Evaluation of our Pre-production process

From beginning the course on my first practical lesson of an ‘introduction to still cameras’ my understanding has developed continuously up until this final post pre-shooting in January. Throughout this time our group has proven how well we can work together, each of us contributing to ideas in order to create our thriller sequence. From our first shooting of the Preliminary task we showed our strengths and As Greg (group member) was very competent using the video camera it enabled to efficiently capture the shots off our storyboards and too find shots outside the storyboard. I feel that our most successful aspect of the pre-production task was editing the Preliminary task. This was because we took it into our own time, spending time over this in order so we could make it as perfect as we could get it. We suffered one mistake in this that in a perfect ending to the sequence there was a noise that interrupted one of the actor’s lines. By only using Final Cut Pro for the first time we found this difficult to discard without loosing the real line. However, we quickly overcame this and sorted it out. I feel that that has given us more experience in using Final Cut Pro and has taught us how to use the sound dynamics. This will help our group next time when we come to edit of Thriller titles because we understand the programme better and be more experienced in using it, because we know that any errors can be easily altered.
The whole pre-production process has also taught us how necessary it is to be organised, to get all work in by the deadline, because otherwise other members of the group rely upon your work, and then everything is late. Therefore this teaches us the necessity of communication and how we need everyone within the group to be apart of the team and undergo the jobs that they are assigned to. Each aspect of the pre-production process has been important because it has allowed us to fully understand the thriller and how we have to generate tension through the props, locations, actors, how all of it has to add and come together to create believability and realism, otherwise the audience will not believe it and it will not be scary. Also, by creating a shooting schedule, I believe that this is very important and should ensure that we capture all of our shots on our cast list and also ensure that if there are any more shots that we want to capture that we have enough time.
In the process pre-production, I was the producer ensuring that everyone had completed their tasks on time that I had assigned them. After our first meeting as a group, I researched with Hannah for appropriate Biblical passages which in the editing process can be read over the top of the whole sequence to portray why the doctor is murdering his patients. I then listed all the shots sectioning which who was to produce each page of the storyboard. I assigned this to the different members of the group, apart from Greg, because he would do the drawings on the storyboard. I produced the last pages (6 and 7) of the storyboard, created the props and costume list and helped Hannah to produce to cast list. The props for the sequence are very important to ensure that there is a degree of believability, I have previously done design and costume work in drama productions. I am also quite an organised person and ensured that everyone has done their work that they were assigned to, and if anyone needed help on their work I helped them with it to ensure that everything was up-to date and handed in for the deadline.

Other this time I have extensively developed my understand filmically, now knowing how to operate a video camera. I know how to set up a video camera on a tripod, and about the framing and composition of the camera ensuring that there’s not too much/little headspace. I also know about the different techniques of using articifcal light and how to balance and neutralise light. Also, I have understood technically on computers how to create a blog account, update each of my post and how to regularly post on my blogs.

If I were to research and plan this whole sequence again I feel that as a group we should have had agreed our narrative concept a lot quicker and spent less time over this. This was very important but we should have agreed this in the first meeting, so then we could have got on the way with planning a lot quicker. Also, at the end of each lesson, I feel that our group could have met with each other and shown what work we had done, so that could either have been finished off before next lesson or someone else could have helped to get it finished.

I think that our casting decisions is very good because it will be very believable and on the day, once everyone is gathered together, in the right location it will all look very realistic. However, I feel that before the shooting the room will need to be decorated and all of the family’s furniture will need to be moved around to ensure that it does look as if it is a retirement lounge and not a family’s living room. However, on the day I feel that it will all come together and it will be a very successful day, and I’m looking forward to it.

Creating our shooting schedule

When we begin shooting on Wednesday 7th January we need to ensure that we use our time efficiently, and capture all of our shots. We created a shooting schedule organised in a tabular form sectioning how long each of shots in one room would take. We begin shooting at 9:30 and shoot all of our shots in the ‘retirement lounge’ that morning until 12:30, when we stop for a lunch break. This covers all of our first establishing shots. After lunch, we begin setting up at 13:00, and start shooting at 13:15. This is shooting the shots in the doctor’s room. This may take longer because it needs to be very precise in order to create believability.

