Storyboard



Our choice of film institution

Many people when choosing their film institution for their opening two minutes will choose a very well-known company known worldwide just because they have heard of it, however we have chosen to research institution that produces films similar to ours, to make our film more realistic.
 
Prisoners which is an American thriller film is based on an abduction of two children and the quest to find them, this makes it very similar to our film. The film institution they used was Warner Bros. which we found surprising because they are well known for their big budget films such as the Harry Potter franchise. Nevertheless after research we found out that they actually do a wide variety of films. Not only does it produce great thriller movies they also have a lot of experience and money to produce brilliant films. This makes it a suitable and a reliable institution choice if we actually to make a film. The downside of using such a big blockbuster film institution is that they are used to having big budget films, with action and effects which could end up changing the plot and deducting the realism.

Taken 1 and 2 is one of the biggest influences on our production and plot as they have a similar theme, an abduction of a teenaged girl who is sold to become a prostitute. The film institution they used is a French company called Europacorp, they have come to fame from there success of English spoken films which delivered a 61% increase year on year revenue. There not a very well-known company however the success of the Taken movies has made it a very good candidate. The main problem is that it’s a French company which may make it hard to translate our ideas; another problem is that our ideas may not seem suitable for a French audience.

Gone Which again has the same theme is a brilliant film with a great cast for example Amanda Seyfried.There institution choice is Summit Entertainment which is quite new into the industry however their parents are Lion Gate Entertainment which is very respected institution. There not known for a certain genre of film however they have some really good names under their belt such as the Twilight Saga and the Step Up movies. Some may say this is a negative however we think it shows their versatility in the film industry. In 1997, 6 years after they began, they started to fully finance their films, this means we would have something to lie back on but not receive such a profit.

The last film institution we researched was Phase 4 Films, they produced a film called Eden which is based on a true story of a teenaged girl who is abducted and sold for prostitution. This company would be a good choice for us as they produce low budget films which mean our film will be more realistic than if we choose a larger company.

Animatic Storyboard

The animated story boards gives us an idea of what we are expecting to do through out our filming.The story board tells us the type of shots we are expecting to use and the different scenes.Although we changed our plot quite often , the story board did guide us through out.We know next time that we need to go into more detail and be more pacific with our ideas.

The opening shot of the film is a low angle shot of the victims driveway.This sets the scene , the low angle makes the protagonist seem vulnerable.The third shot of the house and protagonist tells us who the protagonist is and some background knowledge about her, the large house connotes that she is wealthy and this could the reason behind the abduction.The fifth shot introduces us to the antagonist and his where abouts. By showing him from the back adds a sense of mystery and will create enigmas.The sixth and seventh shot tells us about the protagonist and shows that he has done it before and planning to do more abductions , this will intrigue the audience and frighten them.The ninth shot lets the audience know that the person we saw at the beginning is his first victim.The close-up shot makes the audience emphasise with her.The tenth shot will intrigue the audience as it seems like he is watching her , the long- shot also sets the scene , by being in the woods it may frighten the audience.The twelfth shot will work the work well as it will give the audience idea of the plot.The last shot I feel is the most significant as you are left at a cliff hanger and made to think.This enables the audience to participate from antagonists perspective and see where he is coming from.

Final Video Diary

Final Filming Update

We have finally finished! Only two and a half weeks late, we have finished (at last) our ending scenes, leaving us with a lot of footage to choose from for the long editing process that awaits us. As time passed and we got more of our filming done, I think we can all agree that each time the process was less stressful and more enjoyable as we knew what to expect. Now it is done, we are all very pleased because, looking back, we let filming become a slight burden due to the lack of motivation we suffered from which meant we were slow to organise things, unfortunately taking away from the overall enjoyment.

As time went on, and as you can hopefully see from our previous filming updates, each time went better and better for us, which took away from the pressure the time limit put us under. Luckily, we were very fortunate to have our time extended over the Christmas holidays which helped us massively as it gave us more time to film in the daylight without rushing. I think as a group, we were more hesitant than we should have been and worried about minor details which other groups did not; however now it is done we are mostly pleased with how it went, and hope to get the best possible grade we can.

