Evaluation

This youtube link below is my final opening sequence thriller production, which I Anthony Williams, Jona, Daja, Jordan Duberry, and Daniel Richardson created.

JOKES ON YOU:

This youtube link below is my final opening sequence thriller production, which I Anthony Williams, Jona, Daja, Jordan Duberry, and Daniel Richardson created.

In this stage of my task I will briefly evaluate my production by answering the six questions my teacher has given me in bullet points.

1. How successful is your thriller?

• We successfully used the three Ss’ which represented our production’s generic conventions as a thriller.

• The micro elements used in are production connected to the genre well for example close-ups and character representations.

2. How does it confirm to existing media?

• My production conventions was influenced by many thrillers, in one particular the horror/thriller film “IT” as the mise-en-scene settings of the costume was similar to our own villain who also was a clown.

• One of our scenes were very similar to “Child’s Play” own, which confirming that our production as a thriller.

3. Discuss the representations of your characters?

• The main character is portrayed as a sweet innocent young girl who has become a damsel in distress while baby sitting, this character is played by Jona Daja.

• The villain is seen a evil clown doll who has some how stumbled into the residents and has disguised as a toy but is then shown as a disturbing living being.

4. What media institution would distribute your film?

• My media institution’s name was called “Harlequin” as it represents the French myth of soul catches, the name has a meaning to of audiences being attracted to our films also having a thrilling meaning behind it.

• New Line Cinema would be our production’s distributor as they have produced many successful thrillers films for example “Se7en”, “Set it Off”, “Final Destination series” and “Child’s Play”.

5. Who is the typical audience of thrillers and how did it attract your audience?

• Thriller films attract an audience who enjoy thrill and excitement for example murder mysteries and sub-horror.

• My production’s target audience is of a young audience mainly an age group of 15-21 due to the teenage actors and generic conventions but can also appeal to others due to it being a thriller everyone can enjoy it.

6. What have you learnt?

• I have learnt how to use the generic conventions well enough to know how to set a specific genre.

• I have learnt how to use a handheld video camera by learning how to take number o cinematography shots also by the use of the tri-pod.

• I have learnt how to use Logic on the Mac computer as this software helped me produce my soundtrack for our production.

Post Production

As one of my roles and responsibilities was take up being the sound producer it was my reasonability to create the sound track for my group’s production. Most of the sound track took place inside the school’s Mac room on the software Logic but as I was creating the sound track I grew very inpatient with the software as I could not use it to my full potential, thus leaving me to go home and creating some of the sound track on Reason 4 and bringing back to school to edit and add more sounds.

When creating the sound track Logic was the main option for our class to use but as I couldn’t take full gasp to the software I asked my teacher if I could perhaps create the sound track at home which she agreed on due to me having more time at home when creating the soundtrack unlike inside school. The soundtrack took me a week to create as I intended to make it the best to my capability by finding and using the right instruments and folders, once I finished the soundtrack at home I uploaded it on the school Mac on Logic by then adding more sounds and editing it as it needed to fit the videos time limit of 2 minutes. Once this was finished I gave the soundtrack to the rest of my group, who was editing the video on Final Cut Pro which then they uploaded the soundtrack on the video.

Logic was not only hard for me to come across but also for other students in my class as we were given the software straight away to take full effect to, thus we was given a guide book to help us with our struggles and to teach us how to create a soundtrack.

The I learnt a lot from the post production as I taught me what sounds to use to suit my genre of film and production for example sharp tense sounds for killer atmosphere and deep base instruments for dark suspenseful scenes; this allowed me to create a soundtrack that I believe is worthy for any thriller as it offers a dark sinister feeling towards the audience which they would enjoy.

Production

When filming the opening sequence I think everybody cooperated well together to make a successful film, we shoot the film on two different days which I say was a total of three hours and in between those days we reviewed the shots and planned questioned ourselves if we should improve some scenes which we did on four occasions.

