Shooting schedule

Storyboards

Casting

For casting we chose to just include people that are in our group to be in the film. We decided to do this because we know that there will be no problems with getting to the filming location, because everyone in our group should be in because we intended to film during the lesson. This is so that we are all in and can just get ready and go and not have to chase people up or worry about whether or not people can come film when we want to. We chose Drew to play the PI because he is the tallest out of all of us, so it gives the impression to the viewer that because he is the taller character he has more power over the others. We also thought that it would be good for Drew to play the PI because he said with the costume we need him to have, he said he already has the majority of what is needed for it, so we thought based upon this it would be good for him to play the PI. I was chosen to play the criminal (guy getting chased) because out of the three I am the smallest so it would make sense for me to be running because it seems as if I would not be able defend myself against them so it makes sense for me to run. Also I could jump the stairs and climb through different parts of the car park making the chase more interesting making it look more interesting but also show the desperation of the guy trying to run away. Another reason me and Drew were chosen to be the two characters was because I do drama this year and Drew did it last year, so we could possibly present the characters better giving a viewer a clearer idea of how they are feeling.

Titles

We chose to use these two fonts because they are both large bold fonts that will stand out on the screen and would be likely to catch a viewers attention when watching the film. They are relevant to the thriller genre because like in most other thriller films they are big and would be the main focus of the shot, which is what we need them to do. We will probably use both of these titles in our opening sequence to have a bit of variety when our opening sequence is happening, which will probably work to good effect because it could help highlight the importance of each title, depending on what it is. Titles from www.dafont.com

Fonts

Catch me if you can title sequence

The title of the film is in a bold black font that is contrasting on a light blue background, which works to good effect as it stands out on the screen. We do not get revealed to the setting/location because the title sequence has been edited so much that it is just animation, but we instantly catch onto the storyline that it is a chase sequence as it shows one person clearly running from another. There are no costumes or props used in this opening sequence as it is amination and there are no people, but we can see objects being used by the animated objects, such as a newspaper, which is just as effective as it would have been if we saw it normally because it is clear to an audience what it is and it shows who has the power in the scene. I think that throughout it has very good and interesting editing because you never often see an opening sequence that is completely animated, which is good because it is unique but also very effective. The font style is always quite big and bold on screen, but it is constantly changing colour depending on the background of the shot so that is contrasts and stands out. All we learn about the story from the opening sequence is that is a chase sequence because it is clear someone is being chased, but it is not clear why, so the audience is interested in what is hapening and why from the very start. The opening suggests it is a thriller because although it uses bright colours unlike a typical thriller, we see that there is someone running from someone else, but it is not revealed to us why. The characters are not introduced to us but we get a rough idea who the main two character are because there is the focus on just two characters throughout this opening sequence, of them just running.

Character descriptions

PI:
gender: male
age:30
Personality: A very stern character, that helps people in times of need. Not afraid of anything.

Occupation: Has been working as a PI for 6 years and has gained a lot of experience in this time.

Looks: He is roughly 6"2', with brown hair, medium build and has no defining marks or tattoos.

Danny (criminal):
gender: male
age: 20
Personality: Is a good man, but can be persuaded to do bad thing, if he needs to. As he lives alone he works just to keep himself afloat, this means that he is not a people person and likes to keep to himself.

Occupation: Works as an engineer, but as he does not get a lot of money from this, he has had to join a criminal group to make enough money.

Looks: Roughly 5"10', medium-long length hair, small build, with no marks or tattoos

Audience research

List of props, costumes and location

Props:
Coin for P&D machine
Car

We chose these two as our only props needed because they are relevant to our sequence as they would be necessary in a car park and enable us to take a variation of shots using these.

Costume:
Pi- all black suit, smart black shoes, brown trench coat worn over suit, fedora hat.
Policeman- police officer suit
Criminal- grey trousers, trainers, t-shirt

We chose to the put the PI in these clothes because it makes it clear to the audience he has a lot of power because he is in a suit, but there is also a sense of mystery about that character because it wants to make the audience want to know why his identity is hidden by the at and big brown trench coat. The policeman is obviously dressed in a police suit because it makes it obvious to the audience who he is. We chose to put the criminal in fairly casual wear because it contrasts to the other two but also does not give too much away about him, but the story will help to make it clear to the audience who he is.

Location:
Car park, Sutton

We chose a car park because it is quite a dull, dark place which is not very nice and pleasant,which suits a thriller because they often incorporate quite dull, grim colours. This also helps us with the chase sequence because we can use the stairs in to show he is going up, but also enables us to use the cars to weave in and out of creating interesting types of shots.

