Shooting schedule

Here is our shooting schedule for our production:

 

 

Thriller video final cut

Potential Locations and Chosen Locations

The first location required in our production was a dressing room, this is a key area where the character Scarlett is slowly revealed to the audience, this turned out to be one of the hardest locations to find.

We first thought of using a local theatre such as Maddermarket theatre in Norwich, we rang to confirm that this was okay but a few days later they rang back telling us they were unavailable for us to film.
We finally ended up using Holly's (portrays Scarlett)  hallway to film, we styled part of the hallway to replicate an old fashioned dressing room and by using tight shots we were able to shot well.

As our thriller is a 1940s film noir it became increasingly hard to find outside locations, this is due to the 21st century shops and high number of people wearing modern day clothing. After a numerous about of locations scouting we were able to find some locations which captured the 1940s feel of our thriller, these were located in the city of Norwich.
To the left is a shot taken from Elm Hill, this location would be used to capture Scarlett walking towards her location, we believed the location had a vintage feel to it, the cobbled walkway, Tudor stylised housing and small old fashioned shops. It also had authentic lights which would allow us to create an artificial light onto our characters without appearing modern.
Although this location appears to be perfect in picture we discovered a numerous amount of problems on location, the main one being people, due to Norwich being a popular city there were a large number of shoppers and tourists walking through this area, this means it would be very difficult for us to shot. And although the benefits do out weight the cons we decided not to use this location and instead used a near by location which was a simple stone wall. An example of this can be seen on the right of this location being used in our final piece.

We also required another location similar to the one mentioned above for a shot of Scarlett walking to meet someone, we need this location to look as though it could be connected and nearby to the other.

We found an alleyway called "Little Steps" we believed this location would be good to shot in as it supplied conventions of film noir; steps, these could be used to either show are characters descent into hell or their rise up. Also the stone walls and and iron gates give an authentic old aged feel.
This area also has the old fashioned styled street lamps, which will help to create the harsh lighting needed. Unlike the other location this one had very few people walk through it which will make it a lot easier for us to shot and also quicker. The only drawback of this location is that it has modern day buildings at both entrances, one entrance comprises of a modern shop while the other a block of flats but, as we have decided to film in black and white these colourful buildings wont stand out to the viewers eye. We did decide this location had many more benefits and so decided to film part of our production here.

The final location we are going to use is Norwich City Hall, this is the location which Scarlett has been travelling to and will meet the unknown lover.
This location has a certain authenticity to about it which allows the viewer to relate it to the 1940s, it shows wealth with its overwhelming size and a sense of sophistication. It poses a large amount of enigma as to whether it is a public building or house, which will help to add to the growing amount of enigma surrounding the ending of our production.
The main disadvantage of filming here is that as it is a public building, there are a large number of people walking along the footpaths outside day and night and these people will be wearing modern day wear which, wont fit in with our film noir. We decided that this location was so naturally authentic that we had to use it, shooting here took a long time as we have to film a few seconds at a time when people weren't walking through.

Feedback from our rough cut

By asking others what they thought of our thriller, we were able to edit it to these standards.

Fonts

Shown here are examples of fonts used during the 1940's on thrillers which inspired our final choice. 

As you can see from the fonts above capitals appear in over half of the posters, I believe capitals appear harsh and gritty and although are thriller has harsh actions in it, I do not wish for capitals.

Fonts

Through research I was able to find fonts which were more desirable to our production, these appear glamorous and fit with the authenticity of our work.
I like "Riesling" this font shows old glamour which fits our production but I believe it may appear almost too glamorous and slip away from the other conventions in our piece.
"Antique book cover" may be too much of a simple font and not fit with the film noir.
"Dalmais" although this font is in capitals and as mentioned above I dont wish for capitals to be used, I thought I would try capitals with a different font and although it may fit in with our proudction I dont know if it appears too Broadway.
And finally "Upper East Side" I like this font, although it is simple it does pose a certain glamour. 

Q6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?

Research and Planning: 

Our research and planning was carried out on Blogger. The site a technology relating to the media allowed us to publish our work online and also share with others. The website allowed us to easily upload written, photo and video work and edit it according to teacher comments, the use of a blog is also relevant to the media industry which allows us to broaden our knowledge.

We are also able to use many different media formats to display our work; YouTube allowed us to embed videos onto our blogs for examples of other media and we were also able to upload our productions onto YouTube which gave us a wider knowledge of the media industry, and allow us to become part of the digital citizenship.

Another example being Prezi, an alternative website which allows us to upload our work to the blog in a mind map format, this is an easy way to display different types of media contexts which are easily to read, they also show a wide range of diversity. When planning our thrillers in groups the use of prezi's allowed us to invite others to become part of the prezi and collectively work together. 

