Matthew Wright

Due to unforseen circumstances, one of our influential members of our group will unfortunately not be able to carry on with this course. This was a result from a complication that arose from a simple medical operation, that has unfortunately left Matthew Wright with paralysis of his left leg. He will be sorely missed, and we wish him all the best.

Get well soon Matt!

Location research - alleys

This is my primary research into possible locations we could use for the re-shooting of our alley shot. Our original shot didn't show a great deal of the beaten-up protagonist and the area itself didn't seem dark enough as we intended. In this video, I ponder whether we could use other areas instead of alleys and the micro elements we need to think about when filming.

A delve into Garage Band

We believe that the music is highly important to bring out the tension that we want the audience to experience throughout the opening sequence of 30 days earlier. Yesterday I had a chance for my first quick look into Apples software, Garage Band.

Firstly, as a new comer to the world of Apple Macs, it was quite overwhelming and confusing to navigate throughout the interface of the software. After a quick tutorial by someone that has previously used Garage band before, I was well on my way into the basics. I shortly after found the software to be great! It supplies you with a wide variety of instruments, sounds and tools to play around with, such as:

• Bass
• Drum Kits
• Guitars
• Horns
• Mallets
• Organs
• Pianos and Keyboards
• Sound Effects
• Strings
• Synth Basics
• Synth Leads
• Synth Pads
• Synth Textures
• Woodwinds

Whilst playing around with the software and listening to all of the instruments and sounds provided, I had a rough idea with which instruments could bring out the tension for our production. All 4 Synth categories had some great options to bring out the creepy sounds that you would hear within a typical thriller production. These sounds could be the base of our sound throughout the production to give the audience a high level of tension as it brings a level of confusion and eeriness to their emotions.

As well as this, the software provided some great sound effects. This gave me a handful of ideas to incorporate real life sounds, to bring a sense of realism to the audience and an even higher sensation of tension throughout the opening sequence. I found a series of radio sounds under the category of sound effects, which gave me an idea to bring out a sense of familiarity to the audience's own life's with the protagonists life, due to the fact that we all listen to the radio during some part of our day, whether its via the car, kitchen or morning alarm. I will be looking more into Garage band shortly throughout the coming weeks, hopefully ill be able to create something for the production that will combine well with our recent filming.

30 Days Earlier trailer

This is the trailer for our title sequence. I edited together many of our original scenes along with a few scenes I created for a more dramatic effect and to give a back story to the sequence. I couldn't find any sutiable music for the trailer, so instead decided on using no music to see if it would create a tense atmosphere with only close-up shots and quick cuts.

Film Certification

After deciding on the narrative, I decided to determine what certification our film should have. To find out exactly how we should certify the film, I took secondary research.


Film Certification

Film Certificates are used to restrict certain age groups being exposed or possibly harmed by scenes in a film. The British Broadcast of Film Classifaction is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified british cinema films since 1912.

U - Universal films

Films with this certification are suitable for four years and over. U Films are usually set within a positive framework and offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror.

PG - Parental Guidance

Films with this certification is general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. This is why it is required for parents of young children to accompany them. A PG film shouldn't disturb a child aged around eight or older.

12A/12

12A certification has taken over from 12 in recent years. 12A allows children younger than 12 to watch a film, though they have to be accompanied by an adult. 12A films can contain mature themes, discrimination, soft drugs, mild swear words and moderate violent/sex references. 12 certification only exists with video works. No one youunger than 12 may rent or buy a 12 rated video work.

15

No one under 15 can watch or buy a film with this certification. Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, strong words, moderate-strong violence/sex references and mild non-detailed sex activity.

18

Only adults are permitted to watch a film with this certification. Films under this category have no limitation on bad language that is used, hard drugs are generally allowed and strong viloent/sex references along with non-detailed sex activity is allowed.

-Research taken from bbfc.co.uk and wikipedia.com-

After gathering all the relevant research, I examined the certifications along with the narrative of our title sequence to see which would suit our film best. We have chosen for a 12A certification as the film contains mature themes, some moderate violent references and no swearing or discrimination. I feel though that film suits best with 11 upwards due to the plot and references we have included.

