Third day of filming 14/2/13

Our final day of filming!

So the final day of filming has finally arrived! We had a great time filming the scene at Alexandra Palace of the psychopath walking along the path and towards 'The Basement'. The day went according to plan. finally the weather was good enough for us to film in!

We had about three hours to get there and back so we rushed on the tube with all the equipment to ensure we had a good 2 hours to film in. When we arrived we were annoyed to discover that there was quite a few dog walkers out on the path and a couple rollerskaing (Valentines Day). 

When we started filming everything went smoothly, but this scene contains the simpler shots of just tracking Baris )the psycho) walking from a number of angles and using different shot types. Although this was a simpler task than filming the basement scene it is our oppertunity to show off out filming techniques.

We followed the storyboard mainly using it as a guide since when we started filming we were inspired and came up with more shots we could use along the way, for example an extreme close up of Baris' fist which tracks around the front of his body ending on the teddy bear in his other hand.

We are confident that when we edit we will have enough high quality and technically accurate and varied shots to edit together to create the scene with tension building exactly the way we want it.

A few pictures from the shoot

second day of filming 12/2/13

The second day (well first day of planned filming) went very well...

We prepared the costumes (white t-shirts stained in blood), they came out very effective and realistic looking. We then constructed our set down in the basement using two barrels and a piece of cardboard along with our props.

Preparing the costumes!

Constructing the set using our props!

I think that the set we made looked realistic and effective, the lighting inside the basement was also exactly what we were looking for as it was dimly lit with ceiling panel lights. We attempted a few shots with the additional flash light but it looked to much like a spot light in the dark so we decided to film without it.

We took a number of shots following the storyboard, i particularly liked the extreme close up's of the girl's (Olivia's) face because they reveal her facial expression adding to the tension. We took point of view shots from Olivia's viewpoint and I also liked the effect these had - I can imagine adding some non-diagetic deep breathing noises to create a sense of being in her position.

We stuck to the story board but also compromised by trying out some extra shots when we felt it was ncessary, overall we stuck to timings well getting everything finished within the 3 hour lesson and got all the shots we needed and more to a high standard. I feel there is no need for us to re-film this scene.

Taking the tracking and circling around shots using the Dolly

Camera positioned low to take extreme face close-ups

Taking a high angle shot from a chair

First day of filming - making use of the time

To make use of the day I decided to go to the house and take the additional flash back shots from childhood which we have decided to include after my additional research and group discussion...

                                      

I used a skate board to create a dolly shot to track the child dragging the teddy bear along, it took a few takes and practice but proved to be an effective technique that we may use again.

  capturing a high angle shot

Alexandra palace attempt and info

So on 10/02/13 we came prepared to film at Alexandra palace hoping the rain would clear up, we even tried to film but to no avail.

However we have found our perfect location and have decided not to use the actual Alexandra palace building for several reasons which are

- security
- too many promotional signs
- doesn't look like it would fit with our concept
- too many cars



However just a minute away we find the perfect hut and have vlogged our reasons.

See you next time!

First day attempt at filming...

On Sunday 10th February we went to Alexandra Palace to commence filming out Thriller..

However we had a few difficulties ...

We weren't able to film Alexandra Palace as we found our that for security reasons we couldn't film the building, there was also an antiques fair on which meant it was very busy and the whole building looked too unrealistic as it had signs on it and traffic lights around etc.

So we had to re-think our location, but luckily we came across this hut on the grounds which is ideal, it has a path leading directly to it and looks eerie.

This is us trying to set up the camera and start filming BUT the rain was too heavy so eventually we gave up and decided to film during the week instead because by filming in the rain we were putting the equipment and quality of filming at risk

New props

Here are the new props we will be needing for the changes we are making to the opening

The newly added location - Leila's kitchen 

Pitch Feedback

Production schedule

Filming will start properly tomorrow! (Tuesday 12th January)

TUESDAY 12th

• Filming of basement scene in college as well as the flash backs of the basement from 9am-12:15 pm

THURSDAY 14th

• Filming at Alexandra Palace during lesson time and before since we all have a free lesson from 1:15pm

HALF TERM

• Go in to college and film anything we have left or need to re-film 
• Start editing process

Additional Layers

As a group we've been reviewing our storyboard and presentation of our idea, we have decided that we need something extra to create a sense of confusion and intrigue since it is a psychological thriller.

The idea of using a nursery rhyme as the soundtrack sparked off a chain of thought for us ...

We need to show elements of his past in the opening so that the viewer is able to infer that his psychological problem is a result of his childhood.