It is very important that we try to stick to this schedule, otherwise we may overlook and not finish shooting this all within one day. Also, my schedule has allowed us to have time to find any other shots outside the storyboard, which we find on the day to generate more tension and fear.

Account of props and costume

In order to sustain believability we needed to use many props to create the retirement lounge. Therefore we need a sufficient amount of props to set the peaceful and relaxing atmosphere. Our characters will just need to dress casually, and comfortabley, wearing slippers on their feet, to create the sense that they live there.
• Tea trolley
• Tea pot
• Cups and saucers
• Tables
• Spoons
• Chairs/ sofas
• Zimmer frame
• Walking sticks
• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Knitting
• Wool
• Needles
We also needed a lot of props to generate tension and create a scary yet professional atmosphere in the doctor’s room. We needed to use similar equipment to create a degree of realism. The doctor would be smartly dressed to portray that he is professional and to show his importance.
• Pen
• Prescription sheets
• Medicine cupboards
• Pill pots
• Personalised labels
• Syringe
• Liquid/medicine inside the syringe
• Rubber gloves
• Clock
• Flickering light bulb

Account of casting decisions

In order to create sufficient realism we needed to use eldery people, and therefore decided to use our grandparents. This was suitable because as they were our relations, as we knew them well, they would be easy to work with, get hold of and all live locally. However, for the doctor, we had to use a professional actor in order to make him a believable character. We our using Russel Layton who has done previous thriller opening titles. For our nurses, we needed to use two middle-aged women to create a degree of realism and to create the sense of a relaxed retirement home. We’ve decided to use, Greg’s (group members) mother, and my sister’s child minder.

This is a photograph from Russel Layton, the proffessional actor who we used to act as the doctor, portfolio.

Account of location requirements

The locations that we required firstly had to establish the appropriate mise-en scene, as this is important create a degree of realism and believability. We chose one of the group member’s houses, as he lived locally, and had a sufficient big room, which with the correct props could be passed off to look like a rest home. This reduced our travelling time and therefore gave us more time for shooting. We also used Greg’s (group member) house again for the doctor’s room. This allowed us to again reduce travelling time, and was easy with only one location. We are visiting Greg’s house on a reccy to establish where the main sources of light were, so we can plan if these needed to be blacked out, or whether we needed to use artificial light.
We would be unable to establish the opening shot of the retirement home outside Greg’s house; we are shooting this outside a real nursing home in Ewhurst. This is again very local and easy for us, reducing travelling time.

Evaluation of the institution producing the thriller

In a group discussion, we felt that our film should be televised by Channel 4, or be made a part of a series in which could occur over a series of weeks. At the end of each episode of the week, it could end on a ‘cliff-hanger’ to generate tension and make the audience watch it the following week. By the end of the series, either the doctor could be caught, trialled and sent to prison, or what could be even scarier is if he’s not caught, the series just ends, suggesting that we are always unaware of things like this. This would be a low budget film, yet would bring in large audiences. It would be publicised after the watershed of 9pm, for fear of breaching any laws, and being too scary before this hour.

Evaluation of target audience

Our thriller title sequence would primarily target a younger male audience, certificate 15, from the age of 15-30. This could be of any social class as it could affect anyone. We thought of it for a younger especially male audience whom prefer the sadomasochistic idea of evoking pain. This thriller would obviously not target the older generation, whom could often fear this occurring. An audience is always defined by their expectations of a thriller, they engage us through their complex and unravelling narrative creating suspense and uncomfortable scenes that challenge our beliefs.

Our research

Whilst deciding on our idea, we researched into previous serial killers such as Jack the Ripper and the doctor, Harold Shipman, who overdosed his patients with insulin in order to cover up his murders. We also watched a previous AS thriller piece, ‘Stare’, in which we liked the extensive cross-cutting and we also in the Stanley Kubrick’s, ‘A Clockwork Orange’ the classical music inspired us to create a eerie atmosphere throughout the scene, and help us finalise our narrative. We based our doctor, upon these murders, using their subtleness to make it appear scarier, because it is so unexpected.

