Font decisions

I was aware that the decision of my font was important, as each font has completely unique connotations. Especially with our Film Noir sub-genred thriller, when a suitable font (1930's style) is difficult to find. We actually managed to find a number of suitable simplistic fonts which we were aware may work well within the contents of our thriller. Yet the one we found to be most effective was 'Belta Regular' - it was simplistic yet stylish, it emphasised the glamorous and stylistic aspect of the beginning yet was not over exaggerated or too much. I couldn't think of another film which used the same font either, which was promising due to the fact that often films are associated with the fonts used and that is partially how they are remembered.
Such as the 'Saw' films, the font is so unusual and iconic that when the audience think of the film, often that font comes to mind. It sticks in the audience's head, especially due to the slightly haunting aspect of it. In this case our font is disimilar, it is not haunting nor outrageous yet is extremely simplistic - it simply fades onto the screen for a couple of seconds and fades off. This in itself presents an eerie feel, as if the situation is delicate and fragile therefore anything could happen. The use of it placed in empty space throughout the shots also emphasizes this, the font is so subtle that with a blink it could be missed - therefore the audience must pay attention since some of the fonts appear in slightly unusual places in unusual angles. This presents the idea that boundaries shall be broken or that the film will not be fully conforming to the Film Noir genre, a suggestion that the audience may be surprised which will provide interest from the audience.

The pure white font is almost sinister since it is so pure and simple that the audience can almost predict that the plot will not end quite so glamorously. The white mixed with the flickering candle light behind in this shot, also is symbolic of heaven aka death. Therefore from one of the primary shots the audience may be made aware that the plot will take some kind of sinister turn, the suspense of this creates an interested audience. 

Shooting Schedule

Below are images of our shooting schedule:

Actors featuring in our thriller

The character of Ray was played by Tom Battell. We chose Tom to feature due to firstly his size, he is a tall broad boy for a seventeen year old and looks much more mature than his age. Therefore as the tension-builder or the possible villain (in the audience's eyes) we were aware that his size would help, and be emphasised by low-angled shots, a scary, intimaidating persona. Yet there are aspects of Tom's features which are likely to portray him not as a wholly dangerous man - which is the desired affect, we wanted to portray him as a lovable husband also and it is his Femme Fatale of a wife Scarlett that has lead him to follow and kill her. This is shown firstly in the photograph of the couple happily smiling together, the audience should understand that their relationship is not filled with hate and this man perhaps wants to regain what he has lost (his wifes affection). The removal of the wedding ring should be a strong implication that Scarlett is having an affair, matched with the lipstick appliance and dressing up, we hope that this will become apparent to the audience. Therefore Ray is not the villian of our piece. Tom Battell's curly hair and dimpled cheeks present a lovable, sweet aspect to the character of Ray that we needed to portray this, in order to put across a certain aspect of likablility if you will. Tom Battell is also a good friend of mine therefore I was aware that I could rely on him to be at our locations when he said that he would be and that he would give a good performance (as I have seen him act before). Tom was also very comfortable with us and therefore was able to work with us well when it came to shooting and he was very happy to do so, working with a pleasant actor made the filming aspect a lot easier. Tom was also about the same size as my dad therefore when it came to costume and props, we were able to easily get ahold of vital clothing which Tom did not possess which fitted him with ease.
The character of Scarlett was played by me. We done this due to the difficulty finding a female actress, also as I am very comfortable acting in general we knew that we wouldn't have many limitations if this was done. Also since it was towards my own thriller I was erged to be there on time, to have my costume and props and give a good performance - probably more so than if we had gotten another actress to take part. Yet this meant that my ability to film particular scenes was limited, though when I was off screen and we needed singular shots of Tom I was able to film shots and direct.