Whilst we thought about the right certification, we also wanted to expand on our original target audience and appeal to family audiences as they are currently the largest cinema audience, with many films targeting family audiences.

Rough Cut feedback report

I showed the opening sequence to a small range of people and documented their reports. We choose to use both forms of documentation as we thought that when filming responses the feedback may not be as clear as they we be asked specific questions where as these responses were done independently.

Rough cut Questionaire for feedback

The questions above will be asked to a wide variety of people and we will be filming the response. The questions are of a wide range as we wanted to get as much feedback and suggestions as possible to make our film as appealing to the audience as possible.

The shoot - props, costumes, locations and filming

We prepared our requirements for the shoot two weeks beforehand whilst we were still planning what we were going to use.

Props
We had to carefully plan when and where we wanted to use our props as they were essential to the sequence, mainly because most of them had credits on. We did include more props than we expected and removed some that we realised weren't particularly necessary. To make our sequence more realistic, we decided to use a contemporary mobile phone as a prop in one of the establishing shots, as audiences recognise it easily. We also used a coffee cup momentarily in five of the shots to give this effect. The problem we had with our main props (posters with credits) was where to place them at Shad Thames. We soon decided on placing them on walls nearby to each other and we also spaced them evenly. Our other props were the two newspapers with credits. Matt and I used them for most scenes, covering the credits on the establishing shot and then holding them completely out so Jade could get a good view for the camera. We also had to be careful where we going to lob the newspapers as there were puddles and mud scattered across the street, this was for mainly continuity and in case we decided to scrap a shot.

Costumes
The costumes were easy for us to pick out as we already set on having the location of London and we wanted to fit in with the large public there. After researching and using our general knowledge of the area we decided on all of us to wear suits and smart wear to fit in with the commuters around London and to follow what would suit our main character: a man going off to work. Matt went for a different approach and wore a large beige coat with smart trousers as he wanted to subtlely give connotations with his costume that he was hiding something and wanted to look menacing.

Locations
We already had an idea which locations we wanted to use in our sequence as we wanted to give the audience understanding to where the film was set, by filming famous landmarks around London. We filmed at the Tower of London then Tower Bridge and the River Thames for this and also filmed the upcoming 2012 Olympic Stadium to give the audience a further understanding to when the film is set. The locations we needed were hard to find included the dead-end alley and a small street. Seeing as we didn't know our way around London properly, we weren't sure where we would find an alley. We decided to use Google Maps and find a suitable street that wasn't too crowded and had enough space to film the chase scene. Soon after searching, we decided on filming at Shad Thamesas it was perfect to place up our posters on plain walls and didn't have too many people in the area. When we were at Shad Thames, we found a nearby alley next to The Dean Swift that was desolate and small, which gives a claustrophobic feel to the scene.

Filming
The filming itself was quite easy as we all had previous experiences filming and took turns at filming scenes to see which of us captured it the best. Establishing and panning shots were relatively easy as we took a slow turn when panning and managed to capture a great deal of the location. We also used my own professional tripod when filming, which had great height and an in-built level meter which helped us to film scenes better. Whilst at location, we decided to take a more creative approach with filming, such as taking risks and capturing a moving shot of the 2012 stadium on the train. We also experimented with a quick pan when filming at the dead-end alley to give the audience a better view of the location and to keep with our current theme of constant live action and using no cuts.
The hardest part of filming for the sequence was the long shot track of the chase scene as we had to risk freehand filming to keep up with the live action and the realistic effect with our sequence. Thankfully, Jade managed to film it properly as she took extra care by filming the scene an extra twenty times to capture all the details and to remove the freehand effect. Another hard shot in our sequence was the mid shot track of the charatcers running. Matt and I took turns in filming this as it was hard to keep the camera steady whilst capturing the running. Again, we didn't want the freehand effect and we managed to refrain from this by holding tightly onto the tripod and camera.

