Text fonts for titles

(We decided prior to creating this that the title will be 'RED INK' not 'INK RED' due to feedback from members of our target audiences.)
Personal opinion: I think that the font 'Chiller' is the best of the four fonts I decided were possibilities. This is because I think that it looked the best out of the three due to its rugged and strange aesthetics, making it look more frantic and interesting. The others are too simple and normal, I wanted the font to reflect the tone of the movie which is disjointed and weird.

Audience feedback
Ryan:
'I thought that the best font was Chiller because it looks like blood and that it was the one of the four that is more suited to a thriller genre.'

Jared:
'I like the second and the fourth fonts.'
Me:
'Why is that ?'
Jared:
'I just think that out of the four, they are the ones that stand out, I agree that the first font is too cartoony and that the third one is too blocky. I guess that those two are just the more interested and suited.'

Feedback on the thriller we recieved on our first complete draft

The target audience generally found that the thriller was hard to follow with its constant flash backs and complex story line. At this point I decided that we would no longer be using the idea of flashbacks and would revert back to a more conventional and standard approach to the chase scene. Another thing that was picked up on by our target audience was that the thriller introduction may be more effective without the use of dialogue. This includes the dialogue in the final scene and as this scene was driving the thriller opening over the recommended length anyway and so was dispensable. Thirdly the dark night time setting of the thriller was brought into question. It was a huge cliche that murders happen in the night so nobody expects them in the day. I decided to challenge this convention and the members of the target audience thought it was an interesting idea.

Audience feedback

(Due to a technical fault with the video file we cannot upload the video of our presentation to the media class however we can still react and adapt around the feedback that we received due to the fact that we took note of the feedback we received.)

One thing that was quickly noted as a problem with our introduction was that it seemed like a concluded video from the ideas that were presented. To fix this I will either add extra scenes to avoid it seeming like this or I will adjust certain aspects in the post production stage to make the film more like a conventional thriller opening. An example of how we can do this is through the use of titles, possibly say 'Based of a story by....' etc. which will make it more obvious that the video is a introduction rather than a concluded piece.
           From the target audience feedback from the presentation we also got a better idea of which title should accompany the thriller, which after our initial ideas were rejected, was discussed in detail. As the storyline of the thriller was that the murderer is a reporter I came up with the idea 'Red Ink' and this was generally accepted by the audience of the presentation. We then briefly discussed the font that could be used in the thriller, during which I said my idea of using a font that resembled the colour and ruggedness of writing in blood.
           A third thing that I got feedback on for the thriller was that the idea of an amnesia victim who has flash backs about a chase may come across as a bit hard to understand by the audience. I always knew that it would be a challenge to create an introduction in this way effectively and so wasn't surprised by this comment however it did make me consider whether or not I should scrap the idea.
           Another flaw that was generally agreed with was that all of the blood, weapons and gore would come across as too cliché to the audience and I agreed with the feedback generally. I could understand why the chainsaw etc may come across as stereotypical of a thriller with a  horror subgenre and so removed it from the plans. It didn't seem like a good choice to me anyway, but I thought it may add to the strange intimidating mise-en-scene in the kitchen scene and so added it to my storyboards.
           Finally when we asked the members of our target audience what type of music they thought should accompany our thriller they generally responded with the usual thriller conventional type of music that is usually used in this area of film. This being disjointed ambient music as well as tension building pieces. This was something that I already had in mind however hearing it from our target audience made it a more firm decision.

(This is the PowerPoint I used in the presentation to the

class, unfortunately the video of it couldn't be uploaded)

 

Final video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qGzFA7ZPHeA

Question 7

http://www.spicynodes.org/a/4baa9974945dd3b37a658bbd22f27566

Question 6

http://www.vcasmo.com/video/mrmanofflax/28320

the video link contained (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XpKFx4zXSQ )

Question 5

question 5

More PowerPoint presentations from mrmanofflax

Question 4

http://mrmanofflax.edu.glogster.com/question-4/

Question 3

Question 2

https://bubbl.us/?h=1f76e3/3fa5e0/200falvHz.vjc&r=1091758049

Question 1

http://prezi.com/6qyfzeurjz7z/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

List of sound effects to be used (made with Scibbless)

Costume

MURDERER - Black thick jacket as it is

sinister and formal, jeans to make him seem more

hard working and rural, Black British assault boots

as they are intimidating and blood on his hands

to show how sadistic and evil he is.

