Evaluation - Question 7 - Amy Homewood

Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

To look back at our Prelimary Task and to compare to how far we have come, especially in filming and editing, I think myself and Imogen have done a good job and think that despite the difficulties and problems we had, we managed to pull through and meet every deadline. 

Mise en Scene

Make Up

Prelim VS. Final

In terms of Mise en Scene, I feel as if we have massively improved when comparing our prelim to our final. With our prelim, we had a lot of problems with finding an actor in a short amount of notice that would be free at the same time as Imogen and I. Obviously, our first actor was going to be Chelsea, yet when we filmed, we forgot to set the white balance and when we re-filmed, we found Katie. 

I feel as in especially the make up side of characters, we have greatly improved as we now know how to create scars, burn marks, blood stains and pale faces. Here is a photo comparing the different in make up in our Prelim to our Final. 

As you can see, Katie in our prelim has no make up on, or very minimal that doesn't look particualrly visible when you focus the lighting on here. In comparison to Tom and Aaron, we used very minimal make up on Tom, only powder and foundation so that the lighting would almost work as a highlight on his face, as well as avoiding shininess as Tom has quite oily skin. Aaron we used a tutorial that we researched on youtube to find the best yet cheapest and less time consuming scar that was practical to our thriller opening. Click here to watch the original youtube video, and click here to see Imogen's practise of the scar.

Lighting

LED Lighting- we did not use filters

Between the preliminary task and the final piece, our use of lighting has changed dramatically. This was mainly because we shot our final in a dark outside environment, if we didn't use the lighting, the filming would be almost pointless as you wouldn't be able to see anything. What we would do without the LED light, I do not know. 

In our final, as we wanted to place text over one of our shots, we needed to use the darkness to use as a background, and it needed to be the blackest of blacks that we could create, which I can successfully say that we did. This created enigma and had a huge impact on what the audience thought would fit in a typical thriller- click here to see our audience feedback and questions. We took their feedback on 'you should film at the grave yard at night as it is creepy' on board and did so, and because of that. It made our Final a lot better.

Before and after colour correction edited shots

In terms of white balance, I think we have exceptionally improved as throughout the Prelim, we did have to colour balance a lot of the shots to make them white. 

In comparison to our final that we almost got them 100% right every time. However, we did have to tweak some of the shots and  colour correct them so there was no sudden change of lighting between shots. 

We have written a blog post all about it, click here to view that blogpost. 

Positioning

Prelim (known as first shot)

Final (known as second shot)

Out of the two pieces, I feel that camera positioning was used less in the Prelim, but was done a lot more effectively and dramatically in the final piece. Especially as our Prelim was very rushed and not very well planned out, the difference in types of shots and positioning of characters used is expanded hugely throughout the final.

For example; here is two shots. Very similar, very uninteresting, of a character walking to a certain destination is two completely different locations. 

As you can see, the white balance and lighting is automatically so much better in the second shot, and the positioning of the camera is based on the ground rather than up higher on a tripod.

I think this shot is more effective by just changing the positioning of the camera, the way you are focused on the small details on the ground contrasting with the darkness and almost spotlight on the characters feet, shows the difference of a thriller film to a somewhat comedy-kick off horror. 

Although there is not a huge difference in what they are doing, the use of foleys and non-diegetic sound makes the second shot a lot better. This is one aspect in mise en scene that you can argue, we did exceptionally well on. The white balance is also used for a different effect in the final to the prelim.

Body Language/Facial Expressions
I personally feel that within the Preliminary task, we didn't really focus on the actors body language or facial expressions very well. Which me and Imogen are to blame for entirely, we didn't realise the importance of both aspects when filming, but luckily learnt a lot about how it can make the audience feel and connect with a character. 

Tom- being shocked (final)

For example; this shot is focused around the same emotion. Being scared or suddenly very shocked.

Katie- being shocked (prelim)

In the prelim, we asked Katie to turn around whilst walking to her destination and show an emotion that somebody was following her, which than led to her running away being frightened. Whilst we asked Tom to look very worried as we used a cliffhanger at the end of our Final to show that he somehow has blood on his hands, straight after coming out of the dream he had about his mother and somebody following him (with evidentially has a scar on his face- all explained in our synopsis).

