Filming Over Holidays

Today the group had decided in our latest production meeting that we will be filming our thriller through the dates 3rd-5th January. We hope to stick to this plan and hope to finish everything in these 3 days. We gave our self quite a lot of time to film as we are working with an animal. This takes patience and time to complete well and to a decently high standard. We know that this will be a task but we are willing to take on the challenge.

Storyboard

Shooting Schedule

Day	Scene	Location	Equipment	Costumes	Props	Cast +Crew
1 2 3 4 5	Opening Theft Chase Downloading Set-up	Fairlop Park - - Car-park/ Car -	Mono-pod Mic Camera Tri-pod	Casual black clothes Black gloves Black hoodie Black gloves	Ball/treats/dog lead/collar Small Handbag Dog collar Laptop/USB/Car 2 prop guns	Alex +Dog +Mum Malerich + Freddie + Alanta + Carl

Location Sheet

Production Schedule Location Visit Sheet Film Title: Writers: Alex Malerich, Alanta Tarling, Carl Palmer, Freddie Taylor Producer: Alanta Tarling Director: Alanta Tarling Date:

Rough Sketch/Explanation of location and key points to note We will be filming in this park and will also be using the car park for the car scene. The grassland area will be mostly used as it will be used for the start scenes and the chase scene. The car park will be used for the car scene in where Freddie gets in the car. Access to location via: Car Name and number of location contact: Fairlop Waters, Forest Road Barkingside, Essex, IG6 3HN How to find us. Tel: 020 8500 9911

Health and Safety Issues to note: ●      Risk of falling over because of slippery ground.

Potential Filming Problems: ●      Dog might not co-operate ●      The ground could be wet and muddy. ●      Weather: rain, snow etc.

Additional Notes:  (map of area/weather forecast etc)

Risk Assessment

Risk Assessment

Group Members: Alexandra Malerich, Alanta Tarling, Freddie Taylor, Carl Palmer                                                                                              Location:Fairlop WAters

Hazard	Person(s) at Risk	Likelihood of Hazard 1 – Extremely Unlikely 5 – Extremely Likely	Severity of Hazard Outcomes 1 – Very Low Risk 5 – Very High Risk	Risk Level (Likelihood + Severity) 2	Measures to Take to Manage Risk	Risk Managed? Y/N
Might/probably will be very muddy	Everyone	1/2	1	2+1 / 2 = 1/2	Do not spend too much time on the grass	Y
It might rain and/or snow	Everyone	3	2	3 +2 / 2 = 2.5	Try to film some of the film inside, or at a dry place.	Y
The dog doing something dangerous	Freddie and camera	4	4	4+4 / 2 = 4	Make sure that Alex is always with the dog so nothing bad happens.	Y
Other people in the park running into us (kids)	Everyone	4	1	4 + 1 /2 = 1/2	Always be aware of our surroundings	Y

Treatment

Treatment

Group Roles Cinematography: Alanta Tarling Mise-en-scene: Alex Malerich Sound: Carl John Palmer Editing: Freddie Taylor

Title: - Tag Line: Don’t judge a dog by its collar.

Synopsis: ·  Alex is walking dog ·      (Extreme opening, black screens with credits) ·      Freddie (thug/spy) steals Alex’s handbag with USB inside ·      Dog runs after Freddie (dogs collar has a GPS tracking on it) ·      Dog chase thug/spy ·      Freddie gets to his car, put the USB into the laptop ·      Alex is tracking her dog with GPS from her phone ·      While Freddie is un-coding USB on his laptop ·      Freddie realises it was all a setup and he’s actually looking at his own file ·      Gun shot appears from behind his car seat ·      And a hand from the car window with a gun as well ·      Screen goes black and we hear 2 gun shots

Key Genre Conventions: McGuffin: USB/Laptop Red Herring: Dog’s Collar

Costume and Prop list

Costumes and Props

Character Name: Alex
Costume: casual dog walking outfit no glossy clothing /matte finishes black gloves	Props: Dog lead Dog collar Handbag USB Fake gun x2
Character Name: freddie
Costume: Black clothing gloves black scarf	Props: Car Laptop
Character Name: carl hand	Dog
Costume: gloves	Props: Collar Treats Squeaky toy lead

The Unsuspected - Preliminary Task Video

'The Unsuspected Evaluation - Preliminary Task

Plot

The story we created was based on a innocent school boy (John played by Carl) who was asked to speak to his head teacher. He thinks he is in trouble because he accidentally pushed another school child down the stairs when he is only there to speak about the lessons he has not been attending. 