When filming there was a few out takes also when editing some shots was cutted strongly this suggesting that some of our shots were a waste of time and unnecessary. Me and Jordan were strongly organising the set as it was our duties to make sure everything was done correctly because of are roles; as my role of being the camera man and Jordan's being the director we strongly had to work together on how to catch the right facial expressions and body language from the actors to create a strong thrilling tense atmosphere for the narrative. Richard wasn’t used in many shots as the lighting wasn’t mainly an objective. Jona had to organize herself, props also give Karl his costume and spend an hour putting make up on him this making him look more realistic for his and her shots; in my opinion Jona had the most work to do as she had to cover being the props, hair and make-up manger also being an actress which covers many demands.

The location of our production was filmed in Jordan's house on Bell Lane Road Enfield, it was easy for each remember of our group to make to the location as each of us lived close to Bell Lane Road, the reason we choose to make are production in his house was because it suited our narrative for example use of props and settings.

When recording the production inside the house it was simple to complete all shots from our storyboard and acting as it was a large house which affords a lot of freedom. We couldn’t use the house freely due to Jordan's mum and family members being in the house some times so we had to confirm dates to Jordan of when we wanted to film are production, this forcing us to make sure we finish the production on these dates only. Our location is relevant to our production because the scenes we filmed in are all related back to our storyboard as we used dark locations of the living room, bed rooms, stair way and the garden; this relates to a thriller because the locations look mysterious and unsettling. The location targets are main audience because the use of locations the lifestyle of a normal person and babysitter and what they have to deal with by going in the baby room also resting in the living, the use of the baby monitor prop also helps out to attract the target audience in this way.

I have learnt many techniques in the process creating this production by learning how to capture actor's feeling and emotions by the use of the right camera shots, also by seeing everybody else's roles it has helped me understand what it takes to be a director, lighting, props, hair and make-up manger by seeing my group members complete their roles on set.

The reason why I made a thriller film was because I believe that the generic conventions are easier to follow and are simpler for the audience to understand as they find it easier to relate to the film and realise what’s happening in the scene. For example the location and low-key lighting was very important towards my narrative as the low-key lighting in the front room makes the location look dark, shadowy and secretive which creates suspense which leads to a nervous response from the audience. The low-key lighting also helped as the audience have trouble seeing the main characters emotions this making as she uses her phone this creating tension. The cinematography used was mainly close ups and a mixture of high and low angle shots to show different other shifts to make the audience sympathise with Jona and know she is distressed.

Some strong points of my production were my conventional use of micro features as they followed the conventions of a thriller film. For example the non-diegetic music is very sharp and, intense, as it creates a lot of suspense throughout the scene. We changed the non-diegetic music for the phone point-of-view scene as we planned to add heart beats in the soundtrack to make the scene look tense and serious, thus we decided to change it as the audience realise already what is happening in the narrative. When making the soundtrack the use of sounds creates the impact of excitement, suspense and tension making the audience feel on edge. I used this because I wanted to create anxiety, fear and thrill as a response from my audience because these feelings and emotions are conventional to a thriller.

One of the weaknesses my group had whilst creating our production was using low-key lighting to express the dark atmosphere surrounding the main character, as a defenceless person. Daniel had to adjust the lighting many times from the right angles to create the perfect setting. The way we overcame this was by making less light come in through windows and directing the main character Jona to look more disturbed and shocked in his facial expressions, so our audience could recognise and understand her facial expressions.

One of the most crucial shots of the scene was the over-shoulder shot from the clown  showing the main character look at the clown shocked, this created shock and suprise as the audience are brought to the attention of the clown. This was important because it allowed the audience to acknowledge the importance of the clown in the narrative as a new character.

The way we could have improved our production was through the mise-en-scene by having better costume and by making the suspicious clown look more devious by having him wear a darker costume this making him look of much more of great importance giving the audience a feeling that the suspicious character is not just a normal toy clown but a evil being.  This would make the audience understand the narrative better as showing that the main character has got involved with something to do with the super-natural evil. This have creating even more climax and excitement to our scene.