'30 Days Earlier' - Rough cut

This is the rough cut of our title sequence. Unfortunately, we had problems with processing the intended monologue and our first draft of music. We have taken in all the feedback and our currently working on improving the sequence.

Updated Marketing

I have swiftly edited the posters for our distribution of the title sequence with Ryan now in the lead role. I focused on making the posters darker and more innovative than the originals. Also, I created a few merchandise items for promotion.

Marketing in thriller movies

Thriller movies are usually marketed worldwide due to many recent thrillers coming from America. For example, 'The Dark Knight' was promoted heavily with a range of posters and even a viral campaign with the webiste WhySoSerious.com that aimed to interest fans by having them earn what they wanted to see. Fans 'earned' by sending emails which in turn unlocks pixels of pictures from the film. This convergence in promoting is effective as it appeals to the young generation and keeps with the technological times. It also gives fans an interactive experience to view teasers instead of traditionally waiting for releases.

Another film which had effective marketing was 'V For Vendetta', as cast and crew members attended several press conferences where they addressed issues. The film gained publicity due to the controversy that the author Alan Moore, of the original graphic novel didn't want a film to be made. Whilst this was slightly bad for the director and producers, more audiences were interested in the film due to the controversy. I believe this marketing is effective but risky as controversy surrounding a film can cause a major loss at the box office.

Updated posting schedule

As Matt has unfortunately departed from our group, we had to evenly pass out his posting schedule amongst us. The new schedule is as follows:

Ryan

Genre survey
Target, intended audiences
Shot list
Draft storyboard
Photo storyboard
Footage from London
Editing

Typical thriller props

Typical thriller camera shots, angles

Music

Evaluation

Jade

Suitable non-copyright music
Mise-en-scene survey
Possible locations
Possible props
Mood board
Casting
Typical thriller costumes
Typical thriller locations

Title sequence characters

Sequence script

Ideas for credits

Audience feedback for rough cut

Evaluation

Alex

About us
Music survey
Preliminary task

Rough cut

Possible costumes

Actor survey
Title sequence narrative
Thriller conventions
Time management, shooting schedule
The shoot
Finished product

Evaluation

Photographic Story Boards

Here is our photographic storyboards that were created after our hand drawn story board. This basically gives us a greater understanding of how we are going to film our production.

Editing

We had a few choices when it came to editing our rough cut and our forthcoming final piece. There was options of simple programs such as Windows Movie Maker, though this didn't have the requirements we needed for cutting pieces. Instead, we chose to use the popular Adobe Premiere Pro as it included effective transitions we could use and also is great for cutting shots. We have also used other Adobe programs such as After Effects for a realistic and dramatic effect in our title sequence.

Target Intended Audience

We originally wanted to certify our production as a 15, however this would have restricted us to people ages 15 and over. Therefore we came to the decision that it was key for us to certify our prouct as a 12A film. This would mean we would have a range of all ages and bring in the biggest audience. As well as young adults, teenagers would be our main consumer. As well as this the office workers, cosmopolitan people working within cities will be drawn into this production as they can identify themselves with the characters involved and the location in which it is set.

Audience profile:

Young adults of both genders, aged from 15-30, from working to middle class (C1 - B demographic) who love thrillers and the story-lines that appear from this genre. Like most audiences, they enjoy social networking and receiving new technology for social interaction and to receive information. The main gratification this audience seeks is escapism and identifying with texts.

Marketing

We created work on advertising and a DVD cover for our opening sequence during planning. This is currently being updated with the number of changes we made during production.

Editing

Mood board

This is the mood board we created with all our title sequence ideas.

Thriller conventions

I researched the forms and conventions of the thriller genre to understand what we would use and develop on in our title sequence. What I discovered included:

Sound
Sound in thriller movies is typically eerie and mysterious. Though, music in sub-genres can be varied such as physcological thrillers. An example of this would be 'The Beach' with the relaxing and paradis-themed music throughout the film to reflect how the characters feel on the beautiful island and also later in the film to show to the audience aurally how the characters feel whilst under the influence of illegal drugs. Other sub-genres include include action thrillers, an example of this being 'The Dark Knight', with loud and anticipating music to build the tension throughout and also to emphasise The Joker's insane and violent behaviour. Another sub-genre which is interesting is revenge thrillers. A specific example of this is 'Kill Bill: Vol.2', which has a unique soundtrack that is similar to Broadway show Chicago. In fact, the film seems more like a play than a movie. I found this incredibly clever as it invests something new to movies and also attracts audiences as it is different.

