs; this will mean they will be wearing just their normal clothes (casual) to keep the thriller slightly more realistic. The young boy in our narrative needs to be shown as poorly dressed, so will be wearing; dark bottoms and a white top which is dirty and torn. He will have makeup on his face which will show dirt and the poor conditions he may live in. As part of the four friend’s costumes they will be wearing coats, scarves and gloves to show the weather is cold, however the little boy will just be wearing a t-shirt and ripped trousers.

Props
We are not planning on using many props throughout our opening sequence but this may change as we film it. The main props which we will use will be; a dog (could also be said to be a character), a music box, 4 mobile phones and dog treats. Props can be used to explain certain situations to the audience without dialogue or actions, an example of this can be a large gate showing the audience that the protagonist is trapped and has no way of escaping.
Below is images taken of the props we will use:

The Dog will be used by the young boy throughout the opening sequence; it will portray the effect that the little boy has no friends or family to talk to and his dog is his best friend. The four mobile phones will be used by the four friends at key points in the clip, for example; when two of the friends split up from the other two friends to investigate the station and to see if there is an exit. The mobile phones will play a significant part in adding tension to the atmosphere as the friends may find out they have no signal and this is a way of showing they are trapped with no escape and represents the reason of why a prop is used. The music box will be used by the little boy in the second part of the opening sequence; the two friends are searching for an exit on platform ‘they are walking down the poorly lit walkway when they hear a little child’s voice and a music box. They peer round the corner and see the little boy sitting at the end of the walkway. They can see that the little boy is holding a music box and singing along to it.’ Using a music box will create a daunting atmosphere which we need in our thriller; it is also a unique prop which is not commonly used in previous thrillers.

The Mise-en-scene especially the props help establish and insert into thriller conventions. The first thriller convention which we feel is followed by the Mise-en-scene is ‘A narrative pattern of establishing enigmas which the viewer expects to be resolved’, the lighting, colour and sound used establish enigmas which the viewer expect to be resolved, however as our task was only to complete the opening sequence they will not be resolved, many enigmas are still formed through these aspects of the Mise-en-scene though. The props also add enigmas, for example; when the protagonists find out their mobile phones have no signal, it will make the audience wonder what is going to happen next? Also when they hear the sound from the music box, they first would wonder where the music is coming from and if it is a music box or someone singing. Another thriller convention used in the Mise-en-scene is ‘Extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations’ this is used in the clip I just mentioned, the boy sitting in a poorly lit alley with his music box. The ordinary situation is two friends being at a train station but the extraordinary event is finding the little boy sitting on the floor singing along and humming to a music box he is holding. We may say there is ‘theme of voyeurism’ used not only from the young boy watching the group of friends but also from the group of friends watching the young boy.

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Risk Assesment

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Our Thriller Storyboard.

Here is a scanned in copy of our storyboard:

 As you can see, i missed out a couple of shots at the beggining of the storyboard so i added them in at the end. You can see where they are supposed to be by looking at the numbers above the drawing.

 

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Story Board 1. Breakdown of each shot and sound.

1. A group of friends are travelling on a train.

Diegetic Sound – sound of the train and the friends laughing.

Characters – Alex, George, Jess and Matt

2-5. One of the students is recording the other messing around on their phone

Diegectic sound – The train moving and friends laughing and mucking around.

Characters – George, Jess, Matt and Alex

6. when they notice a little boy sitting behind them with his dog.

Diegectic sound – the students are quiet now and all we can hear it the sound of the train moving.

Characters – George, Jess, Matt, Little boy, Dog and Alex

7. The friend with the phone zooms in on the boy and we can see that he is poorly dressed and is not showing his face; he is facing down.

Diegectic sound – students are silent, we can still hear the train.

Characters – George, Jess, Matt, Little boy, Dog and Alex

8-10. Then there is a power cut and everything is pitch black and we know that the train has stopped because we hear the screeching of the train stopping and the friends confirm the train has stopped, when they discuss it between themselves.

Diegectic sound – can hear the train screeching to a stop and also the friends panicking.