Shot lists

Like most thrillers we are going to use dominantly close ups, long shots and mid-shots to enable an audience to have a clear view of the setting and the characters body language and feelings through seeing their face. However, we do want to try and use shots like high and low angle when the beging, because we are going to be using stairs in our sequence, so we felt if we incoroporated these shots it would be very interesting because it is enabling you to see what is happening through a different perspective and vary the shot types because you do not often see these shots. We also want to try an over the shoulder shot, but have it so that when this shot is happening we see person near the camera from the front, so it is the front of the shoulder, and have it so we can see a figure behind them. We wanted to do a shot like this because it is different from a normal over the shoulder shot and gives the effect that the person is unaware of what is happening behind them. Another shot we decided we wanted to try to incorporate in our film was a match on action at one point because they are very effective shots to use, and can make it seem more interesting becuase there is a variation as to what is happening rather than just having it all as the same for a shot period. We are going to have a point of view shot at the end after we see the guy jump off the edge; the shot will be through the etes of the PI running over and looking at the body over the edge. Another shot we are going to have is at the start an extreme close up of a foot as it steps out of a car to add the sense of mystery because the viewer will not know who it is stepping out and what they are doing.

Sound

Sound effects:

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=22416 (heartbeat)

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=27151 (water dripping)


Sound tracks:

Cops and robbers

http://www.freesound.org/samplesViewSingle.php?id=58963

Synopsis

At the beginnning of our film we chose to show the opening sequence as the ending and work our way through the film revealing different points of the storyline working back towards this event, we show a member of an orgainsed crime assiciation get dropped off at a car park believing he is going there for an important drug deal. As he goes into the car park he gets suspicious of his surroundings and begins to glance around, he notices a policeman blocking the exit. He then looks round again and see's the exit's have all been blocked off and that it is a trap to arrest him for his crimes. He triesto get away by running through the car park but is being chased by a PI. After this has happened they reach the top of the car park and the criminal seeing he is going to prison jumps off the edge, killing himself. Later in the film you find out that the PI was hired by police to find a man linked with several crimes in the area. As he investigates the criminal the story of the criminals life is revealed to us, showing that he was not always involved in crime and that he used to be an engineer, but needed money fast to pay his bills so it's revealed to the audience how he got involved with crime. As the story goes on we see that he is part of a large crime group and we see how he slowly moves up the ranks in this group after each job that he does. However, by the time he has moved to the top the PI has arranged this fake deal to catch the criminal, in which we see the opening sequence again after seeing how different events led up to this happening.

audience response

Initial ideas

Conventions of an opening sequence

The main convention of the opening sequence is to establish a basic storyline for the audience to follow, and attract their attention straight away. It is important that the opening sequence does this because if it does not attract any audience attention because nothing has happened, or because not enough of the story is revealed to give a basic idea to the audience of what has happened, then they will not want to watch it making it an unsuccessful opening sequence. Another important factor of the opening sequence is to introduce the film name, who was involved in the making of it and the main actors names. These are important because the producer, director or acotrs in a film often effect an audience's members decision in going to see a film, becuase of previous films these people have produced or starred in.

Conventions of a thriller

The main convention that a thriller has is to keep the audience on the edge of their seat at all times and keep them asking questions throughout it. For example, if we see someone has been killed or killed someone, the automatic response that should be created by the audience would be, why have they killed this person?, or, how did this person die? You also want to ensure that the audience will not be able to guess what is going to happen next, otherwise the film would not be a successful thriller, because the audience will not be in a element of suspense and will lose interest in the plot and the film.Also thrillers tend to not show much of what has happened so the audience stay interested, which is a very good convention of a thriller as if the audience are unsure about why something has happened or what the cause of something was then the film is successful because the audience are interested in what has happened.

Possible shooting locations

I feel that an alley or a car park would be two very good shooting locations because they are two very deserted but empty locatoins. I chose these two because they are very easy to access to be able to film at these locations and they are also quite dark, gloomy mysterious places. They also are very good because you could put wwriting on the walls of these in an opening sequence which would look clever, but also be very effective because it will seem as if it was already there but links in with our title sequence well.

Casino royale opening

The title of the film like many others in in the centre of the page, in a bold, white font that contrasts wiith the background. We do not discover where the location of the film is, we only see the titles with a silhouette running around whilst the title's are still running. Again because we do not see any actual people, and it is just animation and a silhouette we do not learn anything of the location of the film or see any props that are being used. The editing is very good here because throughout the titles we see that it is an animation and that there has been a lot of work done to enable this to have happened. I think this is very effective becuase it helps keep to the story line that he is a spy, because we never actualy see him adding to the effect he is a spy. The font is always in a bold, white font so that it contrasts with the background and stands off the page. All that is revealed to us from the opening sequence is that the main character is a spy, which most people already know, but the fact that the identity is always kept hidden because a silhouette is used, tells a viewer that he is a spy and his identity is being kept secret. The opening shows that it is a thriller, by always keeping the viewer in the dark about who the character is a why he is running about the screen; this keeps the sense of mystery about the character and what is happening in the film. We understand that the silhouette is James Bond as the audience would expect him to always be the main focus of the film, so it is expected to always see him on screen. The effect I thought was very good was the fact that they managed to use a silhouette to show that this man is a mysterious figure and adds a sense of mystery throughout the whole of the title sequence.