Despite everything we had said before in our previous filming updates about needing to do more planning, we went into our final scenes with a considerable lack of planning. Usually, this would mean that filming would be a nightmare and there would be a lot of time wasted which added to our lack of excitement; however this time wasn’t too bad. We started by attempting to make Christie’s supposed bedroom more ‘girly’ in order to follow the stereotypes of teenage girls in the hope to make the plot easier to follow for the audience. We had talked about this before but not in much detail and so we ended up using anything remotely feminine we could find, such as clothes, make-up and pictures. After we had done this, we decided it would be best to start filming chronologically to make sure we didn’t miss anything out (a mistake we may have made whilst filming scene 2). In spite of this, we didn’t particularly want to go outside so we began to film chronologically, missing out Adam's entrance into the house.

Due to the many times we have had to re-film, we found that we now feel more experienced, and know what will work and what won’t without having to watch it over in the editing process only to find it is not good enough. Despite not really knowing what we were going to do, we filmed Adam walking up the stairs and down to Christie’s room relatively quickly in a few different ways so we would have alternatives to choose from. After this, even though we had decided to do it chronologically, we were forced to film Adam’s entrance as it was getting very dark, however it had begun to rain and we hadn’t realised. Unfortunately for Adam, we had to film during the rain, which wasn’t close to ideal as it hadn’t been raining in any of the previous scenes however it was only light and so hopefully when it comes to editing, we won’t be able to see it. We will only know how well it went/find out if we have to re-film when it comes to editing, which won't be for a while as we have decided to do it chronologically, however we are hopeful it all fits together suitably and look forward to finalising our film.

Filming Update 3

We started off with some ideas to what we were going to do for our third day of filming however when we got to the location , my cabin , we came up with some new ideas which may work a lot better and may add more quality to our opening two minutes. It took a lot longer than usual to set up because we had to move a lot of stuff around to get the correct lighting and needed to make sure that everything was out of the way. However this wasn't such a problem as we weren't filming in the freezing cold and didn't have to worry about the light changing as we were inside and could control it more than usual. Initially we weren't going to show our antagonists face or head in this scene however due to some changes with shot types we did, regrettably this created our first problem because Adam, our antagonist, had a spray on white beard for Christmas but luckily with some alterations we worked round it. As we were all inside we were in a much better mood than usual which meant we were more motivated to get the right shots which lead to us filming the same shot more than usual and being able to rehearse more.Unfortunately when  we went to edit the footage we discovered that we were unable to use any of it because it was so dark.At the time we didn't know of this because it was perfectly light on the camera screen and on our Video Diary camera. This means we are going to have to re-film the scene again soon, next time we will make the room lighter and even take a laptop with us to check on the lighting problem. It’s a real shame because we took a real deal of time and effort to film this scene and especially put a lot of time in making the room look as dark and gloomy as possible to add to the effect of the character.  

Video Diary Day 3

Change of plot

Due to different reasons we have collectively decided that our original plan is to be changed, hopefully this will make our opening two minutes more successful and slightly easier to construct. Our original plan was that our protagonist was taken while on her run by the antagonist, however we believe this would prove difficult because it would give away too much information in the opening two minutes, which disrupts the generic stereotypes of the film world. Our original plan also included longer shots and more mainstream shot types, we felt this was not pushing ourselves as far as we would have liked to, so instead we have changed to shorter and quicker shots, involving a lot of cuts from one location of the antagonist to the other location of our protagonist running. We felt that having match on action displayed a lot and lots of small cuts from each scene meant that the tension would increase rapidly because limited information would be displayed. We believe this is key to creating a successful opening two minutes because generally in the first two minutes, little information is revealed. Another part of our original plot which we changed is the aspect of having an investigating team, we felt having more characters would make the opening two minutes too cramped and rushed, it was also proving difficult to film all the separate scenes at the different locations, one being an office which is a private location and it would disrupt the workers. Another change which we felt was necessary was the ideology of the antagonist being presented as a creepy, paedophillic male, we are planning on doing this through him breaking in to a house where the protagonist lives, and snooping round the home, picking up personal objects of the victim and pursuing a creepy manor with these objects. We will then shoot them both in the same room and our opening scene will hopefully end on the girl in a dangerous position with the male in a closed area, leaving the audience thinking what is going to happen to this girl and what the male wants.

Influence on production

So far, our planning has not been as accurate as it should have been and so when we came to start our filming, we discovered our plot would not work as successfully or effectively as we’d hoped. At the moment we are currently discussing different ideas for the ending, however the general outline of the plot still remains the same, it is just a few details we cannot decide on. The genre will continue to be based around ideas from action, thriller and crime films, and so we have been looking into both films and TV series, such as Taken and Luther in the hope to gain ideas and be influenced in our own production.