Titling
Titling in thrillers are also varied depending on the narrative. In 'Reservoir Dogs' The titling is bold and in white and fit well with the seemingly cartoon effects used. Futhermore, the colour changes constantly to stand out and represent each of the main characters effectively. Whilst typical titling in thriller movies audiences would usually expect is bold white titles on a black background. This creates a dramatic effect and creates tension as to what the film is about, as it is unclear at this stage. Films with titling such as this includes 'No Country for Old Men' and 'The Dark Knight'.

Editing

There is two common transitions used in thriller films to create a certain effect. Many thrillers use jump cuts to different scenes of action for a fast-paced effect and to allow the audience to make assumptions of the narrative. This is used in the original 'Get Carter' for a violent effect. The other transition commonly used is a fade through black to create a dramatic effect in a film. The fade is usually slow and may sometimes have titles across to give relevant information to the audience such as the time and place of the next scene. This is used in 'No Country for Old Men' in the opening scene for a quick dramatic effect along with the monologue introducing the characters.

Opening Sequence ideas

The ideas include:
LocationLondon, Southend , Alleyways , Beach, Tower Bridge , Embankment.
Film name 30 Days Earlier... , Stalk, Figures, Disapeared.
Inspiration- Panic Room, Sixth Sense, Mystic River, Hard Candy, The Departed.
GenreThriller, Horror, Action, Romance, Comedy, Fantasy, Mystery.
Lighting Hollywood lighting, Hard low key lighting, Bright to create a surreal atmosphere.
CreditsUrban style credits, Credits displayed on poster, Displayed on poster, Along the bridge, Flying towards the screen.
Shots Establishing shot, Push/Pull, Tracking, Extreme close ups.
CharactersBusinessman, Gangsters, Police, Detectives, Gangs.
Music Diegetic-Police Sirens, Cars, Crowds, Screams
Non Diegetic- Fast paced, Jazz genre.
Costumes Business Suit , Pajamas, Ragged Shirts, Glasses, Hats
Props Newspapers, Alarms clock, Cigarette, Cars


This is the ideas for the opening sequence. We brainstormed the ideas above.We came to a decision that we wanted a location that would be easily noticed so the viewers can identify with the film. We also concluded that the genre will be thriller so all our ideas were influenced on this. Our house style has been included throughout our production pieces.The style for the opening sequence poster is red and black this was done to make the design clear and to match other peices of work.Also I think the colors used reflects the genre well.As both colors have connotations of DANGER which is the impression we wanted to give.

Time management

We created a strict schedule for our shoot at London on Monday 15th November. We devised different time slots for the specific areas whilst containing a sense of flexibility to ensure we would get the best possible shots. We also gave use enough time by leaving for our journey at 09.00 and gathered the filming equipment fifteen minutes beforehand.

Possible locations

Possible Locations

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Posting schedule

We devised a posting schedule for all of us in the group, to even all the posts. Obviously, this isn't a full planfor all the posts and another schedule should be posted soon when we gathered more ideas. All together we have accumulated the 30 posts evenly to each other, with all the post having interesting information on our planning and production.

Ryan
Genre survey
Target, intended audiences
Shot list
Draft storyboard
Photo storyboard
Footage from London
Editing
Audience's feedback to rough cut
Typical thriller props
Evaluation

Matt
Actor survey
Title sequence characters
Sequence script
Ideas for credits
Possible costumes
Music
Rough cut
Typical thriller camera shots, angles
Evaluation

Jade
Suitable non-copyright music
Mise-en-scene survey
Possible locations
Possible props
Mood board
Casting
Typical thriller costumes
Typical thriller locations
Evaluation

Alex
About us
Music survey
Preliminary task
Title sequence narrative
Thriller conventions
Time management, shooting schedule
The shoot
Finished product
Evaluation

Possible Thriller Costumes

Arran Msasons final costume.The costume was deliberatly ripped , rubber in mud and had false blood added to it to create the right mise en scene.Also by making the costume look as though the character has been atacked it indicates to the audience that he has been attacked with out seeing the attacking.

