Props we need to get:

>Colouring Pencil pack x1
>Black Colouring pencils x3

I will get these prop items by tonight hopefully ready for filming on Saturday.

Props we have:

>Fake Blood
>Scrapbook
>Radio
>Briefcase

Editing Tehnique: Split Screen

>> The first two shots beside eachother will be shown to the audience as seperate shots both showing half of his body (face not shown). This is to show his 'normal' side and his 'dark' side coming or merging together as one person as shown in the shot below the first two shots.

Examples:

>> This is one example similiar to what we intend to show in our opening sequence, here it shows two sides, light and dark. This can be adapted in our opening sequence showing the 'light' side and the 'dark' side of the serial killer.



>> Another example of a split screen looking almost exactly the same, again one side is brighter than the other - can be used showing two sides of serial killer and how they merge or come together as one person.

Blurred Effect:

>> This is how the character (serial killer) will be introduced in our opening sequence at first he will be blurred and will only show his body and not his face. It makes the character seem disorientated to the audience and because it does not show his face and is at a slightly low angle, it makes the audience feel small as they are not at eye-level with the character.

>> Then the camera becomes focused and clear so audience can see what the character (serial killer) is wearing, however, his full identity is still not shown at this point.

>> As the Cinematographer, today I did some of the main test shots that will be used frequently in our opening sequence so that when we film our opening sequence we know the exact camera positions, angles and movements for each shot for our sequence.

Test Shots:

Over-the-shoulder Shot will be used in our video

Special Effects:

-Here are some of the special effects that we may edit into our opening sequence after filming:




> This 'paint splat' effect can be used to represent blood being splattered onto paper in the atangonist's scrapbook
.




>This red ink drop could be used in our opening sequence when he is drawing in his scrapbook, this could signify blood dripping from his pencils onto the paper in his scrapbook.

My Role as Cinematographer:

>> As the Cinematographer in our group I am responsible for the following:
     -Storyboard
     -Sholist

These are the main tasks that I as the cinematographer have to do and I have completed them. The Script still needs to be done by Paul, the Production Schedule needs to be completed by Jordan. I have listed the Props/Costume for our opening sequence aswell and have posted soundtracks to be considered and finally the opening credits to be included within our opening sequence.

Props/Costume List:

-Colouring pencil pack x1
-Black colouring pencils x3
-Fake blood
-Small radio
-Sketchpad/Scrapbook
-Briefcase

Shot List:

Location Recce:

-I have emailed Premiere Inn in Stratford about using one of their hotel rooms to film our opening sequence, I am in the process of emailing other hotels in Stratford just incase this one is unsuccessful.

- Hopefully, this weekend I will go to Stratford to take pictures for our location and upload them to my blog, I will also go into local hotels around Stratford and ask if we are able to use one of their hotel rooms for a day.

Shot List Update:

-Will be completed and uploaded by this Friday, it includes the camera shots we will be using in our opening sequence, the camera angles, camera movements and edits which will also be used in our opening sequence. It will be a detailed shotlist also describing the shot.

Title for Opening Sequence:

Berserk

-Berserk is another word for 'Psychotic' which fits with our genre 'Psychological Thriller', it is similar to the word 'Bizarre' which means strange, unusual which describes the antagonist in our opening sequence- the serial killer.

Storyboard

 

Production Company Name:

PJA Productions

-PJA are the initials of our forenames, Paul, Jordan, Amna
(- Format, logo, font, colour need to be discussed and confirmed)

 

Opening Credits include:

Producer- Jordan Hill

Cinematographer- Amna Hamid

Editor- Paul Duodo

Scriptwriter- Paul Duodo

Storyboard Artist- Amna Hamid

Screenplay- Paul Duodo

Props/Costume- Jordan Hill

Location Recce- Paul Duodo

Shot List- Amna Hamid

Special Effects- Paul Duodo

Production Designer- Jordan Hill

Audio Director- Amna Hamid

Casting Director- Jordan Hill

Production name/logo- PJA Productions

Cast (need to be decided)

Title- Berserk

Soundtracks to consider:

>For our psychological thriller we decided that we would have two main soundtracks one classical an calm and the second one sharp and tense, however, both pieces of music will sound sinister in their own way to link with our opening sequence.

