Final Ident

After our experimentation, I put graphics on top of the footage as well as rotating it to fill the frame, speeding it up further and fading the film to black.

'Mirror Image Productions'.

Work In Progress

This is our first rough cut of our thriller opening. 

Audience feedback: 

• Comments on how the colours and lights in the street looked beautiful and cinematic.
• The audience liked the shallow depth of field of the camera lens.
• They thought the flashbacks were crafted well as it was obvious what they were. (A separate event rather than it being part of the same scene.)

• The audience suggested that the first soundtrack should be continued throughout the first flashback, as it felt that the beginning was building up to something which then stopped instead of coming to a climax.
• They thought that the jump cut from the second flashback back to the present should be edited so the hand comes into the frame as the other leaves; otherwise it jolts and looks slightly wrong.
• The ending is slightly unclear. (Though this is due to the fact we are unfinished - the addition of soundtrack and the voicemail will make it clear).

What we are going to work on:

•  Experimenting with the soundtrack; lengthening the first track, and playing around with the volume of the third track to achieve optimum drama and suspense.
• Clear up the sound - remove all diegetic sound from clips and import all recorded sound.
• Sort out the ending; fit the phone ringing and the voicemail to fit the visuals.
• Edit the golden hour flashback - edit the colouring in order for this scene to look sunnier and warmer.
• Import the ident and include the sound bridge at the beginning.
• Begin to work on graphics and end title.

Ident Experimentation

Frankie and I decided that our ident would be a short clip of a film photograph developing; the image with our production name will appear in white on top of the image which would slowly develop from the paper.

We decided to test this with an unrelated photo in order to see if the red light of the dark room would allow enough light in to the camera for it to be captured.

After discovering that this worked so well, we have decided that we will use this video and impose graphics on top in FinalCutPro. The image is a photo of a woman looking in a mirror, therefore we will call our ident 'Mirror Image Productions'.

Storyboard

M.H.

Shot List

M.H. 

Ident - fade to black. This black screen will have a sound bridge of cars driving. The first shot will then be seen.

1. Wide shot. Cars driving across the screen from both sides of shot - camera on the side of a busy road, with the protagonist sat at the bus stop on the opposite side. All diegetic sound is heightened.

2. Medium close-up. We are on the same side of the road as the young woman now, the camera at positioned at the end of the bus stop bench. Protagonist seen on left, traffic seen driving past on the right.

3. Close up. The woman's face is seen, her eyes glance to the right. She stands up and begins to walk, her face hence removing itself from the frame.

4. (Soundtrack begins here, there is now no diegetic sound). Medium wide shot. Road on left, woman on right - walks from the right to the left of the frame.

5. Close up. Back of head and body - camera follows closely as she walks.

6. Close up. Face and front of body - camera walks with her.

7. Medium wide shot from behind as she turns corner to walk down her road.

8. Panning shot of feet walking.

9. Medium wide shot of her slowing down and stopping to look at the cafe sign.

10. Match on action to close up of face as she looks. (Different soundtrack begins here).

11. Eye-line match to the cafe sign.

12. Same shot of cafe sign, different light (golden hour flashback begins here).

13. Over the shoulder shot (from man's POV) of laughing/smiling face of the woman.

14. Close up of man's hands holding a coffee cup, pans up to his happy/smiling/talking face.

15. (End of flashback). (Soundtrack stops here). A key being put in the lock of the front door, key twists and unlocks door. All diegetic sound is now heightened.

16. Match on action shot to inside - camera is positioned in hallway, protagonist seen walking in.

17. Wide shot of woman walking through hall - camera positioned on left, she is seen both in the hallway and in the hallway mirror.

18. Long shot of the woman walking down the corridor to the kitchen; centre framed, silhouetted by the light from the kitchen.

19. (New soundtrack begins here). Medium wide shot as she enters the kitchen and takes her phone out of her pocket.

20. Close up. Match on action of her taking phone out. Looks through contacts and pauses on a man's name, then presses 'call'. (Diegetic sound can still be heard.)

21. Close up of head as she puts the phone to her ear. Dialling can be heard.

22. Medium close up of head and upper body - eyes move suddenly to focus on something behind the camera.

22. Eye line match to the kitchen side where a knife glints in the light.

23. (Second flashback begins, soundtrack becomes louder.) Medium close up of dark figure seen with a utility knife.

24. Extreme close up of blade/weapon.

25. Close up. The hand of this figure wields the weapon with an obvious intent to harm - the hand moves out of the frame.

25. (End of flashback). Close up of hand slamming on kitchen side, pans up arm to protagonist.

26. Close up of phone at ear - voicemail message is heard.

27. Sound bridge to black screen and film title as the answer machine sound beeps.

Graphics

We used dafont.com to source the fonts that we are going to use.

1. The font for the credits that will be shown on screen throughout the opening.





2. The font for the film title which will flash up on a black screen as the voicemail beeps.

Costume and Props

Costume

• 

  Present day protagonist: grey tracksuit bottoms, Nike trainers, tight black vest and a puffer jacket coat.

• Protagonist in first flashback: fitted t-shirt, hair off the face.
• Male in first flashback: shirt, necklaces and a leather jacket.

Props

• Coffee cups: used in the cafe flashback.
• House keys: used to get into the house.

• Old nokia brick/flip up phone: this will be the phone the protagonist uses in her attempt to call the male character.

• Kitchen knife: this will glint in the sink and trigger the second flashback.
• Utility blade/knife: this will be the weapon that’s used in the second flashback.

Characters

1. The main character - the female protagonist. We do not find out her name in the opening.

She appears to be strong and angsty, verging on early adulthood. Her age will be used to make her seem vulnerable at points in the film, however she will appear to be very independent in the opening; it is ambiguous as to whether the house she walks into is her own or her parents. I have used Kristen Stewart’s character from Welcome To The Riley's as inspiration - as well as Katie Jarvis’s character in Fish Tank - as Stewart portrays a girl who is self-sufficient but in such a way it makes the audience question her morals and stability. She may therefore be susceptible to trouble and crime which makes her a perfect influence for my protagonist’s role. As for Jarvis, her character fits the social realist aspect of the film as her character is gritty and unedited which I like as it builds intimacy with the audience from the very beginning.

 

2. The male (who appears to be either a close friend/friend/possible ex-boyfriend. This is left ambiguous in order to keep the audience hooked and wanting to know more information.) His name will be shown on the phone as the contact the woman tries to call - Tom. He appears to be slightly older than the woman and seems well put-together, which suggests that the protagonist seeks comfort in his stability.