Here you can genuinely see the difference in acting too (we definitely fit the right characters to the final). Tom uses his facial expression to show he's worried and concerned, if you look at his forehead, it is wrinkled and his eyes go quite wide when he realises what is on his hands. Whilst Katie doesn't look very scared considering somebody is after her- which again, is no fault but our own.  But you can see the impact it has on the audience

Antagonist- Prelim (Dark figure)

Here is another example of where body language and genuinely the whole use of mine en scene has improved when comparing our final to our prelim. 

Antagonist- Final (Aaron)

In our prelim, we asked the antagonist and/or dark figure to walk along a corridor so that the audience would see that Katie is being followed. Despite it is very hard to mess this character up. I personally think the way we introduced the antagonist in the final was so much better. We used Aaron to keep ahold of his identity as much as we could without using a mask as obviously we needed to see the scar. 

The body language of the dark figure was very quick and relaxed (you could say very out of character), hence why we needed to use a slow motion transition within the editing process. Whilst we asked aaron to have somewhat of a limp and walk fairly slowly. Which he did exceptionally well and created a lot of enigma as you cannot see his face for another 3 of the shots till he magically disappears. 


Costume

In terms of costume change, this makes me personally laugh to the change in our Prelim to our Final. Firstly, our prelim was supposed to be based as a thriller, rather than a comedy-thriller type of genre. Whilst our final was definitely a thriller and can fit in almost all aspects of a typical thriller genre. 

Protagonists

Prelim- Katie

Final- Tom

Here is both protagonists, in our prelim and final (Katie and Tom). 

Katie was dressed within a christmas jumper that day. Again, no fault but our own as we struggled to find an actor. But the jumper definitely didn't fit a thriller genre at all, unless it was a comedy sketch of one. As little as a jumper in a film can change the genre and the overall audience viewing of that specific character. Red and white also I feel did not fit the colours of the prelim, as it was very vibrant and made the audience focus on the jumper rather than the body language or facial expression of the character.

Whilst Tom, had a very low key costume. We simply asked him to wear something with a dark color, preferably a jumper or coat and nothing that would take the audiences attention of, of his face. Which I personally think we did well on. Navy was a very good color choice as although it is dark, you are able to still see it through the contrast of black.

Antagonists

un-named//final

When looking at the costume of both antagonists in both our thrillers, there is a slight similarity of colour, which both do successfully fit a stereotype of what you would see in a thriller, however the way we have put them together was done a lot more differently.

black shadow//prelim

Firstly, our prelim, we asked the actor to literally just throw on a black cloak so we was not able to see any of their identity or body shape or anything about them. Despite the fact it worked well and did create enigma for the audience as questions would have been asked on who this character is and why he/she was under a cloak. Looking at the practically of the character, it could be a huge health and safety risk as the actor literally couldn't see where they was going and we asked them to walk down the stairs.

In comparison to our final, we asked Aaron to try and hide his identity as much as he could, allowing him to wear whatever he wanted but had to be black. I think this worked well with the setting as it almost looks like the hoodie is camouflaged in the background. With just his nose, right eye and scar showing.

Props

I think if me and Imogen were to refilm again, both Prelim and Final. We could use props a lot more than we did. Except from costume, we did not use any props in the prelim, which could have actually created a lot more enigma- e.g. if the antagonist was carrying a note or some sort of weapon.

Cigarette- prop 1

We used a few props in our final. One being a cigarette, we wanted to use this as it has a slight connotation of age on the character. As well as using smoking as a way of dealing with his mother dying. I think this had a really positive effect on the audience, especially the lighting, the shot and the foley used on the breathing out of smoke.

Paper and Pen- prop 2

The next prop we used was pens and paper to make it look like the antagonist had just fell asleep in the class room. And he wakes up beside his two mates (Ross and Jack), which are doing work and concentrating. Although this detail is very minuet, it helped create a sense of being at school or college, within a classroom environment.

fake blood- prop 3

And the last prop was fake blood. You cannot have a thriller without blood! This prop had a huge effect on the way we wanted to end our opening, as a huge cliffhanger. The use of the props makes the audience question why he has blood on his hands, what did he do and was that even a dream. Again, creating suspense and enigma.