We gained the initial ideas for our plot using the film Taken by Pierre Morel as we liked the young vulnerable teenage girl gone missing aspect to the film, and we thought it would be something we would be able to reproduce ourselves. Using the film Taken, we learnt that to successfully build tension and make the film enjoyable for the audience, action was needed, especially violent fight scenes. We decided this would not be one of our strong points which is why we decided to add the crime thriller aspect to our opening two minutes as well, enabling us to avoid any fight scenes but also keep it realistic as it is only the first two minutes and so realistically, not too much should be given away. 

Looking and observing the trailers from Taken, it is clear that due to the increase in action, it results in the increase of pace within the editing, in order to confuse the audience and make it unclear as to what’s happening. Different focuses are also used, such as a deep focus and shallow focus, to draw the audience’s attention to one particular thing, or the whole frame, depending on the effect the director wishes to produce. The opening two minutes of Taken is quite slow and hesitant without presenting any sort of action. This is because, generically, in an action film, there has to be a sense of reality portrayed in order to allow the audience to relate or understand the film with more enjoyment. Due to the lack of action and thrill inthe opening few minutes, despite the genre, the pacing of the shots are very slow and transform into one another smoothly, instead of sharp cut transitions. The non-diegetic soundtrack doesn't get used until the action begins, which is another hint as to when the action will begin and the build-up. At the beginning of the film it is all based upon diegetic sound, once again, adding to the realism.

From briefly looking at Taken the film, it has helped us become aware of what we will have to include in our film to make it as successful as possible. Highlighting the importance of the realistic features has become one of our key priorities to partake in, in order to be able to link it to reality. The most important techniques we have decided to focus on are the different shots and the pace of editing, especially as if we are making an action/crime/thriller film. Although we haven't been able to display the opening two minutes of Taken, from our previous experience of watching it plenty of times, we have come to the conclusion that it is a good film to base ours around. This is because it has a sudden effect on the audience through establishing the genre, targeting the audience and setting the tone and theme of the film.

Luther is a successful televised drama that has been running for a few years. Luther was one of the main influences on our production once we had decided on the basic outline for the plot, which as mentioned before, was gained with the help of the film Taken. Using Luther, we were able to grasp ideas, mainly for the antagonist, such as the location he should be introduced in, the use of camera angles and movement used around him and some ideas of the props we would need. Although Luther contains a higher horror content than we wanted for our particular genre, we found that the villainous characters contained aspects which we thought were very effective and so wanted to use them ourselves. 

From one particular episode, we learnt that an effective way to portray the antagonist to the audience as a creepy, unhinged person, through the use of camera movement and angles was to use painfully slow movements. This makes it clear the antagonist doesn't belong there, but also makes them look abnormal, which aids the audience and their discomfort. We also found that using slow movements when focusing on the antagonist, mixed with a lack of blinking, highlights the unlawful activities which are about to take place, which is something we found effective and would like to use in our production. By using painfully slow camera movements, we also discovered that a slow editing technique would also be needed, and we thought it may be effective in increasing tension as it would act as a contrast between the cuts from different scenes. We already had prior ideas for the location in which our antagonist should be introduced to the audience in before watching Luther, and to our surprise they were very similar. We were reassured that an antagonist such as ours, is often introduced in dark, gloomy surroundings. We had already planned to use pictures of young girls from newspapers in order to enforce the antagonist's dark intentions, however we learnt that by covering a large area with many pictures and cuttings from newspaper articles etc, instead of a few which is what we had initially planned,  really emphasised the premeditated, creepy nature of the film, helping to set an uneasy tone.

Script

Scene 1 – Christie leaving house

[Christie leaves the house and begins to run, sound of her running on the stone driveway, music will be played quietly over the top which will signify the action of her putting headphones in]

 [As Christie runs away the pop/fun music will fade away and scary music will begin as a sound bridge]

Scene 2 – introduction to antagonist

[The music gets louder as the scene changes to the cabin with the antagonist, louder and faster]

 Adam: (when circling a photo of Christie) It’s her.

