The Editing Process

I have learnt a lot through the process of creating my film in terms of new skills and new stances on the filmmaking process.
I used Final Cut Express in the creation of my film, as well as LiveType for the title cards at the beginning. Both are Mac based technologies which I had never used before. I watched a variety of clips before which showed how to do basic operations on both programmes, although in LiveType I only used the very bare minimum of skill, to create a basic title with an effect on called "Static".

The image above shows Final Cut Express, with my movie in it. This is effectively zoomed out as you can see the entire movie on the sequence editor. I found it relatively easy to use in terms of cropping, clipping and repositioning my clips, as well as matching it up with my music track. It came with a basic Text tool which meant that it was easy to add my credits on the footage.
I found it difficult to add filters that changed the colour of the footage, which was problematic to me as I had wanted to do this, but I eventually found an effect named "Outer Glow" which, whilst not exactly what I had wanted, was quite effective in creating an atmosphere that fitted the general theme of my film.
I enjoyed to construction of my piece because it allowed me to try out a variety of techniques and the entire media project gave me an opportunity to get very creative with my ideas. It might of been better for me to work in a group for the fact that it is easier to come up with a variety of ideas, but I feel that working alone benefitted me because I had complete control over my piece and could do anything I wanted to to it.
This was definitely a lengthy and at times tedious process (for instance trying to apply a filter over the footage and failing several times), but it was enjoyable and has given me a lot of new skills.

Evaluation

Part One of my evaluation can be found below: Part Two of the evaluation can be found here:

"Aaron" Final Edit

This is the final edit of my AS Media Studies piece.

Audience Feedback

Following a rough edit screening of my piece, I learned that not enough people were aware of the religious context behind my piece. In order to combat this, I decided to add in some flashing images which are more of a subliminal message. They flash in brief sequences of three, each sequence on the screen for 0.6 seconds.

During the long sequence showing a bible quote, I have two images of this style flashing in it, to break it up a little and also to reinforce the meaning behind the words.

Second Footage Review

After viewing my footage yet again, I decided to film some more as I was not happy with the quality of some of my work.
I did this section of my footage on the 11th November, at around 2pm. I used the same location, for obvious reasons, and decided to use a more varied selection of camera angles in order to film certain pieces - for instance, I could not get a steady shot of the pocketwatch on the low branch, so I decided to put it in a few different places in order to get something which I could use. I had to rerecord some parts due to this, such as the headline news story sheet.

I filmed another prop, of a long earring, which is shown in the image to the side.
I did this mainly so that I would have more length to my piece because I am worried that I might miss out of crescendos in the soundtrack if it is only around 1 minute long. It has to be under 2 minutes, but this should make it sound far better.

Overall, I think that I now have more than enough footage for my piece and I will not do any more filming for it.

Props and Object Analysis

A more detailed version of my props analysis from before, with details of the props I am using and images. 

Script

There is no script for my piece because there is no dialogue. I am using the track "Final Sacrifice", as can be found in a previous post.
There will be no diegetic sound besides from maybe a short sound clip of Sadie gasping. I did this mainly so that the music would create tension alongside the visuals, and also to accommodate the fact that there are two different scenes included which are being shown alongside one another.
It was also too noisy at the location I filmed the woodland scene in, which is because of the clay pigeon shooting going on not too far away. This was not a problem though, because I will be clipping out all the audio anyway.

Casting Choices Explained

I have put together something on Prezi which can be viewed here. It explains why I have chosen to use Milly Marshall in my piece.
A picture of her is included below - I have not been able to include an image in the presentation because it will not allow me to upload it.

Annotated Version of Locations

This is a labelled version of an image of the location I am using.
It outlines where in the setting props and people will be placed.
Below are some fully annotated pictures of locations, whereby intertextual references and location choices are more clearly explained.

Locations from Chloewardmediablog

Shot List for "Aaron"

Shot List for "Aaron" from Chloewardmediablog

This is a short set of slides to show the different shots, shot types and the transitions between each slide. There is also a brief description of the visual from each scene.

Footage Review

I have imported 12:10 minutes of footage. It is mostly of good quality, although in some scenes there are slight errors - such as a bag in the background, or being able to see someone who wasn't meant to be there.

Luckily I took many different shots of each scene, so there shouldn't be anything too problematic. 

I do not like the colour in the image though, because I feel it looks too plain and it also is too bright - the greens and browns look far too warm for the atmosphere I want to create. Luckily it is easy enough to edit the tone of footage, such as in the images shown.

Although the tone is still relatively warm, it does not look as vibrant as in the first scene. It looks far too friendly in the first example, and the light makes the entire scene look fertile and hopeful. Of course, this is a thriller film so I do not really want to have something so uplifting. 

I could of course make the overlay other shades in order to create other effects, but this slight purple hue is most effective, in my opinion. It also makes the white of the dress stand out so much more.

Some shots, since as the one with the pocketwatch, are slightly shaky, as I predicted. I will select the most stable footage for this - there is bound to be at least a few seconds which are suitable.

I am not too sure what I am going to do about the scene with Sadie awaking. Most of the shots look too staged, and her gasp is not audible. The last one which I shot is going to be used most likely - it is good as long as I trim the clip before she looks to the camera. 

I will not film again though because there is enough footage which is of good quality. I can always modify my storyboard if needed.

Most of the scenes in the house are good and I should easily be able to film these again if it is needed. In a few scenes, especially those on the sink, the feet of the tripod are in the visual. These can obviously not be used, but a few are okay and this should be enough.

Filming Day

Instead of filming on the 29^th and 30^th as I originally had planned, I did all of my filming on the 30^th as weather forecast to be poor on the 29th. It was fairly dry on the 30^th however, which meant that filming could go ahead.

I also changed my location. Instead of filming in Bacton Woods like I had originally intended, I decided to film in a smaller location in North Walsham because it was more accessible and also, as I said, much smaller. This was beneficial because it meant that I could firstly find a location easier, and it also meant that once I had found a good location, I did not forget where it was!