I came up with the idea that we could add some additional layers to create this aspect we are looking for.

What we are going to do:

adapt the flashback shots to be followed by something that contains a similar action from the psychos childhood:

Shot of hand going down on to woman with knife will be match cut to the action of a child cutting his birthday cake 

This shot of the girl being dragged by her hair which we have actually decided to change to an extreme close up of the mans hands in her hair will cut to a child dragging his teddy along the floor

We are going to include the recurring theme of the child's teddy bear, so we have decided that the man will be holding it in his hand as he walks down the path, and it will be visible in the basement scene for example we will include a cut away shot to the teddy bear as we see the girl struggling.

Quentin Tarantino Influence

I watched 'Reservoir Dogs' recently and the 'Torture scene' has inspired me creating a few new ideas that I would like to bring in to our Thriller...

The Torture scene

Tarantino does something extremely clever here. By playing this lively song in the background as oppose to something more obvious for a torture scene, he creates an even more sinister atmosphere.

Making the character put on the music himself and dance around to it has the impact of portraying him as completely derranged which I think has a greater element of fear for the viewer as they realise what is about to happen through the juxtaposition of music and action. 

This has expanded my ideas for sound, I think it o=would be effective to use a nursery rhyme as our psycho walks along the path as it relates to the entire story line and will add to inference about his messed up childhood.

However I think we need to make some more adjustments to our opening for the viewer to be able to infer that the psycho's behavior is related to his past...

Ideas about sound

We want to use one main piece of music that gradually builds up tension and pace throughout the opening, concluding to the door being opening however we aren't sure what kind of sound we're looking for so I did some research on sounds we could immitate using SoundTrackPro...

Music from 'Saw'

A bit TOO dramatic and heavy sounding - not eerie enough

 I quite like the sound of this one at the beginning, it;s less dramatic but more confusing and creates suspense

Other Sound

We are also going to use Foley sound to create some extra added effects 

• Screeching noises (could be created by screaming and altering pitch)
• Heartbeat (Knocking on a certain material)
• emphasised footsteps (record footsteps)

PLANNING - Production and distributing companies

First Plans...

In our very first discussions we decided that we wanted to use a big company that both produces and distributes such as Universal, or Columbia because we areWe aiming for our Thriller to imitate a Hollywood Blockbuster very stereotypical psychological thriller plot of a person being kidnapped etc.

Realisation and Changes...

After having a discussion with Marissa we had a bit of a realisation... Although we want our thriller to be something like what you would find in the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster, this is something all films aspire to have (a good plot), but not all films are produced and distributed by big names. SO we have concluded that we will use a smaller independent company.

Research

We have found a production company called 'Blumhouse Productions'. This seems perfect for our thriller as it produced paranormal activity a very successful horror film for £11,000 which is extremely low budget! 

The fact that they produced a  horror film is fitting as our thriller has underlying themes of horror and is going to be low budget.

Distribution company is to be confirmed.

Camera Angles/Shot Types - What Angle for What Effect

Camera angles aren't planned just for the sake of it, each camera angle gives a unique and different feeling by illustrating different perspectives.


High angle - This will be used when the psychopath is looking down at the girl. Helps portray his power and superiority

Low angle - this will be used when the girl is looking up to the psychopath, helps show her weakness and vulnerability

Close up - Will be used when showing emotion on just the characters face, to get a closer look to what the character is feeling

Extreme close up - will be used to show a specific feature, such as eyes or lips. This will be used to show the girls lips which will be battered and bruised (using makeup)

Long shot - will be used when the psychopath is walking up the steep hill in Alexandra palace to include the surroundings and to show his distance. Helps to get his full body posture in the shot to show his whole body.

Medium shot - will be used in the garage to show above hip length when recording upper body, to help include the setting and both characters

Our Pitch Presentation!

 Part 1

Part 2

POV Shots examples

I have compiled a few videos to get some inspiration from about POV shots as i believe they are extremely effective to give a new perspective to the film.

The assassins creed video shows us a POV from someone who seems to be following the character, i believe we can try copy some camera shots used in that as they are brilliant

- Assassins Creed

- Breaking bad POV shots

- Shots from a mirrors edge in real life attempt, shots are hugely effective to making the audience feel like they are there in person

Effects which may be used!

The Alexandra palace shots will be primarily slow paced, the man will be walking up the steep road slowly. This helps create some tension. However Sound effects will play a major role in our thriller. We will have one soundtrack playing throughout the whole opening, fading in and out at certain points

This is a prime example, although not as impacting its something along the lines.