Setting/Décor

Last but deficiently not last, setting and decor. This has to be one of the most vital aspects of mise en scene if you want to create a thriller film and most importantly, make somebody believe they are watching it. In our prelim, we used one distinct location, which was college but a lot of different areas within the college. Rather than our final, we used 4 different main locations- a motorway, a graveyard, a college and a bathroom.

Prelim

The stairway throughout our sequence is one location that we switch too throughout, since we have based our location fully within a 'work place' set, we thought the use of a stairway was vital, especially if the Protagonist is running away, the use of close ups, mid shots and long shots on a stairway will attract the audience a lot more. Again, as the flight of stairs has many levels, we thought that we can film from higher angles in order to have connotations of 'The Black Shadow' having higher status. We thought that within the lighting of this specific sequence, the red walls within it symbolizes death and evil which is the type of theme we are aiming our Prelim off. 

Cross Reference- To see storyboard in depth (visual and written) - click here

Also, another location that we have chosen is a variety of different hall ways, this is so that we can use high and low angles, as well as using close ups to show the pace that the Protagonist is running at. The hall way adds to the gist of the Thriller Prelim as it is plain. Through the use of mise-en-scene (lighting espeically), we are going to try and make the location a lot more 'scary' as it is. Also, as we have been doing our research on certian thriller scenes (click here for an extra research blogpost), there are a variety of sequences that has the victim running through hallways, therefore this is the main idea that we have based our Prelim off of. 

Final

Worth walk over
This is near Amy's house. As this is a cycle and dog walking path that conveniently is above the M25, this is one of the main locations we want to put in our thriller opening to go alongside with our plot that you will see more in-depth in our planning, click here to see that specific blog post.  And again, as this is public land, we don't need permission 

St. Nicholas Church
As obviously a church is a private, and rather spiritual area, we did need permisson in order to film here as obviously it'll affect the families of all those that have died here. 

However, as one of my family memories (Amy's) has been buried here, we are going to use some shots of a tomb stone in order to create the atmosphere that we aim to get across to the audience. However, as again, it is private land, we needed permission in order to film here and inside of the St. Nicolas Church. Click here to see the permission blog post. This had a huge impact on our Final as it worked so well, and especially at night. It made our thriller very suspenseful and scary.  

Camerawork

Camera shots

For the two films, we used a wide range of shots. Click here to see why we used specific shots and our explanation of using them. We used a lot of mid shots and long shots within our prelim, for example here is some screen grabs below:

Mid Shot

Long Shot

Mid Shot

Long Shot

Whilst our final used a variety of shots. We tried to at least use a type of shot in each category so we wouldn't have a repeat of what happened in our prelim. Here is some analysis of the majority of shots we used:

close up

mid shot

long shot

close up/mid shot

long shot- could get away with ELS

As shown above, we were able to use different shots to illerstate different types of actions or movement going on within the scene. E.g. The protagonist smoking a cigarette was very effective as you were able to see the smoke which proves he was actually smoking and it wasn't fake. Also, the long shots worked really well when he was running as we positioned the lighting just the side on him which made it look like he had some sort of spotlight.

I feel the difference in camera shots when comparing the prelim to the final was all down to learning more in-depth about camera shots and why/how they can be used for affect. Also, the analysis that I did on thriller openings (click here to read the blog) helped as it gave myself and Imogen ideas that we could almost duplicate in our final.

Angles

There was very few examples, in both the prelim and the final piece, of variation of angles. This is something I would improve upon if I was to redo this whole experience as I know from GCSE Media, how important camera angles can be when comparing an antagonist to a protagonist. 

High Angle // Final

Here we tried to use a high angled shot- which actually did turn out to be a rather low-mid angle shot to show the grave being higher than the protagonist. To connote that the mother will always have higher status within society as the mum. This wasn't genuinely used for effect, it was to literally show the grave having high density and the amount of power the mum still had even though she was dead.