Once we arrived at the location, I set out my props whilst my actress got dressed into the outfit I provided. I arranged various objects around the small set to ensure that they would be seen vaguely in the long shots, but not be too glaringly obvious as that might make them look too staged. I obviously wanted this to look as natural as I could.

Firstly I shot the scenes with Milly, who played Sadie, in. I initially did this because I was worried that she might get too cold whilst I shot them, but she seemed happy with being barefoot and wearing thin layers, which I figured would work to my advantage later on if I wanted to reshoot any scenes.

There was clay pigeon shooting near the location, but this was not to my disadvantage as I wanted to clip the audio from the footage anyway, to add a sense of detachment.

One problem I did have was how to do shots from low angles because of the length of the tripod legs. The uneven floor meant that I had some issues with being able to this even further. As a result I often had to lie on the floor, or hold the camera as still as I could, which proved to be very hard when I was crouching down.

It was also difficult to film the crucifix because the background of the shot was rather dark thanks to the plants there. It was a very small pendant and there was enough wind to make it difficult to film it. Hopefully this will not be too detrimental to the piece and to compensate I included two other scenes which were not included in either storyboard.

In the morning of the shoot I found a broken necklace of mine, which has a clockface on and looks similar to a pocketwatch on a silver grey chain. The clock had stopped working and the chain was broken so I smashed the glass of the clock face slightly and this actually proved to look very effective when placed on a crevice on a log in the location. This was one of the more difficult scenes to shoot due to how low down it was.

When walking home from the bus stop on the 26^th, I found a blown away piece of paper from the local newsagents. It was one of the adverts which showed the headline for the day, from the North Norfolk News. This particular advert said something along the lines of “Lovesick Woman Hounds Vicar”, which I thought actually seemed to have some strong links to my plot and hence I incorporated it into my filming. It was much easier than the clock to film because it was firstly much bigger and although it was on the ground, it was easy to shoot from higher up.

I had difficulty filming the scenes where Sadie has the earring in her hand because Milly (the actress) did not quite grasp how I wanted her to have her hand. Also, the earring was slightly smaller than anticipated so it was not as easy to film from above. The scene from lower down was hard as well, for reasons I mentioned previously.

However, most of this shoot went smoothly.

The second half of the filming on this day was also successful. I had originally put the polaroid camera in Harry's (the actor who played Aaron) hands and that was all for that shot, but I decided to have him pick it up and then open it so that it would look less like a photo and more like a memory.

I had some difficulting in filming the scenes revolving around the sink because it was hard to angle the camera and the tripod so that the legs were not in the shot and so that it did not wobble. I had to kneel on the counter to do this because I also needed to look at how the shot looked on the screen.

I had to use the remote to do a lot of the filming because of the reflective nature of the surfaces in my kitchen. This was not a bad thing however.

It was hard to make realistic looking fake blood but once I used caster sugar instead of granulated, I found a good mixture. However I did not make enough, in my opinion, so the scene where the blood goes down the plughole (scene 9 of the storyboard), was only shot a few times because not only did I not write down the recipe for the winning mixture, I ran out of red food colouring.

All in all though, my filming day went well and I managed to get everything that I wanted done.   

Animatic Storyboard - "Aaron"

In order to edit my current storyboard and add a few revisions, I decided to compile an animatic storyboard. I will most likely use longer, slower scenes as well as other scenes that I recorded later on. It is not true to the time frame I am actually going to use, but it shows the main scenes I want to include.
I drew the pictures on Microsoft Paint using a "Bamboo" tablet. I then put the images together using Windows Live Movie Maker.
I mainly chose to do an animatic storyboard because it gave me more of an indication as to how my piece might actually look when it is put together. The first storyboard I created was predominantly me expressing ideas, whereas this short animatic one aims to show the transitions, locations, and credits that would be added in at a later point, as well as give a rough idea of the camera angles for certain shots - especially those revolving around the sink (shots 8,9 and 15) as well as the ones with the polaroid camera (shots 4 and 5).

How can I make my thriller appealing to my audience? - Primary Research

In order to conduct primary research for my piece, I compiled a survey on surveymonkey.com. I decided to advertise the survey on facebook and twitter, and also sent it to my stepfather and my mother, who then forwarded the link to some friends and colleagues.
Below is a list of the questions I asked people to conduct research.

1. What age are you?
2. How often, on average, do you watch films that would fall in the thriller genre?
3. On which platform do you predominantly view films?
4. Which of these elements do you enjoy in a film?
5. Please rate these elements in order of how important they are to a film.
6. Do you prefer to be able to relate to a film?
7. Do you pay much attention to the opening sequence of a film? Why? Why not?
8. Does the title of a film bear any significance when you are choosing a film to watch?
9. How much violence do you prefer in a film?
10. How often do you review films, for example on websites (such as Rotten Tomatoes or IMDB) or in newspapers?

In total I had 40 responses which I think was a well sized group of people. The first question on my survey aimed to find out the ages of these people, and the results are shown in the graph below.
I found that most of the people who completed the survey were 17 or under but this was probably due to the medium through which I advertised my survey. I also had a reasonable amount of 18-24 year olds, which I was pleased to see as it meant that over half of the people who took my survey were in my target age range. It was interesting for me to also have a lot of people from other age ranges, as it gave me an idea of what people from other age groups were interested in and upon looking at my results later on in the survey, I found that it might be worth looking for other methods of hosting my film. These would be less social network reliant mediums.
The second question asked how often they watched films that would fall into the thriller genre.

