Premonition

I have recently watched this film with Jess and we both thought it was really good and we found ourselves commenting on the lighting, sound and camera angles and why they were used and we couldn't help it. I think the opening music and credits to this film are very good because the music is quite haunting, which introduces the genre (thriller) and the opening credits are quite plain, and appear in time with the music. When you hear the car pulling up this is diegetic so there is a mixture of diegetic and non diegetic. I was thinking for our film, we could do something similar and obviously instead of having a car sound, having a horse and carriage sound, during the music. It is the first 1 minute and 16 seconds and unfortunately I could not embed it but here is the link below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVK9q6uAkcQ

Sound

I think we should begin our film with a horse and carriage sound effect as it will set the scene and time period. I also think we should hear footsteps in our film, either just before the soundtrack kicks in or during the soundtrack. At the end I think we should hear a scream of some sort to let the audience know what the genre is.

Horse and Carriage on cobbles sound bite AudioMicro sound bites

Music from youtube

This music is quite creepy in a way and it is quite spine chilling music, and I think having our music instrumental will work well. However, I think the pace would need to speed up when we see 'Jack the Ripper' about to attack to build tension, so the audience can sense something is going to happen next.

From Hell

This trailer is a really good example of our genre and I really like the bit when the blood from the knife drips off. We have managed to get a shot like this, but we need to make it look more like blood maybe by editing. However, I do not think this sort of music would fit with our film, as I think it needs to be more scary and slower, rather than fast tempo and like an action film, and I think slow music to fast will build anxiety and dramatic tension. I also like the sound of the knife scraping, it is really effective and represents the film well, I would like to add this sound effect in, to add dramatic tension when 'Jack the Ripper' is folllowing her. The sound of the church bell, I find quite creepy, as it is eery and it marks the time of night which is probably midnight and it also marks the time period, having an old church. I like the credits as well because they look like they have been written in blood and this really implies horror.

Editing

Today, we showed what we have edited so far to Miss Foster,and looking at it again I am really happy with it, and I actually think it is quite scary. When looking at it we did notice there is a slight pause at the beginning, but that is because we thought it would go well with the theme of our film. Michaela is supposed to be a prostitute just walking out of a client's house, and although she waits for a few seconds, she is really sorting her top out to add to the story.

Garage Band video

First day of editing

Re filming

Last night we filmed all of our film again and this time it only took us an hour and a half, which is a complete contrast to Friday when it took us 3 hours! This time, filming was much smoother and definitely less stressful and I enjoyed it more. I am really pleased with how the film has come out and I am pleased that we all worked better together this time which is why we was able to film so quickly. All that we have to do now is three more shots, one point of view shot of the knife, one close up on a picture and a close up on Michaela screaming.

The shots that I thought were really good was an extreme close up on the knife covered in 'blood' and it showed the blood dripping off the knife. This looked really effective because it was implying horror and it showed the fact that Michaela had just been 'murdered'. What also looked really good was a mid shot of 'Jack the Ripper' holding a knife and following Michaela and as Michaela walked past the camera, he followed her and there was a slight glint on the knife which looked very effective and it was just by luck. When we filmed inside the conference room all the shots were effective when he circled and crossed the pictures with 'blood', this again implied horror. However, we did have some difficulties with this as we hadn't pinned Michaela's picture properly, so when the actor playing 'Jack', went to circle it, the picture moved with his finger so we had to re shoot it. I thought the fact that it was an over shoulder shot also looked good because we are still keeping him mysterious and secretive.

When we filmed 'Jack the Ripper' about to 'murder' Michaela we used a high angle shot which really worked well because it made Michaela look very vulnerable. We used an extreme close up on 'Jack's' eyes when he watches Michaela walking away, which looked good on the camera and it made it look scary. We also did an extreme close up of his feet when he is about to walk after her and we hope this will draw attention to him and build dramatic tension. We have shots of lampposts which looks really good in the dark, especially when he hides behind one of them when Michaela turns around, he blends into it.

Diegetic and Non-diegetic

In our film we would like to use non-diegetic sound, so we would like to add creepy music on top of the film. We hope this will add to the dramatic tension of the film as the characters will not be able to hear the sound, only the audience will. This creates vulnerability which will be very effective.