One intial source of research:-
- Doctor Shipman case: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harold_Shipman
- Jack the Ripper case: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_the_Ripper
- The classical music from 'A Clockwork Orange' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1C_syZkMj4&feature=related

Video research of Doctor Harold Shipman:-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gzh-2SNK4-U

Account of our first production meeting

In our first meeting, we agreed to change the narrative of the storyline, yet based it upon Emma’s theme of a doctor attempting to play the role of God. However, we decided to set the thriller sequence within a retirement home, in which the doctor murders his patients by overdosing them. We wanted to cross-cut between an eerie doctor’s room in preparation of the injection, to the retirement home in which a patient was nervously waiting. The contrast between the relaxed and peaceful lounge of the retirement home and the dark, disturbing doctor’s room would generate tension and fear in the audience. We wanted the audience to be aware of his reasons for his actions through the biblical voice-over.

Our list of shots for the storyboard - creating the initial draft

We began the process of storyboarding by deciding upon a sequence of specific shots that would visually deliver our narrative concept. This was then modified and formed the basis of the creation of the actual storyboards.

These are the list of the intial shots for our storyboard.

1. Wide shot of the retirement home
2. Close-up of the retirement sign
3. Medium shot of the lounge
4. Close-up of the trolley’s wheels as nurses push them around

5. Close-up of teapot pouring into mugs
6. Medium shot as nurse hands a cup of tea to the old woman
7. Close-up of old woman twiddling thumbs, acting nervous as she drinks the tea.
8. Extreme close-up of old woman stirring her tea

9. Extreme close-up of edge of spoon as it taps the edge of cup- sound echoed
10. Close-up shot as the old woman tried to put her cup down on the table
11. Medium shot as the nurse comforts her and helps her
12. Cross-cut to the doctor, behind his shoulder, pushes up the prescription, and finishes writing the ending of a prescription


13. Zoom in to the prescription
14. Mid shot behind his shoulder, as he reaches up to the cupboard
15. Close-up of inside the cupboard, everything apart from the pill boxes, written on the credits, are in soft focus.
16. Mid shot as he reaches inside the cupboard as he gets out the injection equipment.

17. Close up of doctor putting on his rubber gloves
18. Extreme close-up of the needle point
19. Undershot of doctor filling syringe.
20. Mid shot of squirting needle, droplet comes from the top, camera slows down real time, tilting following the droplet from up to down


21. Droplet splashing on the table surface
22. Close-up of a clock on the wall, enhanced ticking
23. Close-up of light flickering
24. Chair covered in ties and straps flashes on the screen, then suddenly the old woman appears in the chair, this flashes off.

25. Medium shot of the old woman sitting in her chair
26. Soft focus of behind the doctor standing over a grave.
27. Zoom in to extreme close-up of his face, he smiles.
28. Medium shot as doctor walks up the door

Planning and Pre-production

For our Thriller, we firstly had to establish:
• Who were the main actors
• Where the setting for it should be
• What props were needed
• When our shots would happen

We all worked together to create our storyboard and which shots should happen when and then I took on the role of the Producer, and decided each member of the team should be responsible for a section of the storyboard. This was to be completed, so Greg, could begin drawing in the pictures for the storyboard.
I next gave Hannah the task of producing a Cast list, including photographs and contact details, and she did this promptly. Emma and I together produced the props list, of what needed to be bought before the shooting. We all decided that Greg’s house, would be a suitable place to shoot for the retirement home.

Our group chosen idea - finalising the narrative concept

Our idea is based upon Dr Shipman, a doctor who overdosed his old patients in order to kill them and abuse his power, thus taking on the role of God. The sequence explores the arrival of the doctor at an old people’s rest home and his subsquient preparation of a leathal injection under the guise of a routine appointment for one individual patient. This is also cross cut with images of the doctor standing by the grave of his victim, which is presented as a prophetic flash forward.
The first shot establishes the mise-en-scne of the retirement home as an elderly woman walks up to the door. As she enters through the door, she is assisted to her chair and is given a cup of tea. We then cross-cut to the doctor preparing the injection, we then cross-cut to a chair covered in straps and ties this flashes on the screen and then cuts back to the old woman on a chair. The camera then cuts to a prophetic image of the doctor standing over the old lady’s grave with a sinister smile on his face. The camera then cuts back to the retirement home as the doctor walks out and calls in the old woman.