Scene 3 – Christie Running

[The music will get slower and quieter as the scene cuts back to Christie running in the woods; it will be quiet so you can hear the diegetic sound of the wind and footsteps – rustling of leaves]

[Another sound bridge will occur with the scary loud music, cuts to the next scene]

Scene 4 – girl in the cabin + antagonist leaving

[The music will increase in pace and get louder]

 Girl on chair: (screaming while struggling) mmmm.

 [As Adam gets up and leave, you would hear his footsteps walking outside with the music increasing]

Scene 5 – Christie running

[Cuts back to Christie running, sound dims out and you can hear the diegetic sound of panting from Christie, use match on action]

 Scene 6 – antagonist at Eve’s house

[Adam walking down the pathway towards the back door, which is already open.]

(Squeaking of the door opening)

[Adam leaves the door open]

Scene 7 – Christie checking pulse

[Christie running and the non-diegetic music quietens and you can hear the diegetic music of Christie breathing and panting as she comes to a halt]

Christie: (slows down and stops) SIGHS WHILE BREATHING

(measures her pulse, counts in her head, but clearly for the audience)

Scene 8 – Adam in house

 [Non-diegetic music gets softer and calmer as it cuts back to the house with the antagonist]

 Adam: (runs his hands along the banister as going upstairs, sniffs pictures of her)

 Scene 9 – Christie returning

[Christie entering driveway, can hear footsteps = sound bridge from previous scene]

 (Christie slows down and starts to walk when entering driveway, stops and leans against post to get her breathe back)

 Scene 10 – Adam in house

[Picks up a photo of Christie and smells it]

 SOUND BRIDGE – (Christie opening the door and shutting it)

 Scene 11 – Christie entering house

[Just shut the door and walks through to the lounge]

 Christie: (Slumps on the sofa, feet up) Ahhh

 [Hears the wind blowing through the door and notices it’s open]

 Christie:  (Walks over to the door and sticks her head out the door to have a look,

then shuts it)

Scene 12 – Adam downstairs

[Adam stands in the doorway and slams the door behind him]

[Cuts too close up of Christie turning around]

Video Diary Day 2

Filming update 2

The second time round of filming was much more successful and we felt more confident with our result. We spent less time in the freezing cold weather because we had pre-planned and knew what we were expecting to accomplish. Having an organised and logical structure, it made the filming a much more enjoyable process which has intrinsically motivated each and every one of us. We also filmed every movement at least twice which helped choose the shot which best fit when it came to editing. The only difficulty we found was the amount of time as due to other commitments, very little filming time has been found! We found that towards the end of our filming afternoon we had to rush things because it was getting increasingly dark. Although we just managed it, we noticed it was slightly lighter at the beginning of certain scenes compared to other scenes; however this isn’t to be helped as we have no control over the lighting, it just proved difficult when it came to matching the scenes up. Luckily, the lighting isn’t a huge issue as we are able to incorporate the antagonist scenes in between, so the change of lighting will not be noticeable and it will add to the realism. The plot has all been changed to be set at dusk time so the dark lighting suits the shots well! Having decided this, it means we will have only a small time period we can film so we need to make sure we keep this in mind prior to our allotted filming time so we can proceed straight away. Despite the disappointment at first, the second take of filming has made us become more hopeful that our opening two minutes could possibly be a success and we look forward to filming the remaining. 

Adam

Adam

Due to our change in plot, we decided we needed to find an actor for our antagonist. This was a difficult task as ideally, we always wanted our antagonist to be seen, however we had to adapt our plot in order to keep their identity hidden because we couldn’t find a suitable actor. Initially, we were reluctant to use one of our friends as an actor because we thought it would take away from the realism of our opening as they are so young looking, but decided we would have to as we didn't really have any other option. As a group, we decided our friend Adam would be the most convincing as he looks quite mature do to his facial hair. We found that facial hair tends to be a stereotypical convention of an antagonist in our chosen genres - crime, thriller and action, helping us to stick to the stereotypical theme we are following in the hope of success. He also has quite a sturdy build, meaning he doesn’t look 16 which is beneficial for us as it will help to make it not look like an amateur film, and make the plot more believable for the audience. Due to Adam being a friend, it allows us to make our film to the best possible standard we can, as like our protagonist Christie, will we be able to ask him to re-do/re-film scenes if needed. Throughout Adam's role, he will convincingly need to act as an unhinged, creepy man, making it clear to the audience there is something not quite right about him. Although this is a rather large role, in which we are relying on his ability to create tension, we believe Adam will successfully fill it, helping to make our opening two minutes a success.