VICTIM - Casual and informal as the

detective is off duty and just going to visit

someone he thinks knows information about his case.

Hoody, track suit bottoms, trainers and gloves.

Pictures of set in kitchen scene

This is the pickaxe that will be used as the murder

weapon in the woods by the reporter, it is largely

outside of frame in the shots in this scene except for when

the murderer is exiting the house and grabbing it.

This is a notebook containing scribbles in ink and

blood. The title of the movie being the text

written in blood. This prop is used to suggest the

character mental state in this scene.

This dirty shirt is more of just an instrument for covering

this work surface to make the room look more

sinister.

The things in this image are mostly generic

objects to be found in a house apart for the

red ambient light that Is used to connote

danger in the kitchen.

This object is meant to be thought provoking

as it is backwards facing to the camera in the

shots in the kitchen. In actual fact it is just

a fish tank but I thought it looked sinister

from behind so I included it.

This is a box of various strange objects

that could connote the sinister nature of

the house to the viewer.

A chemical bottle carelessly left on its side connotes

the murderers carelessness, but also possibly

the method he uses to dispose of the bodies. 

This sink is used to further show how the

murderer disposes of bodies with blood

splattered on the front of it.

The axe, saw and bloody shirt present the

final pieces of the puzzle to the detective

as he looks around the kitchen. They tell him he is

in the murderers house.

prop walkthrough

A PowerPoint on the BBFC

Diagram for the shooting of the final scene

Location shots

I like the idea of there being slopes and inclines in the

chase scene as it will slow it down in places making it less of just

a full blown sprint.

The tree over to the left has a very sinister look and would

be great to include

This branch would give the actor an obstacle to

navigated making the chase at this part more interesting.

I like these parts of the wood as they are off the

beaten path making the wood look more remote and wild

and in turn will increase the victims feeling of

aloneness and helplessness.

This is the kind of place in the wood that we will avoid filming in.

This is because it has a fence and a path running parallel to each other. As

well as this the area is very open and uninteresting; this will be a pain as the darkness of the woods wont allow us to see far anyway and so if the features of the wood are to far from the camera then

they wont be picked up and the shots will be boring.

This is a tree that could possibly be used for the shot

of the victim being sat dazed. This is because it has space behind and in

front of it and has a flat trunk and will be comfortable to lean against.

This is another tree that is interesting and

will make for an better shot should we include it.

I like the idea of a canted angle being used that is parallel to a

branch of the tree. This is just an idea I would like to include.

the path that the victim will take will have to have

curves in it, otherwise it will be boring. So to implement these

curves we can have the victim run around tree trunks like these or

around bushes.

                                                 

This is a terrible place to film as the sign

makes the area look too populated and less remote.

I like the symmetry of this part of the wood

and despite what I said earlier about the parts that

were fairly open being bad places to shot I

would like to include this somehow.

This is the place we used to film the practice of the

final scene, but I wasn't happy with it as it was to close to

the road and so there was a lot of background noise. As well as this

the establishing shot of the church over to the right was difficult to get

when we filmed here as it was hidden behind a tree line.

This is another place that we could film the

final scene in, however the church is really

far from this path and so we will not be able to get the

establishing shot.

I would like to incorporate these steps in the dialogue scene

however as we have a dog with us this may not be practical.

This is the preferred place for the final scene as it is

right next to the church, has good wind protection and

has places to walk off the path (aka off camera)

This is another place where the final scene could

be filmed, however it is very open to the wind

and has a lot of background noise. I do like the

symmetry of the trees once again though so I may consider

using this area.