I have learned that the micro elements are important in any scene as they cause meanings and reactions from the audience. The audience needs to understand the generic conventions used in order to recognise that the film is a thriller, and without the right use of generic conventions, this could be misunderstood. I believe we used the micro elements well in my scene because they all worked together in each shot in the production which made the audience understand my thriller which allowed my audience to enjoy it.

In conclusion I think we could have filmed some shots better. Some shots were rushed as I believe we should have taken more time on crucial shots because when filming with the camera it wasn’t steady enough when filming. In the end I still think we did a great job on tracking shots and close ups especially point-of-view shots of Jona using her phone this shot was hard as the camera moved often and it was hard to steady, the second point-of-view shows somebody message Jona as we were recording. Our group decided to keep that shot and not record a new shot as it makes the film look more realistic as if neutral events are taking place. I think when filming every body did their job well enough to create not a perfect film but a successful thriller opening which creates a cliff hanger for the audience, I believe the narrative is clear  to the audience and also I believe the acting was done well by are actors.

Pre-Production

Roles and Responsibilities of the crew


Director/ Producer: Jordan Duberry
Camera/Sound: Anthony Williams (Me)
Lighting Manager: Daniel Richardson
Props Manager/Hair and Makeup Artist: Jona Daja

What the role and responsibility is for each person:

Jordan Duberry’s role of being the director is that he will be in charge of the actors and directs the action in the production of the film. Also whatever he says must be done. In all he is the person responsible for the overall unity of a production and for coordinating the work. The skills he needs for this role is communication, being a good leader, organisation, and being quick making decisions.

Also Jordan Duberry’s role of being a producer will be that he is not involved in any technical aspects of the film, but who is still responsible for the overall production. The five skills a producer needs to be successful are organization, the ability to make decisions quickly, being a good negotiator, being diplomatic, and having lots of energy.

My role is to be the camera and sound manger this is to ensure all the shots and audio requested by the director and producer is recorded to a good technical standard. This is a technical role which means the person fulfilling this job role must be able to use the equipment competently. It is the camera person’s responsibility to set up all the shot correctly and film accordingly to the storyboard alongside the rest of the production crew. It is also the camera and sound’s person’s job to hire out and look after all equipment especially whilst filming on location. The skills I will need for this is good attention and focus, being a good negotiator and having good organising ideas.

My lightning manger will be Daniel Richardson and his role will be to make sure that the lightning is correct for the film for example when back lighting is needed he will come equipt. It is Daniel's responsibility to not allow any unwanted shadows and also to have the correct tone for the film. The skills he will need for this is to know all camera and lightning angles, good judgement, and organising.

The props manger will be Jona Daja. She will add in any extras in the film for example  furniture, weapons and anything that needs to be in the scene. The skills needed for her to be the prop manger is to be organised, to be neat, and have good imagination.

And lastly Jona Daja will be the Hair and Make-up Artist; she will help the actors with their looks by fixing up their hair and also giving them better looks by adding make up for foundation so they look more appealing for the film. The skills she needs for this is good hair and makeup skills, communication, and organising.

Casting

Are crew agreed to use Jona Daja not just as the Hair & Make Artist and Props manger but also as the main actress in are film as she suited all the requirements of the character of being an young attractive innocent looking lady who is a baby sitter, this gave us an advantage of making the film as she knows exactly what is needed of herself in the film so she knows how to act the roll due to her also knowing which props are used in scenes. As are villain in the film was a clown doll we needed to employ someone of a reasonable height to act as the clown doll. Are director Jordan Duberry recruited Karl Abani who also attends Oas Academy Hadley, he agreed all the terms of being are actor for example allowing are Hair and Make-up Artist to work on him.

