OUR THRILLER FILM OPENING

Here is our finished thriller film opening called "Hush Little Baby".

CONSTRUCTION: UPDATING FACEBOOK AND TWITTER

With our facebook and twitter pages we decided to keep the public up to date with what we are doing and whats coming soon. So we created tweets, posts and displayed photos on these social media pages. We wanted to keep our fans intrested and connected to our film and its promotion, as this would ensure a profitable distribution and sales for our film. Finally we felt that this would also be a clever way to share our ideas and gain feedback on them through the public to gain knowlage on what they want to see. 

 

CONSTRUCTION: FILM TILTLE

Today Amber and I chose how we wanted our film title to come up at the end of our film opening. We decided to have it appear over the photo of the rag doll caught in the barbed wire. We looked into different font types and decided on a top four.

The first text is called Tekton Pro, we felt that this font was too simple and dull. 

This font is called Chalkboard (in bold). We felt that the font should have a childish quality to it, almost as it were writen by a child. Although we felt that this font didn't convey the theme of our film opening well. We also looked into what the font would look like regularly but again it seemed simple and didn't have the theme required. 

We decided to chose this font for our film title as it has a childish quality to it as it looks like a chalk writing. The font is called "Chalkduster". It looks like a childs drawing, whilst also having an eary and haunting vibe. 

OUR IDENT

Here is our finished version of our Ident that we made using iStopmotion animation. We edited the footage to slow it do 45% less than its original speed, on imovie we also added a piano soundtrack over the top of it.

Overall we are pleased with the outcome as we feel it is a unique and imaginative way of opening our film.

UPDATING MY TRELLO

I updated my trello after last week as we have completed the tasks I set for us to complete. I found that this is a good way to organise and manage my work. This method of working is helpful for me as it is a visual representation of what i have done and what still needs to be done.

CONSTRUCTION: RECORDING THE DOCTORS VOICE OVER

In our lesson today we needed to find someone suitable to act as the doctor, for our voiceover. We required a male, proffesional voice, so we asked our drama teacher to act as the doctor.

We recorded the voiceover straight onto the mac computer and over our movie. By doing this we could time exactly where things would be said. So that at certain point certain things would be said such as when Georgina bangs her fist down on the table and storms out of the room, we have the doctor saying:  "No, wait Mrs March, come back". The voiceover was sucsessful, as it helps the narrative and plot line of the story.

The voiceover script says:

"Mrs March, I have recieved back your fertility test results and i'm afraid it's not good news, you are unable to concieve and carry child natually.... No, wait Mrs March come back"

CONSTRUCTION: FILMING AN ADDITIONAL SCENE

Today we filmed and edited an additional scene in which the woman is opening a case file for a war journalist job. We added this scene in order to clearly identify Mrs march as a war photographer as previously it was unclear as to why we had references to war photos. We decided to have the woman open up a folder on which displayed what it was and who's it was. This was effective as it made the narrate clearer. We also decided to link this scene to the pan across with all the war images, so we merged the two clips together and created a cut away in editing. This worked well as it made a connection between the folder explaining her job details and the war images on the desk.

EDITING: THE GIRL AND TOY SCENE

Today we edited the scene in which the girl is playing with her toy in the field. We decided to add the "dream" effect to the footage as it adds a sense of mystery and fantasy to the scene. As this scene is where the protagonist is watching the young girl we shot from behind a tree and we used point of view shots. This shows to the audience that the young girl might be in danger and sets an ominous atmosphere.

CONSTRUCTION: RECORDING THE LULLABY

Today we recorded the lullaby, "Hush Little Baby", to go over the soundtrack for our film opening. We went to our schools music department and recorded the song in a recording studio. The room had a slight echo which made the recording sound more eery and have a thriller atmosphere to it. We recorded the song a few times in order to ensure that we had the best quality and accurate version of the song.

Here is the recording: 

CONSTRUCTION: MAKING OUR IDENT

Today we made our ident using stop frame animation. It involves us taking a photo of the hot air balloons and then moving them up and down as real hot air balloons would. We have finished this part however we will add a title on iMovie, which will be HOT AIR PRODUCTIONS, as we feel this would be more effective.

I have created an ANIMOTO to show the steps of us making our Ident.

Making an Ident

COMPOSITION: FINAL THINGS TO DO

I have created a TRELLO to present in a clear and precise way what we still need and intend to do, in order to finish off the final stages of making our film opening.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY TRELLO

CONSTRUCTION THINKING OF A PRODUCTION COMPANY

We decided to use stop motion animation to make our own production company. We decided to use old wrapping paper with images of hot air balloons on it. We cut out one of the images of a hot air balloon and captured it moving up and down along the paper. The name of our production company would be Hot Air, as this is what keeps the air balloons afloat and fits in well with the animation.  

