Prelim Evaluation

In general, I found our overall attempt at our Prelim task to be substantial. Our editing wasn't the best, however the split screen worked efficiently which helped to make our task better.
Mine and Elliot's acting wasn't of the best quality, neither was our use of location. However, with the time provided, I think we managed to pull it off effectively enough.
All of us put in equal parts to the production of our Prelim task. We took it in turns to edit the footage and we all had input during the filming. This is why I think our task was successful despite the look of it.
The costume wasn't planned out properly, so each of us was just wearing our regular clothes, therefore it didn't look as professional as we'd hoped. 
Our use of props however seemed to add largely to the verisimilitude of the task .
 We used a briefcase, a gun, a phone and an envelope. By using these we managed to create a more realistic tone to the task set. 

 Sound throughout The Briefcase mainly consists of diegetic sound, with dialogue and ambient sounds from nearby. There is no incidental music, however the sound of a gunshot was edited over the top when Vickey's character shoots Elliot. The gunshot sound  adds to the whole concept of our plot line and then creates a more realistic feel. 

 

Original Story Board

For our storyboard, I illustrated and Joelle fed me ideas which helped to get the storyboard done quicker. The first 15 shots, to the left, show the introduction to our sequence. The first shot shows Benjamin and Jasper sat in their therapy room, the scene will continue with their conversation about Jasper's life and childhood. These questions trigger flashbacks for Jasper, which then leads to the audience becoming aware of what happened to her mother when she was younger.
The scene slowly evolves from the therapy room to different settings, with flashbacks, little clips of Jasper walking and sat on benches. Eventually, there will be no further mention of Benjamin and the therapy session.
This draws more focus to what it was that triggered her mother's death. This causes dramatic irony as Benjamin doesn't understand what happened, yet the audience do. 
The shots of Jasper and her mother arguing will be arranged in ways that no one shot is the same. They will be from different angles to represent their argument in different ways. One of the last shots of them prior to the death will be of their hands. This will show how their body movements reflect their distress and anger towards one another. 
As their argument progresses, there will be crosscutting to Jasper sitting on a  bench. This scene will be crosscut with their arugment, which will then end with Jasper on the bench, crying. This as the result of her killing her mother.    

Techical Elements

Prelim Task - Session 2

Session 2 Wednesday 2nd November
In this session, our group completed planning by writing up a final script which was scribed by Elliot. It includes the stage directions for each of the characters and their dialogue. 
Small changes were made to this script in order to perfect it. For example, when Isabelle hands Tommy the brief case, he says "Big case isn't it", Isabelle's original line was "Does it matter?" but we decided to make it a bit more witty by changing the line to "Does size matter?".
This minor change helps to create a funnier atmosphere to the prelim task. 

In the second half of this session, our group began filming. In order to do this, I had to get props from the drama department in order to sustain the verisimilitude. The prop I used was a briefcase, although one side of it was cut out so we had to improvise.
The briefcase largely helped to make the task seem more realistic and give a wider meaning. We also used a picture of Ed Barker as a prop, to show the audience who had been kidnapped for the ransom. 

Sound Planning

Sound in our thriller is hoping to be used to create a calm atmosphere which reflects this of the therapy session. The incidental music should be calm and relaxing, this will then contrast against the intense scene towards the end of our opening and juxtapose the ideas. The music should then build up a crescendo towards the title of the film to build tension.

For ambient sound, we hope to record scribbling sounds as Dr Winters takes notes as the pair talk in their therapy session, we also hope to get the sound of birds singing to add to the calming atmosphere intended.


As Jasper talks about her past to Dr Winters, there will sound bridges as her mind flashbacks to previous parts of her life. The sound bridges will allow the dialogue to continue as the audience sees flashbacks and allow her voice to let the audience understand what was going on in her mind at the time.

Mise En Scene Planning

We're hoping to film the therapy session at The Nottingham Contemporary in one of the rooms called The Study. We think this would be perfect as the room is filled with books and chairs and can work to create a life-like representation of a therapy room. If this is not possible, we shall find another location to film to ensure that the verisimillitude is sustained.

We'd like Jasper's costume to consist of white clothing while she's in therapy. This will be to show her purity at the time and how she's managed to overcome her anger, but she'll be left with the depression. However, throughout the flashbacks, we'd like her to be wearing red items which will symbolise her anger and depression. We hope this will be evident in our project as this is a key element of Jasper's character. Jasper's make up should reflect her distress so there'll be dark circles underneath her eyes and her hair will be down, casually to show less effort.

For Dr. Winters, we'd like his costume to consist of a smart, suit-type outfit that will use brown as a neutral colour to declare his position in Jasper's life as neutral. The jacket will be tweed-like to show sophistication, although he will be wearing a shirt that's open buttoned without a tie to make his character seem more relaxed. This sets their relationship as one with trust and responsibilty.