Effects

- When we are doing POV shots from the girls view, we will slant the camera to portray a sudden headache and then a screeching noise to show her having difficulties which then break into a flashback/nightmare
- When the man opens the doors to alexandra palace, we reveal the films name 'Paroxysm' and then the film opening ends.
- to illustrate the girls weakness from a POV, the camera will not be on a stand and may be used by hand while looking at objects on a slanted angle to portray her unconciousness

Story behind our unique thriller opening.

as we didn't want to rely to heavily on our video shooting to get us the maximum possible marks, we wanted to incorporate both - a lot of filming and editing. I believe if we pull it off, then we have something successful here.

Inception is known for being a great film, which requires analytic thinking. something which we wanted to achieve.

To achieve this, we pushed the film ending to the beginning and continuously cross cut between what happened as the man is walking away(in alexandra palace) and the victim, who is the girl.
The girl is in a derelict looking like building, which is based at the college garage.

As we crosscut between both scenes, we will also incorporate some flashback effects. These effects will be shown through a echoey sound like-brightened effects to contrast between whats present and past.

The effects we may use will be described in the next blog post!

Plan for first day of filming

our first day of planning will commence on Sunday, in Alexandra palace.

As we film, I consulted the group to use two cameras so we can have a smooth transition as we cut the two different shots together.

while filming i also intended to do a documentary style behind the scenes to watch back once we have finished filming and also blog it to showcase to others how we went about to film 'Paroxysm'

Naming our Thriller

PLANNING - Storyboard and animatic

Wordle of our blog!

I have made a wordle of our entire blog to stimulate ideas by seeing what words we have used a lot


                                    

PLANNING - Title sequences that influenced us

Quite a few title sequences contributed to our final idea, here are a few of them and the aspects we liked and want to adapt from them to use in our opening...

Try our slideshow maker at Animoto.

Seven

• We initially liked the idea of a highly stylized opening that seven demonstrated but we decided this would be a bit tricky to replicate. We also liked the idea of dangerous tools and the sense of lighting used which has influenced us and the idea of not seeing the person's face.

The Shining

• We thought that tracking a moving subject up a hill from different camera angles builds a lot of tension so we are going to use this idea while the man is walking up the hill.

The Butterfly Effect

• The use of the concluding scene as the opening is very clever as it creates a sense of intrigue for the viewer making them wonder what has happened and what is going on.

Orphan

• Family related drama where somebody has a secret - we have adapted this idea for our treatment - the man doesn't blame his father for killing his mother and is a completely different character to whom he portrays himself to be.

PLANNING - Treatment

Outline of the plot:

Starts with the opening of the man walking back to the building in which the woman is tied up and suffering, this is actually the ending of the film. After the title sequence we are taken back to his childhood where he has been growing up in a very wealthy family in a huge home, he witnessed his mother be brutally murdered by his father which has caused him to become mentally affected.

The film follows him growing up and shows him becoming increasingly strange.. He falls in love with a girl and shares his past with her, however he is not telling her the whole truth. We find out that he does not disagree with what his father did to his mother and as this unfolds he starts to show signs of mentality. He becomes abusive and possessive over his girlfriend and it becomes obvious that he has got a mental illness.

Eventually his girlfriend refers him to a mental hospital but he overhears her on the phone, and plans tto attack her and take her to off to the now deserted building that has been his hideout for years. This takes us back to the opening.

PLANNING - Target audience

We are aiming for our story line to be a psychological drama thriller although from the opening you might assume that it has a sub-genre of horror. Therefore this will influence the target audience and vary it to thriller films with different sub genres.

Our thriller will appeal to people who enjoy analytical thinking and a lot of tension and suspense. A person who enjoys intrigue however doesn't want to watch three hours of hard hitting action or gore.Therefore we have decided that our thriller will be made for the target audience of a mature and intelligent 18 to 30 year old male or female.

This bar chart shows that psychological thrillers are the sub-genre most prefered by people in general, therefore our thriller will be able to appeal to a wide range of people although it does have a specific target audience.

PLANNING - Costume and props

Today was prop collection day!

After having a group discussion we decided that these are the props we will need:

• Big metal scissors
• A dagger/knife
• Lots of fake blood 
• Rope
• Thick metal chain
• Dark makeup to make it look like the girls makeup has been smudged
• A water spray to make it look like she is sweating

For costume:

• Black trousers and hoodie for the man
• a casual outfit of jeans and a top for the girl in the flash back scenes
• a brown sac for her to be wearing when she is tied up

Here are the props we have collected:

Fake blood and frothing mouth blood

Scissors and a fake knife which looks quite real

rope

chain

hazard tape

magicool water spray