Thriller - Rough Cut

Above is the first rough-cut of my thriller opening 'Scarlett'.
Improvements to be made

• The entire piece needs to be edited in black and white as it appears much more stylistic and helps to create a vintafe 1930's atmosphere. 
• The sound effect of the jewelry box slamming is slightly out of sync with the shot, therefore that needs to be edited to a second earlier as it is quite obvious it's out of time. 
• There are a couple of incidents where the jewelry box sound effects jolts and the audience are able to hear where the clips of the sound effects over lap, this needs to be edited by a fade or perhaps cutting the sound clips more appropriately. 
• The beginning titles need to be adapted time-wise so they are on-screen for equal amounts of time because in this cut it varies slighty.

Pleased with

• The beginning sequence in the dressing room - flows reasonably well. 
• The titles appear to work quite well, and they are very simplistic therefore do not look tacky or ruin the vintage eeriness. 
• The shot where Scarlett glances over her shoulder - enigmatic, vaguely resembles the shot of Harry looking over his shoulder in 'The Third Man' 
• Symbolism of the lioness - the Femme Fatale running into the night under a big powerful lioness, symbolises her strength of character and her danger yet the paw upwards as if pleading for help is almost a hint to the audience that she may be in desperate need of help.
• Shadow along the step - creates tension and looks very Film Noir. 
• The shot of the picturesque alleyway with the two lamposts - inspired by the scene in The Third Man when the lead character is waiting under the lampost surrounded by the darkness.

Sound necessities of our thriller

At the beginning of the thriller it will open with the sound of a slow sickening jewellry box tune, repeated as the character of Scarlett prepares for her venture out into the world of the 1930's. Any non-diagetic sound will be silenced to emphasise this tune, which will bring a larger effect when the jewellry box is slammed and there is silence for about five seconds. We have recorded an old jewellry box sound which we will loop round continuously, it sounds more effective and realistic.
As Scarlett is shown leaving the building (her house) the second piece of music will begin, this will be a classical piano or violinist piece which is simple yet builds up therefore gaining tension throughout the remainder of the into.
We recorded the sound effect of an old tower chiming, since it sounds so definite and classic therefore may merge into our opening well. Therefore we're experimenting now with whether that sound effect could be used to provide a sense of location or emphasise the time zone.

We will add the sound effect of a gun, though a gun is not shown in the clip (due to the likelihood at it looking tacky, from an incorrect time and the difficulties of carrying around a pretend gun in a busy city) the sound effect should make it more enigmatic and more of a shock to the audience. This will be used after a shot of the male character smiling slightly, to make it reasonably easy to follow that the gun shot is most likely from him. Even though a gun will not be featured it's such a stereotypical prop used in Film Noir therefore will only put further emphasis on the genre, we took this inspiration of a gun as an important prop from 'The Third Man' in the sewers when the guards were searching for Harry and the scene came to a conclusion by the shooting of him. This was appropriately dramatic and intense, it built up well and worked with the enigmatic music filled with tension - so this brought us inspiration.

We used a diagetic sound track of a jewelry box similar to that featured in the youtube clip above, yet slightly more sinister, we looped this to create an on-going sinister atmosphere.

The storyboard of our thriller

Our thriller locations

The opening of our thriller will be set in a dressing room, where the character of Scarlett will be shown applying make up and the plot will be set in action. Since we've gone for the sub-genre of Film Noir this dressing room will have to be glamorous and vintage-looking, therefore it cannot be a modern dressing room which is problematic since not many people have a vintage dressing room. Therefore we have a few options for this, firstly enquire if we could use 'The Maddermarket Theatre' dressing rooms, since it's a very old-fashioned building and would be well-suited. Secondly within our group we have a couple of possible suitable locations in Grandparent's houses etc. however this may be problematic for reaching as it would be in Beccles most likely.