Low Angle // Prelim

Here we used a low angle shot of the Antagonist on top of the stairs to suggest power and the position this person/character has over the protagonist that is running away from it. This angle was used to show movement rather than just the status difference than the protagonist.

Movement

Both the final and the prelim had many examples of movement throughout, however I think that the final was done for effect rather than the prelim was done so we was able to show that we could film certain types of movement and use editing techniques to match them. 

For example; here is two similar shots of both characters walking somewhere. As you can see in the gif of our prelim, Katie is simply walking down the stairs, this is genuinely a boring shot but needs to be shown so there isn't a random jump cut that makes it not make any sense. The walking is shown though a match on action, but when you compare it to our final, I feel as if the movement is a lot more smoother and well edited and filmed, creating the movement that we initially wanted.

Prelim

Final

And here is another difference in the movement on the antagonists, as you can see the final is a lot more well acted and slower. Which has an effect of enigma but contracts with the normality of the final antagonist rather than the prelim one.

Final//Antagonist walking

Prelim// Antagonist

Sound

Backing-track

For our backing track, we did a lot of research on which one would fit our genre without making it completely dramatic and over exaggerating. In our prelim task we could use any sound we wanted, therefore we thought we would use the American Horror Story soundtrack to make the whole thing to sound creepy and dramatic. Click here to hear it. We used this because it was already an extremely well known series and song so we thought it would fit best for our prelim as the idea was based upon that type of thriller show.

However, for our final we changed our idea completely and decided to do a lot of research on what sound track would fit our thriller opening best- click here to see that blog post. For our thriller opening we wanted non diegetic background music to play throughout the opening, our ideal music would build up enigma and show decreshendo to add tenison. In order to discover some ideas and inspiration we typed in on youtube 'graveyard scenes' to get inspiration from other famous films music in various graveyard scenes. I found most inspiration from 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire-Voldermolt returns part 3' as it created tension and was a good background noise and it didn't take the attention of the actors as that's what we want to show. From this, we decided to go with this sound track. 

Dialogue

In terms of dialogue in our prelim, we didn't really have much dialogue due to the fact that it builds more tention as well as giving the audience suspense. In terms of post production, we was going to add music ontop of the filming, this will be along the terms of music like this aswell as deep breathing (foleys) that we initially was going to record separately using the Zoom Microphone. 

However, we decided against this and just used non-diegetic music. In comparison to our final, which we used a script and a Zoom Microphone to place a voice over within the editing process. We do not have any evidence of us when filming our voice over which is very annoying however we managed to follow the script, just change it over so slightly to fit a male role rather than a daughter. 

Foleys

One of the most important area of sound within our final was foleys. Again, as we didn't add any within our prelim, there is nothing to compare however I think we used and researched foleys really well throughout our final piece. Here are some screenshots of us through the editing of sound process to fit in our foleys at the right shot:

Here is a screengrab of our final edit. Here we used garageband to create the foleys

Editing

Continuity Editing

From the prelim task I have learned and improved on continuity editing. This is shown in the prelim task where we did not film using the 180 degree rule which was a criteria to perform so we had to re film a separate piece of work to fill the criteria. 

In comparison to our final task, we went through every single shot, through editing and filming to make sure that we did not break the 180 degree rule throughout as we didn't want to go through the pain of re-editing all over again.

Click here to see the blog post on the 180 degree rule.

Here is the sequence of how we used the 180 degree rule in our improved prelim. By using the 180 degree rule it improved our sequence as it covered all the angles of the conversation giving the audience a better understanding of the relationship between the two people. The main aspect of the rule is to not break it. The only defence for breaking the rule is if it is used for effect. Otherwise, breaking the rule will only confuse the audience, especially if it is scenes within a chase, conversation or sport. 

The camera must always be on one side of the line.

The results of breaking the rule:

• Confusion
• Audience lose focus
• Become disorientated
• Miss vital parts of the film 

Here is our Prelim retake of us not breaking the rule:

Match on action

We tended to use a match on action throughout the thriller final, as well as the prelim. Again, here is the two characters in the two different opening films, both walking. The editing is continuous and adds up nicely. As you can see in the gif of our prelim, Katie is simply walking down the stairs, this is genuinely a boring shot but needs to be shown so there isn't a random jump cut that makes it not make any sense. The walking is shown though a match on action, but when you compare it to our final, I feel as if the movement is a lot more smoother and well edited and filmed, creating the movement that we initially wanted.

