First draft, final draft and whole film storyboards

This was the first draft of our storyboard, which we have made many changes to, as we didn't want this story anymore. We kept the first two stages the same, but changed the rest, because we didn't feel as though this was much of a thriller. Our new storyboard suits the thriller genre more, and we made these changes to show the progress we have made and our reasons for changing them. Some aspects have been kept the same, for example the title credits- we kept them the same as well as adding new titles because we thought they matched with a thriller genre, even if the rest of the opening didn't.

This is our final draft of our storyboard. It is quite different to the original storyboard, because we felt that this storyline matches a thriller genre more than the old one did. Although there is no speech used, we feel as though this will be effective because our first scene is in film noir- an effective technique used by many film makers. It also makes it more mysterious and the viewer want to watch the rest of the film. I am confident that this is better than our first draft, and that we will be able to film all the scenes as we imagine them.

This is our storyboard of our whole film. We decided to make the ending of the film unexpected, as at the end we made it seem as though the man was going to kill the girl in the picture. This shows the examiner what our plan for the whole movie was, and how we weren't going to do an expected storyline. 

Preliminary task

Preliminary task planning

In our first lesson back, we were told what our preliminary task was going to be. The preliminary task is to film a simple sequence of actions (someone walking in a room, dialogue with another character, walk out). This is the task we must do before our actual film. We were told our opening sequence was going to be a thriller, and so got to work on researching different themes and how they compare with each other. We watched the openings of Casino Royale- an action film, a thriller- fargo, and another thriller and romance film. We drew a Venn diagram showing the main differences between the opening sequences of the different genres. This allowed us to analyse the different things we could use for our opening sequence of a thriller. We also watched other A-level thriller openings to help us understand the type of things that would be acceptable.

Another way in which we started to plan for our preliminary task was through the use of storyboards. We received a sheet with eight gaps in order for us to fill in with annotated diagrams of what our preliminary task was going to be like. In the boxes, we drew rough sketches of the sort of camera angles we are going to use, and the compulsory sequences (match on action shot, conversation/shot reverse shot, and somebody walking in and out again. We will follow this for when we shoot our preliminary task so as things run smoothly. Furthermore, in order for us to establish what shots we may use in our preliminary task as well as our real task, we filled in a sheet which contained various types of camera shots with the definition filled in- our job was to write down the effect of each shot. This was to help us establish when we should use a certain shot and what effect it would have on our piece.

This is our preliminary task. It meets all the requirements of what was needed. It isn't the best piece of work but this is good, so we can show the examiner how we have improved when we post our final thriller opening. 

Initial ideas-planning

Planning- Initial ideas on Prezi

Film noir research task

Film noir is a cinematic term used mostly to describe American crime dramas. The first film noir productions came about in the 1940's, and this period ended in the late 1950's. It refers to a black and white visual style, and is most associated with the genre of crime. In terms of iconography, dark pavements, guns, cigarettes and rain represent film noir. The settings usually take place in bars, clubs, urban or industrial settings, or typically 'dodgy' locations. Film noir is often narrated by a voiceover, and contains flashbacks from a person's view. A few examples of film noir are:

- Maltese falcon (1941)- A private detective takes on a case that involves him with three eccentric criminals, a gorgeous liar, and their quest for a priceless statuette.
-Build my gallows high (1947) - A private eye escapes his past to run a gas station in a small town, but his past catches up with him. Now he must return to the big city world of danger, corruption, double crosses and duplicitous dames
- The Night of the Hunter (1955)- A religious fanatic marries a gullible widow whose young children are reluctant to tell him where their real daddy hid $10,000 he'd stolen in a robbery.
-Touch of Evil (1958)- Stark, perverse story of murder, kidnapping, and police corruption in Mexican border town

Film noir analysis on Prezi

Questionnaire analysis

the 180 Degree rule

The 180 degree rule is when the camera must stay on one side or the other of an imaginary line, and must be kept within a field of 180 degrees. It is sometimes seen as very confusing, since the directions established for the viewer is changed. An example of this would be like watching a football game, with the runner going to the right, and all of a sudden we cut to him running to the left. It would make the viewer wonder if he was running the right way or not.

Camera movement

Movement	Explanation	When would you use it?
Dolly	The camera is mounted on a cart which travels along tracks for a very smooth movement. Also known as a tracking shot or trucking shot.	To involve viewers and show something from all angles.
Dolly zoom	A technique in which the camera moves closer or further from the subject while simultaneously adjusting the zoom angle to keep the subject the same size in the frame.	To portray sudden realisation or reaction to a dramatic event.
Pan	Horizontal movement, left and right.	To follow action or movement, or even a character to represent a certain theme.
Pedestal (ped)	Moving the camera position vertically with respect to the subject.	To follow something smoothly and combine with other shots to create an effective scene.
Tilt	Vertical movement of the camera angle, i.e. pointing the camera up and down ( as opposed to moving the whole camera up and down)	To show the size of something in relation to a character or another object.
Track	Roughly synonymous with the dolly shot, but often defined more specifically as movement which stays a constant distance from the action, especially side-to-side movement.	To make viewers feel part of the action- active viewers instead of static observers.
Zoom	Technically this isn’t a camera move, but a change in the lens focal length with gives the illusion of moving the camera closer or further away.	To give extreme detail on something/someone and to create a mood depending on the speed of the zoom.