A few ideas were devolped on what the antagonist could wear.We figured that he would have to look smart to reflect to more sinister look as if he were dressed in casual clothing he may blend into the background.

Typical Thriller Props

Props are vital within the thriller genre in creating different connotations to the audience.

Weapons:

Weapons are a well known prop used throughout a majority of thriller films. They are commonly used to fend off the bad person or solve the dilemma of a situation for example in the Lord of the rings trilogy the use of a bow or a sword. However weapons can also be used to portray a sense of a character being vulnerable or in a certain level of distress for example the characters within dawn of the dead have a limited amount of weapons which lowers there levels of secuirty and safety.

Key prop to highlight thoughts:

Props such as pictures or lettersa can show a characters chain of thoughts and what they are planning on doing or how they are feeling. For example the use of the protaganists key attention to receiving and finding letters within P.S I Love You.

Blood:

Within the thriller genre blood is a common sight. This is typically seen within the sub genre of a horror-thriller to show someones pain and torment that they are currently going through. Films such as Saw and Hostel use blood excesivly to show the level of torture the victim is going through.

Typical thriller camera shots and angles

There are many camera shots and angles used by directors to create the feeling of a thriller.

High level low angle shot/Low level high angle shot:

This method of camera angles and levels is a great way to show

a characters current position. This can be used effectively to show a characters status, a low status can be created via a high level low angle which makes the audience feel something is above them, this is in comparison to a low level high angle shot which can create representations of a higher class due to connotations of being below the character. They can also be used to create connotations of vulnerability or

power. For example a low level high angle shot will show a characters high level of power as it gives the sense that everything is below them and they overpower everything. Whereas a character can be given a portrayal of vulnerability through a high level low angel shot which gives the audiences connotations of being above them and the character being in a low place.

This shot shows how the low level high angled shot gives connotations that this characters powerful and has authority.

This shot of our production shows how we tried to create connotations of how vulnerable the protaganst is.

Long Shot that pears through an obstruction:

A long shot that pears through an obstruction is

common within the thriller of genre, this creates the sense and feeling that someone or something is looking at the character/'s in sight.

Here is an example with the camera shooting throu

gh a gate onto characters.

Push Pull Shot:

A push pull shot also known as the Hitchcock shot due to the man who created it is a great method at which to create connotations that a character has realized something or is in a state of shock. The way in which to create this is to either pull the camera in to the character via the use of a track whilst zooming out w

hich will make the character seem as if they are staying in position whilst the background is becoming larger this emphasises that the character is seeing the bigger picture. On the other hand you can do the opposite and pull the camera back on the track and zoom in which will make the background smaller effectively creating a sense of shock or making an understanding that the character is in trouble.

This method was used in jaws and here is a clip to show you how the connotation is created that the character has now realised whats happened:

Extreme close up:

Extreme close ups are also commonly used within the genre of thriller, they are used for many reasons such as to emphasizes the use of a signifier, or on a character to show there current emotions, of maybe joy or sadness.

This extreme close up shot of Harry Potter emphasizes the characters seriousness:

Title sequence narrative

The following is a complete outline of the narrative of our opening sequence:

Arran Mason is lying lifeless in a dead-end alley. He’s horribly beaten and obviously unaware of his current location. As we get to see more of him, he narrates what has happened, though he doesn’t give hardly any information to why he is beaten. The only major point he gives away is this: ‘It started thirty days earlier...’