Graphic Match

Although we didn't use a lit of graphic match, we had a go in our final. The image below shows where we used in in our final. We wanted the protagonist to turn around and the antagonist be gone. This was really hard and very time consuming to edit perfectly, despite the fact we haven't got it 100% right, I think alongside the music, it gives a sense of enigma and mystery to our thriller opening.

Antagonist there VS Antagonist gone

Transitions

I personally feel that there was little transitions between shots in the final and the prelim. For example, we decided to use a lot of fade through blacks in the prelim but only used 2 in the final editing. I think this is because we thought that the use of fade through blacks have to be precise to what you are thinking of doing otherwise it looks really bad.

ADD GIF 

Titling

As we did not put any titling whatsoever in the prelim. We didn't learn too much about titling except from basing ours of 'lovely bones' which is where our whole final planning and ideas came from. In the screen grabs below you are able to see how similar both are however to avoid copyright, we changed ours ever so slightly

Left- Lonely Bones | Right- Ours

As for the final titling, this took a long time to perfect. We wanted a font that would go well with the whole opening as well as symbolise the title, click here to see our blog post on titling. We came up with multiple options on how we wanted the title to look like, an idea we got from the 'se7en' film poster, click here to see blog post on the titling for 'se7en' was replacing a letter with a question mark to emphasise the need for answers. We took feedback from Andrew and Sophie to choose which one would look best as the question mark in the middle on the title did change the look of the word therefore we chose UNANSWERED?. Below is the final title and the soft name that we used.

Conclusion

Over the course of this portfolio, I feel that we have massively improved in comparison to the prelim,  all of which I have highlighted above. I feel that my skills have developed ridiculously and myself and Imogen should be proud of what we have achieved considering there was only two of us in the group.

Overall, I feel that we have successfully created a sequence that would well as a thriller as a result of what we've learnt from the prelim and for that, it reflects throughout our final piece.

Evaluation- Question 7- Imogen Evans

Question 7: Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learned in the progression from it to the full product?

Camera Work

From the prelim task I have learned and improved camera work technics massively, this is shown in the prelim task where we did not film using the 180 degree rule which was a criteria to perform so we had to re film a separate piece of work to fill the criteria. Now in our final piece we used the 180 degree rule correctly which made the piece work well. I feel that our work progressed well with the knowledge of the 180 degree rule as it made the piece feel more spooky as you could see the antagonist from all angles.

Click here to see the blog post on the 180 degree rule.

Here is a sequence of not using the 180 degree rule in our first prelim film. Here we could have used the 180 degree rule to show her facial expressions when she walked through instead of shooting it from behind.

Here is the sequence of how we used the 180 degree rule in our improved prelim. By using the 180 degree rule it improved our sequence as it covered all the angles of the conversation giving the audience a better understanding of the relationship between the two people.

By re filming the 180 degree rule it has made us learn more about the use of camera work and how to use it effectively in our filming, here is the 180 degree rules in action in our final piece. This has helped us improve as we learnt from our mistakes which made our film look more dramatic and intense.

Sound

In our prelim task we could use any sound we wanted which made it easier for us to chose a non diegetic background piece. We used the American Horror Story soundtrack to make it sound creepy and intense.

Click here to hear it.

I have learned from my prelim how to find Foley's and edit them into the film using garage band, how to use a voice recorder and put it into the film, editing the recording into the right moment of the film.

We have improved our use of sound because in our main piece we had to use Foley's which we had not used before in our prelim, this meant locating Foley's on garage band and placing them into the right moment in our film.

Click here to see the blog post on Foley's we used.

This was proven hard because we had uneven moments in our film such as when door 1 opened, then door 2 followed in opening, this meant finding the direct point when the door opened and placing the Foley.

 As shown below is the two doors opening.

Here you can see door 1 opening

And here you can see door 2 opening, shortly after door 1's opening.

