Locations

For our final piece we had to think of a few locations which would suit the ideas behind the storyboard. This is so it fitted the ideas of where a teenage girl would most likely be at certain times and also where the pin board investigation scene could be shot.

For the pin board scene we can film this in school in an enclosed area like an office in the media department as we would have space to prop up the pin board in an area in which people are not going to distract the filming. This area also suits this part of the project as we can switch off the lights for a fully dark scene, so we can use a torch with the camera for the effect of a spot light on the pin board which further gives the effect of the discovery of this mapped out plan on the board of the kidnapping.

For the location of the scenes after our credit section, Chalfont St Peter common we found worked best. This is because it is an open area to people of all ages, which can be seen for the open field for adults to use and also for children as there is a park so the idea of a teenage being at this area would be considered as normal. We want this as it would be very cliche if the teenage was in an ally or an enclosed area as it would be simple for someone to kidnap somebody there and wouldn't add the dramatic effect wanted as it would be too obvious for the audience. The common also works well as there are woods in the background which further connotes the idea of the unknown.

(Credit to Matthew Hersey) 

Characters: UPDATE

...;In regards to the earlier post in which states that Stephanie Jones will be carrying out the role of the teen student (victim), this is no longer the route in which my group will be taking due to our difficulties relying on somebody outside of the group in which we also experienced within our continuity task. Although Stephanie fits the ideal profile, by using her as the main character within our sequence it was calculated that this would set us back two weeks in crucial filming time due to the lack of matching schedules (free periods did not coincide). This was not decided during a group discussion, however Matt H and myself took it upon ourselves to make the decision for the group that this was in fact a downfall which could be prevented. 

I will be taking the role of the 'victim', alongside Megan and Shawnean Milton as the 'friends'. Matt Bainbridge is also somewhat featured within our clip as we hope to have him play the role as a stranger watching us from afar. However this many not be clear to viewers (as well as our target audience) as they will not be aware to look out for the hooded figure so this chatacter may go unnoticed. 

Characters

The costumes and actors chosen to represent our characters will have to be carefully selected in order to meet the expectations of our chosen thriller (crime). The colours and style of clothing can have many different connotations in which hint towards the nature of a characters role within the clip. Stephanie Jones will be playing the part of the victim within our opening clip; Megan stated that Steph fits the portfolio of that in which we had envisioned our victim to match e.g. petite figure, small frame/height, young, student, natural/innocent looking and dark hair (to oppose that of the blonde stereotype traditionally starred in modern day thrillers) . Furthermore, Steph meets the criteria predominantly expected by an audience although diverting from some conventions in order to make our opening clip unique. As a group we debated about what Steph should be wearing in the opening sequence. It was brought up in discussion that darker coloured clothing would be more suitable to oppose the supposed vulnerability of a teen student; however this raised issues of high key lighting and so on in which would be difficult to carry out due to our location and the current weather.


Stephanie Jones (Main Protagonist)

Typography: Title Sequence- Colour Scheme

When looking at the colour schemes we would like to include within our title sequence we used the process of elimination to cut down the potential colours to just three that we felt conveyed connotations commonly associated with thriller films. Typically the genre itself is no stranger to dark colours of various shades in order to add a sense of mystery. However within the Skyfall opening clip I analysed, I noticed the prominent use of bolder and somewhat feminine colours; these added to the sense of allure and desire within the clip in relation to the female silhouette present in the frame. The correlation between the colour scheme and the storyline is apparent and has therefore inspired my group to use a similar colour scheme to foreshadow the dark desire/obsession of the stalker in the midst of his/her victim.

We have chosen this medium tone of grey as one of our potential colours due to it's solemn connotations; the colour contains an element of mystery as well as being an in between tone of black and white; this could be argued as symbolic as it signifies some sort of conflict between good and evil.

Although purple is found on the darker end of the colour spectrum it is also stereotypically viewed as a feminine colour; the intensity and depth of the shade itself connotes desire and can come across as a seductive signifier. The shade I have chosen as a visual representation of this suggestion is subtly ombre as it appears darker around the edges; this was not intentional however it works quite well and has inspired us to experiment with shadowing within our final production during our post-filming editing.



Lastly we have chosen a shaded tone of pink- dirty almost. We have chosen this colour as it is often associated with feelings of lust and sensuality as well as innocence and naivety. These hidden undertones foreshadow the nature of our thriller storyline.

In The Frame Animatic

FINAL CUT: Continuity Task

This is our updated continuity task; our first attempt was unsuccessful due to my groups misunderstanding of the 180 degree rule. Although we thought we had been consistent through our use of the rule and felt that we had not broken it within our clip, when speaking to Mr Ford it was made prominent that we had misconceptions about what the rule entails. I decided to do some extra research into the rule as I felt it would be easier to correct if I was aware of the limitations; during my research I came across the idea of an 'imaginary line' in which the camera can indeed move positions and angles (which I did not realise) but simply cannot be placed beyond that 'imaginary line'. This made re-filming certain shots a lot easier as I could then visualise the positioning; however due to the numerous retakes before reaching this understanding, the costume changes are not subtle and are therefore unprofessional causing our shots to come across as less smooth than initially expected (e.g. the transitions from one shot to the next were emphasised due to the unplanned costume change). From the criticism given by Mr Ford it has given me an understanding of the time period in which my coursework must be filmed, edited, re-shot and evaluated until the deadline for our final marks; it has somewhat given me an insight into how organised we must be as a group to keep the project moving forward- I must allow (and therefore be prepared for) Mr Ford to view and criticise the shots we have filmed and I must set aside some time for the possibility in which we may have to reshoot some scenes.

Difficulties in which we've faced:

Whilst trying to capture some initial practise clips for our final coursework piece we have had some issues with our location. Due to our location being an outside setting the weather is a huge factor in which my group must take into account; the snow has prevented us from filming clips in which could be used within our actual opening sequence as when filming our final shots it is unlikely to be present. Within our continuity task a criticism of our clip is that our scenery/setting changes between shots due to being unable to film within the same location; we have learnt that this must be addressed within our final piece therefore causing us to delay our filming process (with the exception of trial clips).