In the therapy session, there will high-key lighting as there are large windows that allow a lot of light. This would be ideal as having high-key lighting allows for a more positive atmosphere for the session and fits with the white that Jasper will be wearing. 

Throughout the flashbacks, low-key lighting will be used to depict the sadness and emotion felt by Jasper throughout her dark and troubling times.   

Joelle and I are hoping to get various other shots of Jasper walking in various locations. We're hoping to get these at various places around Toton/Stapleford, Wollaton Hall, Highfields Park and other picturesque places.  We also hope to record clips of Jasper walking down a dimly lit street and up a hill to cut into the flashbacks.

Beginning Of Planning for Thriller Opening

Today, Joelle Riley and I began to brainstorm ideas for our thriller opening. 
The narrative took a while to come together in our minds, but once we started to get our ideas down, things started to happen. 
We began with a basic thriller brainstorm and wrote down ideas for the character's names and their backstories. To the right is a brainstorm of our initial ideas.

Our main character is going to be played by Alice Malyon, she's a friend of Joelle's who goes to Inspire Academy which is an acting workshop. The main character is called Jasper Wynne. 
All throughout Jasper's life, she has struggled with her anger issues. The stem of this problem occurred from her father being absent for the majority of her childhood. This changed her into deeply sad and angry person from a very young age.
At the age of 13, Jasper's mother died. The only real parental figure she had died when she was very young.  
Jasper's now 18, it's been five years since her mother passed and she's going to regular therapy session with her therapist, Benjamin Winters - who will be being played by George Bartram as he's an experienced actor.

The scene begins with the pair mid-conversation. Benjamin will ask questions that trigger thoughts in Jasper's mind. This will be portrayed through flashbacks and cuts between the past and the present. 
As the scene progresses, the audience will subtly become more and more aware of the actions that took place when Jasper was 13, the thoughts that haunt her, and have done for five years. 
There'll be a flashback to an argument Jasper and her mother had five years ago. An argument at the top of the stairs.  The argument is heated but the specific nature of the conversation cannot be heard. The argument builds and Jasper's anger overrides her. She pushes her mum down the stairs, killing her. There will then be a cut to the bottom of the stairs, where Jasper's mother lies dead.
However, Dr Winters knows only that her mother is dead, not the cause. This will add to the atmosphere as it's a secret that she has told no-one. 

Analysis of Silence Of The Lambs Opening

The opening to The Silence Of The Lambs,  director Jonathan Demme, begins with a slow, gentle piece of classical music. This is incidental and continues for the entire of the opening titles. By using an intense piece of music, the tone for the film is established immediately.

The first frame shown is a mid shot of woods. There's mist shown in the background which suggests the timing is early and also creates a more scary atmosphere which fits in with the theme of a thriller. 
The camera stays still but in the bottom right corner of the frame an underlined title appears which gives some context about the area to the audience. The title says Woods near Quantico, Va in a serfied, type-writer-like font which allows the audience to place when the film is taking place. The title is also written in white, which contrasts against darkness of the trees and atmosphere.
The title fades away and a new title appears. This time, the font is completely different to the previous one. The font is in big, bold, black, block letters with a white outline to make them stand out slightly more. The title stands in the middle of the frame and fills the width unlike the previous title. The title of the production company comes before any others which is typical of movies. 

The next titles to appear is the name of the main actors and actresses in the film. The first name shown is Jodie Foster's, this immiediately allows the audience to recognise who the main character is to the film as her name is displayed before any other. Her title is in a larger font than the production companies but only because her name is shorter. Regardless, her name seems more important to the audience than the production companies.
The next two names shown are the main male actors in the film, their names are bold and obvious also like the titles previous. By having their titles before the title of the film makes them seem important and significant. Each actor/actresses title runs for 4 seconds. However, the title of the film runs stays on screen for 6 seconds. This suggests that because it's more important it needs more time on the screen for people to read and acknowledge. The non-diegetic music also increases in volume as the title, The Silence Of The Lambs, is shown.

As all of these titles run, the camera starts to tilt downwards through the trees and head towards a central point. This point is the top of a hill and is focused on after the title of the film is shown.

After the title of the film disappears, the top of a hill is tilted down to and someone begins to come up the hill. The audience cannot distinguish any features of this person until the climb further up the hill. By this point, more titles have already been and gone, but by now, the audience has lost interest in the titles as anything of real importance has been show already. Whilst these titles are being shown, the scene continues to play which is why the audience's focus has been drawn to the person climbing up the hill using a rope. The use of the rope as a prop helps to understand the context in which the woman is exercising. The rope seems to be helping her which suggests that she is training for some reason, this is also reinforced later as there's a cargo net that she climbs over. The audience then sees the woman as someone with authority, power and the ability to work hard. 
As she climbs to the top of the hill, the camera doesn't cut and therefore it's shot in a long take. The woman breathes heavily, out of breath from her hike up the hill. She looks around and continues to run, out of the frame. The camera remains where it is, after she's moved out of the frame and zooms slightly to the trees behind before cutting back to Jodie Foster's character running. 
The titles continue to run as does the character, the camera follows behind as a mid-shot.