Account of possible thriller ideas

Each student had to present the opening of a thriller film outlining the brief idea of our film using a power-point presentation. The location of our idea had to be achievable, preferably only a few locations, and too present how our thriller would generate tension. The general outline of my thriller was to have a 20year old unshaven man, lying asleep in his bed of a clock of flats. The audience is playing a voyeuristic role of watching him sleep, and then the camera tilts up to the ceiling and the camera slows down real time as we watch a water droplet form. The camera follows this droplet from the ceiling onto his face, and the water droplet splashes on his face and ruins down his right cheek. Another droplet forms and the droplet again splashes on his face, he stirs a little as if to wake up. Yet the third droplet that falls is blood. The camera slows down real time and spreads across his face. The camera then flashes to a image of him, lying in the room above, but his body has been butchered. This is a prophetic image, and builds tension as the audience want to know what has happened to him. The camera then cuts back to him asleep, and he awakes as the enhanced diegetic sound of the alarm clock wakes him up.

What is a thiller?

Our lesson today focused on the concept of the thriller genre, exploring its key conventions and techniques. Thrillers are difficult to define, due to the many emotions that are a part of the whole experience. Thrillers rely on the fear, apprehension and suspense in the audience, playing on our basic worries, in which the audience raises enigma codes in their minds. However, the audience enjoys the pain that the characters are experiencing and observes them with a voyeuristic pleasure. Most thrillers make use of universal themes of love, death money and place us as a spectator. Thrillers also play upon a sense of delay and when something does happen, the audience feel a sense of relief. However, throughout the thriller the audience have grown to know the characters and feel a sense of ambivalence, feeling sympathetic towards their vulnerability.
Thriller also employs key generic conventions. These include: a intricacy of plot and a complex narrative which unravels throughout the thriller.

Account of editing preliminary task

We shot our premliniary task in one lesson and after all our our footage had been digitalised onto fire wire hard drives we could edit them. We discarded our bad shots in which a mistake was made in which, an actor forget her line, poor construction-out of focus shots, no continuiety between the shots and the 180 line broken. However, our best shots were dragged onto the timeline and were edited together. We didn’t face any major issues in this process. We included a ‘fade up from black’ at the start and a fade down to black as at the end.