CONSTRUCTION: FEEDBACK ON OUR FILM OPENING

• The filming is successful with different camera movement.
• The narrative is clear due to the successful editing.
• The music went well with the filming to create suspense.

The points which she suggested we improved were:

• Add sound effects of guns over the war photography to create a better sense of trauma.
•  Adding in a scene with the toy doll and the little girl so at the end we know the girl is in danger as the doll is on the barbed wire.

We also got other feedback from other audiences who said good points were:

• We had clear thriller codes in our opening which create suspense, enigma and tension
• The editing is successful at creating a sense of anxiety.

The feedback given to improve were:

• Decrease the brightness of the red during the park scene
• Adding a voice over, which we were planning on adding anyway to improve the narrative and help the audience to understand better. 

I have made a PREZI to go into deeper understanding of what we need to improve and how we are going to fix this criticism.

EDITING: DECIDING ON TITLES

Today we decided on our film titles, Georgina and Amber made a short video explaining our choices.

CONSTRUCTION: EDITING- SOUND EFFECTS

Today we added sound effects to the final scene of our film. The scene is when Georgina abducts the little girl and walks off with her hand in hand. To give a sense of menace and an ominous ambiance we decided to add a hymning, unsettling noise. This generated the idea that something bad is and will happen. I found this effective as it is a subtle way of communicating with the audience.

CONSTRUCTION: EDITING THE PARK SCENE

When editing this scene, we decided it was here that we wanted to incourperate the editing technique from the opening sequence of suits. In the shot we have the little girl jumping off the swing, and then we have the swing, swinging by its self. We sped up the first section and then slowed it down to half the speed. I found this looked very effective as it was as if it was in the protagonists mind and she was watching the swing, longing for her own child to be on it.

CONSTRUCTION:MUSIC SELECTION

Today we chose the final music we wanted to play over our film. After spending time researching different music selections and instruments combinations, I found a track which worked well:

• The carnival, (Music box cover)

We liked this track as it is mostly piano music and it has a menacing feel to it. It also is simular to that of a lullaby so fits in well with our plot line. 

We also looked into other music, but we found that the selection was slim and at times the music didn't work well with our film opening. 

I have made a PADLET, to show our music choices and explain them clearly.

 

CONSTRUCTION:EDITING PLACING THE TITLES

Today we explored different title fonts, sizes and placements. We felt that the font was very important for our film as it conveys our theme, I looked at these two film titles and liked the fonts they used.

Overall we went with a classic and simple font and size, with placement we decided to have the names appear in the gaps in our shots. Rather than say things like: "Directed by" and "Starring" as they are amateur and don't fit well with our film. Instead we decided to just simply have the cast and crews names appear in the credits, we found this to be much more effective. 

We chose to use the font of  "imprint MTshadow" as it fits in with our film opening and works well to convey our theme of thriller. 

This is what the font looks like in the final version of our poster: 

CONSTRUCTION: USING AFTER EFFECTS

We wanted to use "after effects" in order to create an interesting and creative opening, but when Amber was attempting to use it, she found that it was very complicated and not very original. So we decided to make our own  I-dent using animation. We found that by doing this we had more of an opportunity to express our creativity and individuality.

CONSTRUCTION: FILMING THE ABDUCTION

The last scene we filmed was the abduction scene. For this we had the little girl alone outside. We showed she was alone through a mid shot of her outside her house. We then cut to a close up shot of the girl, we then had the woman walk into the shot and offer a sweet packet to the little girl. A close up showed the little girl look up at the woman as she takes the sweet. This is very effective as it shows how easy it is to manipulate a child. Finally we placed the camera down at a lower level to show a close up of the little girl and the woman holding hands as they walk out of shot. We liked this as one of the final images as it has a powerful impact over the audience.

CONSTRUCTION: FILMING THE WALKING HOME

Today we filmed the section of the film where the woman follows the mother and child home. We filmed this by having the two characters walk ahead of us and we follow behind with the camera. We found that this made the shots look more realistic. We also placed the camera behind some building work and a sign post, this gave the idea that the woman was hiding and spying on the other characters. This creates a scary ambience for the audience and conveys the theme of our film. We found these shots worked well with our film, the only problem being that it was a bit too long and so it required some cutting down.

CONSTRUCTION: FILMING THE PARK SCENE

Today we filmed the play park scene. For this scene we used the playground next to Amber's house. We filmed the little girl playing on the swings with her mum. We decided to film an establishing shot showing her on the swings being pushed by her mother and the surrounding playground. We then did a pan from left to right showing the woman sitting on a bench watching the mother and child. This is a very unnerving shot as when the woman is revealed in the pan it is frightning. Finally we filmed the last section where the girls mother is distracted by her phone and we see her walk out of shot we then,
(from the apposing side), see the woman walk into shot and come up behind the little girl. As we only see the back of the woman in the shot this is unsettling for the audiene and genorates a negative vibe.