Consideration Of Representation And Stereotypes

We have chosen the target audience for our film to be aimed predominantly at males, with females as our secondary concern. We believe our film would be most appropriate for an age group between 15 -24 due to the genre types – crime thriller and action, which are stereotypically more male orientated. From our research and general knowledge, we have learnt that films such as romances and rom-coms have a large female target audience, and the crime and thriller genres have a larger male target audience, however surprisingly the horror and action genres were more equal than we expected. We believe that our film would be better suited for the male audience because they would be more attracted to the stereotypical attractive female protagonist, as well as the action and crime aspects which help to create suspense. Similarly, we think a female audience would be attracted the crime and action as well as thriller aspects, but less so to the female protagonist.

We have tried to base our opening around the stereotypical conventions of our chosen genres rather than reality as much as we can as we know that these have worked previously and have high success rates. For this reason, the plot we have decided to use is very stereotypical to the crime thriller and action genres – for example the vulnerable, stereotypical attractive blonde female protagonist and an older, preying male antagonist. The locations in which we have chosen to use are also very stereotypical as they are isolated but picturesque, helping to build suspense within the audience as well as giving them an insight into what may happen, without giving too much away. The location in which we have chosen also allows us to use a wide variety of camera shots and angles which again, are stereotypical conventions of the genre. For example, we plan to use high angle shots in order to make the protagonist seem vulnerable, but also to use tracking shots from slightly obscured points, such as through the trees in order to suggest that she is being watched.

We chose our protagonist on the basis that we thought she would be easy to work with and fill the role successfully; however we were lucky that she also fitted the stereotypical appearance. We thought that using a young, attractive and blonde female would be beneficial as it would attract a wider audience (male) as well as making the film more realistic, providing reasoning behind the antagonist’s choice in abductee. We have decided to dress her again in stereotypical running clothes, again helping to enforce realism, as well as making it more relatable and more easily understood for the audience. For our use of editing, we have decided to cut between different scenes, which is something we found occurred often in our chosen genres. This is because it aids the audience with their understanding, allowing them to realise what is happening in different places which helps the plot to unravel. It is also effective in building tension and suspense as although different scenes are shown often, little is given away about the characters, helping to create enigmas and evoke emotion from the audience.

Filming Update

Throughout this film production process, we have found that we have underestimated the difficulties of filming as we haven't done nearly enough planning! We spent around 3 hours outside in the freezing cold filming our opening scene, however to our dismay we discovered it all needed to be redone due to the amateur feel we presented through the camera. Although it was disappointing and a huge waste of time, not to mention the significant drop in morale, we were able to benefit and learn from our mistakes. The number one rule we learnt is, do not zoom. We found that in nearly every take we had incorporated some form of zooming technique rather than moving around and filming from different angles. We also found that we hadn't really used many different types of shot, so for next time we set out with the aim to use as many different filming techniques and camera angles as we could.

The second time round we were much more pleased with our result. We spent less time outside as we had planned it more and knew what we were doing which made it a slightly more enjoyable process. We also filmed everything at least twice which gave us options, and filmed from many more different angles. When editing this, we found that it was very helpful to have more than one take on the same shot as in enabled us to use the best option possible, rather than using something because we had to. The only difficulty that we found we had was the amount of time. Due to our other commitments, we have found we have very little free time to film, which is not helped by the lack of light hours in the day. We found towards the end of our filming we had to speed things up as it was getting dark very quickly. Although we just about managed it, we noticed it is slightly lighter at the beginning of the scene than the end. Luckily, we have been able to incorporate this into our plot, as we have decided that we will set the time our protagonist goes on her run at dusk, allowing it to become dark without looking strange. Having decided this, it means we will have only a small time period in which we can film in so we need to make sure we keep this in mind and plan prior to our allotted filming time so we can get going straight away without wasting any time. Despite the disappointed at first, we are more hopeful that our opening two minutes will be successful and look forward to the rest of our filming

Filming Schedule

As we haven’t been very organised in our filming, we decided we would put together a filming schedule in order to make sure we get everything we need done, and to make sure we get it done with enough time to re-film if we need to. We thought by actually making a schedule, it would make us more determined and motivated to work through the Christmas holidays, and will allow us to visualise putting our film together. It is important to schedule the days of the shoots, to try and keep things going at the right pace and to make sure that everything is fitted into the day. Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to film all of our scenes in one day due to our other commitments however we believe that even if we had the time, we would not have been able to do to the many different scenes and locations. Due to it being around Christmas time, the weather is very unpredictable and it also gets dark early, giving us a limited amount of actual filming time we can use, so we have put this schedule together to keep us on track.