The results showed me that thriller films are not so popular among some, namely through the fact that 7 people did not watch thriller films at all. However, most people did watch them, and over half of people watched thriller films, at what I would consider, regularly.
I believe, as a result, that thriller films are a popular genre among most people and hence there is definitely a market for my film.
The next question was asking what platform people predominantly watched films on. As I found in my secondary research, a lot of people used television in order to view them. I found, however, that most people used DVD's or Blu-Ray, which may reflect the age groups surveyed - the younger generation are most likely to want to watch films that are not shown on TV pre-watershed, for example, and hence they may rent movies from the library or buy them. The cinema was relatively popular too, despite the figures from the BFI in regards to the popularity of cinema being only around 3%. Obviously I cannot get my film into cinemas, or on national television, but in the long term, if I chose to create the film, I could create DVDs of it and sell them myself. I would predominantly use the internet to stream my film however. This was not one of the popular options in my survey but due to budget limitations, I would evidently have to use this. Also, it is important to bear in mind that I asked which one people mainly watched films on - this does not mean that people do not watch films online at all, but just not as much as mediums such as the DVD.

The next question was not limited and it asked which of the elements listed people enjoyed in a film. It was not limited in the sense that people could choose multiple options instead of sticking to just one. I found that mystery, suspense and tension were very popular elements. Psychological elements were clearly enjoyed too, which is good because that it one of the main elements in the film. I found that murder and religion were not incredibly popular, but I also think that my film is a little niche. These are two elements that I wanted to include in my film and they are still going to be in it, because I wanted to challenge conventions and not do something cliche, which is why I have combined these elements in order to come up with something which I feel is quite original and hence should be enjoyable.
In retrospect, having the element named simply "religion" may have been a weakness, and I should have made it much less broad, with something like "cults" instead.

The next question had eight elements, including Character Development and Location, and five rating options which could then be applied to each one. This chart shows how popular each element was with each person. As we can see, a lot of people thought that soundtrack was important, to various degrees. Most people thought it was quite important, although a lot of people thought that it was an essential part of the film. Location had a rather equal divide in terms of these ratings, although most people though it was important. The next element showed me how much care I should put into the editing of my film, as over 90% of people thought that it was important. A lot of people thought that it was an essential part of the film. Character development was also considered to be very important, and it was predominantly rated as being essential. This is good news for me as it was definitely going to be a crucial part of my piece, due to the emotional trauma which my protagonist has been through.
I found that people did not really care about there being a mix of genders in a film, but I have a mix despite this. I thought it would be deemed to be more important than it actually came across, but I suppose this is personal opinion and obviously my sample is not as wide as that of the BFI.
A complicated plot is also not something that audiences looked for. It came across as being unimportant to most of the people I surveyed which is understandable as sometimes it can make a film uncomfortable to watch if it is difficult to understand. The plot to my film is not complicated, thankfully; I asked after this element though because I wanted to see if I needed to improve my plot as I felt that in some ways, it might be considered a little basic. However, this is probably not a problem in retrospect of these results.
The costume of characters was considered to be more important than not, which is good for me as I have put thought into what my characters will wear in the opening sequence in order to put across a certain message.

I next asked whether or not people preferred to be able to relate to a film. I provided a comment box so that people could add more detailed answers, although some chose not to do this.
Overall, people did not always like to relate to a film, although 25% of my audience always liked to relate. After looking at my qualitative feedback, I can see that it was a case of being able to feel more sympathy for characters for most people. However, most people stated that although in lighthearted films they enjoyed being able to relate, they often found that when watching films with horrific elements and violence, they preferred to not be able to empathise, for obvious reasons. Some also said that they found it did not really matter - "I enjoy James Bond films, but have no desire to be a spy!" and as a result I think my plot should go down well with most people as it is not necessarily something many can empathise with.
Those who stated they did not enjoy being able to relate to films claimed that they used films as a form of escapism and hence they preferred more unrealistic situations.
The next question was purely qualitative and asked whether they paid much attention to the opening sequence to a film. The general answer to this was yes. Some said that if it was fast paced and eye catching, they gave it full attention, but if it was mainly credits then they would hesitate to give it much thought. One person stated that they found it to be the most important part of the film. Some found that it set the tone and pace for the film, but others said that they tended to invest more attention in the opening if there was eye catching images or interesting music.

Next, I asked about the significance of the title of a film. I had rather mixed reviews here, but most people said that it did matter to them. Some people said that they conducted research on websites such as IMDB to find out what the film is about, so the title is not too important to them. People also said that an interesting, even ambiguous title will attract their attention. Something long and which makes explicit reference to the content of the film tended to put people off, yet unusual phrases or words attracted people to the film. People enjoyed imaginative titles, but if they were too simple, such as a verb or adjective, they tended to avoid it.

The next question asked about the level of violence which people preferred in a film. As can be seen in the chart, most people enjoyed some violence in films but due to the gap between this and "a lot of violence", it seems that the people I surveyed would be more suited to watching a film that was rated a 15. Those which fall under "some violence" would most likely be this rating, whereas the other would be an 18 respectively. 15 is the rating which I would like to attach to my film, mainly because anything higher is going to condense the audience of the film considerably.

