anamatic storyboard

an animatic is a preliminary type of film that is produced by shooting sections of a storyboard and including a soundtrack.

the purpose of an animatic is to show the producers whether or not the film will be successful or not. Animatics are one of the most important parts of the process in creating the film as they are able to show us whether the film will work or not.

During our lesson we took shots of our storyboard and then uploaded them onto premier on the macs. We then put them into order and added transitions between each shot to create an effect of time moving forward.

Our animatic shows a woman being robbed for her bag and then a chase occurs between the criminal and a pedestrian.

storyboard

I found the story boarding process simple and also fun. It was an opportunity to get all my ideas on paper so that when it comes to filming, My team and I will know exactly what we are doing. I worked with my group members and we discussed the order in which our storyboard should go, working in a group is easier as we are all able to hear one and others idea and find out if we want parts of our thriller opening changed.

risk assessment

Risk Assessment

Group Members:                                                                                         Location:

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
Extra lighting that could burn if skin comes in contact with it.	The person near the lighting	4	4	8	Wear hand protection and make sure everyone is aware of the hot lighting
Equipment getting damaged during chase scenes.	Equipment people and actors.	3	3	6	Use specific camera movements such as tracking shots so nobody is in the way when scene is being shot.
Member of public could get hurt during chase scenes.	Pedestrians and actors	2	2	4	Shot the scene somewhere where there aren’t many people about.
Tripping over equipment	Actors, equipment people and pedestrians	3	3	6	Watch where you’re walking and make sure passing byers are aware. Keep equipment out of the way.

Contacts

Emergency Service:   
Robert Clack School:  
Other Contacts:           

Costumes and props

Costumes and Props

Character Name: Senninha
Costume: Smart business wear	Props: Bag
Character Name: Brandon
Costume: casual wear ·       Jeans ·       Shirt ·       Coat	Props:
Character Name: Callum
Costume: all black tracksuit ·       Jumper ·       Tracksuit bottoms ·       Black shoes/ trainers	Props: Bag

treatment

Treatment

Group Roles Cinematography: Brandon Miss-en-scene: Emily Sound: Senninha Editing: Callum

Title: The package Tag Line: The gift you don’t want

Synopsis: Woman is walking down the road when a criminal steals her bag. A passing byer chases him but he gets away, the criminal hides in an abandon warehouse and takes the purse out of the stolen bag but doesn’t notice the files in her bag.

Key Genre Conventions: Hero and villain- This is to create excitement and tension, the audience will want to see some sort of conflict between them which will create an exciting atmosphere. Death McGuffin- The files that have been packed in the bag at the start of the film, because it is emphasised at the start of the opening, people will think it is important. Chase Location Sound- Diegetic and non-diegetic Camera shots- suspense for the audience. E.g. low angle shot to show that the villain/hero has power in the scene. Miss-en-scene

location sheet

moodboard

our mood board was kept simple and showed each different event, location and props used in our film. we didn't use a warehouse in the end and instead used a back alley to film our final scene in. when you look at our moodboard as a whole and watch our thriller, you will be able to see that it goes in chronological order to the film. Starting with the file, to the woman walking, the bag being stolen, the chase and then where the final scene is set. 

audience research on initial ideas

Idea 1;

The people we questioned on our first idea thought that it was a typical thriller opening and that we would have to do something different and interesting to make the opening exciting. The audience also mentioned that we could add a twist to the thriller opening and make something unexpected happen to create excitement and to also thrill the viewers. The idea was like by some people and said that we could keep it how we wanted as they quiet enjoy those kinds of typical thriller openings. There were suggestions on adding in different techniques such as a McGuffin or cliffhanger just so there was something to really make the opening scene create curiosity and excitement.

Idea 2&3;

Ideas 2 and 3 were similar so we questioned them both together. The feedback from the audience was positive, they thought it would make a good opening as it involved a lot of action making it exciting and wanting to watch it all. They also said it would be an intense opening and determine the villain and hero of the film making it easier for the audience to follow along to. for idea 3 which was the psychological twist to idea 2, the feedback said that it may create a confused response if we don't use the psychological twist in the right part of the opening, they said that if we were to do this properly, we most likely would pull it off and have an interesting and intense opening that people would like.

initial ideas

We have been split in to groups of 4 and in these groups we had to come up with 3 different sub genres of thrillers for our thriller opening, we chose;

• Psychological thriller
• Action thriller
• Crime thriller

in our thriller we had to make sure that there was use of the Hitchcock techniques which were;

• McGuffin- starts/sets the action going. seems important at the start but has no importance to the rest of the narrative. 
• Cliffhanger- Scene/action stops. The audience is left asking questions.
• Enigma- Someone or something that is hard to explain.

During our discussion, we listed the things that we wanted our thriller opening to contain. We decided that we wanted a death, lots of camera angles, quick-action and intense. For each idea we thought it would be good to have a normal atmosphere to start with and then a sudden change into an intense action-packed atmosphere. 

Idea 1:

The first idea was; Crime Thriller. For this sub-genre, we decided it would be about a character who has returned home from somewhere which hasn't yet been decided, they notice blood along the staircase and up the wall. as they make heir way up the stairs the spot the criminal and the person that they had murdered. 

We decided to use this as an opening because we thought that it was a very simple idea but with the right camera angles and use of the Miss-en-scene, we could make this opening really exciting and interesting. We tried thinking of a number of different thriller films and how they created intense atmospheres and the settings film the opening scenes. 

