Be the examiner

One of our research tasks was to look at previous examples of work, mainly previous thriller openings, not only from our school. From watching these past openings, I believe I have a better idea of what examiners are looking for when marking our work; I now know the grade boundaries, ranging from 0 to 60 marks, and what is needed to move through the levels from 1 to 4. Below is a copy of what the examiner is looking for when marking, each level has specific requirements that need to be evident in the thriller openings. The grade boundaries are as follows:
U < 24
D = 30+
E = 24+
C = 36+
B = 42+
A = 48+

 

Below is an example of one of the past openings from a different school, this got 54 marks out of 60 which would equate to a grade A. I believe the marks given to this piece of work are not, in my opinion, correct. Hard work, however, is evident mainly through the use of editing as all shots line up and there are very few scenes that jump and look untidy. You can easily tell that the group pre-planned very well as continuity was very good, editing was good, the storyline was clear and they used a wide range of camera angles along with a subtle soundtrack that matched what we saw on screen. The opening is clearly an opening too as it engages the audience and makes you want to know what happens and what to know all about the character who seems disturbed. Despite these good points and the high marks given, I believe the mise-en-scene could've been improved at some points as when in the workshop there is a bottle that is supposed to represent poison, the thing that ruins this scene is that the label reading poison was hand written which bought the real life aspect of the thriller down.

 

 

 

Here is another example of a thriller opening, this one got 44 marks out of 60 which would be a grade B. I believe that this opening looked more like a trailer than a film opening; it didn't engage the audience enough, it didn't leave people with questions about what will happen after, it was more like what happened before and in between these scenes. Despite this, the group used appropriate titles with both sound and smooth editing between scenes; the editing showed off the fact that they had used a variety of shot types and transitions to suit the type of film they were going for. This thriller sticks to the main stereotypes of a thriller in my opinion, it's set in a graveyard, a character dies and it's all a big mystery, because of this I can clearly see that the material is appropriate to the task set.

 

 

 

Below is a final example of one of my favourite thriller openings which received an A grade which is a high level 4 (around 56 marks) when referring to the mark scheme above. The mise-en-scene was crucial in creating the desired effect and mood that this group wanted to achieve, the first few shots instantly create a feeling of isolations and mystery. Every part of the film was clearly thoroughly planned right from the costume all the way through to the location and props; these elements keep the mood at a constant throughout and keep the attention of the audience even when there are flashbacks. This helped me to realise that mise-en-scene can sometimes be overlooked and it shouldn't be at all as it's key that the audience can relate to the opening as much as possible.

 

 

 

This has helped me to have a better understanding of the mark scheme and how the marks equate to grades and what is needed to achieve each grade. I have seen examples of both good and not as good thriller openings and I feel like I now know what I need to do to ensure that my thriller is just as engaging as 'Captive', just as mysterious as 'Torn' and just as eerie as 'Peek - A - Boo'!

Day 2 filming

Make-Up!

One of my roles within the making of 'Raven Calls' was make up. To prepare for real thing, I took it upon myself to research some ideas of what we could do to create the desired dead girl effect. We wanted pale, very pale, dark eyes/crevasses and rotting flesh. We started off looking at the porcelain effect so we could see how the pale skin would look along with dark eyes:

 

 

After seeing this we decided we definitely liked the idea of pale skin and we also liked the cracked porcelain which we didn't expect! Knowing this, I looked into more ideas which we primarily based on cracks rather than porcelain dolls. Below is what I found, sticking to the dark eyes and cracks because we already knew we wanted the pale skin so we would put multiple ideas together to create the perfect look for us.

 

 

We liked these ideas, particularly the last photo as this one had pieces missing on the face, not just cracks. This led us to thinking about using liquid latex to have bits of flesh missing rather than just cuts and cracks. We wanted the flesh to be hanging off and showing some blood as this would contrast with the pale white skin and dark black eyes. Below are photos of the finished product, we believe this will be seen from a distance and therefore is the perfect look; not too much but enough to create an eerie effect.

 

 

 

Target audience

For our film we had to have a clear idea of who our target audience are and so I created a mind map of what we would look for in our ideal audience, I also made reference to certain audience theories and I included a short summary of our very own film 'Raven Calls'. I made this mind map using 'MindMeister'.

 

Target Audience by Amy Hall

Regulation - BBFC

One of our research tasks was to look into the British Board of Film Classification; who they are, what they do and how long they've been doing this for. The BBFC are a non-profit independent organisation which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984. Below I have made a poster using 'Canva' to show the specific criteria for each age rating:

 

 

In my opinion, I believe that all of the above age ratings are justified, fair and easy to follow and understand. The criteria is simple and clear; this means that film makers will find it easier to create a film for a set age range because the ratings clearly state what is acceptable and what isn't.

 

If I was to give our thriller film 'Raven Calls' an age rating it would be 15+ as the film contains issues of a psychological nature and death which viewers under the age of 15may find upsetting or disturbing. By giving the film this age range it broadens the range of people who will be attracted to watching this film.

Sound in film

What role does sound play in film making?
 

For our thriller film we have to consider all of these aspects of sounds:

-          Dialogue: how to record? Problems with mixing? Voiceover?

-          Incidental music/sound effects

-          Layering and levels

-          Timing

-          What impact/effect do you want it to have in your film? How much do you want it to be noticed?

-          Use for tensions, jump scares, use of silence?

Our task was to research the use of sound in film to give us a greater understanding of the effect sound has on a film. Here is what I found:

Before the invention of the "talking picture," all movies were completely silent, music was brought over to films not only because of tradition, but to add a depth to the two-dimensional image that appeared on the screen. Max Steiner wrote the first completely original score for King Kong in 1933. Despite this, John Williams is believed to have written the best movie scores ever, some of his best work appears in 'Jaws', 'Star Wars', 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', 'Harry Potter', 'Home Alone', 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Schindler's List', 'ET, and 'Superman'. Based on this I decided to have a play around with the sound in the opening scene of 'Star Wars' (1977), focusing particularly on the use of sound. Below is what I came up with and below that is the original version; each new soundtrack I added created a different effect and mood. Enjoy!