The following question was the last, and it asked how often they reviewed films online, on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB. I asked this because I wanted to validate the opinions I found throughout my thriller research. As shown in the graph, 75% of the people surveyed never reviewed the films they watched. This shows to me that the opinions of a lot of people go unheard in terms of their enjoyment of films.
Ultimately, I have learned that my audience is a mix of ages, and that I should definitely not restrict my film to only a few age groups. Not all of the people I surveyed watched thriller films, be it because of their age or because of the elements that each individual enjoyed in a film. Most people enjoyed an element of mystery in these types of films, which is obviously not a theme that is exclusive to thriller films. It is something that I hope to include in my own film opening, be it through the way in which I show images, edit scenes or the way in which the soundtrack runs alongside visuals.
I found that many people did not particularly care for a complicated plot, which suggests to me that most people prefer to watch films to relax, as opposed to having to invest a huge amount of attention into them throughout the entire duration of the film. This is understandable, considering that around 18% of the people I asked did not actually watch films from the more attention-grabbing thriller genre.
A lot of people did not really mind whether or not there was a mix of genders in the film. This research could have been backed up with evidence if I had asked the gender of my audience, but overall there was a sense that it was not really something which my audience minded about. Films like the Hurt Locker, who famously had an all male cast, were still a success despite a clear gender bias.
I also found that many people didn't review films after watching them, which is not only a shame as it means that their opinions are rarely found, but it also throws off a lot of research, including that of the BFI and the reviews I found on Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB. People who review will most likely be people above my target age range of 15-24, and those who have a strong interest in filmography. As good as it is to receive feedback from those "in the know", I think that it would have been beneficial for these people who do not review to do so occasionally.
In order to make my thriller appealing to my audience, I should try to incorporate as many of the things I have learned from this audience research into my piece as I can.
For instance, the title needs to be attention grabbing and ambiguous. Something dull or which makes it explicitly clear what the film is about, like "Run" or "Thief" (as one of my audience suggested), tend to dissuade audiences away. Films with titles like this are atypically horrors too. As a result, I will need to ensure that my title creates a sense of mystery for the viewer, and also make sure that it does not sound like a horror film, because this could easily put a large contingent of people off viewing it.
I need to ensure that while their are some relatable elements in my film, there should not be too much of this because this can upset some audience members. There probably would not be too many relatable parts in my opening, but if I was to continue with the whole thing then I would want to ensure that whilst I created something that people could empathise with, it allowed people to still escape the everyday.
I also think that, in order to appeal to as many people as possible, I should probably limit the amount of violence shown. I think that it generally makes a film that much scarier when the violence is hinted, because it toys on the mind of the viewer and they are envisaging what is going on themselves, which is usually a much more thrilling experience. There is no violence in the opening sequence; only a bloodied knife. This, I believe, should create a tense atmosphere, and should hopefully set off the inquisitive mind of the viewer.
I also found that Editing and Character Development was something which people deemed to be very important, and hence I will want to make sure that the editing is done in a way which meets a high standard - and also creates the tension and mystery which the audience clearly enjoy, regardless of the types of films which they prefer.
Character development was always something I was sure would be done well. It is obviously a huge part of films like this - characters simply cannot afford to be one dimensional when there is so much at stake in terms of their situation.

In conclusion, I will ensure that the editing is of a high quality, that the title is something that appeals to a wide variety of people, that the entire sequence is eye catching and fast paced, and that the soundtrack sits well alongside all the visuals.

Final Props List for "Aaron" - Revised

• Large Knife 

I found a large kitchen knife at home, which is quite heavy and has a black handle. I decided to use this one because not only did it look menacing, but it looked good in the hand of the actor. A smaller knife would have been lost in his large hands, and upon reviewing the footage, it overall looked a lot better when it was wiped clean. It is something similar to the one in the image shown - however the blade is a little bigger and shaped slightly differently.

• Big Earrings

I used the earring to represent the idea of wearing things made of a mixed fabric as I did not want to express this explicitly as people might not understand it. There only being one earring also signifies a sort of danger because it infers that a struggle has taken place. It is a relatively big earring, with a black inside and small, faux pearls on the outside. I bought them from Amazon and hence the exact model is shown in the image to the right.

• Polaroid Camera

I was originally going to use polaroid images, then due to the impracticality of producing these I decided against it. Then, torn between using film and a polaroid camera, I consulted a small group of people who helped me to decide that, in the situation I was creating, a stray polaroid camera in the woods would be most suitable for a thriller film situation.
It is a standard black polaroid camera with a pop up flash, as seen in the image to the right. Due to it's aged look, I think it will create more of an ominous mood, and create more questions for the viewer.

• Rosary

I am using a rosary with an image of Jesus Christ on it to portray the idea of "false idols". It is relatively simple, but it should look good hanging from a tree branch, which is what I have envisaged in my piece so far.
It will appear in both the woods, and the gloved hand.

• Fake blood

I will use fake blood throughout the piece - it will appear at the base of the polaroids, on the rosary perhaps, on the knife, swirling down the sink, and on the earring. The gloves of the antagonist will definitely have it on to ensure that he is conveying a message of danger. Instead of buying it due to it's high cost at this time of year, I will make it myself using: granulated sugar and water / golden syrup, red food colouring, green food colouring, and potentially thickening agent in order to ensure it has the correct viscosity.

• White cotton dress

I will use a plain cotton dress to clothe Sadie in the scene. She will have bare feet in order to portray innocence and make her appear even more vulnerable. The dress I will be using is my mum's because I don't want to ruin anything that belongs to Millie. This is going to be helpful as it will be too big for her and this will yet again instill a mental image of her being vulnerable to the audience.
This has reference to Helmut Nickel's "Black Hats" theory, in which the good characters are in white and the 'bad' characters are in black.

• Latex gloves

In order to prevent himself from becoming "unclean" and "defiled", Aaron covers his hands in gloves whilst killing. This also reflects how easily he shrugs off the murders and how easily he casts them aside as something unimportant and the people as disposable.

I will use standard white latex gloves. As they are white, it suggests that he is committing murder for reasons he thinks are good.

In Dexter, he uses gloves in order to make himself untraceable. They are different gloves in my piece (in Dexter, they are, I believe, leather), but they portray the same message.

Soundtrack Choices

In this video I have included 30 second snippets of the tracks which I am considering for my piece.
They are both copyright free and come from the website freeplaymusic.com
I will analyse both of them in order to ensure that I have the most suitable one.
Final Sacrifice, Dark Dimensions 
This piece is 2:53 long and it is quite ambient. I enjoy it, because of it's mysterious nature. It falls under the category of being "eerie and ethereal" which I believe suits it well. It has a lot of depth, what with the variety of instruments and the way in which there are various stages throughout the music.
It is longer than I could possibly need it  but I think as long as I broke it off in an appropriate part, this could help to build tension.
It also reminds me vaguely of the music for the closing credits of "Dexter" (Blood, Daniel Licht), which I find to be very fitting for the thriller genre.
I think this track would be good for my piece because of it's melancholy and rather sad nature. It embodies what I want the film to, and hence I think it would be a wise choice. The various aspects of the music means that it would be easy for me to do jump cuts as intended, because there are depressions in the tone of the music throughout.