Our second location will be shown as Scarlett rushes into the night, dimly lit alleyways will be shown as she rushes off into the night (we took great inspiration from the Third Man scene of when Harry discovers that his friend remains alive, the dark shadows cast everywhere). This will be filmed in the alleyways near the Norwich market, hopefully found this quite serene street where there are not numerous people rushing around as it would ruin the 1930's eeriness that we aim for. Therefore it is likely we will film around 4pm, keeping the shoppers to a minimum, being able to film mainly with natural lighting yet getting the time right to create those dark shadows across the alleyways. We found this alleyway on the outskirts of Norwich, and it fits in perfectly with out idea of a serene pathway which we could easily imagine the character of Scarlett rushing down. The old brick walls which are extremely close together should help to give a claustrophobic impression, helping to build tension in these faster paced scenes. It's also quite a secluded area and therefore there shouldn't be a huge amount of passers-by to create issues and problems for us as we film. The rails to the left could symbolise Scarlett's entrapment of character, in a tricky situation. The darker walls and lighter floor should look stylistic in a black and white effect when filmed.  As seen in the photograph, despite being a very closed in alleyway it is very well lit therefore should not be exessively underexposed (not just film noir dark but so dark that the audience cannot make certain aspects of the picture out).
  

Thirdly Scarlett will reach the City Hall, the large impressive building's contents will remain a mystery to the audience, as the clip will stop as she waits for her lover (which only we know, the audience won't be aware of, what she is doing will be a complete enigma). The large staircase and glamorous background should work perfectly with the genre of Film Noir and the ideas that we have for our thriller opening. With the two outdoor locations, the weather may be slightly difficult due to quite obviously if it rains or is unruly at all, filming, lighting and keeping costume in the right condition might be difficult. However it shouldn't be an extreme problem, the alleyways offer a fair bit of shelter and the rain may add a certain theatricality and sense of pathetic fallacy. Only a few shots will be shot outside the city hall, therefore pedestrians/weather shouldn't be an excessive issue by any means, that risk is worth the classical element of the building and the fact that it is always relatively well lit from the memorial. The grand scale of the building should make good eye-catching footage and therefore the audience should question further why Scarlett is there and what she is doing? It should successfully give the impression that it's building up to a finale before the cliff hanger, keeping the audience engaged.

Character, costume and props of Ray in our thriller

Characters, costume and props of Scarlett in our thriller

Mood board for our thriller

Mood board for thriller on Prezi

Treatment

Blackout. As a jewellery box’s tune begins, the shot of her blood red lipstick fades in as her hand reaches over and gracefully picks it up. The corner of her lips, with her glamorous hair comes into shot, she’s applying the lipstick slowly. This is followed by a behind shot of her, placing her lipstick on the counter and in turn collecting some diamanté earrings from her jewellery box. The shot lingers on the photograph of a happy couple before returning to a side close up of her ear and cheek, as she places her earring in her ear. Her wedding ring is removed and placed under a necklace in her jewellery box, her fingertip lingers across the man in the photo’s face, hesitation…the jewellery box is slammed shut, and the music abruptly stops. She leaves in silence.

Next is a shot of the femme fatale swiftly leading the building, rushing down the steps. She walks into a darkly lit, enigmatic alleyway. As she glances over her shoulder, her face is largely covered by her stylistic hat’s netting. Yet her eyes glancing behind her, whilst swiftly walking, is clear. Due to a long shot of this character rushing, a second character is revealed by their dark mysterious shoulder and neck wandering into the frame. A man, and he’s watching her.

The sub-genre of thriller that we have decided upon is Film Noir, due to the especially creative aspects of filming, editing and music. The Film Noir's theatricality and glamour would make an exciting opening to create, we expect. Inspiration taken from many classic Film Noir's such as the dark mysterious alleyways used in The Third Man, though not a Film Noir the stylistic opening of Casino Royal, we aim to use similar unique camera angles and shots to create an on-edge impression. Our Femme Fatale has many qualities similar to Phyllis from Double Indemnity, the confidence, glamour, and seductiveness are traits that we inivsion being in the character of Scarlett. Not only this, the plot took some inspiration from the theme of adultery that runs through Double Indemnity since it brings such a motive for violence and passion. Also Chinatown's J.J. "Jake" Gittes (the male protgragonist) loosely inspired our protragonist, mainly his flair of character and love of money.