Wednesday 20^th November– Fortunately, this is the one day a fortnight that all of our group members have a free period last, and no other commitments after school, meaning we were able to leave school early to film for a couple of hours before it got too dark.

Scenes 1 and 3

ü 1.10– Meet in the foyer and leave to go to Eve’s house

ü 1.20– Arrive at Eve’s house and have a pre-filming snack J

ü 1.40– ­ Dress Christie in her costume – hair, make-up, costume

ü 1.50– Leave to begin filming

ü 1.55-3.30 – Film the beginning of Christie’s running scenes

Wednesday 4^th December – Again this is the day in which we all have a free meaning we could leave before lunch, so we took the chance to do some more filming. Despite planning to film, we had not actually planned what we were going to film, so we left school and went to Christie’s house to film at a place called the Splash. When we arrived we realised we didn’t know what we were doing and didn’t want to waste time outside as it was freezing, so we decided to go back to Christie’s house and plan for next time so we could get going straight away without wasting any of the valuable time while it was still light.

Wednesday 18^th December – As we were able to leave school early, we took the opportunity to do some more filming, and decided to try and finish Christie’s running scenes. We decided to do this at Ashtead Common rather than the Splash which is where we were before as it is more picturesque, and the location is better suited to our purpose. Lucky all of the locations we have chosen as situated close to one of our houses, giving us a base to start from allowing Christie, our protagonist to get ready to ensure she looks the same to keep the continuity.

Scenes 5 and 7

ü 1.10– Meet in the foyer and leave to go to Laura’s house

ü 1.20–Arrive at Laura’s house and have a pre-filming snack J

ü 1.40– ­ Dress Christie in her costume – hair, make-up, costume

ü 1.50–Leave to begin filming

ü 2.00-3.45–Arrive at location and film the rest of Christie’s running scenes

Friday 20^th December – As this is our last day of school and the last day we have with Charlotte before she goes on holiday, we thought we better take the opportunity to film at her house. This will be the only opportunity we’ll have before coming back to school, and we are already over our deadline so we thought we needed to try and get the beginning of the antagonist scenes done while we can.

Scenes 2 and 4

ü 1.10– Meet in the foyer and leave to go to Laura’s house

ü 1.20– Arrive at Laura’s house and have a pre-filming snack J

ü 1.40– ­ Dress Christie in her costume – hair, make-up, costume

ü 1.50 ­­–2.45 Film inside antagonist scenes and hostage abductee

ü 2.45 ­­–3.30 Film antagonist leaving house

Saturday 21^st December – This is the first Saturday in the Christmas holidays and as we are already going to be together we thought we would take the opportunity to get some more filming done. Due to using Adam as the antagonist the day before, we decided to finish the following running scenes, with Christie, our protagonist returning home, in order to give Adam a break. After having filming this, we will have finished with all of our running scenes, and will only have the ending scene with both Adam and Christie to focus on.

Scenes 9 and 11

ü 12.00– Meet at Eve’s house

ü 12.15–­Dress Christie in her costume – hair, make-up, costume

ü 12.30 – Leave to go to location

ü 12.40 – Arrive at location and set up equipment

ü 12.45– 2.00 Finish filming running scenes and return home

Friday 27^th December – This is the next free days in the holidays when all of us are available, excluding Charlotte. As the only scenes we have left are the last four, with our protagonist returning home and our antagonist inside the house, we have decided to do them both in the same day as they are in the same location, to finish them off, allowing us time to review them in case any need to be re-filmed.