We did not plan on door 1 to be opening but because we were filming in college we could not anticipate if someone would come through the door.

*insert screenshot of the door opening foleys*

We also had to record a voice over for our dialogue to put into our piece, this involved using a voice recorder and using final cut pro to place it into the scene.

This is the voice recorder we used to record our dialogue which we wrote a script.

Click here to read the script.

For the final we could not use a copyrighted piece of music so we had to research and find non copyrighted music.

We had to research different types of genres and background tracks which would fit well as well as making sure it could download without being charged for it as we found on some websites.
Click here to see the blog post on finding sound.

Here is a picture of the problem we found when looking for background music, to solve this problem we used other websites.

We improved it by finding the right song off sound cloud. As shown below



Editing

Cuts

In the prelim we used slow fades between each shot to make the scene more intense and creepy, although it created an intense effect it became repetitive and too similar. I learnt from this experience not to over use fading to make the scene more creepy, instead slow the cuts down and pause on certain key moments.

*insert fading example from prelim*






An example in our final piece is when the antagonist approaches the grave, a close up is used to show his facial expressions and capture the image of his scar, by pausing the camera on this moment and making the scene longer. It establishes the identity of the character but creates a chilling effect still.

Graphic Match

We used graphic match in our final piece to make the antagonist look like he had never been there in the protagonists eyes leading to mystery and suspense. Although the graphic match was hard to film as we had to get the timings right to make it look like there was no antagonist it still worked well creating enigma and tension despite the difference of colour which we corrected on final cut pro.

Antagonist there & Antagonist not there

Titling

In our prelim we did not use titling as we did not have the time nor did it fit our piece. We based our titling sequence from the opening of 'The Lovely Bones'. Click here to see the opening. In the screenshots below you will see how they are similar but we changed ours slightly, we used our initials for our 'company' name which links to the email address.

Left Lovely Bones- Right Ours

For our final title we chose the word 'UNANSWERED?' because we felt it linked to our film of unanswered questions and the theme of the unknown but also creates mystery. We wanted a font which matched the opening but decided to go for a fractured effect to show brokenness which represents the feeling of the protagonist. Here is the font shown below

We took inspiration from the film title 'se7en' (click here to see the blog post about the film se7en) because it made the importance of the 7 stand out which is what we wanted to achieve but with a question mark instead which we planned to place in the middle of the title. Although after feedback from Andrew and Sophie we decided to not place a question mark in the middle as it seemed unprofessional and made the writing hard to read therefore we stuck to putting it on the end.  

Here is shown the different ideas we had for the titling

This is our final title.

Mise En Scene

In our prelim film we did not focus on aspects used for mise en scene as much as we did for the final film as admittedly the prelim was rushed so we learnt to put more time and effort into the aspects of mise en scene, therefore improving our film.

Costumes

In our prelim film we used basic costume ideas because of the changing of actors so the protagonist wore basic clothes like a teenage girl would wear and the antagonist wore a dark cloak to hide its identity.

The first picture is the antagonists cloak in the prelim and the second picture is the protagonist wearing a Christmas jumper which represents the season.

Our costumes have improved in our final film because we wanted them to look realistic and not over done like the cloak looked, we stuck to wearing causal clothes which a teenage boy would wear because it made it look more realistic.

The protagonist in causal clothing.

As the antagonist was hidden by the use of lighting to make his character more mysterious, you cannot see his costume very well but he has his hood up to cover his identity and to blend in with the settings.

Makeup

In our prelim film we did not both with makeup as there was no distinct feature we wanted to exploit so the protagonist had no makeup on as it did not matter and the antagonist didn't need any because the face was covered with the cloak.

 No makeup is needed here.

No makeup has been used here.

Our makeup has improved in our final piece because we wanted to make it look like a scar was on the antagonists face, this meant researching different methods of how to create the scar.

Click here to see the video of practising the scar.

Click here to see the blog post on the makeup we used to create the scar.

Here is the scar after practising.

This is the final product of the scar, it blended in well with the beard and it looks more bloody and gorey due to large amounts of red lip gloss.