>I have found some soundtracks to consider for our opening sequence:

  >>This is quite upbeat but has some eeriness to it to give it that darkness, tense feeling, Dub Feral- http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?feels%5B%5D=Calming&feels%5B%5D=Dark&feels%5B%5D=Relaxed&Search=Search+by+Feel

  >>Darkness Is Coming- It has a steady beat (almost like a heartbeat) sounds quite stalk-ish, http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?feels%5B%5D=Eerie&Search=Search+by+Feel

  >>Static motion- http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?feels%5B%5D=Eerie&page=1

 >>Orion 300XB, has a deep computerised anonymous voice that could be used in our opening sequence to represent the serial killer by not giving away his voice completley- http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?feels%5B%5D=Eerie&page=2

 >>Ghostpocolypse 4 Temptress and Ghostpocolypse 2 The Call- http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?feels%5B%5D=Eerie&page=3

      All the above soundtracks could be combined together when editing our opening sequence to have different pitches, tempos, paces throughout the sequence which would make it more interesting for the audience. These link with the theme psychological thriller as they could represent the various emotions and feelings the serial killer (antagonist) has throughout the sequence.

      

To Do List:

>Title for opening sequence
>Script by Paul
>Shot-list by me - will be done hopefully by the middle of next week (this will include photos and videos of different camera angles and shots taken that will be used in our opening sequence)
>Production Schedule by Jordan - we will discuss dates and times next week
>Props/Costume list by Jordan - will be discussed next week
>Location Recce by Paul and me - need to go to Stratford and take photos of good filming locations
>Production name and logo
>Sounds/music/transitions/effects/font (for opening credits)
>What opening credits will be included

StoryBoard

 

 

Storyboard now complete and will be uploaded by early next week the latest.

Group Blogs:
Jordan- http://jordanrhill.blogspot.co.uk
Paul- http://psosaofficial.blogspot.co.uk 

Treatment:

Treatment

 

 

 

    In our sequence it will start off with an establishing shot of Straftford from an apartment/hotel view (if possible) to set the location. Then the main character, serial killer (antagonist) will enter from a door where he will be filmed just standing there for afew seconds in a suit looking fairly 'normal' with a briefcase. Then the camera will pan with the character to a chair and table where he is seated just staring outside the window looking at the view. Next, he will put his briefcase on the table to get out his scrapbook which he lays on the table along with colouring pencils which he orders by darkest to lightest to represent his 'OCD' to audience. He switches on the radio, at the side of his table, and classical music is heard, he starts drawing an image calmly 

    Throughout the sequence we will see transitions of his 'two' sides starting with his 'normal' side then flicking between his 'other' side, i.e him drawing calmly as if its his hobbie to classical music, then the sequence will flick to his dark side which will be edited to look grey in colour, this will show him drawing roughly in his scrapbook with blood dripping of his now black pencils. Then it will flick back to his 'normal' state where we will see him drawing calmly how he was before the transition. This will be repeated throughout the sequence but each time his 'dark' side becomes increasingly worse and his character becomes clearer to the audience. It will include him doing different actions each time i.e the audience will see pictures of a girl 'before' which was when she was happy and smiling in the photo then next to it they will see the same girl in a different state where she is blindfolded and crying. The anagonist will stick these pictures of the same girl (as a split screen) next to eachother as the audience see him in both his 'normal' state where he will be sticking the photo of the 'happy' girl on the wall and at the same time will be sticking the photo of the blindfolded and crying girl on the wall in his 'psychotic' state. Therefore audience will see his 'two' sides next to eachother.

Generic Codes and Conventions:

Generic Codes and Conventions:

 

      Psychological Thriller is the sub-genre of 'Thriller' that concentrates on the unstable minds both physically and emotionally of mainly one character who usually is a serial killer. It involves other genres like 'Mystery' and 'Crime-Drama' and can also be a 'Psychological Horror' depending on the storyline. Our group have chosen the movie 'Seven' which demonstrates the generic codes and conventions of a typical psychological thriller as it involves a serial killer who is emotionally and physically unstable and shows us his story.