Small Blind, Evil Intentions
This piece is far shorter than the other at 1:06 but I could potentially edit it to make it a little longer during the climatic part. It loops in a manner which is rather unnoticeable, and would be improved if I decided to take a little bit off the end or beginning in order to make it flow a little better.
It has a very slow opening, which becomes more intense in certain parts throughout the track.
It is not as dramatic as the other piece which could lead to it either being ignored, or improving the entire piece due to it's muted nature.

In conclusion I think I will use the first track, Final Sacrifice. It is my personal preference and it's length means that it will be easy to incorporate. It sounds mildly dangerous and this is the kind of tone I want to put across in my piece.

Equipment List

I am using a digital camera to shoot my film - it is a Sony Handycam HDR-HC9 and uses a Mini DV tape.
I will be using a tripod too, but not using any artificial lighting or filters. I will not use a tracking dolly due to the obviously impractical nature of this in a wooded location.
The camera has a good built in microphone but I will not be using it apart from a gasping sound, which I will be able to add in at another time if the camera does not pick it up initially.
I have taken the equipment out as of today (25th October 2012) and I will return it on the 5th November.

Shooting Schedule

I will film during the half term, which is from the 29th October to the 3rd November. I will predominantly film during one day as I am filming with a young girl and I don't want to put either her or her mother at a disadvantage.
Currently I will be filming the scene in the woods on the 29th. I will be filming the other scene, featuring the antagonist, at home during some time in the half term - I am planning on doing this on the 30th, in order to make sure that there is going to be similar weather outside - so that natural light will be similar
I will be visiting the location on the 27th October in order to find a suitable location inside the woods which has enough natural light.
A schedule has been provided below to clarify this and also to specify which scenes are indoors and outdoors.

Thriller Movie Posters (Improved)

Chatroom, 2010

The poster for this film is generally very dark, which indicates that there is a dark theme in the plot. The main character is shown as being quite a lot bigger than the other characters and he is also in the middle, which implies that he has a lot of power over the other characters shown. They are all looking towards him with negative expressions on their faces, including intimidation, fear and worry.

Below them is a setting with five people sitting around on chairs, which suggests that this is the main theme or situation which the characters are in. This is an example of mise en scene - the characters will have been arranged in a specific way and the lighting, props and scenery used have all been constructed in such a way that they convey a certain message. For instance, the floor beneath their feet looks like bars which is a typical thriller film convention. There is a lot of green writing behind the characters at the top of the poster, which is very small and is blurring together. The writing being green reflects the classic “Matrix” style typing. The theme of the Matrix is about altering reality and predicting what will happen in the future, and this is reflected in the poster in the tag line, "Control.Alter.Delete". The eyes either side of the poster signify that someone is constantly watching over the characters and the sinister nature of the eyes imply that this is definitely not a good thing.

Eyes also make people feel rather uncomfortable usually and judging from the rest of the poster this could be something which the creators of the poster wanted to achieve.

American Psycho, 2000

The poster for this film is also very dark. It looks sinister and the expression on the man's face indicates a certain steely nature and an unfeeling. He does not seem at all phased by the large knife in his hand, and it appears that he is turning away from it as if looking for his next victim.

The way that the title is partially obscured could be signifying that the "psycho" side is hidden from society and that it is a secret side to him.

In the main image, the character looks well dressed and well presented, yet in his reflection in the blade is distorted, haggard and the clothes look different too. This shows that when he is presented with a weapon, such as the knife, his entire demeanour changes and he goes from what is most likely a suave professional to something that is unrecognisable.

The entire image is surrounded by darkness, which suggests that he has hidden an awful lot of his personality from a lot of people. They say that the eyes are 'the window to the soul', yet these are totally obscured, yet most of his face is visible. This could be perceived as showing how devoid of a soul this man is.

 Alien, 1979

This poster is shrouded in darkness which it seems is a common theme in thriller movie posters. The blackness in this image shows how isolated the main focus of the movie, the egg, is. The typography used is very spaced apart and this further instills the notion of isolation, which apparently is a very dominant feature. The egg is very old looking, due to it's neutral colour and full of craters, and it has cracked open to reveal something which is greatly juxtaposed to it, due to the bright green hue and eerie looking light coming from within it.

The image below the egg, at the bottom of the image is brought to our attention by the fog descending onto it, which indicates that it is secondary to the main image. This is further supported by the way that it seems that there are humans below, who seem to be bowing down to the egg. This enforces an idea of subordination. As humans are atypically at the top of the food chain, as so to speak, this is an uncomfortable image as there is seemingly something more important than them. Aspects of the humans are unrecognisable, such as there being no clear limbs shown, only skin, which suggests an idea of mutation and abnormality.

Thriller Movie Title Deliberation

The title of a thriller film is very important when people are choosing whether or not to watch it, and hence I am wanting to find one that is appealing.

My choices currently are:

• Aaron
• Leviticus
• Unclean

They all consist of one word because this is a common theme I have seen throughout my research - a lot of thriller films and shows have a title like this (Dexter, Se7en, Insomnia, Chatroom, Alien etc)

Aaron

I came up with this title first, and this is mainly because it is the name of the main male character, and the antagonist of the film. 

It is a biblical name, and comes up frequently in the bible chapter Leviticus. I think that this would be an appropriate name, as in the chapter, God is telling Moses different kinds of things which his brother, Aaron, needs to do in order to not be unclean.

The character in my film has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and he believes that in order to ensure that he is "clean", he must rid himself of unclean things that are around him.