Hair

For the prelim and the final piece we did not focus on the hair, this is because in our prelim the protagonist was desired to look as innocent as possible which meant leaving our actor how she originally was. The antagonist did not need attention to hair as the face was covered with a long black cloak.

Here the hair is normal and just tied up.

No hair has been shown here

In our final piece we improved our hair by making the protagonists flat to show the link between the two periods of time as if nothing has happened.

The top photos are shot outside when we first filmed and the bottom photos are shot the second time but in college. A different location is used but tom's hair is still the same making it more believable that it was a dream.

Props

We have improved our props massively because in our prelim film we used nothing at all so there were no distinct features of props so when filming our final piece we included lots of props.

The first prop we used as shown above is a cigarette. We used a cigarette to give the scene more mystery but the use of smoking is linked to stress which represents how the protagonist is feeling. We also felt it sets the scene up well as it gives a sense of tension and creates enigma. 

 The second props we used as shown above is pen and paper. We used pen and paper to represent the college environment the protagonist wakes up in. It gives the location more meaning as the props give it detail and location setting.

The third prop we used is fake blood. We used fake blood to create mystery and tension by leaving the audience on the edge of their seats as we placed the fake blood at the end of the opening to create a cliff hanger. This makes the audience think why does he have blood on his hands and will make them want to continue watching.






Location

I think we have improved on our location massively. In our prelim we only filmed in college limiting ourselves filming opportunities because we had to find a location where we could not be disturbed and be able to film. We chose stairs by the sports department where it could be easily intruded as sports students would come out for break.

These are the location in which we filmed our prelim in.


The first photo is the hallway where the protagonist walks down. The second photo is the main feature of our prelim which is the stairs, as we were restricted to where we could film it was very basic. The third photo is the second hallway which the protagonist runs down.
As you can see the location is very basic but we improved during our final piece.

We filmed the beginning of our opening at the Worth Way Walkover which is near Amy's house and goes over the M25. This was the perfect location to film at night because by it being dark it creates mystery and enigma as it was well lit making the audience only see distinct images which the camera focuses on.

This was easy to access and because we filmed at night there was no public to interrupt us.

We also filmed at St Nicholas Church, using a specific grave where one of Amy's relatives is buried. By lighting the grave stone it created an eerie effect which emphasised the location benefits. As it is a private place we need permission to film here, click here to watch the permission video. By filming in a graveyard it made the opening more scary as it gave connotations of death and panic because there were dead people buried near.

Our last location was Central Sussex College Haywards Heath where we filmed the scene which ended the opening. By filming in college we did not need permission so we managed to film fast and efficiently so that we could link up the film together. Filming in college made the idea of the protagonists experience just being a dream more real as it looks like he has just woken up in class. This is effective because it leaves the audience on a cliff-hanger.


Lighting

In our prelim our film was poorly lit because we were inexperienced with the equipment making our prelim lighting shaky and not covering all aspects of the location we were shooting. We improved this drastically by taking more care and time with the lighting to light the locations which was more important as we were filming in the dark and needed the actors facial expressions to be seen clearly which wouldn't have been able to happen if we didn't light it properly.

Here is a moment when poor lighting was used in the door you can see the reflection of the lighting making the piece look bad and unprofessional.

Again the lighting is reflected on the door giving the door a shimmery effect.




Here is how the lighting is improved.

Here the lighting has been used well, the actors face is clear and you cannot see into the darkness which creates mystery in the opening.

The lighting is used well in the shot because it is at a distance where the actors reflection is reflected on the lighting but is shown on the pavement. In order to shoot this, we had to use someone to run alongside the actor so that they could be fully lighted, this was tricky to do but it was worth it in the long haul.

Positioning

In our prelim we didn't use positioning much because the scene was fast paced meaning the cuts were positioned in fast paced scenarios. The main positioning is a foot placed when she is walking and when she is positioned walking down the stairs. These positioning show key moments of the walk along the way and is only used with the protagonist.

This shows the route of her descent down the stairs, the positioning isn't thought out massively which we took to improving on in our final piece.

The pictures shown below are our improved pieces of positioning in our final piece.