Filming Action Script

-[The first shot we see is an establishing shot of a lamp post and a pub.]
- (Wide shot) Woman coming out of a rich looking building/house.
- (Pan shot) She then begins walking down into the alley.
- (Close up/Extreme close up) Jack the Ripper hiding eye following woman.
- (Mid Shot) Woman still wallking through the alley unaware of being followed.
- (Close up) J the R feet coming out as going to follow.
- (Pan shot follow) Woman turing around thinking someones following her.
- (Wide Shot) Empty street no-one there.
- (Long shot) J the R standing by a lamp post with knife in hand.[to be continued]

Take 2

Our first attempt to film went terribly wrong and the shots were very bad, so now we have to redo the whole thing tonight. Hopefully it will go to plan this time and we now know that there is a night cam switch on the camera, so we will be able to see everything this time. We hope to finish everything tonight and because we have already had experience filming, we should now be quicker and more organised with the shots and everything should go smoothly, if not we could be in trouble. We want to do some inside shots tonight when 'Jack the Ripper' crosses out his victims, that he has murdered and then circles his next victims. We wish to do this in our school conference room and I would like it to be an over shoulder shot but whether it works out or not, we shall have to wait and see. I would also like it to be over the shoulder because we need his identity to be kept a secret as he was never unmasked, we are also going to do it in the dark to keep it mysterious. We are including a picture of Michaela as she is playing a victim so this will be really effective. Hopefully when we edit this, we can add our names into one of the newspaper articles for the credits, but we will have to wait and see how it all comes out.

To end our 2 minute film we were thinking of having loads of close ups on newspaper articles about Jack the Ripper and maybe have him looking at these articles like an over shoulder shot. We were also going to have a picture of his victims and victims to be and show him crossing the person he has just murdered out and then circling the next victim. What we also thought would be a good idea would be to put our names on the articles as credits it might be really effective but we will have to wait and see. I think we would have to make the articles look more aged though because of the time era.

Location

We decided to film on Gentleman's Row in Enfield because there was a pub nearby, there are lots of old fashioned lampposts and it looks really effective at night. It really worked with our time period and the pub nearby was an added bonus because that is where most of Jack the Ripper's victims were last seen.

Filming first day

Yesterday we started filming and we discovered that we has chosen the worst weather conditions ever. It was freezing cold, there was non-stop rain and it was very dark which was the biggest problem. This is because we now think that the lighting may have been too dark and we won't know until Monday, when we upload, whether we need to re-shoot any parts. It also took longer than we thought it would, because we would rather have filmed too much than too little. I think we worked really well together and I am proud of most of the shots taken. I am also hoping that our continuity is alright, even though we did use masking tape to mark where the actors were last standing. It was quite weird how we didn't film chronologically, I actually found this quite difficult, as I was loosing track of what we had and hadn't filmed , even though we did stick to most of our storyboard.

Another problem which I wasn't expecting was our Location to be so busy, as there were people walking past quite often, even though it is normally quiet. We still have one more shot to do but I am relieved that the majority is finished. What I also found challenging was being the director. I am really not used to bossing people about and having everyone waiting for my direction.This is the first time I have fully taken charge of something and in a way I am quite proud of myself but it could have gone a bit better but I am blaming the weather for that. I am now looking forward to uploading and seeing how everything looks and hopefully it is all fine.

Se7en

In yesterdays lesson we watched 'Se7en', it has got to be one of the best thriller films that I have seen. Although I did find it quite gruesome, even though it was only implied horror ,it was made so well. What I found really effective was when 'Brad Pitt' was deciding whether or not to kill the murderer at the end, his wife's face appeared with a quick flash. You had to watch this carefully, otherwise you might have missed it. I thought the implied horror worked really well and in some ways made it even more horrifying to watch, because I began to imagine what had happened. I really enjoyed this film and I would watch it again, but not on my own of course.

Costumes

Seeing as we are setting our film in the 1800's, in the time when Jack the Ripper was around, we needed to find costumes suitable for that time. We have decided that the male playing the part of Jack the Ripper, will wear all black, as he will blend into the dark night and it will make him more mysterious and scary. He will also where a top hat to make him even more mysterious, as we will not see the whole of his face. Michaela will wear a long black skirt and a corset, as she is playing a prostitute and this is what they would wear in the 1800's. The images above, roughly match my description.