It is a simple name but I think in the context of the film it could work and it's simplicity results in intrigue.

Leviticus

I like this title although it makes me think of the film Invictus when I hear it, which it bears no reference to. I think this similarity could be a disadvantage. I of course have to assume that this film is going to be a success and hence this would not be a good idea. It is hugely relevant to the film as the entire bases of the murders is the list of behaviours listed in the chapter.

I think the main issue with naming my film this is that I do not want to offend anybody. Calling it this makes it more controversial and this could result in me losing a massive contingent of my audience.

Unclean

Although this title is only one word, there is an existing film called "The Unclean" which is far too similar for my liking. 

I like the idea behind this title as it symbolises exactly what the antagonist fears, but in a relatively ambiguous way. 

In conclusion, I am going to call my film "Aaron", as it is a title that has the fewest connotations with other films and negative things, as well as being simple with enough hidden meaning for it to come across as ambiguous and interesting.

Thriller Movie Research

In order to conduct primary research for my film, I used Survey Monkey to create a questionnaire.
The survey can be found here

Casting

These are the hands which will appear in my video. They will most likely be gloved.






 This is Millie, who will appear in my video as Sadie.

She is 11 and lives in the same town as me.

 

Location

I will be using a wooded area in my piece because of the time of year in which it is set. I could have used the beach but due to the popularity of beaches through the year I decided against this.
Currently I am trying to figure out which of two locations to use. I would need to visit them in order to find out how well they are lit as well as how easy they are to access.
I chose to use a woodland area because of how isolated it could look as well as how easy it would be for my cast to access it.

This is Bacton Wood. It is nearby but it is quite popular so I would have to be careful with sounds and people getting in the shots. This weekend I will be visiting the location to figure out just how popular the area is and to find a specific location within.

The other location which I could use would be this area; this is a more dynamic area because it is closer to my house, as well as there being two different areas of woodland to film in. Despite there being a road through it, it is not quite so popular due to it leading to a small hamlet, so it could be good for filming at popular times of day.

Revised:
I visited another location this weekend, called "Sadler's Woods" which is slightly closer to my house. It does not show up clearly on Google Maps, unlike the others. Here is an image of the exact location which I wish to film in.

It is relatively flat, and due to the sparse covering of leaves, it should be relatively easy to film on even if it is mildly damp. The branches frame the area well and it is well lit.
I will be using this place as my final choice to film in.

Initial Storyboard - "Aaron"

Revision
I have decided not to use polaroids in my piece and hence the fourth scene of my storyboard is now defunct - I will instead use a polaroid camera in it's place.

Planning Edit

For my film, I will use mainly jump cuts, although I will also be using some fading.
My first shot will fade to black, and subsequently the first camera shot will fade in, from the darkness.
From there I will be using jump cuts to transition between the shots. I will do this in order to indicate a certain fast paced nature which will be carried on throughout the plot.
The main point of using jump cuts is because it suggests a disorganised, messy nature.
I will most likely have a filter over the camera, or add an effect afterwards that will make the image look more white in colour and decrease the brightness of it.
In the scenes that are not shot in the wood - that is, the images of the antagonists hands - will be blurred around the edges, to show focus on one particular thing and emphasise that it is not currently going on. This is an effect I have seen in the tv series Misfits. While not strictly a thriller, it has mysterious, tense and suspenseful elements. It does not happen strictly where there is a dream - but it conveys an effect that I feel instills this.

Opening Quote (Revised)

Originally I was going to have this in white with black writing on to emphasise the pureness behind the idea, but I decided to use a black background instead, with a light orange tone to the font in order to make it look less stark and more aged, as well. This was in order to emphasise how ancient the ideas that are being used are. The ratio of red, green and blue for this colour on Microsoft Paint are as follows :

I used the font "Microsoft Himalaya" which is a serif font. It had a good amount of spacing between the lines and it was the kind of font which I had in mind.

How can I make my thriller appealing to my audience? - Secondary Research

When I was conducting my secondary research I looked at the statistical yearbook from 2011 from the British Film Industry (BFI). I did this in order to find out the popularity of thrillers in the UK in comparison to other film genres.
Genre
For example, there were only 20 thriller film releases in the UK for 2010 out of 557. The majority of films were drama and comedy films. The top performing title for the genre was Shutter Island.
The yearbook also shows how few sites aired certain genres. The average number of sides at the widest point of release was only 73 sites, whereas fantasy films were shown at an average of 373. This indicates to me that thriller films do not have as wide of an audience as other, more accessible genres of films such as fantasy films.
Due to their shocking and often graphic nature, thriller films are usually rated at least a 15 by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). Films that fall under the genres of fantasy, animation and musical/dance will more than likely have low ratings which means that they are easy for people to watch. Parents can take their children to watch these films for example, which means that more sites will show the films.
Films with higher ratings are less likely to be shown in cinemas because of course the cinema wants to maximise their profits and showing films that are not likely to be watched under these circumstances would not be particularly beneficial.
However there were quite a few people who went to go and view these films, shown through the statistics for the average box office revenue per site. Thriller films, which were only shown at a total of 1,468 sites, took in £13,092 per site. Comedy films however, which were shown in a total of 17,420 sites, took in nearly £2000 less on average. This indicates that the sites which showed thriller films were probably more specialised cinemas. The cinemas which showed comedy films were most likely the more mainstream ones which shows that they have a wider audience, but were not as frequented.
The specialised cinemas are likely to bring in a certain, condensed audience which go there to see thriller films because that is specifically the genre which they enjoy. Mainstream cinemas such as ODEON or Vue are likely to show more light hearted comedy films because they appeal to most people.

12 out of the 20 thriller films that were released in 2010 were independent releases, such as "The Ghost", which was the top performing independent thriller title.