PLANNING: MARKETING TECHNIQUES

When researching iconic war photos we found a memorable and hard hitting image of a rag toy caught in barbed wire. We felt like it combined our two ideas of war and children. We felt like it showcased the idea that children are the innocent victims of war, as well as the idea that they are never forgotten. This idea is simular to ones in our film as when a child is kidnapped the child is an innocent victim; who has done nothing wrong and they will never be forgotten by their familys.

 

 We decided to replicate our own version for our P&A poster. We took a few photos from different angles, overall we liked this shot: 

Here is an example of a selection of other photos:

CONSTRUCTION TOY IN BARBED WIRE

Today we filmed the scene where we pan across a section of barbered wire, to reveal a rag toy hanging entangled in the wire. This scene might act as our ending for our title sequence, as it is hard hitting and symbolizing how children are the innocent victims of war. We chose a pan for this shot as it allows time to build up to the big reveal of the toy. We felt that this had a bigger impact on the audience and leaves them with a memorable image.

For our film in particular, we decided that the toy would work as a symbolic code for the audience. It would symbolize that the child has left the toy behind and has been snatched. Signifying something bad has happened.

CONSTRUCTION: PROMOTION AND P&A

Today we created a Facebook page for our film "Hush Little Baby", this will act as one form of promotion for our film. It will allow people to "like" our film and share it with their friends.

Along with this we created a Twitter page for our film, so that the youger genoration could be connected and informed about our film instantly and convietly:

This is the film poster we have made to advertise our film: 

Finally we created a P&A website for our film which acts as a interactive and informative tool, to promote our film. We included a home page, featuring ratings and plugs, a gallery page to store still photos from our film, a link to watch the trailer and a interactive mystery puzzle to generate buzz around the film. As well as a link to the films Facebook and Twitter pages.

I made a Slideshare to explain our choice of promotion clearly.

CONSTRUCTION: MAKING THE DOLL

When we decided to use a rag toy in the final image of our film, we talked about getting the right kind of toy; (something that looks hand/home made, for a young child). We found that toys we already had weren't right for us and so I decided to make the toy from scratch. I used an old pair of socks and some stuffing. I cut and stitched the socks into a basic body shape, then added the stuffing, ensuring that the limbs remained limp and raggedy. Finally I added the head, upon which I hand sewed blue wool to act a hair. I drew on a simple and child friendly face with a fabric pen to complete the toy.

EDITING: TITLES

Today we explored and researched different titles we could use for our film titles. We liked these ones:

"The A D Sign Film Festival" We found that this title was effective in conveying the genre of film but it was hard to make out what is written and thus loses some of its impact on a viewer.

"Philippine Horror Fims" We liked the font used in this title, but felt it was slightly to over the top for our style of film and might distract from the story.

"Se7en" We espically liked this title and liked the idea of combinding letters and numbers, it also provides a sense of something psycotic.



We found that the darker and more edited titles were the ones we liked most. Although as are title options are limiting we have to adapt our titles accourdingly.

CONSTRUCTION: RECORDING THE NURSERY RHYME

We decided that to add an intresting and original element to our film opening, we would encourperate a nursery rhyme, sung by Georgina herself. We recorded it onto soundcloud and then copied it onto Imovie. As we have decided to call our film; "Hush Little Baby" we felt it fitting for her to sing the hush little baby nursery rhyme:

Hush, little baby, don't say a word

Papa's going to buy you a mockingbird

If that mockingbird won't sing

Papa's going to buy you a diamond ring

If that diamond ring turns brass

Papa's going to buy you a looking glass

If that looking glass gets broke

Papa's going to buy you a billy goat

If that billy goat won't pull

Papa's going to buy you a cart and bull

If that cart and bull turn over

Papa's going to buy you a dog named Rover

If that dog named Rover won't bark

Papa's going to buy you a horse and cart

If that horse and cart fall down

You'll still be the sweetest little baby in town

Hush, little baby, don't say a word

Mama's going to buy you a mockingbird

If that mockingbird won't sing

Mama's going to buy you a diamond ring

So hush little baby, don't you cry

Your Mama loves you and so do I .

This song works well as it is long enough to be played over certain scenes, it also has the ability to sound quite menacing and chilling. The final verse also works well for us as it sounds as if it is actually the woman talking to the child she has taken. 