Along with this line, there is an instant flashback to when ‘it’ all began. Arran is at home preparing for a monotonous day of work with the help of his caring wife, though he only reluctantly allows her. Soon, he is making his way through London, just passing Tower Bridge. Arran fails to notice two shady men keeping a close eye on him. As Arran gets closer to his workplace, the men follow tentatively. Whilst he is walking down a mildly-crowded street, Arran suddenly realises the two men’s presence and desperately tries to escape them by running.

Later on in the deadly chase Arran mistakenly runs into a blocked alley and tries to confront his two enemies. Unfortunately, the men are stronger than he expected and is now completely powerless...

Possible Costumes

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Shot List

We creaqted a shot list for our production so that it gave us a clear understanding of what camera shots and angles we were going to use during the filming of our production. The camera shots and angles are vital so that it creates that right mediation of the characters. Take for instance the close up at the end to show our characters lost emotion and struggle that he feels.

Drawn Draft Story Board

We created a drawn draft story board so that we had a clearer vision of what direction we wanted to take our production.

Inspiration for story

After researching 10 different thriller opening sequences, I searched typical plots in thriller movies and complex plots used in recent plots. Eventually, our group came to a decision that we would create an original story with influences from many famous thrillers and different themes introduced in thrillers. These influences included:

Kill Bill Vol.1 & 2


The much anticipated two-part thriller from Quentin Tarantino introduced a nonlinear narrative style and craftmanship to modern filmmaking. The films are an epic-length revenge drama that captured the audience's attention with the ambigous plot throughout. From the very beginning, the plot unfolds with The Bride out for revenge against her husband Bill. We liked the narrative and plot to these films but wanted to take a different approach with the revenge motive from the protagonist and decided in turn to have the protagonist fighting for life in the title sequence. This was the same in Kill Bill Vol.1, expect the protagonist was seen tortured in the title sequence from an unseen antagonist.

From the Kill Bill Vol.1 title sequence and ours, you can pick similarities between both with the ambigous plot. Both have unseen antagonists to engage the viewer and a tortured protagonist.

The Bourne Identity

The Bourne Identity started off the successful series based on a amnesiac spy who attempts to uncover his true identity amidst a conspiracy within the CIA. We liked how the ambigous plot grabbed the viewer's attention and the protagonist himself being fairly unknown to the audience as you don't see the true side to him. We wanted to portray this similar effect in our title sequence, with only the audience knowing the protagonist's name and little back story.

Genre Survey

I created a genre survey so that we could get a greater understanding of what various audiences expected from a thriller genre film. I asked a total of 50 people to take part in the survey, i aimed to gather an indication as to what direction we could take with our production as essentially the audience is the key to our production. I asked a total of 9 questions:

1. Male/Female
2. Age Range
3. What age range would you think a thriller genre mostly appeals too?
4. What draws you in to a thriller film? E.g. The music, Action, plot etc...
5. What Sub-thriller genre are you most drawn too?
6. What setting would you typically find within a thriller film?
7. What sort of characters would you expect to see within a thriller film?
8. Within a thriller film what aspect builds tension most?
9. What was the last thriller film you watched, and how did it build tension in the best way?

Questions 1, 2 and 3 gave me an indication as to the different target audiences that were given me feedback and the target audiences that were most intrigued into the thriller genre. I created question 4, 6 and 7 as open ended questions so that i could get a wide level of feedback as to what actually brings viewers into thriller films, and what draws them into a thriller film. i hoped that due to the open ended questions it would make us get a greater understanding of the thriller audience as we may have picked up on something that we had never of thought about. I got a great level of feedback. It was obvious from the large number of people that agreed that the plot and characters must capture them immediately and last through the whole period of the film. as well as this it was widely thought that the music must create tension throughout the film. The survey also suggested that location was key and i had received a large proportion saying that a location that an audience can relate too, have a sense of familiarity will create great amounts of tension as well as this grim, dark, mysterious, eery and hostile locations were also well mentioned.

Question 5 suggested that viewers of thriller genres have a varied taste in the sub-genre they preferred watching for a thriller film. Action and horror thrillers came marginally top just above psychological and drama thrillers in the most preferred, which was then followed by sci-fi then crime thrillers. although it was clear that everyone has there own favorite, it showed how the most appealing seemed to be action and horror.