Characters – George, Jess, Matt and Alex

11-13. When the lights turn back on they see that the little boy has switched places and is now sitting on the seats next to them which freaks them out ad we can hear the girls scream when they see him.

Diegectic sound – just the friends panicking, screaming maybe.

Characters – George, Jess, Matt, Little boy, Dog and Alex

14. The lights turn back off again and back on, this time the darkness lasts about 2 seconds, and this time the little boy is gone

Diegectic sound – silence

Characters – George, Jess, Matt and Alex

15. leaving only his dog behind.

Diegectic sound – silence as the see only the dog.

Characters – George, Jess, Matt, Dog and Alex

16-19. The doors open and the dog walks out. They start to wonder who the boy was? Why was he there next to them? How did he move without them realizing? How did he vanish, get off the train when the doors were shut?

Diegectic sound – silence as they are just all worried and wondering these questions, they do not actually say them.

Characters – Jess, Dog and Alex

20. One of the friends suggest that they split up; two of them stay on the train encase someone comes for them and the other two go and investigate where they are and if there is a way to get out of the station.

Diegectic sound – the friends discussing what to do.

Characters – George, Jess, Matt and Alex

21. They check that they all have their phones which they do but they do not have any signal. They decide that there can’t be anything scary or bad out there so go ahead with the plan.

Diegectic sound – the friends talking.

Characters – George, Jess, Matt and Alex

22. One of the students joke ‘If there is something out there we’ll just scream, I’m going to keep recording encase there is anything creeeppppyyyy’, ‘yeah, yeah just go’; the others reply. It is quite clear that this person isn’t scared and finds it all a joke. So two of the students leave the train and go and investigate.

Diegectic sound – the friends talking.

Characters – George, Jess, Matt and Alex

23. They are walking down the poorly lit walkway when they hear a little child’s voice and a music box.

Diegectic sound – the music and the boy singing faintly in the background.

Characters – George, Jess and Alex

24-27. They peer round the corner and see the little boy sitting at the end of the walkway. They can see that the little boy is holding a music box and singing along to it.

Diegectic sound – the music and the boy singing faintly in the background.

Characters – Jess, Little boy, Dog and Alex

28-29. The dog then makes them jump when he runs past them to get to his owner. As the dog makes them jump they scream and the student drops the phone which

Diegectic sound – the friend screams and the steps of the dog running, boy still singing to the music box.

Characters – Jess, Dog and Alex

30. the dog picks up and lays it in front of his owner. We can now see half of the little boy and the two students behind him, in the frame. When the dog put the phone in front of him the little child stopped singing for 2 seconds, laughed, and then carried on singing.

Diegectic sound – the dogs paws on the floor, boy still singing to the music box.

Characters – Little boy and Dog

31-33. The two students carry on walking towards him as they want to know whether he will be safe or not as he is only a child and they also wanted to get their phone back. Nobody would expect a little kid to be bad so they do not even think of their safety.

Diegectic sound – the boy still singing to the music box.

Characters – Jess, Little boy, Dog and Alex

34. When the students get really close we can see that the boy closes the music box so there is no music and sings the words ‘and then you will all die’,

Diegectic sound – the music box’s music has stopped and just the words of the little boy.

Characters – Little boy

35. when he says these words we can see him smiling, giving the dog a treat and then

Diegectic sound – silence.

Characters -Little boy and Dog

36. he stands up and turns slowly so that the students can see him but

Diegectic sound – silence.

Characters – Jess, Little boy, Dog and Alex

37. we can only see the back of his legs,

Diegectic sound – silence.

Characters – Little boy

38. then the dog will lunge towards the camera to which our opening to our thriller will end.

Diegectic sound – the growl of the dog when he comes towards the camera.

Characters – Dog

39. When the dog does this we can hear the girl scream ‘no!’ and then the

Diegectic sound – The girl screaming.

40. Title of the film will appear on the screen.

Non-diegectic sound – the music box theme tune.

The whole clip is a continuous shot to show it is being filmed as it is happening and on a phone.

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First Draft Idea.

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