If we look at a compound bar graph to show the proportion of the box office by genre for all films, UK films and UK Independent films, we can see that usually UK independent films did better than ones funded by major production companies, especially so in terms of thriller films. When this is overlaid with the information for the proportion of releases of all films, UK films and UK Independent films, we can see that although some thriller films were funded by larger companies, it was usually independent ones which were more successful in the box office.
This suggests that people are more likely to watch independently made thriller films, and hence it would be wiser to release thriller films into specialised cinemas in order to reach the smaller audience. (This graph goes up to 50% in denominations of 10. The yellow bar is the top on the chart below the graph - All films. The red is UK films and the blue is independent UK films)

Audience
Through my research on audience, I found that most people watched films at home. Only 3.4% of people actually went to the cinema to view films. This indicates that it is not worth the hassle of trying to get an independently made film into the cinema because the audience it reaches will not be wide enough, most likely.
The next highest up group is through downloading or streaming. This would be the best method of getting a film out to people, owing partly to the cost free nature of this distribution method as well as the fact that it reaches out to almost everyone in the world, if they look in the right place of course.
There was also a gender divide in terms of audience. This is shown through the amount of people which were attracted to each film. For instance, rom-com Sex and the City 2 had a male audience of only 27%. However, the action film Green Zone had a female audience of only 24%. While these cases are rather extreme ones, it proves a point that certain genres are more attractive to certain genders.
However, certain films such as Shrek Forever After had an exactly 50/50 divide between gender. This is a kids animated film, which is likely going to be viewed by parents taking their children out at the weekend to watch it.
However, thriller film "The Ghost" was also a gender neutral film. This suggests that unlike rom-coms and action films, there is an unclear gender bias and they are enjoyed by both men and women.
The results also suggest that the largest age group who watch the top 20 and UK films is 15-24 year olds, with on average 29% of the six groups included in the statistics.

There has actually been a drop since 1997 in the proportion of cinema goers who are aged 15-24. It has gone from around 43% in 1997 to 38% in 2010. It hit an all time low in 2004, but has generally been on the rise since then.
There are certain films which appeal to certain age groups. For instance, the most popular age group for How To Train Your Dragon was the 7-14 year olds. Another popular film for this age group was The Princess and the Frog. These are both animated films.
For 15-24 year olds it was Kick-Ass; they made up 59% of the films audience. Other popular films for this particular age group were Four Lions and Karate Kid. These are action and comedy films.
As we travel through the age groups, there is clear evidence that action, comedy and drama films become more popular.

There is also a noticeable difference in the types of films which different social groups go to watch. For instance, the group classed by BFI as "AB", who are the wealthiest social group, tend to watch films such as The Ghost, Burke and Hare, and Four Lions. These are generally UK films which are either historically themed and slightly comedic. These films are generally fantasy and are not going to be ones which are necessarily relatable.
In contrast, films viewed by the lowest social class which BFI identify as "DE" tended to watch films which are more uplifting, such as StreetDance 3D or Kick-Ass. These are probably popular because they deal with subject matter that the audience may be familiar with, such as struggles in home life, rough streets and ultimately prejudice.

Audiences found that with Thriller films, they enjoyed being made to feel uncomfortable and disconcerted (Se7en). They enjoyed fast paced parts, intense music, and truly imaginative ideas (Looper), as well as ideas that pushed the boundaries of humanity. This would be twisted ideas of killings, ill concieved morals and sick justifications. These all alienate the viewer, yet leave them craving more, generally.

In conclusion, I found that thriller films appealed to a variety of audiences and that very few people visited the cinema in comparison to how many people actually watched films - this tells me that I have a far greater chance of achieving success through putting my film online.

Intertextual References

This is listed under my "Inspiration" for the plot.
Se7en: This is in the sense of the opening sequence - lots of softly lit, extreme close ups, diagrams, photographs and anonymous hands.
Dexter: Dexter values his victims on how bad their crimes are as to whether or not he will end their lives. Aaron in my plot believes that it is okay to kill someone if they are unclean as to purify their soul and not let them defile him. Also the opening sequence to the show has lots of close ups of hands doing certain things, such as slicing. While not quite so explicit, there will be lots of shots of Aaron doing things which are everyday - washing a knife, etc.
The Doomsday Killer: This is a character from the sixth season of Dexter. He bases his killings on the book of Revelation and he believes it is okay to kill if because the victim will end up being granted access to heaven because of their sacrifice. This is similar to Aaron basing a kind of code on the book of Leviticus, as well as the purification. There is also a senior man who dictates what the Doomsday Killer does, which is similar to how Aaron looks up to a superior in his cult. He tells Aaron that their deaths with grant them redemption.
Leviticus: This book in the Bible details unclean sexual behaviours, food and items such as clothing. This is the basis which Aaron bases his murders on - if there is someone does something he deems to be unclean, he will act on instinct to commit murder.

Martha Marcy May Marlene: In this film, a young girl is riddled with flashbacks over her experiences of a cult - which is a similar situation to Sadie, who is also tormented by this. The cult has destroyed and taken over her life.
Body of Lies: There is a W.H. Auden quote at the beginning of the film. I will use a quote from Leviticus at the beginning of my own sequence, with the colours inverted - a white background with black, serif font.

A Mother's Son: The style of the fonts (a classic, serif font) and the way in which they appear on the screen for the opening credits, will be similar to those in my own piece, but will be a different font most likely and a different colour.

Opening Quote

For whosoever shall commit any of these abominations, even the souls that commit them shall be cut off from among their people. Leviticus 18:29

"Aaron" Synopsis

Synopsis:
Following a string of random, unconnected murders, a young girl, missing since infancy, is discovered in the woods. Surrounded by the remnants of an intense and illegal study, the entire situation is an enigma for the people around her.
Tormented by the images she recalls, she sets out on a personal mission to ensure the man who ruined her pays.
The man is Aaron. A devout man, burdened with obsessive compulsions, he only wants to stop himself from being unclean, and to do this, he commits murder.
Enlisting the help of a boy she meets while in the social care system, she sets out for redemption.