What do directors seek to establish in the openings of thrillers?

The opening of a thriller is undoubtably one of the most crutial parts of a thriller, a good opening will completely hook an audience by setting up good enigma's which quickly maike the audience question why? Why is this happening? Who is this character? Yet the opening will also establish certain aspects of the film, such as lead characters or atleast the lead character, not only this but themes, moods and locations are usually hinted at which should draw the audience in.

An example of a very good enigmatic thriller opening, is the opening of 'Se7en' when inspector Summerset is introduced to the audience.

Why is the opening of 'Se7en' so effective? on Prezi

If you purely observe costume in this shot, that is one way in which the two characters are established uniquely and as an overall contrast. Inspector Summerset's black old fashioned hat is an implication that he is quite an old-fashioned, classy character yet there is a mystery behind him and possibly a slight moral ambiguity (due to hats always casting a shadow across a characters face). The prop use of a torch in this shot is very effective, Summerset's direct light source pouring out at the audience is an implication that the character will bring brightness and light into a dark plot and story. The trenchcoat adds to the representation of Summerset as our old fashioned, yet enigmatic protagonist. Brad Pitt's character is however established as a more current quite possibly weaker detective. Firstly this is due to costume, the up-to-date jacket and relaxed shirt with no sign of a hat, suggests a more relaxed and youthful character. The body language hints at the power relationship between the characters, Brad's character being further back, more towards the door as if he's just entered the room implies that he just entered the world of policing. Therefore he has less experience so takes a 'back seat' to this investiagtion, letting Summerset lead the way.  

 

Whereas alternatively the opening of a 'Whitechapel' opening that we looked at, the focus seems to be on establishing themes and moods. The titles begin the opening and these titles are very explicit of the themes and likely moods of the episode. This is one of the first shots, primarily the hugely visible 'police' text stands out to the audience and therefore the theme of crime and possibly danger is put across to the audience very obviously. The blood over a what would be neat police file, suggests corruption - a dirtying of the police department. The slight shadow behind the paper clip is an implication that there will be mystery and secrets, hidden, within the plot. The precise spots of blood dotted across the page implies that there will be very deliberate violence featured within the storyline. Yet this shot is very, very enigmatic; the audience are left wondering what this means - why is there blood on the file? What is the file?

The font used, contrasts with the background, the whiteness should add purity and peace. Yet the transparency leads to an almost contridiction of this - as if where there was innocence, it has been taken away. This reflection on the theme of danger is so enigmatic that it draws the audience in, a fan of thrillers would automatically recongise the connotations, the mystery behind the opening here is established to catch the attention of the audience.   

A shot which follows is this one of one of the lead characters, firstly his body language is explicit of shocking contents of the plot. The hand over the mouth suggests that whatever he has seen has made him feel sick and he does not know how to cope with it, since the audience are not able to see whatever he is looking at, there is further development of the theme of mystery. The setting is also explicit of themes, the white background filled with windows suggests many trap paths and transparencies of characters, things are not what they seem perhaps. Also the two characters with their backs to each other is an implication that there will be some sort of confrontation, though it's not completely obvious yet again the theme of underlined secrets. 

The director also established the setting within the opening sequence by this shot of the sky scrapers of London. The extremely claustrophobic location (due to the numerous buildings) is alike to the claustrophobic feel of the setting in 'The Third Man', when the sewer is used to create an eeriness of tension and danger. It also displays to the audience the importance of the characters - high up in a huge London sky scraper suggests importance and  excitement, the setting of a city is an implication that something is always happening and therefore the plot will be exciting. The director may of also included the setting into the opening to possibly build excitement around knowing very little about the protragonist and main characters, it builds up an enigma from introducing and establishing other aspects of the film priorly to build up that question behind the characters.

Preliminary Task

Introduction!

Hi I'm Holly Duffield and this is my media blog