Overall Technical Points

At 0:05 of the exercise, we see carl entering the teachers class room and at 0:10 we used a match-on-action shot to connect the movement between carl on the outside of the door and on the inside of the door. The next shot moves into a sequence of shot/reverse shot where we see the head teacher speaking to carl from the different angles. at 0:25 we used a low angle shot to make carl appear bigger when he confesses. This isn't something we planned to work as he is nervous when he confesses. However the idea of carl being further away makes him appear more nervous and distressed than freddie who we can only see part of. The follow through shot has dialogue that challenges carls confession. I decided to write this part of the script to make sure the audience would understand that the head teacher did not expect carl to confess this kind of action. We asked freddie to put the 'dead cat' on the side and to lean forward in this shot. This gives the audience the idea that freddie is fully concentrating on what carl has to say. Carl continues to talk and get himself into more trouble and this ends with him 'breaking down' and trying to exit (0:43) but the head teacher holds him back and gives a cliffhanger line at this point where he says 'now we have a serious problem'. At this point carl runs out and crashes into another teacher (0:51) This is another match on action as we see him run from the class into the hallway at the same pace. Here we tried to do an eye-line match where the head teacher would look at the other teacher and give the small amount of dialogue we improvised on set, however this did not look effective at all and we decided to leave it out, 

Personal Overview

I think this task went extremely well considering me and my group started with little to no ideas of how to make this task just as good as our others without having a similar storyline. We edited this piece over the course of two lessons which proved to be worth it in the end. Me and my group take editing seriously and we spent a lot of time making sure the match on actions were perfect (the door creak took us a while to perfect). There is not anything i would really change about our piece as we used the most of what we had to work with. The only thing i wished we could have changed was the shape of our set. As we couldn't move the desk in the class we had a small amount of space to put the camera and therefor we couldn't use the space efficiently.

Mise en Scene

Mise en scene is the arrangement of things on stage/ in the frame .It is the arrangement of everything that appears in the framing – actors, lighting, décor, props, costume – is called mise-en-scène, a French term that means “placing on stage.” The frame and camera work also constitute the mise-en-scène of a movie.

Costume and Props
This is one of the most important part of the film. Makeing sure the characters are dressed accordingly to the location of the film and the time period. This also is a huge part of continuity editing as there are actual people whos jobs are to make sure everyone is weraing the same thing in exactly the same way as they were last seen on camera.

Makeup
both male and females wear makeup on set/on stage. This again is a huge part of the filma s it makes the character what they are. The make up of the person sugests what their character is like a their characters personality. People spend hours in makeup perfecting their characters look.

Performance
The overall performance of the characters is also part of the mise en scene. This is something the actors have to take on themselves but is also something directiors give advice on more than anyone. The placement of the charaters while speaking their dialouge is a huge part of how they give their performace. They must be committed and foacsed on set. This is also involved with the position of the characters on set.

Lighting

the way things are laid out on a stage or a film set are arranged in such a way that is not by coincidence. Lighting is a huge part into films and stage work. Directors use a term called mise-en-scene, a french term, which means 'placing on stage' when thinking about their sets and scenes. I am writing this entry on lighting and how it is used in the real life makings of films. My class peers and I arranged a short clip to show how these key lighting skills are used.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCD7ODSsXa8

Key Lighting
This is the first shot you see in the clip. It highlights the main object in the shot, this can cause a shadow on the object or person. This lighting is mostly used in theaters or stages.

Back light
This type of lighting creates silhouettes. This lighting is used in horror films to create a sense of unknown to the film as the audience can not see the details on the persons face.

Filter Light
This lighting set up helps soften the skin, or object of the person in the shot. It is used mostly in films to prevent shadowing and helps all the cast look younger and brighter. This is how we see people at 'red carpet' events.

Under light
This type of lighting is when the light source is placed under the the face/object. This is used in horror films as it gives harsh shadows and highlights only some main parts of the face.

Top light
On the other hand, top lighting is used to create a more flattering highlight to the face/object in question.It makes the person appear young and takes away hard marks/blemishes or lines on the face.

Low-key light
This type of lighting is used mostly in horror films as it gives lots of different shadow tones to the shot. It creates hard lines and dark areas in the shot.

High key light
This is the most common of all the lighting set ups. This is a type used on TV everyday on news programs, interview shows and even soap operas. This is where 3 cameras are places around the main object/area of the shot. This prevents any lines or shadowing at all in the area of filming. It is often known as 3 point lighting.

The Birds

The Birds

   ' Analyise the trailer'

 'The Birds' trailer contains a lot of the interesting parts of film. It has many of the essential parts too, the scene in the pub after the attack at the school is a very frequent one. The trailer gives off a view on the film that is different to what you actually see in the film. For example, After the main attack, a woman accuses Tippi Hedren of bringing the birds to the town. We then see Tippi hit the woman on the face. As an audience we may think we will see what happens next but in the actual film nothing is done about the part of the story.

Audiences tend to characterise 'thrillers' into a fast-pacing,frequent action. This film has this but in heavy blocks of the film. When we are first introduced to the real bird crisis, we only see the 'fast action' at these times. So by seeing this, the audience realise that everytime we see the slight gathering of birds, we know that it will be followed by the action scene. This makes the film fairly predictable.

Dramatic Irony is also used in the film by Alfred Hitchcock. We see this in the school yard scene where we see Tippi Hedren smoking and we see the birds gathering behind her. The audience are aware of the birds but Tippi isnt. Hitchcocks idea of the film was that as humans we are destroying the world we live in. His message in the film was to allow the birds to have their revenge on humans. He is a firm believer in nature and so this film was made straight from the heart of the Alfred Hitchcock.