Props - "Aaron"

Costumes - "Aaron"

Character Board - Man - "Aaron"

Character Board - Young Girl - "Aaron"

Plot Ideas for "Aaron"

Initial Brain Storming for "Aaron"

Thriller Scenes: How is editing used to drive the narrative in the scene?

Insomnia

In the opening sequence of the 2002 film Insomnia, there are a variety of shots which hint at the context of the film. For instance the title of the film is shown over a piece of carpet which has blood spreading through the fibres, as can be seen to the right. This extreme close up is an interesting one as we are only seeing the very micro side of a situation. It is a white carpet too, which signifies a few different things. White carpets usually feature in the homes of the affluent, due to their impractical nature in everyday life. Also, the whiteness of the carpet contrasts well with the blood. The total pure white of the carpet reflects both a goodness as well as an innocence.

The way that the word Insomnia has been put on top of the blood spill signifies that this is probably going to be a key feature of the movie.
There are then sweeping establishing shots icebergs, more images of the blood spilling out onto the carpet and then there are drops of red falling onto what looks like a pristine white shirt. Again, the white signifies good things and a purity, which is why it is so shocking to see blood red on it. This is effective iconography as it instantaneously implies murder due to the contrast between the two colours. Then we see someone trying to rub blood out of the linen, with an extreme close up of a masculine hand. The use of so many extreme close ups mixed with the very macro image of icebergs is rather disorientating to the viewer because in a sense we have very little idea what is going on, because we are only seeing two clues to the whole situation, which do not have any direct link at all.
This relates back to the title of Insomnia, which is most likely a rather disorientating problem for it's sufferers.
The next scene is again ambiguous. It appears as more of a midshot through the reflection of a cabinet, of the back of someone. Most of this is obscured. This can be seen in the image to the left. This is more of a clue but it is again not very helpful. Using the image of someone rubbing away the blood we can gather that this character probably is not the protagonist of the film, and we are not seeing him for that reason, possibly so that we have a similar knowledge to that of the protagonist as to what is actually going on.
Next comes some disorientating editing. From the sight of the gloved hands we see a close up of someones face, then the macro again of a plane. We see several different shots of the face, and he is looking at images of what seems to be crime scene photography in a folder. This manages to imply that he is the antagonist, yet the fact he is blatantly holding a police evidence file suggests otherwise.
The camera then cuts to the establishing shot of a plane flying across the icebergs. This indicates both loneliness and danger. Loneliness in the sense of the abandonment felt in Arctic environments, as well as the danger that is expected when one sees icebergs and frozen environments. These are tough environments to live in, and the shots of the weary looking man suggest that he is going to have a difficult time managing.
There is then a shot from even further away, and fewer micro shots. This is setting up the scene and encouraging us to feel the desolation of the area. Similarly to the scene in the Shining whereby the car drives into an increasingly dangerous looking environment whilst being totally alone, the small, solitary plane heading to some unknown destination manages to make us worry for the fate of the weary man and his accomplice on the plane.

Directed by: Christopher Nolan
Produced by: Warner Bros.
Release Date: 30 August 2002 (UK)
Filmed in: Alaska, USA
Box Office Returns: $113,714,830 (worldwide grossing)
Rated 15
Given a 7.2/10 on IMDB.
Viewers called it "masterful", "excellent" and "intense"
Clip from Insomnia

Se7en

The film Se7en has an interesting opening sequence, with a lot of props, icons and clues towards the actual context of the movie. It has many extreme close ups, which manage to create the effect of an indepth, close study of something, which, when we look at the props in the scene such as images of hands and the opening image, which is of a book having it's pages dropped down slowly. This extreme close up of what appears to be a handcrafted book is appealing to the viewers eye. The pages are blank, which signify the beginning of something. He is clearly awarding the whole book to the event which shows that it is probably something special and worthy of note.



The music is timed perfectly with the images shown on the screen, with loud, bass noises coming in as the black opening credits scene appears. There are high pitched noises that emphasise the writing used on the credit screens - the official parts are in a typewriter like font, yet the actual names are written in young looking hand writing. This almost suggests a personal attachment to the names themselves, which gives us the idea that the antagonist is going to commit the crimes against people who he has identified as specifically deserving it. The slightly blurred nature of the words either side of the names signifies them being done by hand, for instance through a stamp or aged typewriter. This also instills a sense of it being personal and also carefully crafted.
Next we see the man holding a blade between aged fingers, and even slicing the skin on the pads of them away. This signifies how anonymous the killer is and how he goes to extreme measures to hide his identity. His ease with such a dangerous thing as a razor blade also shows that he is not a novice, but more experienced in this field and that he has skill. This gives off the impression of him being almost assassin like. His hands are dirty too, which although is most likely from his study, it signifies him doing "dirty work"such as murder or other illegal deeds.
Unlike in Dexter, whereby the murderer is shown in a positive light with bright, overly contrasted images and upbeat music, the mise en scene here is much different. The room he is in is dimly lit and the images are not just dangerous, such as knives, but deadly - guns and blades being an example. The music is also very ominous - drawn out and containing some high pitched, static noises which sound like the antagonist is tuning into something - for instance a police radio.
Soon the opening credits stop having a whole shot of their own but actually blend in with the images shown in the montage - for insance here. This signifies the characters being drawn into the life of the killer.
For instance, the leading lady's name is here, which suggests that she will be in danger in the future, danger caused by the antagonist. The way that her name has been put in the shadow of the book implies that she will become a part of his study.

Directed by: David Fincher
Produced by: Cecchi Gori Pictures, New Line Cinema
Release Date: 5th January 1996
Filmed in: Los Angeles, USA
Box Office Returns: $316,400,000 (Worldwide)
Rated 18
Given 8.7/10 on IMDB
Viewers called it "shocking", "suspenseful", "disturbing" and "clever".
View the scene here