Body Language/Facial Expressions

In our prelim we did not focus on facial expressions so we had a limited variety of facial expressions in only key moments when the protagonist was shocked or panicked. Body language wasn't developed on much as the protagonist was meant to look as casual as possible but with the antagonist we developed body language so that you could not read the body language as it was a soul less creature with no emotions.

      Here are the 3 key facial expressions used.

The first photo is shot at the beginning of the scene where the protagonists looks causal and care free, this sets the scene of unknowing which makes the audience feel a stronger relationship for Katie as she starts off not being followed so the audience will feel sorry for her.

The second photo used facial expressions to show that she is confused but is beginning to understand that she is being followed, she captures this emotion by having a plain facial expression but by looking behind it proves she is on guard.

The third photo shows her realisation that she is being followed and the panic of the situation. This is expressed by her face being scrunched up and her eyes being wide and her jaw clenched as she is determined to get away. Facial expressions emphasise the fear and determination



         Here are the 3 key body language shots used.

The first photo is expressing how causal the protagonist is. By dropping her shoulders and having a slouched body fixture it emphasises how she has no fear and is calm about the situation, it gives the audience an edge as they know something that the character doesn't, this creates enigma and tension.

The second photo is of the antagonist walking down the stairs following Katie. The antagonist has a posture which is upright but does not give any specific key characteristics about themselves which could be used to identify them.

The third photo is when the protagonist starts to run. Her body language is positioned in a running fix so she is poised forward to show she is in a panic. By her arms being upright it emphasises her not being causal like she was shown in the first picture but instead on edge.

We improved facial expressions and body language in our final piece by putting more time into planning our story board for the film. Click here to see our storyboard. We also took the time to talk to the actors to get them to portray the emotions we wanted them to show, an example is we had to ask Tom to imagine if he was in the situation that his Mother had mysteriously disappeared, he showed emotions of anger but sadness.

       Here the 4 key facial expressions used

The first photo is shot at the beginning of the opening. As our actor smokes the cigarette his face is slanted away the camera to make it look like he's looking into the distance, this resembles remorse and sadness as his facial expressions show confusion by slightly closing his eyes.

The second photo used shows sadness but anger. Facial expressions express this by him squinting his eyes as if he is trying not to cry and bowing his head out of remorse and forgiveness. By Tom clenching his jaw this shows his angry side as if he believes he is to blame for his Mother's disappearance.

The third photo is of the antagonist first approaching the protagonist. His facial expressions have a tight grin as if he feels pleasure of seeing someone suffer but it also looks like he is grimacing to see someone in the pain.

The fourth photo is used to show sadness and regret. By the actor closing his eyes and sighing it is showing that he is stressed and upset about the situation. By using a close up you can fully see his facial expressions which emphasised the pain.

    Here are the 3 key body language shots.

The first photo is shot at the beginning of the opening. Here the actor has banged the railing and is leaning against it. His body language shows he is angry as he is slouched over and by hitting the railing it shows aggression, he is leant forward which emphasises he is in a hurry but regrets his decision of hitting the railing because his head is bowed out of remorse and regret.

The second photo shows sadness and adds extreme emotion because the protagonist is on his knees by his mothers grave holding his hands out as if to say why did this happen? This adds mystery and keeps the audience interested as it is a cliff hanger which set the film up nicely. As he is on his knees it shows that he is trying to pray for her to come back, this makes him look vulnerable and innocent.

The third photo is showing an emotional relationship between the Son as he is stroking his grave. By using an Over The Shoulder shot it hides the facial expressions of the actor which only portrays his body language.

Audience Feedback- Final Edit

Here we asked somebody within our target audience range of what they thought about the opening and what we could improve upon. The questions we asked are:

• What do you think of our opening?
• What could we do to improve it?
• Would you watch this as a film?
• And others

Final Edit

This is our final thriller opening for our AS grade. The main idea of this was to create a 2 minute opening sequence to film, edit and make the sound like a thriller would.

Here we used an antagonist and a protagonist. The protagonist is clueless to where the mother had gone missing and the child (aka the protag) had no idea what had happened to her.

I hope you enjoy :)