Scenes 6, 8, 10 and 12
ü 12.00 – Meet at Eve’s house
ü 12.15­– Christie and Adam prepare costume, hair, make-up etc.
ü 12.30– 2.00 Film Adam entering house and in house (scene 6 and 8)
ü 2.00– 2.15 Mid filming snack J
ü 2.15– 3.00 – Film Adam in house (scene 10 and 12)

Soundtrack research Taken #3

Even though Taken differs from our storyline, the use of music has become useful for us when deciding what to use, this is because the music adds to the tension which is constantly increasing. Most crime and action films use soundtracks which involve a type of piano; this is because you can get access to loads of different type of pianos which can create such exasperating sounds which fit within their criteria. An example of this in Taken is the movie credits song The Dragster Wave by Ghinzu, the composition of the wind fits perfectly with the mood the producers of Taken want to portray. This is what we need to take into consideration, because our main aim is to increase the tension, and by using realistic sounds from a piano, can easily make the tension escalate. However, finding a pianist who is willing to give up their time and compose a successful piece of dramatic music is proving difficult for us. Another problem we are facing when it comes down to decision making, is that we do not think having a piano-style soundtrack would be suitable just for an opening scene, especially with a minimal duration time of 2 minutes. Taken 2 uses an interesting sound clip called Tick of the Clock which presents an apprehensive vibe through the beats. This sort of sound would generally be used when someone in the film is running out of time or against time, in our opening two minutes we could use something similar for our antagonist because it promotes the creepy and nostalgic feeling, however we do not reveal too much action which results in whether using a soundtrack similar to this track would be relevant or not. The sound is very effective due to the simplicity of the composition, the sound doesn’t keep the same tempo, it fades in and out through different speeds which would help create enigmas and psych the audience up. This sort of music sways towards the orchestral category which is something we are taking a favour too. The benefit of using an orchestral sort of music is that the tone and pace changes throughout the music, meaning it would be able to fit into different scenes and still work as well as what we would want it too, not only does it do that but it also adds more dimension to the clip. We have been thinking about adding the sound of a heartbeat over the top of one of our soundtracks when suitable, this is because it adds additional tension, still making the film seem very contemporary and realistic. The heartbeat allows the audience to empathise with the characters because it gives them the opportunity to look at situations from the characters perspective. However, our main concern is the positioning of the music, because we would like to use different soundtracks suited to different scenes, this results into more research and deliberation.

soundtrack research #2

This song by Robokids called Kids is another catchy tune which we could intertwine with the running scenes,it has a larger probability of the audience recognising the tune. Not only does it start upbeat it also 

eventually decreases, which could be a good indicator and transition in to the next scene. The idea of the

 fun, upbeat music are still in the air because we are undecided whether it would work successfully or look 

as though we are trying to incorporate music which is not needed. We have got some ideas from these

 two compositions and will definitely consider them if we decided to include that sort of music. 

Soundtrack research #1

Not only do we wish to use an orchestral, deep and meaningful piece of music, we would also like to

 integrate a fun and upbeat music for when our protagonist is running and the prevalence is focused on her. 

This is because we would like to side-track the audience’s thoughts away from the expectations of

 a scary scene, and make the mood more content and at ease. Although, this idea will prove difficult

 because we need to take into consideration about the copyright rules, meaning we will need to try

 and search for some decent music.

We have looked at a few non-copyright music and there is not a great deal available which we feel will be 

suitable. However, Carousel - Lets go Home could be a possibility due to its upbeat nature and high pitched

 feel about it. It combines an electronic vibe which would help attract a larger audience and intertwines it 

with contemporary music. It would definitely help enlighten the mood when watching the film, however

 our main problem is that usually high profited films include music which people would be aware of so 

they can relate, with this sort of music is highly unlikely that anyone would have heard of the song, 

making it seem more random. Even though the name of the song does not have a large relevance, it is still

 ironic how it is name Lets go Home, which would be catchy with our film because the plot is about our

 protagonist on her way home. 

Raccoon Productions

Raccoon Productions is primarily the production company owned by myself, Eve Patterson and Charlotte Welch. It contains only one division and that is Raccoon Cinema productions. Raccoon Productions specialise in low-budget films, accompanied by Preliminary Tasks. Raccoon Productions tackle subjects which gravitate towards a mixture of fast-paced and slow-paced action, mostly with the crime feature involved. They also produce such films with a mixture of genres involved within the film, which is why Raccoon Productions is a suitable production company for our film. Raccoon Productions is best known for taking its taboos to another level. In the upcoming Raccoon Cinema feature film, the audience will experience a new height of tension and a higher class of filming. Despite the low-budget, the film remains of a high rank and production value due to the realism portrayed through the classy locations and world-class acting.

We felt that our design of the Raccoon Productions logo is contemporary and ideal for our film, it is not too overbearing for the audience to view and it would be memorable due to the simplistic design. We will feature this before or after our film to display our creation and add realism on to the film.