EDITING: SOUND EFFECTS

Today we explored what sounds and music we could use in our film opening. We decided to use a montage of war noises, which include: gunfire, shouting and machine noises. We chose to place this noise over the montage of war images to convey a sense of tauma, as well as showing the memory is still inside her head.  It also makes a connection between the womans break down and her time spent photographing war zones.  We also incorporated a child's giggle over the compilation of shots that have the woman and doll in them. This creates an unnerving and distressing atmosphere.

CONSTRUCTION: LITTLE GIRL SCENE

As this scene requires a young girl, and we decided to use Amber's younger sister. Amber filmed this scene outside of her house in a local field and along her road. The scene consist of the woman watching the girl playing in the grass. The camera was placed behind a tree looking over to the young girl as if from the womans perspective. This shot worked well as it creates an unnerving atmosphere. It also immediately indicates that the woman is doing something she shouldn't. As the child needs to be separated from her mother we decided that she should be on a scooter so that she could ride away from her mum, and/or be putting the scooter away in the garage alone. We see the girl ride her scooter towards the camera and into shot, it then cuts to a shot of her putting the scooter into the garage and walking away. Both shots are very effective as they show the child isolated and vunerable.

RESEARCH: DECIDING ON A SLOGAN

We decided we wanted a short slogan to place on the poster and promote our film.
We wanted something that captured the theme and conveyed a sense of enigma.
There were a number of good suggestions, such as:

• Hush, now baby girl  
• Come back, little one 
• Down will come baby, cradle and all
• Innocent dreams 

We felt that these all were good but they didn't have a strong enough effect and impact on the audience. Whilst researching for ideas on slogans, we looked at the lyrics of the song "hush little baby", as this is the title of our film we felt that it would work well to have a line from the song as our slogan. Right at the end of the song the last line is:

• "Your mama loves you and so do I" 

We found that this fit perfectly not only to our plot line, but also to the sense of suspense. It almost seems as if it its the woman talking to the child, brainwashing her. By putting this on our film poster it provokes audiences to try and understand it, this then leads to people discussing it which generates buzz and intrigue around our film. 

CONSTRUCTION: RE-FILMING.

Today we re-filmed a section of the opening of our film, where the woman storms out of the doctors office, in a violent rage. We also re-filmed the section where she is rummaging  through the war photos and she rips up the child photo. This indicates she is in a manic state and is angry and troubled by the image of the young child.

We decided to re film it as there was an issue with continuity, as it appeared that the woman changed clothes between each shot. We also got feedback back it was not clear that the woman was strongly effected by these images and her past as a war photographer. With the re filming we hoped to add more shots showing both the womans face and the photos; showing her reactions to the them and her rage as she rips one to pieces. We also wanted to add an additional shot showing her grief and the begining of her breakdown:

RESEARCH: SUITS OPENING

We researched the film openings, we came across the opening of Suits which is the opening to a US tv drama show. We liked the editing style they used in their opening title sequence. For example they film the two men walking towards the building, they then split this clip into two or three parts. They then slow down the first section to around half the normal speed, and make the second half, either normal speed or slightly sped up. This is effective as it makes the action dis-jointed, it also builds up tention in the shot. We thought that this would be good to use in our film. We decided to use it in the scene in the park, with the swings. 

CONSTRUCTION: RIPPING SCENE

We filmed a shot of the woman walking across the room tearing up the photo and dropping a piece of the photo onto the ground. This showed her despair for the situation and her desperation to change her fate. We split this clip and slowed down the beginning in order to prolong the shot and create suspense and tension.

CONSTRUCTION: PANNING SHOT

Today we filmed the scene which shows that the woman is a war photographer. We placed a bundle of  actual war photos along a horizontal desk, along with a Cannon camera; in order to suggest that she, herself is the photographer. We decided to use a pan so that we could show all the photos and then come to focus in the one important photo of a child. This photo is significant as it illustrates the womans fasination and obsession with children, it also shows her devestation in hearing the news about being unable to concieve a child of her own, as she rips the photo up.

This scene was difficult to film as the shot was too high to use a dolly, so amber had to ensure she used a steady hand in order to get a good an in focus shot. She also had to move the camera from left to right slow enough, so that the audience gets the full impact of the scene.

CONSTRUCTION: THE GETTING RESULTS SCENE

 Today we filmed the scene where the protagonist receives the devastating news that she will not be able to have children. This scene is vital to our plot line as it acts as a trigger for the protagonists mental health decline. This scene is has a voiceover of the doctor explaining the situation. During this we have a selection of different shots that show the protagonists reactions up until it all rises up into the woman losing it and banging down onto the table and storming out. We start off with a over the shoulder shot, from the doctors perspective showing the doctors laptop, on which there are charts, to set the mise en scene appropriately. This shot also shows the woman rocking back and forth, her head then falls into her hands, showing her devastation and anger. she then smacks her hands against the table generating a loud bang, a worms eye view shot shows her storming out the room and down the corridor.