Researching set for our opening sequence

Researching set and design ideas for our opening sequence:

We came up with the idea that the basement should be dingy and mysterious, so we blended dark colour scheme with unusual props/ objectives to create a dark and creepy setting.

To make the location disturbing, we thought it would be best to blend household items and miscleneaoas junk amongst peoples worst fears: clowns, needles, blood etc...

rule of 3rd-Thursday 21 jan recorded lesson

 Our work for today was to watch a pre recorded lesson on the Hurtwood stream that was posted by Matt. He made an informative video about how to angle, light and position your camera to make interesting and eye pleasing shots.

At first Matt spoke about the rule of thirds (grid method) for taking photos. The rule follows a three line grid like this:

The grid rule is to capture points of interest and detail on the intersections of the lines. This makes the photo more dynamic. If the photo is taken like this at an angle it gives the image more depth. 

In this photo we can see the man is placed on the left vertical line with his head and waist on the higher and lower intersections.

The next thing Matt mentioned was background and lighting.  He talked about how having a plain background compared to one with more detail doesn’t looks as interesting. lighting also plays a big role in photography as it can add texture to the image and provide visual depth as well as mood and atmosphere.

The next thing that we learnt about was the levelling of the camera. Photos that don’t capture a lot of detail typically don’t look very good, which is why you use levelling. For example, if you want to look at something on the table you would just tilt your head, however, with a camera you need to lower yourself down to avoid getting a high or low tilt. Being at a higher or lower height is interesting and unusual which makes the image for unique and more professional. Following this rule and the ‘rule of thirds’ we will be able to capture more dynamic and interesting shots with a camera.

Preparing for our presentation on Monday the 18th January

 Today me and my group held our own Microsoft Teams meeting where we recapped our thoughts for both of our opening sequence ideas. We talked about the set, who we would cast, location, timings (day, noon or night), music and props. We went through the order of camera shots we would like to include I.e. close ups, slow mo etc... and how/ when we would use them to create enigma codes.

We also discussed what kind of questions we should prepare for such as “how would we film this?” And “what is the rest of the story about?”.

The thriller is about a boy who leaves school and as he rides his bike down the road back to his house. As he is riding his bike and listening to music he gets to a T junction where a man is standing in a mask and trying to kill him. He turns his bike around and cycles back for the school to look for his art teacher (who just left the other way), the boys phone falls out of his pocket as he cycles away from the chasing murderer. The boy arrives at school and hides in the classrooms and the canteen, and must spend the night there until the teachers arrive in the morning. 

Wednesday 12th January group meeting- pitching ideas

Today in media (on zoom) we were put into ‘Breakout rooms’ in our smaller media groups. We discussed which ideas we liked the best and the two we decided on were the- Thriller chase at night on the bike - The Ballet Dancer with mental health issues.

We started to drift towards the Ballet dancer idea because due to COVID limiting our possibilities for locations and work space, we thought shooting this would be the easiest.

We decided that instead of having the idea that it would be a horror it would be a story telling psycho film. We would do this by having no jump scares or obvious evil presence/ character, but we would make the music distort and include close up camera shots of hands and eyes to make the audience feel uncomfortable. There would also be no speech throughout the whole clip, just music. The audience would get most of the information from the detailed dressing room where there would be photos of the girls dead mother and a get well soon card from 2006 to hint that the mother died.

As a group we also discussed set and location. The video would be very practical to shoot as it would all take place within the media stage room where we would build our set of the stage dressing room. This would give us no time limit during the day as the lighting would be supplied by lights rather than natural lighting. 

We therefore desired the ballet sequence would be easier to film, but we also like the idea of the thriller/ killer as it is an easier story to depict.

Opening sequence 2- class feedback

 I pitched my idea if the drunk driver crashing the car and killing his friends to the class, and the feedback I received was very productive.

1. How will the story continue if they all die- the driver will remain alive and the film will be about him going back to school and work with the guilty consciousness of a murderer. He will struggle with life until and go to councillors meetings to cope with the mental pain.

2. How will I present an animal in the road- it will be a front view of the drivers face as he sees a small animal in the road, swerves and crashes the car (the animal is not shown on camera)

3. How will I do a car crash- have the driver swerve and have a black screen and then fade into the accident or change angle of the car so we see the back end swerve for a split second (close up of the back wheels perhaps)

4. Am I going to fit this in 2 minutes- yes as setting the scene of the drunk lads should take about 20 seconds and then have them get into the car, the hesitation before driving can be 15 seconds, and the actual driving would be about 30-40 seconds of cuts and music, until they crash, which will be another 30 seconds of the close ups of the boys, and the drinks and end on the car radio screen.

Opening sequence idea 2 (lockdown lessons)

 Set at a campsite (log cabin) or abandoned site (building site)

It’s late in the evening and the boys are drinking and listening to music laughing, they get a text to come home as it’s late and they get into the car

One is very drunk and can’t drive so the learner driver says he can drive everyone home and that they done need to call a cab

There will be a long shot and a pause of silence to foreshadow the danger that will inevitably occur

They agree and get into the car

There is a long shot and medium shot of the two boys helping their drunk friend into the car

As the driver gets in, their is a shot that follows him through into the car and pans from the passenger seat back to his face

Close up of the drivers face to show visible confusion to how to drive the car, SRS, eye-line match cut

He starts the car and it shrieks forward, the camera who’ll start at the front lines and cut to the front wheels and track it for a short distance and then tilt up and pan with the car out of the campsite

The boys will be in the car laughing to the music while one is practically unconscious.

Loud music with close ups of the cars steering wheel, radio, dash mirror and close ups of the boys having a good time. This adds tension as the fast ish paced cuts give unnaturally close detail making the audience uncomfortable.

Am animal, not clear to identify, will run In front of the car and cause the driver to swerve, which topples the car into a ditch/ crash into a tree or bush (whichever is easier to shoot)

Hand held shot in the car which is very unsteady to show danger

The music will still be playing but fade slightly as the screen switches shots between the campfire at the camp and the bottles of beer and the boys who have cut heads and bleeding noses (unconscious and dead)

Can either fade into a black screen or end with the mum calling the phone.

Monday the 9th January Diary entry

 Today was our first media lesson back from the Christmas Holiday. It’s wasn’t like the normal lessons we have as we are currently in tier 5 lockdown, which means we are having online classes through Microsoft Teams as school are closed across the UK for the next 5 weeks (presumably). As everything is online, my other classes and activities such as dance and theatre are also through zoom/ Microsoft teams etc... 

Today our media teacher Becky talked to us about what is going to happen regarding our classes and practical projects such as our opening sequence. We hope that we will be back at school in time to film and edit our videos, however, if we are unable to return our task at hand is to come up with another media opening sequence idea that is more COVID friendly- socially distanced, no contact, fewer people on set, different locations to avoid populated areas. We are then going to pitch these ideas to our class on Tuesday and Wednesday to practice our presentation skills as well as receive feedback to improve our ideas. After the presentation the other students will ask about my idea, to which I will need to answer their questions or explain the plot. This will be good preparation for the upcoming presentation where we explain our final idea for the opening sequence through Powerpoint/ story board to our Becky and some of the other media teachers.