North by North West; Analysing the Film

Film Language; North by North West

Analysing the Trailer

Why will this appeal to the audience?

The trailer of ‘North by North West’ appeals to the audience by its exciting snack peaks of the movie. It gives away only the synopsis of what the whole story tells. The trailer tells us about how the characters meet but doesn’t explain to the audience the details to the point where the trailer would become a spoiler. The trailer also gives us credits for the actors and the man himself Alfred Hitchcock. The public at the time would have known of the movie and the director’s name would have interested the viewer. The fast moving pace of the trailer would keep the viewer watching because people at the time had never seen a film like this be a big hit. The brief overview that is given is enough to persuade the view to see the film. To conclude the trailer, a small preview of Eva Marie Saint on Mount Rushmore hanging by her hands, this leaves a ‘cliff-hanger’ on the end of the trailer.

•      “Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action,”

 Find examples of this in ‘North by North West’

Most thrillers in the modern day are put into a category that they should have a fast pacing, action filled movie. However, ‘North by North West’ at the time, was said to be this ‘fast pacing’ thriller that everyone wanted to see. We can see examples of this in the film. Scenes such as the crop dusting scene; where there is next to no sound of any kind but the crop duster in the sky. Yet, this scene is famous for the fact that a build up is made for the audience to react to even when there is no music to push this atmosphere.

Another scene that has ‘frequent action’ is the end scene at Mount Rushmore where the two main actors are set in a ‘cliff-hanger’ for a lengthy period of time. This gives the audience and ‘on the edge of your seat’ experience. This is because when one character is being attacked, there is a tense atmosphere. They would then defeat the ‘villain’ and this would give relief to the audience but is quickly built up when the other characters are seen to be in a different fight. The ‘fast pacing action’ is very much present in this last, but vital scene.

•      “Resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains.”Is this true of  ‘North by North West’?

Yes, this is shown in the scene where Eva Marie Saint shoots Cary Grant at Mount Rushmore. The audience are fooled by the ‘stunt killing’ and believe that this naive but secretive character had actually shot the main character. We quickly find out that the gun was not real and we somehow feel more into the movie knowing things that the actors don’t. This is called dramatic irony.

•      “Devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliff-hangers are used extensively.”

Find examples of this in ‘North by North West’

In ‘North by North West’ we see a lot of suspense and cliff-hangers as these are all essentials’ in a thriller movie. However, in some scenes we see more of this used than in others. I previously spoke about the Mount Rushmore ‘cliff-hanger’ scene which could be used as an example, but another scene is called ‘The Auction’. In this scene we see Cary Grant going after Eva Marie Saint as she leaves subtle clues about where she is and where she is going. The scene starts with James Mason, playing another main character, holding Eva’s neck from behind at a medium shot. This camera angle could mean that the actress is in many different situations that the audience couldn’t guess correctly from the information given by the angle. As the camera moves out we see that he is not putting her in any stress but is simply resting on her, this may bring suspense to the audience.

Mid-way through the scene, Cary Grant makes a huge fight scene in the middle of the auction room to gain attention of the others around him. This is also dramatic irony but is also could be a red herring to the audience as they are unsure about why he is making such a scene.

The Crop Duster Scene

During the ‘Crop Duster’ scene, Cary Grant is meant to meet another of the main characters and ends up getting chased by a crop duster which is trying to kill him. Hitchcock believed the stress on the visual makes cinema accessible in different languages, so this scene had no sound. The idea that Hitchcock had of the movie being able to be understood in any language had a lot to do with the way he used sound and dialogue.  Hitchcock wanted the audience to really connect with the movie and feel the same as the character did at the very moment that they saw their reactions. This scene is a famous one of all thrillers, but it is iconic as an action scene because it has non-stop movement. The camera angles constantly change and this gives a last effect of movement on the audience.

•      “A thriller is a villain driven plot, whereby he presents obstacles the hero must overcome.”

Is this true of ‘North by North West’?

Yes, this is because in the film the villains plot was to obtain the films that had been made so precious. This system of portraying a driven villain followed by a determine hero is by using a MacGuffin. A MacGuffin is something in the film that the audience cares about and the audience does not. In ‘North by North West’ , the MacGuffin would be  the film in the cameras that are kept so precious. This is because the villains are so mind set on keeping them safe when the audience doesn’t care about them at all. The MacGuffin has no interest to the audience but gives the hero / villain more to care about in the movie. The MacGuffin is that the major players in the story are (at least initially) willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to obtain it, regardless of what the MacGuffin actually is. It also helps with the storyline, common examples of this are power, money, survival, relevant possessions or victory.

•      Hitchcock said thrillers allow the audience, "to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like”

Has he succeeded in this film? Where? When?

Yes, Hitchcock has succeeded as his film allows everyone to interact with the film. His use of sound and the idea that he has of the film being able to be understood in any language helps the film succeed. Hitchcock allows the film to really connect with its audience through the use of the plot, hidden secrets and, quite literally, the cliff-hanger ending.