As a group we were adamant that within our production it was vital that we created tension, this would be key in creating a great thriller. On questions 8 and 9 i received some great feed back as to what the audiences felt about tension. An overwhelming majority said that music was the main attribute as to creating the sense of tension. It was also taken into account that Acting, Lighting and Setting were also key contributers in creating tension.

Thriller soundtrack survey

This is a video presentation of the survey and research I conducted into thriller music. Unfortunately, I couldn't show the complete results from the 25 people I asked but does contain interviews and what we aim to do to create suitable and memorable music for our opening sequence. I also understand the sound and video quality isn't good as the responses were filmed on my mobile phone, due to the fact that is was the quickest option for me and the interviewees. I will in future use a professional video camera supplied by the school.

Suitable non copyright music

Using non copyright music has plenty of drawbacks as it means you will have to find a way of getting non copyright music and ensuring that it matches your sequence well. But I think by doing this it adds a sense of originality to scene. Also when making your own music you can ensure the music will meet the demands of the audience.

. The easiest way to ensure that the music you have uploaded onto your opening sequence is by simply creating your own this way it makes the music original and interesting as it is a never before heard piece , which may gain extra attention when watching the opening sequence. Also by doing this you can create music that suits your sequence perfectly.

. Various artists tend to allow you to use their music but only with their consent. Also they may have certain conditions when allowing you to use the music. Like Moby he allows you to use his music but you cannot change one thing about the song this makes it difficult to find a piece of music that will suit your opening sequence perfectly also by doing this it isn’t as creative and may waste time waiting for a reply. Although by using an existing artists music the audience will be able to identify with the music easily.

.Websites such as www.royaltyfreetunes.co.uk offers a wide variety of non-copyright music. The music is original but does consist of a payment. This can be from £499 for the entire package or up to £50 for the album. The other fault with doing this is that the music may have been used before so it doesn’t add the originality to the sequence.

Preliminary task

This is our preliminary task. We chose a thriller genre for this task as we wanted to gain experience to what we can acheive on our main task. By having a thriller genre, we twisted the brief slightly by showing a character walk into a room whilst also having shots showing the room with a kidnapped character inside. This worked effectively as the unique idea we had created original connotations.

Research into 30 similar media products

I researched opening sequences from a range of genres to gain more understanding and knowledge into how to make our sequence look proffesional and stylised. I also researched 10 thriller opening sequences to understand the forms and conventions commonly used in thrillers and also how we could develop and challenge these.

20 film opening sequences

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Ryans OS draft

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Research into similar media products

research on opening squences

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By researching previous opening sequences I gained a lot of knowledge about the key features which are vitally needed to make my opening sequence look professional. I researched plenty of different genres of films as they will include different conventions to ensure the sequence compliments to the genre of the film. Once doing this i began to research more into the genre i have chosen for my film. By doing this I found the most effective ways to ensure the audience’s attention is fully focused on the film. For example the sound is ambient this creates a lot of tension so I used this idea when creating my opening sequence.

About us

MARJ Productions is the AS Level Media group that consists of: Matthew Wright, Alex Barham, Ryan Malster and Jade Smith. Our aim is to create an exciting, vibrant and original title sequence for a fictional film that will grip movie-goers. We commit to working hard to excel in our production and already took a large amount of research before starting our creative project.

Matthew Wright

Unfortunately Matthew has left the course due to unforseen medical circumstances.

Alex Barham

Creative and hardworking, Alex is an ideas person in the group who strives to make the group stand out with detailed work and a tendency to think outside of the box.

Ryan Malster

Skilled and experimental with a video camera, Ryan is the member who like Matthew, aims to correct any errors and makes sure everything in production sticks with the term thriller, so we can keep with the target audience and the intended narrative.

Jade Smith

Great with a video camera and hardworking, Jade delivers fresh ideas that beats the audience's expectations and communicates deeply with audiences to understand what the group needs to do in order to make the production perfect.