    Conventions of a Psychological Thriller like the movie 'Seven' will include the following camera techniques:

>Close-ups and variations of close-ups in order to show emotion like anger or tension to make audience feel uncomfortable.

>Hand-held shots so the camera is shaking- this can represent the main character's unstability especially if they are a antagonist.

>Low-angle shots to make the anatgonist seem threatning and dangerous, this can make the audience feel small.
    The follwing editing techniques may also be used in psychological thrillers;

>Quick cuts/short takes to make a scene quick, fast paced and tensed in order to create panic and usually makes an audience confused as it could show a lot of moments happening quickly one after the other, in the opening sequence of Seven many short takes are used as we do not see one object/prop for more than 5 seconds.

>Jump cuts to make the antagonist seem disorientated and emotionally/mentally unstable.

>Split-screen shows two or more events occuring at the same time makes the audience feel and see there is more than one action taking place at the same time.

>The font in Seven used for the opening credits is quite sharp and creepy-looking, this symbolizes the antagonist, his personality and whole character, telling the audience how deranged he is.










>Low key lighting could be used to create a dark sinister atmosphere and represent the surroundings of the antagonist, it creates shadows which we associate with fear and danger.

>Black and white/greyscale creates a dimly lit area signifying the enviroment of he antagonist and makes audience feel uncomfortable. It also represents the anatgonist's darkness as we associate dark colours such as black/grey with fear, depression, dullness, death and other negative feelings.
    The following sounds maybe used in a psychological thriller:

>Contrapuntal sound which is sound/music which seems strange in comparison to the scene we are watching, i.e a sunny, bright day might be on screen but we can hear tense, scary music. This can repesent the antagonist looking normal but really they are criminal masterminds- we have decided to use this type of music/sound to represent the antagonist's two sides: his 'normal' state and dark, deranged, psychotic state. We will use two types of music, classical and sharp, tense music/sound to symbolize the two sides of our character (antagonist).

>Pitch- in a psychological thriller, this can be either low or high- both will set the atmosphere quite high tensed. For a high pitched sound, an ear screeching sound maybe used to make the audience uncomfortable as it will make them want to cover their ears as it can sound quite horrible.

>Rhythm- in a psychological thriller, the music/sound would start slow then as it progresses it will become more fast paced to build tension and create a panic-like atmosphere. It makes a scene more interesting and keeps the audience wanting more. We have decided we will use this technique in our opening sequence to build that tension and mystery for the audience leaving them thinking.
     As our genre is a psychological thriller which include serial killers - a similiar good example of this genre of film is the movie Seven. We have decided to do our opening sequence similar to the opening sequence of Seven, however we have included an interesting twist. In seven, we immediatley see a deranged psychotic character planning and plotting his evil schemes using the 'seven' deadly sins to kill his victims.

 

 
    Here, we see the opening of a book which we later see is his 'scrapbook' where he sticks and writes his evil plans. We have decided to adapt this idea in our opening sequence to represent our character.

    We have decided to kind of represent a similar character in our opening sequence, however our character will have two sides to them. He will be normally dressed like an average working man in a suit, however as our opening sequence progresses, the audience will see his 'dark' side where he will be dressed in dirty, ripped clothing with blood/mud stains.
   In addition, our location for our video will be either in an apartment or a hotel room with a view over looking Stratford (Olympic Park) to establish the location, instead of a run-down looking room, it will look 'normal' meaning it will be normally lit with a table and when we come to editing we will include grey-scale to it to make it sinister-looking in order to sympbolize the serial killer's two sides.

 





         Here, is a picture of a dead person used in the opening sequence of Seven, however, in our opening sequence we are going to take a picture of a 'happy' looking girl and then take another picture seperatley of the girl blindfolded and crying before filming the video. When we add this in the video, she will look like a victim of the serial killer. 

 

Specific Roles:

 

 

Jordan: Producer- In charge of the production schedule, planning dates and times for filming and overseeing whole project and props and costume lists.

 

Paul:   Editor- In charge of all the editing after filming is done, also the location recce for the production of the video.

 

 

Amna (myself): Cinematographer- In charge of the shot lists and storyboards.

Group Blogs:
Jordan- http://jordanrhill.blogspot.co.uk
Paul- http://psosaofficial.blogspot.co.uk