Props that will be used in the kitchen scene

This note book is going to be the first sign that the kitchen the detective enters is owned by the murder him self. The majority of the page is coated in dark words and messages that have been scrawled all over it at canted angles. However I have also added the name of the film that we have finally decided on, 'Red Ink', written in blood on the notebook for effect. This was a spur of the moment prop that I personally am very pleased with.

This is an insanely cool blade that we use for cutting branches off bushes in our back garden. Other than the orange handle that is just off screen, this blade is perfect for our opening. This is because it isn't completely clean, a good thing as this means it will look more menacing, and it is easily accessible as it is in my garage. When we get around to running blood down the knife in the filming of the kitchen scene, I believe its going to be incredibly effective.

When it came to saws, it came down to two. The first was a huge orange saw with a monstrous jagged blade and handle. The second this much smaller and manageable one. The reason that I chose this one is that I don't see a reporter in a small village owning a saw like the first one. This saw is going to be paired with the axe and bloody shirt to be the decisive information that tells the detective he is in the murderers house.

This is the pick axe that will be used by the murderer to kill the detective. When it came to choosing the fatal weapon there were three choices, the pick axe, the axe or the chainsaw. One of the reasons that we chose the pick axe is that the other two weapons are fairly cliché. The chainsaw was actually picked out as being cliché by a member of our target audience in the presentation of our ideas. Another reason is practicality, the weapon will need to be carried down into the woods and if someone saw us with a chainsaw or axe, they may become worried. However a pick axe is a bit less menacing. Thirdly we will need to edit in a sound effect out the weapon hitting its mark when editing. We decided that the chainsaw would just sound silly, this is because we saw someone else's video in which a chainsaw was used and thought it wasn't very effective. So it was the axe or the pick and as we have already said, the axe is cliché and may scare the public, so we chose the pick axe.

This large torch is only a prop, it is not actually functional. This is to create a more interesting atmosphere in the house and also hint about the character of the murderer. We thought that the mise-en-scene in the kitchen was a bit bare when we were setting up and so thought of how we could make it more interesting. The idea behind the torch is that the murderer would sit in the dark reading with only the torch on. This hopefully hinting to the audience that he has strange habits and is not entirely sane.

The axe is the bloody weapon along with the saw that tells the detective that he is in the house of the murderer. This won't be the weapon the murderer uses to dispatch the detective however it is a past weapon that was used by them to kill a previous victim. This is a suitable prop as it is easy to acquire as I own it and has the rugged look that will be effective.

This old shirt is the bloody clothing that will tell the detective that this is once again the home of the murderer. However it is yet to be bloodied up as we haven't began filming with it  and I want the blood to look fresh on the shirt.

The broom is another prop that will be used to flesh the scene out a bit more. As it was there were few props that made the home look like an actual home after we took away the appliances and plants etc. So we thought that the addition of a old broom would create a more homely feel, or maybe could be seen as the tool that is used by the murderer to clean up after himself.

This dustpan is going to be used for the exact same reason as the broom. This will actually be paired with the broom in the scene and so is pretty much the exact same prop.

Storyboards for the final scene

Plan for Sunday PM shoot (02/02/14)

3:00- Tom, Dan and Tom Fagan will meet at the house and begin to set up the kitchen scene, as well as plan the intricate camera shots of the scenes.

6:00- At this time Declan Berry (our victim) will finish his squash training and come to the house to do the scene. By this time Tom Flaxman and Tom Fagan will have finished setting up the kitchen for the scene and we will be ready to shoot. Assuming our preparation was up to a good standard this scene will not take long at all and we can move onto the others with ease.