Account of shooting our Preliminary task

Our preliminary task consisted of filming conversation between two characters. Our objective from the task was to film a simple sequence following a storyboard, understanding the camera and movement of the camera. However, filming our preliminary task was made simple as we all worked very well as a team. There were the obvious and natural occasional slips when the actors got the giggles, and were unable to deliver a serious “Do it” whilst smiling. However, I believe that our approach to this task was successful, we were able to productively capture the shots on our storyboard, and even whilst shooting captured other shots that we believed may be interesting to use during the editing process. We believed that we could use this for continuity editing to create a flow from shot to shot to give the idea of a constant sequence. Before we began, we had to establish where our 180º line was; this is an invisible line between the camera and the subject, which must not be crossed. This is because the audience’s perspective will have changed and this will confuse the audience. We next had to set up our props and actors ensuring that all movement was in the same direction and props were set up in the same place, guaranteeing continuity. Also, before we even started recording, 30 seconds of colour bars were put on the beginning of the tape, so the tape when it’s rewound continuously, our footage will not be damaged. Gregory was our main cameraman and ensured that before shooting the camera was in manual focus and the most important subject for the scene, and making sure that the foreground or background or both were in focus. From the beginning Greg had already “mastered” the camera and we had already captured the shots from the storyboard so it allowed us to be experimental and get shots from different. We too carefully choreographed the movement of each character, where they were planning to walk to, so in the shot of the frame the camera would be aware of where that character is, otherwise if the frame doesn’t show where the character has gone, the audience are left confused. Similarly Gregory had to ensure that the framing and composition was perfect, certifying there was enough headspace, between the actor and the top of the frame, whether this was too much or too little. However, we didn’t use any camera tilts or pans or p.o.v’s we conveyed that our low status ‘victim’ through facial expressions and gestures. It may had been more interesting to use a p.o.v, yet we did use film the same character several times at different heights and levels, close-up of victim at eye level, close-up of victim sitting down, level with table. We used the close-up of the victim sitting down because when the ‘victim’ suddenly stands up and pushes the chair behind her with some force, we felt that this was important to the scene because it captured the essence of desperation and that she couldn’t help the antagonist. We also had to take the camera off the tripod and place it on the floor, to capture the same level as the wheels of a chair. We filmed the chair being forced from left to right out of frame. We focused onto the wheels as they spun, to convey the force with which the chair was pushed back. We used diegetic sound, which was recorded along with the footage. The diegetic sound was recorded onto a camera mix in which before filming the microphone levels on the camera were set to avoid the sound being distorted. We tried to use strong sound effects from the antagonist, for example, when she hits the table with her bare hands. The sound as she hits the table portrays her force and anger for someone to not comply with her wishes. Too when she exits the frame, the door slams behind her with a bang, this sound symbolises her anger and annoyance at the victim. We too portrayed the emotions of the characters through their tone and pitch of voice the antagonist using a strong and powerful tone, whereas the victim uses a frail tone of voice. We followed a storyboard of each shot to ensure that we firstly didn’t break the 180-degree line, so each actor was on the same side of the frame throughout the scene. Also it certified that there was continuity throughout the scene, and the actor appeared similarly when we changed the angle and level of the shot. We successfully achieved this, because before we even began filming, we set specific marks for both actors to use to make sure we stood and moved similarly to previous shots. However, it is impossible to get every shot exactly the same as the previous, I believe that we tried as best as we could and our footage shows this. Nevertheless, if there are any mistakes in continuity, during the editing process we can conceal any inconsistencies, to make the footage appear to flow. In conclusion, I believe that we worked very well together as a team, and were able to capture exactly what our storyboard wished for us to achieve, too on set we saw perfect shots, which would create more interesting footage and too give variety to the scene. However, looking back on the task now, I feel that the actors, me included, could have rehearsed their lines before the filming, so less time could be wasted on mistakes and more time on extra footage.

Introduction into using Final Cut Pro

After shooting our preliminary tasks we used final cut pro run on G5 Macs to edit them. Our footage of the task was first digitalised from tape onto fire wire HD before we could edit them. We then had to log out best shots and discarded the takes in which mistakes were made. After rejecting theses shoots, our best shots were then dropped onto the timeline which is very flexible and allows us to easily modify and adjust our shots. In this process we can also add sound, diegetic or non-diegetic, however we did not do this. Next we trimmed, adjusted to create a narrative from a selection of shots into a consistent sequence to give the impression of a continuous movement.

Introduction into a video camera

We used the Song PDR 170’s camera in order to learn how to operate, focus, depth of field on a photograph, framing and composition, allowing us to ensure that there is no too much/little headspace and also learning about the rule of thirds. When there is not enough light, by using gain, 0DB you neutralise the balance of light, you can also do this by using artifical light. We also leant about the DV format on the camera, learning of the time codes on the screen of the camera. However, we first learnt how to certify that the camera was steady using a tripod, and learnt how to ‘bubble up’ the tripod, this ensured that the camera was safe and secure.

Using Digital Still Cameras

We used a Fuji FinePix S900 Digital Still Camera to compose still images from our storyboard. This allowed us to learn about composition and using the aperture of the camera. This taught us about the composition and framing to produce a picture and also introduced us to the technical settings on this camera.

Why did i choose Media Studies?

Before i came to Hurtwood, i had never studied Media Studies, but had wanted to study it previously. I chose Media because I enjoy studying and have continued to study English and Theatre. Therefore I believed that I could integrate the different subjects. I also enjoy photography, and feel that media studies will help me to capture and understand the reasoning behind an image.
I feel that I have been inspired by television and films, my favorite genre of films is thriller.