We wanted it to have an atmosphere of suspense and fear. As the character is walking up the stairs we planned to use a point of view angle shot so we could create that intense feeling and make the audience feel as if they're in the film. 

idea 2:

For our second idea; We came up with an action thriller. For this sub genre we decided it would be about a character who is in a hurry packing their bag and in that bag they have a file which we chose to be a Mcguffin. The bag is then stolen and there is a chase for the thief to get the bag back. the scene will end with a cliff hanger that is taken place in a warehouse with a group of criminals against one person, holding them at gunpoint. 

We decided to use this as an opening because we wanted to make sure we kept the audience engaged in the thriller and by having action right at the start and finishing the opening with a cliff hanger, this would keep the audience interested and wanting to find out what happens next. We wanted this opening to be filled with excitement, our idea of camera angles was to use tracking shots, point of view shots, wide shots and also middle shots. By using these we can make the audience feel involved in the chase and feel a part of the film.

idea 3:

Our third idea was going to be idea 2 but in the form of a dream that a character has but then later wakes up to find out that the dream was real. 

We wanted to use the dream idea to create confusion for the audience, but not in a bad way. By turning the opening into a dream, it will cause the audience to focus on the film and really try and understand whats going on. For idea 3 we planned to use an enigma, we are currently trying decide what it is as this idea is not clearly constructed and still needs a bit of further discussion on. 

class feedback for thriller ideas

3 out of the 4 people in our group went up to the front of the class to present our thriller ideas and receive feedback from them.

Idea 1: For idea one, our feedback was positive. The class found the idea to be a typical thriller opening but with a twist and the use of our ideas they believed it could work really well. They mentioned that we should try and add something that makes our opening stand out since it is an opening that is quiet popular. They also mentioned we could perhaps merge idea 1 with another idea as idea 1 alone would be quiet short. Overall we found the class feedback effective and helpful, it also meant we didn't choose idea 1. Overall the group were not too keen on choosing idea 1, we all personally thought it was too simple and was a typical thriller opening. We decided that we wouldn't go through with this idea purely because we thought it was such a simple opening and we wouldn't have much enjoyment filming it.

Idea 2: The class found idea two confusing, they didn't understand where the suspension was and they said it needed more clarity. The class believed that if we were to clean up and arrange idea 2 into a more structured opening, that we should use it because they saw potential in this idea. Another thing the class liked about our idea was the use of techniques such as the McGuffin, they believed that this would create a suspicious atmosphere for the audience and also create excitement. Overall the class found this idea to be the best one, it could be a really good opening once we discussed it properly and are able to explain it. Our group liked idea 2 the most which means that if we go through with this idea, we will all enjoy the filming process.

Idea 3: The class found that idea 3 would not work and may confuse the audience and us when we were filming it. For idea 3 we wanted to use idea 2 but put it in the form of a bad dream of a character who is woken up to find the dream was real. This idea did seem a bit complicated and the class agreed that we should maybe leave the dream part out and focus on just keeping it all reality as it would be complicated to decide where about's the dream would start and stop. Overall, the class didn't think idea 2 would be an easy filming process and therefore suggested we didn't do it. Our group liked the idea but after hearing the feedback, we decided not to go through with idea 3 as we realised it was a bit difficult for us to plan and film.


In the end we decided to go with idea 2, this is because it contained excitement and with more planning we would be able to add suspense into it making our thriller opening interesting and exciting. 

First production meeting

For our first meeting, we got together as a group and discussed what we wanted our thriller to be about. We started by talking about whether we wanted things like a McGuffin, Graphic match, enigma or cliffhanger.

In the end we decided we would use 2 out of the 4 so we included a McGuffin and cliffhanger. We went for these two because they were the ones that would have the most effect on the audience and we knew we could really make good use of them to create an intense scene in our opening. 

Once the genre convention we decided we then chose what our McGuffin would be and what our cliffhanger would be. Our group then decided how each scene would go and the positions of each group member for example what part they we playing and what they were doing to contribute in the editing of the thriller.  After this, we started our storyboards which can be seen on another post, these were done to help our filming process flow easily and helped us to know what we were meant to be filming, the camera angle,style of shot and how long each shot would last for. We knew that if we made our storyboards detailed, it would help with the filming process and help everyone to know what they are meant to do.

preliminary task evaluation

Our preliminary task clearly shows a lack of skill and is not the best. we managed to perform the techniques correctly, making sure the 180 degree rule wasn't broken and that we were able to make sure our scenes were all correctly cut down so that they were not too long or short and they all flowed properly. There were not many signs of effects on our task, apart from the odd video transition and some images inserted. This is because we didn't really know how to insert sounds or other fancy effects and only really knew how to put video transitions in as they were the easiest ones to do and didn't require much skills at all. Our preliminary task does show our understanding of what had to be done but it also shows where our weaknesses were in terms of editing.

We enjoyed filming our task as we knew it was a chance to work with high quality equipment and be able to see how well we got on with one and other to give us an idea of how well we worked together in the thriller opening task. In future we will make sure that we get to know premiere pro more and make sure that we have an understanding of what it has to offer to us when it comes to editing. Also, we will get help from other class members or teachers and see if they have any recommendations on what we could do to make our tasks much better and look a lot more professional and show a range of editing techniques.

Overall our preliminary task turned out okay but could have been a lot more better. We need to work on continuity editing as our scenes didn't match completely but matched enough to under stand what was going on. We had fun filming this and worked with teachers as well to put into our task, overtime we will become more familiar with premiere pro and be able to see the difference between the preliminary task and hopefully a much better improvement in our thriller.

preliminary task