7:00- By this time we will have hopefully finished the kitchen scene and be able to proceed to the woods to continue onto our other scenes. Things we will need are as follows: Bloody clothes (Declan will be wearing them), the Go Pro, Camera, Back-up Camera, Two tripods, Lights, Pickaxe, Fake blood (with cloth to apply), something to sit on(i.e. a blanket), one microphone, a blanket for dec in between shoots, torches, filters and enough bags to carry it all

Evaluation of Sunday shoot

Video evaluation of the practice of the final shoot

Rough draft of final scene

Complications that arose during the practice:
Firstly we ran out of time during the shoot; we were supposed to at least complete rough drafts of two scenes of our opening, but in the end only managed to complete one. This was due to time wasting and the fact that two of the people in our group had other commitments during that afternoon. However now I believe we  have a better handle on this scene and don't think we'll experience the same amount of time wasting as in this one.
                Another issue that occurred during the shoot was that Dan didn't suit his acting role as well as could be hoped. He had a hard time saying his lines like a human being and so we have decided to change the actor that will be playing this role to Jamie Fraser Smith, who has had previous acting experience (also he has a dog).
                A third issue was that the tracking shots and pans weren't very smooth and so some new method will need to be devised to make them better. However there is little we can do to mend this.

Our Film Idea

The story that we have decided to use as a basis for our film is that the murderer is a reporter who is creating his own dark stories to be reported on. His back story is that he has grown mad because of lack of any kind of interesting occurrence in the area he works as a reporter in. His prospects had dried up years ago soon after moved to this town and he has now given up on any rational path in life ;he's taken to murdering people in cold blood just so he has a story to write. The only feature that he has in common with his murderous blood thirsty side however when he is his everyday golly self is his fondness for whistling while he walks. This is something that will prove to be his undoing later in the movie, however this is something that doesn't necessarily need much time spent thinking about as it isn't the part of the movie we are filming.
                   The opening part of the film that we are creating acts mostly as a method of introducing the main character of the movie to the audience through the presentation of one of his acts of murder. The victim of which is a poor teenager that has come to the murderers house to try and kill him as revenge for his friend who were killed by him, however fails magnificently to do so as he is the first person to be murdered in front of the audience of the film, but not the first victim. This teen character will be better explained later in the film by the murderer when he is looking back on his actions. I think that by jumping into the action like this will make the thriller opening more interesting and engaging
                   The final scene of the film opening includes a random civilian friend of the murderer who happens to walk by him in an alleyway while taking his dog out for a walk. The reporter is already hugely respected locally for giving such descriptive tails about the murders that have been occurring, even more descriptive than the police that have been investigating them. So this is the topic that the man brings up as he talks to the journalist serial killer, describing to the reporters surprise that a detective was murdered only the night before, deep in the woods. The two men part and the murderer begins to whistle in the same fashion he did the night before as he pursued his victim.
                                                     
THE END.

infogram for props

Props | Infographics

Risk assessment

Saturday shoot called off

The weekend shoot was cancelled because of a thunderstorm and lack of equipment. We had seen the weather report prior to the day but thought that we could finish shooting before the rain started, however this didn't happen. Although the rain wasn't the main problem on the day; the main problem was that the person we were expecting to provide the cameras had forgotten to charge them up over night. To prevent this from happening again I will make sure that we have back up cameras for the next shoot we attempt so that if the person supplying our cameras forgets to charge them again, we can still shoot. Another problem we had when we last shot was that the supplier of the cameras took a long time to get the footage back to us. To make sure this doesn't happen again we will take the footage of the cameras straight after shooting. Apart from the equipment and weather, everything was set to happen, so even though it was a disappointment, at least we could practice bringing all the components together. The next shoot will have much more planning.

Script for final scene (made with 'www.celtx.com)

-Didn't need a script for any of the other scenes as there will be minimal dialogue. (We later decided to miss out this scene as it was more effective without it.)

Textual analysis of Se7en

Target audience and reasoning

Target audience of Thriller | Infographics

Audience feedback on its way

Before Christmas we presented our text's idea to the class via presentation and it was recorded onto one of the schools cameras. We haven't yet been able to remove the video of our presentation from the camera and put it on our blog, however we will soon have it and put it up with the various different changes to our plans we made because of it.