Production: 

A Canon HD camera was used to film our production. By using a HD camera we were able to give our clip a glossy finish instead of it being pix-elated, which allowed it to look a lot more professional. The use of this camera instead of the more expensive types gave us a more simplistic design when having to shot, it was easy to find our way around the device giving us a lot more time to shot. 

The camera itself was incredibly light weight which us allowed us to film for long periods of time as well as making the shots smooth and clean cut. 

With the use of the screen we were able to re watch footage on location  to know if we have to re shoot, this saved us a lot of time when it came to editing.  

With the use of an SD card we were able to transport and store footage in a light weight, small and convenient manner, giving us the ability to easy save footage and watch it back on the computers.

Post Production:

For editing we used the software Adobe Premiere Pro, this software gave us a lot of control, we were able to edit in a non linear manner which allowed us to edit at any second throughout the product, this became extremely helpful as we were always adding, removing and shrinking shots.
Other benefits of Premiere Pro are; it allowed us to colour correct any chosen shot, this came in very helpful as our shots were a mixture of light and dark due to darkness falling on location, we could also change the grading to make the clips appear authentic. Another benefit being the ability to add sound both diegetic and non diegetic, this allowed us to edit sounds in the backgroup of a certain clip allowing the production to run without distorted noises and add soundtracks to suit the mood of the clip.
A final benefit of Premiere Pro is that it can edit and finally produce the production in HD, this gives it a more professional and glossy finish. 
Throughout using this software I developed my skills from my preliminary so that I know comfortable with having to edit shots. 
Another software we used was After Effects, this was were we produced the opening graphic of our company name, this allowed us to widen our skills and produce an eye catching graphic. 

Q5: How did you attract/address your audience?

"They tap into our most primal fears: Fear of the dark, fear of death, fear of betrayal, fear of a loved one being harmed, fear of strangers.  And as all writers know, the only way to frighten a reader is to frighten ourselves, to draw upon our own fears." Joseph Finder.
“The way to get rid of my fears is to make films about them.” Hitchcock.

Thrillers, the point of a thriller is to tap into the fears that the audience have, Hitchcock produced Psycho and The Birds, these are both prime examples.
We have used fears as a way to appeal to an audience who find themselves fascinated to watch these fears come true and not live out that fear in the real world. 
In our production we have presented both a female and male fear of having a broken marriage, once married the couple both dread the prospect of betrayal or loss, this can attract a certain type of audience who wish to escape their life to see how others react.
Females have always been presented as weak, this is a fear that many women continue to have during this era, we have projected this fear into our production with the female character being followed through the urban area by her husband. Many women still wont walk alone at night due to this fear of someone following them and them remaining defenceless.
Males fear the power that women can have over them, they like to have the upper hand, in our production by representing the wife Scarlett, as a femme fatale character we are able to lure the husband Ray, into female criminality. 
As Hitchcock and Joseph Finder we have represented both male and females fears in our production to draw them in.
As our production appeals to both males and females equally, we have used this to present both of their fears as equally terrifying and although are production is aimed at the sophisticated older generation we have presented the fear of loosing the one they love as a way to appeal to them.  

The use of narrative pleasures are used to attract an audience who enjoy a cliffhanger other examples in media being; Inception, the audience is still not sure if the character Cobb is in a dream or reality as the shot cuts off before the totem can fall. 
And also enigma, an example being, Pretty Little Liars (TV), the audience is never fully aware of who 'A' is and each episode only ends with more questions. 
In our production the character Scarlett is surrounded by enigma as the audience isn't able to see all of her face while she is getting ready, this is only amplified when her husband is shown to be following her. This is also what hooks the audience into continuing to watch the scene as they wish to find out what happens to the character. 
The ending to our scene is a fade out with the sound of a gun shot ringing in the background, as the last shot was of the Scarlett, the audience are unsure if she was the one who was shot, this leads to the thrill of the unknown and if they will ever find out what happened. 

People who prefer films for their style and aesthetic pleasures would enjoy this film due to the authentic film noir locations, props and costume, these conventions used are our main element of appealing to audiences. 
Those who enjoy traditional shots and styles would find this production appealing as would those who like the glamour and good use of mise-en-scene as well as lighting, we have edited the film into black and white so it fits with the stylised conventions. 

Locations used were those we thought would fit in with the conventions of film noir to appeal to those who enjoy stylish and glamours films, the shot on the right shows our classic replica of a 1940's location. The church on the left gives the shot a feel of old and traditional, the artificial lighting produces harsh light over the characters and surrounding area, all of these elements combined could appeal to audiences who wish to watch films for escapism.

We have created a glamorous character who would appeal to sophisticated audiences. As seen on the right.