Tuesday, 8 February 2011

Pre Production documentation

Synopsis of film
Our film is based around the concept of an investigation following a man who’s known to a series of kidnappings that have hit the news recently. The plot will cover a group of investigators trying to discover the criminal through numerous traces of evidence and forensics. With the film being introduced in the opening sequence with personal footage from the kidnapper, discovered by police, they are trying to track down the kidnapper- name known, through the use of numerous investigations and suspect interviews. Bodies of young girls and teenagers are found throughout the film; however the murder still remains unfound.

Synopsis of opening sequence

There is footage from a handheld camera that follows two school girls out of the school gates and follows them. It cuts from different footage of the girls. The girls say goodbye to each other just outside of the school and it carrys on to follow one of the girls down the road, it shows the girl walking down the road and the camera is behind bushes and while the footage is showing there is a news report voice over the top and informing what has happened saying that a school has been kidnapped.

The Script
Voice Over: On the 12th of October, a teenage school girls went missing. At approximately 3.30pm, two 16 year old girls, both of which dressed in black school skirts and maroon blazers, were last seen walking outside of Kings Langley School gates. With a strong lead from a local neighbour, we are under the impression that the suspect is a middle aged man of medium build and around 5 foot 11 in height. The man dressed in dark clothing was seen wondering around Love Lane- the road on which Kings Langley School is situated on, looking suspicious with a video camera in his hands. When confronted by the neighbour whose name we are guarding for security reasons, the white male with dark “scruffy” hair dismissed our witness, explaining he was a health and safety investigator who was observing the wellbeing of the school.


With a recent rise in the number of school girls going missing in the Hertfordshire area, the police are urging any witnesses to step forward and share any information you may have. The growing concern over the number of girls being abducted is something that the community needs to be aware of. Bodies are being discovered weekly, within local woods, canals and back streets. Evidence suggests the murderer may have a mental condition, and health records show a patient from the surrounding area, matching the suspect’s description. This mental patient also withholds previous convictions of which we cannot discuss for legal reasons, however, let it be known to all that if you are under any suspicion or feel under threat, call your local police station as soon as possible. This kidnapper is out there, and although the murders may not be linked, it is important for him to be found before further peoples’ lives are put to risk. This home footage was sent to the Hertfordshire police station, showing the girls matching her description.

Crew List

Film Maker: George Cambridge


Director: George Cambridge


Actress One: Lauren Phillips


Actress Two: Charley Britton

Editors: George Cambridge, Lauren Phillips and Charley Britton

Costume Designers: Lauren Phillips and Charley Britton



Individual Pre production report
Final decisions were put into place through the pre production stage.  Following a met with the head of media, we realised that the synopsis of the film as a whole was vague and we all had our own interpretations of it.  The group met together to discuss the final plot and  to divide the tasks equally between the four of us.  We discussed the approriate location of where we would film and decided on the area of our own school as not only would it be easily accessable, it also fits in with our plot perfectly.


Technical detail
· To start off the shooting we will have a long shot of both CHARLEY and LAUREN walking out of the school gates. The camera will be positioned on the opposite side of the road diagonally facing CHARLEY and LAUREN.


· The next shot will go back about 10yards and show CHARLEY and LAUREN furtherly walking towards the opposite side of the road. The camera will track their movement across the road and stop when they do.


· CHARLEY and LAUREN then split and go down different routes. The camera will follow LAUREN for a short amount of time establishing where she goes and then show CHARLEY heading off in another direction.


· The camera will then track CHARLEY from a distance following her movement. The camera will do this a couple of times getting closer with every shooting.


· As the camera reaches CHARLEY we will have a close up of her head turning round and screaming.


The location this will be shot in is outside the school gates we will take the footage when there are a decent amount of people walking out of the gates so it seems like it is the end of the school day. The lighting will all be natural due to the footage being taken outside. There will be no external lighting used. The camera movement will be handheld.

Shooting Scedual

 
 
 
 
 
 
The shooting scedual shows what date we filming, how the shots are going to be grouped together and the location and members of the group needed.

Treatment


Shot List



Storyboard
We did produce a storyboard, however unforchantely we did not scan the document before taking it out to the filming and therefore got lost by one memeber.  This particular member agreed to produce a second story board as a result of loosing it, and promised that it would be done by the deadline.  Unforchantely, this deadline was not met.

Monday, 7 February 2011

Focus Group



Focus Group


We took four people out of our target audience, 2 of each gender and a slight variety in age, described our opening sequence to them and recorded their feedback, the clip above shows me asking questions regarding our choosen genre, audience expectations and what they would expect to see if the opening sequence continued to a entire film, and most importantly we asked whether the plot captivates them, and if they would feel inclined after viewing the sequence, to watch the entire film.

Folowing these findings, the group met to discuss what what said during the focus group.

Tuesday, 1 February 2011

History Of My Chosen Genre

History of Mystery Drama films

Popular genre of fiction today us mystery, traced back to Ancient Greece, Mystery and Crime first came around in playwrightsn such as Sophocles and Euripides which plays combinded both mystery and drama.
ystery and crime stories are among the most popular forms of fiction today, and the popularity of the genre is no mystery to millions of readers worldwide.




There are many sub genres within this one genre, including Crime Fiction which deals with crime based storylines.  Crime fiction was extreamly popular in the 1900, and was seen as the only serious genre around.   Crime fiction novels and Motion Picture complemented each other well, catering the need of the average audience need for escapism into an idealist world, in which the "good guys" recieve rewards and are superior to the "baddies" who result in punnishment.  Adaptations of crime fiction novels over the years into movies have been hugely successful.

With general cateogry Crime Film, Mystery Film comes under it as a sub-genre. Focusing on the detective and investigating side,  Mystery Film presents plots around a crime scene and exploring the outcome.

The classic period of 1930's saw silent Charlie Chan films, acting as a detectiveb solving crimes. The popular genre continues today, with classic films produced such as The usual Suspects (1995), Se7en (1995), The Generals Daughter (1999), and many more.

Title Timeline

Se7en Opening Sequence
Upon analysing Se7ens opening sequence, i found that in order to remain with the films genre of a drama mystery, based around a investigation, the title sequence witheld depth behind the mystery.  The title sequence was cut at a fast pace, using a variety of extreame close ups of objects and evidence, while the character remained unknown to the audience; creating a sense of mystery right from the start.  The production company was listed early on in the title sequence, just three secounds in.  New Line Cinema appeared on screen in white typography, eight seconds in reversed style typography in the same font and colour listed the producers name.  The titles of producersm costume designers, music writers, etc all appear one by one gradually through the sequence.  
The auditory code of dramatic music is played from beggining to end, with sound effects of a female screaming is also layered into the opening sequence.

By watching and analysing, I have discovered that is it important to influence the genre of the film from right at the beggining of the opening sequence through the choice of auditory codes, shot sizes, typography, camera movement aswell as the plot included.