 The titles that run from this point on are in blocks of three, showing their relevance but also showing them as less important than those with a title to themselves. Also, there's a long amount of time between ANTHONY HEALD's title and BROOKE SMITH, DIANE BAKER and KASI LEMMON's title. This was to provide time for the audience to familiarise themselves with the character running. 

As she runs, the camera moves from behind her, to infront of her, to the side of her. This shows various perspectives.

There's a close up of her face, suddenly, which shows how hard she's working on training and shows her determination to succeed and what she is perhaps capable of.
She then carries on to run over a cargo net, in doing this, the camera moves around the base slowly enough to see how she moves over the top and rolls down the other side, almost as if she has done it thousands of times before. As though she is trained already and is just keeping up her standards.

Analysis of Pulp Fiction Opening

The opening to Pulp Fiction begins with an establishing mid-two-shot of two characters. A man and a woman. They're in what seems to be a typical American diner drinking coffee and eating. The man's costume consists of a Hawaiian type shirt, light-wash blue denim jeans and trainers. He's also smoking inside which sets the scene of America in the early 90's. 

The topic of conversation is not interpreted as the scene begins midway through their talk. As their conversation develops the audience becomes aware of the topic and realises what their occupation is. 
The shot of the two is broken by a waitress. The waitress asks them if they want more coffee in which the woman replies very politely. This largely contradicts the events which are to follow.

The scene begins to develop and the camera slowly zooms into the male character as they discuss their mutual want to not kill anybody, by doing this, the seriousness of their conversation is noticed and the audience is immediately engaged. 

Their conversation develops until they settle on the idea of robbing the coffee shop that they are currently in. Sound bridges are used between shot-reverse-shots as to keep the focus on one of the characters dialogue rather than cutting between them unnecessarily. 
The dialogue "I'm ready, let's do it. Right now, right here" is used by the woman to initiate the action of the robbery. The man then places a gun on the table and a fast cut is made to signify the importance of the gun in the situation, but it also focuses on the danger at hand. 

After this, the couple share a kiss. This long-lasting kiss seems significant to the audience as they're about to rob a coffee shop with weapons. The significance is also reinforced through a close up as they kiss. The kiss seems to symbolise their affection for one another but it also acts as a farewell/see you on the other side kind of kiss.

The couple sit back down and exchange their affections. 
The woman first says "I love you, Pumpkin" and the man replied with "I love you Honey Bunny". Their use of pet names supports the idea that they've been partners in crime and in life for a long time. 
The sweetness of these previous actions is immediately contradicted as they stand up with their guns and shout at the customers and staff in the shop. 
The man jumps from his seat in the booth, the camera tilts up with him, and he seems to take a 'good cop' approach as his dialogue is "Everybody be cool, this is a robbery". 

 Next, the woman stands up and takes a much more aggressive approach, brandishing her gun and pointing it at everyone. Her line of dialogue is "Any of you fucking pricks move and I'll execute every mother fucking last one of you". Despite their conversation about not wanting to kill anybody, her attitude portrays something different and the audience is then shocked by her immediate change to a criminal. The woman's character strays far away from female stereotypes by being loud, angry, aggressive and using taboo language. 

There is then a freeze frame of the two pointing their guns to the right of the frame, in which the first title appears. As the the freeze frame begins, non-diegetic, fast paced music begins to play. This keeps the modern atmosphere but also creates carries on the fast paced nature of the scene previous. The titles are all in a contrasting yellow, sans-serif font which keeps the modern feel to the film. By placing the title at the bottom of the frame, the characters can still be seen and their actions are still memorable to the audience.

 The freeze frame then fades to black and the titles continue to run. 
A BAND APART being the title of one of the production companies is presented in the centre of the frame and is accompanied by the companies logo which helps the audience to remember them.

 The words AND and PRODUCTION are in a much smaller font than Jersey Films which helps to accentuate the importance of the production company.
The two production companies are also shown before the director and title of the film which bares some importance also. 



Quentin Tarantino's title seems to stand out more than the previous titles. This seems so because his name is long and fills more of the frame but also because his title is accompanied by "A film by". This suggests that he is a well-known writer/director and draws in the fans of his. 

 Finally, the title of the film is brought into the frame through a credits transition and it moves upwards from the bottom. It stops moving in the centre of the frame so that the audience can read the title of the movie. The large, block letters stand out against the black background and are 3D, this differs to the previous titles but the colour scheme of yellow/orange remains. The large letters are also in a serifed font and are also in capitals. This signifies the great importance of the title of the film.
The titles of the actors and actresses after this are white, which creates a contrast to the yellow colour scheme but also makes them stand out as they're in a different font too.