Jack the Ripper Tour Photos

Many of the prostitutes would walk up and down this road that the church was on, as it was a busy road and so they were more likely to get some work.

An old phone box.

This was known as the 'prostitute ally way'. Jess took a picture of the lamppost as we wish to add a shot of one in our film.

This was the local pub

This is the newly built building, as the original white chapel building itself was knocked down.

Luckily we saw this sign, otherwise we might not have found the tour in time.

Jack the Ripper Tour Review

Last night Jess and I went to London on the Jack the Ripper tour walk and we literally made it by the skin of our teeth. We found the experience chilling, but useful for research for our film. The tour lasted for 2 hours and in this time we went to all the destinations where the murders took place. We were also told how the women were murdered which sent a shiver down my spine and made me feel a bit sick. It was also surreal to know that in 1888 Jack the Ripper stood in the same place as we stood. I also didn't realise how gory the murders actually were, especially the last murder which took place, that was the worst.

Lamppost

When we were experimenting with the camera and different shots on Friday, I started filming our shadows and I filmed a shadow of a lamppost, which looked really effective when we watched it on the computer. I think we could use it in our film, maybe as an opening and if not as the opening, we could include it somewhere in the film or even a shadow of a person.

Film research

We found some extra research for Jack the Ripper and it is a cartoon sketch these images are pretty useful and we can see from above what men used to wear at that time such as a top hat and a cloak which will help with our film.

Practice

Today we practiced filming with the camera and we did some shots of our location and of some shots that we are going to use in our actual film. I also tried to shake the camera so that we could experiment with stabilising the shot but because I shook the camera so much the shot was not completely smooth. I found filming today very useful because I now know how to use the camera a bit more and I'm really looking forward to filming our 2 minute film.

Jaws Shot By Shot - Part 1

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Evaluating preliminary exercise

I thought our group did quite well in this task as we did it quite quickly and we found the editing quite simple. However some mistakes we made whilst we were editing were that when we did a pan shot of me, my head was cut off and when there was an over shoulder shot of Michaela, some of her head was also cut off which tells us that we needed to have the camera positioned a bit higher. What we didn't realise was that when we did a shot-reverse-shot, Michaela's hand was in a different position and we didn't even notice this when we were editing. This has taught me that we have to be more accurate when we edit our 2 minute film. What also happened was that the audio repeated, so Michaela ended up sayin Em twice. Although we made these mistakes I think it is good because we can now learn from them and make sure we do not make them in our 2 minute film.

Our preliminary exercise video

Script

Actors- Michaela and Emily
Directors- Jessica and Dominique
Emily- (walking through the door)
Emily- (sits down)
Michaela- Where have you been Em? I've been waiting for half an hour.
Emily- I'm really sorry. I thought we were meeting at half one.
Michaela- You do this all the time. Next time I'll tell you to come an hour early.
Emily- God! I said I'm sorry
Michaela- Whatever!
(End of scene)

Storyboard

Filming our prelim exercise

In wednesday's lesson we did our prelim exercise and we did it very quickly which I am proud of. It was interesting to see how you do not have to shoot scenes chronologically and that it is easier to start filming before dialogue is introduced to it is easier to edit. I am now really looking forward to filming our 2 minute film and I am also excited to do some editing on the prelim exercise.

Jack the ripper documentary

Here is a documentary about Jack the Ripper:

Jack the Ripper

Our group has decided to base our 2 minute film on Jack the Ripper as it is a true story and a thriller and it interests all of us. Michaela even found a tour that we could go on to discover more about the location and set and to where we can film our film...here is the link:
http://www.jack-the-ripper-walk.co.uk/

http://www.casebook.org/intro.html
"Jack the Ripper" is the popular name given to a serial killer who killed a number of prostitutes in the East End of London in 1888. The name originates from a letter written by someone who claimed to be the killer published at the time of the murders. The killings took place within a mile area and involved the districts of Whitechapel, Spitalfields, Aldgate, and the City of London proper. He was also called the Whitechapel Murderer and "Leather Apron."

It is unclear just how many women the Ripper killed. It is generally accepted that he killed five, though some have written that he murdered only four while others say seven or more. The public, press, and even many junior police officers believed that the Ripper was responsible for nine slayings. The five that are generally accepted as the work of the Ripper are:

Mary Ann (Polly) Nichols, murdered Friday, August 31, 1888.
Annie Chapman, murdered Saturday, September 8, 1888.
Elizabeth Stride, murdered Sunday, September 30, 1888.
Catharine Eddowes, also murdered that same date.
Mary Jane (Marie Jeanette) Kelly, murdered Friday, November 9, 1888.