Plan for shoot practice (15/1/14)

Props: Red light source, pick axe, Fake blood, old clothes, a ladder, a torch, a fake gun (borrowed from drama department), smoke machine (If it is fixed by then, the one we were going to borrow has been sent for repairs), paper with address scribbled on it, a dog (I have one),

Transport to location: None needed, the location we are shooting at is at walking distance from our school.

Weather report: A chance of rain (Umbrella required for equipment in case it rains)

Cast: Me, Dan Hornigold, Tom Fagan, Declan Berry

Plan for the day:

·         The first scene we will shoot will be the last, as this will mean we will have the maximum amount of daylight for that scene. It will be in an alleyway next to the church near my house. The alleyway shouldn’t be too busy as pedestrians don’t usual go that way but if it becomes too much of a problem then we can relocate the shoot. This will be the scene that is set the day after the murder has taken place, when the murder is to be made into an everyday character through the casual small talk to a dog walker.

·         The second scene will be the attack in the house of the murderer. This will be based in my back garden and the kitchen of my house so there shouldn’t be any disruptions apart from maybe background noise.

·         The third scene will be chase scene through the woods. The location for which will be a small wooden area near my house. Train tracks do sit right next to the wooded area however and so may cause some disruption to filming; this can be counteracted by going deeper into the wood. The wood does have a few dog walkers sometimes, but as we will be shooting as its getting dark, this shouldn’t be a problem.

·         The fourth scene will be the victim lying at the tree suffering amnesia about the attack that went on, slowly recalling what had happened and then getting attacked by the murderer with a pick axe.

Health and safety considerations:

·         My dog may be a tad unhappy around some of the people helping with the shoot and so I’ll make sure that they have all met her before we film the scene with her in it. If it does become a problem then we can just leave her out of the scene.

·         As there won’t be any actual fighting in the house there are no problems related with that, however as the victim will be running away from the house trip hazards will have to be considered. This may not be a problem because the victim is supposed to be injured at this point and so he will be limping, but this is still something to take into account.

·         Running through the woods may prove a bit dangerous for our actor as it tends to be a bit muddy down there sometimes, to counteract this we will make sure that the actor has good tread on his shoes so he won’t slip.

·         He will be pretending to hit his head, obviously, and so this will also not be a problem.

·         Other than myself wielding the pick axe with caution I believe that is everything covered.

General notes:

·         As we don’t have that much daylight afterschool we will have to as quick as possible, this is perfectly fine as this is only a practice shoot. (The actual shoots will be on the weekend as this will allow us much more time to get the shots we want.)

·         We will not have the correct costume for the shoot as it requires being destroyed with fake blood and rips to make the victim look injured.

·         We will be documenting the changes we are going to make to the production process as we get along with it on either a separate camera or the same one we will be using for actual practice.

·         It will get edited together roughly and will be great practice to edit before we get onto our real footage.

·         Me and Dan will be trying to obtain all the necessary props this weekend, however we might not be able to get all of them for the practice. This isn’t a problem though.

The transition we will be using throughout our piece

Added scene

Due to the feedback we received during our presentation of our idea to the class, we have decided that it is necessary for us to add an extra scene to the extract in order to avoid the piece looking like a concluded story. In this scene the murderer will be displayed as a normal everyday individual and will be identified as a man of a normal profession by some local people or person. An idea that I have is that a casual dog walker will walk by the murder as he is walking through the woods, the murderer will be in high spirits and betray nothing as the dog owner broaches the topic of the missing detective. This will all happen after a main title which will occur when the murder happens. To link the murderer and the everyday version of the murderer we have decided that he will be whistling the same tune as he murders the victim as he is when he meets the dog walker or possibly when he walks away from the dog walker. As well as this the things the murderer says will hint at his alter-ego.
(We later decided that this wasn't that important and preferred to make the character more mysterious)