When planning my shots I asked for my director's storyboard so I could have a good idea of how to shot a scene by studying at home and slowly planning how to take the shots and editing the storyboard to create better shots for example of changing the extreme close-up of the phone into a point of view by doing this it makes the film look more professional and suits the narrative better. By reading through the storyboard it makes me understand the full purpose of the film by knowing what special equipment is needed for example fast tracking shots I will would need a tripod with wheels also I can help the director with scenes that is needed by the actors and props.


Budgeting

For are actor Karl Abani we needed to provide costume and make up to make him look like a realistic clown doll, we purchased a clown suit from the argos website for £5.99 and purchased face paint from a local shop for £2.50.

Jona Daja provided her own clothing and make-up as being the props manager she knew what to wear and it was also her choice of the clown costume and make up for are actor.

In my group we thought about which narratives to create for our thriller, so I took this opportunity to create my own narrative and present my storyboard to my group:

In my storyboard I used a total of 24 found shots, these shots included pictures of my friends acting to my storyboard for example using close ups on them and point-of-views, I also took establishing shots of backgrounds which suited the plot. The reason I used these pictures is because they provide visual events of what is happening in the story clearly. I took the first picture behind my garage; I took the park scenes in Albany Park and the garage scenes inside a dark room in Oasis Academy: Hadley. By taking the pictures in these locations it shows the layout and sequence in which the user or viewer sees the content or background, this helps with the narrative of the film as they help the audience understand the plot of the film.

My group reviewed my storyboard and commented that it was a worthy thriller idea but suggested that we should come up with an idea with more excitement and with a dark snister idea that has thrill as my narrative didn’t seem to have a strong plot. Jordan liked my idea but my other group members didn’t like the idea so in the end we decided to come up with a idea that all of us can fully agree on.

Are group then decided to create a thriller opening about a real story so it could create more excitement to are audience as it seems more disturbing because of the true events which took place. As we searched for real life or urban tales, we came across a urban tale of the “clown doll”, this story was about a babysitter who came across a clown doll that looked wicked and scary which then she discovered that the clown doll was a real person. The story is a tale that has many versions to it but it was this version which caught are eye, we edited the narrative into are own to craft it into are successful thriller film opening.

This is the Clown doll tale:

So-and-so's friend, a girl in her teens, is babysitting for a family in Newport Beach, Ca. The family is wealthy and has a very large house — you know the sort, with a ridiculous amount of rooms. Anyways, the parents are going out for a late dinner/movie. The father tells the babysitter that once the children are in bed she should go into this specific room (he doesn't really want her wandering around the house) and watch TV there.

The parents take off and soon she gets the kids into bed and goes to the room to watch TV. She tries watching TV, but she is disturbed by a clown statue in the corner of the room. She tries to ignore it for as long as possible, but it starts freaking her out so much that she can't handle it.

She resorts to calling the father and asks, "Hey, the kids are in bed, but is it okay if I switch rooms? This clown statue is really creeping me out."

The father says seriously, "Get the kids, go next door and call 911."

She asks, "What's going on?"

He responds, "Just go next door and once you call the police, call me back."

She gets the kids, goes next door, and calls the police. When the police are on the way, she calls the father back and asks, "So, really, what's going on?"

He responds, "We don't HAVE a clown statue." He then further explains that the children have been complaining about a clown watching them as they sleep. He and his wife had just blown it off, assuming that they were having nightmares.

The police arrive and apprehend the "clown," who turns out to be a midget. A midget clown! I guess he was some homeless person dressed as a clown, who somehow got into the house and had been living there for several weeks. He would come into the kids' rooms at nights and watch them while they slept. As the house was so large, he was able to avoid detection, surviving off their food, etc. He had been in the TV room right before the babysitter right came in there. When she entered he didn't have enough time to hide, so he just froze in place and pretended to be a statue.

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/horrors/a/clown_statue.htm

This story was told by Tamra.S in 2004, as it is a quite old story but it is a infamous one which was even been said to be a real one in some aspects this is why we decided to turn it into a film opening as it leaves a good cliff hanger and shows thrill and excitement.