Besides these five there are good reasons to believe that the first victim was really Martha Tabram who was murdered Tuesday, August 7, 1888, and there are important considerations for questioning whether Stride was a Ripper victim. As to the actual number of women that the Ripper killed, Philip Sugden wrote in his excellent book, The Complete History of Jack the Ripper, "There is no simple answer. In a sentence: at least four, probably six, just possibly eight."

All five of these listed plus Tabram were prostitutes and were killed between early August and early November 1888. All but Tabram and Kelly were killed outdoors and there is no evidence to suggest that any of them knew each other. They varied in both age and appearance. Most were drunk or thought to be drunk at the time they were killed.

This research can help our group to decide what kind of characters our film is going to include and the time period that these murders took place. However we might decide to do a modern take on this story as it will be easier to film and we have loads of ideas.

I have also found a link to a film that was made: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074408/

Observing prelim exercises

In last wednesdays lesson we observed group one performing there preliminary exercise, they did this well as they only had to do a few takes of each shot. Having watched this I don't think our group needs to change anything to our storyboard, as it is quite simple as it is.

Storyboarding our prelim exercise

In yesterdays lesson we had to storyboard our prelim exercise for the next lesson. We all had to decide what was going to be said and we have decided to have someone arriving late and being moaned at by the other person to keep it simple. We also had to decide who was going to be in it as well.

Mission Impossible 3

Mission Impossible 3 begins with a blackout, when we hear a sound but cannot see anything. After this there is a close up on Tom Cruise and then the camera cuts to an extreme close up of his hand, which is hand cuffed to a chair. It then diverts to a close up of another person and then an extreme close up of him pulling back his gun ready to shoot. The camera then moves to the man's face again, with the use of a steadicam which then creates a medium close up. Then the camera cuts from the other man and back to a close up of Tom Cruise. This close up is a hand held camera shot as the image is not very steady.

After this, the camera then cuts back to the other man which is a close up and then turns into a mid shot. The camera then goes back and fourth between Tom Cruise and another woman using a cut each time. Then it carries on this affect between all the characters in the room so the audience can see their expressions, until there is a change in the atmosphere where Tom Cruise changes his calm body language to frantic, where there is a use of an over shoulder shot.

After this a wide shot is used to show the reactions of the three main characters. The camera then goes back to a close up of the woman with a gun being held to her head, this emphasizes the gun. The camera then continues to cut between the characters, using close ups between the people talking. There is also the use of pan shots as the man shakes his head, the camera moves with him. As the gun is shot, panick breaks out and the camera shakes a lot with the hand held camera to emphasize this panick. Then when the man says "ten" the camera shakes continuously and the music of the opening credits then begins where the camera cuts.

Thrillers

I researched some of the thrillers from 2009 that are still out at the cinema and there are quite a few, such as: Sorority Row, Whiteout and A Perfect Getaway. All of these films look really appealing and the music used really sets the genre. I have seen 'A Perfect Getaway' and it was really good, but quite slow to begin with. Looking at these films has given me some ideas for the film that we make and I definately think it is the right choice to make a thriller. If the music is just made to be eary and misterious, then it will introduce the genre well. Here is the trailer for Sorority Row and as you can see it begins with a graduation cermony which is a good way to introduce the film.

Today we were discussing what genre we are going to do for our 2 minute film. There were a variety of ideas such as chick flick, Rom Coms, comedy and thriller. Out of these ideas I personally would like to do a thriller, as there are lots of ideas that can be developed and I feel that there would be a lot more we can do with this genre in terms of camera shots. However some of us would like to do a comedy and although I think it would be good to do this, because it is something different, I think it is hard to show what genre it is in the amount of time we have to film. I also think that we could be thinking too much about making the film funny instead of concentrating on the important parts.

Mission Impossible 3



I have chosen this opening because it is a gripping opening and immediately grabs the audience's attention. I beleive that this is one of the best openings to a film that I have seen, and I reccommend the actual film; as it will leave you on the edge of your seat! If you like action packed films then this is definately a film for you.

Hi this is Emily and this is my first blog