'Loose Ends' - Opening Sequence

Preliminary Task - Video

Putting the video in 480p will give a better quality picture

Preliminary Task Review

How many mistakes did you make?

We made a huge error, of not filming the best take of one side of a conversation.  However while editing we were able to recover what is said.

How did you manage the group dynamics and collaborative nature of film-making?

By using actors, in our group we were able to both be camera operator and director, whilst filming. And we also both took turns when editing the film.

How did you manage the equipment?

The camera equipment was occupied the whole filming process, and each person of our group took charge of the equipment at different times. 

How did you manage the deadline?

We did our filming and editing in a relatively good time scale. We took only 2 hours to film and then edit the whole task.

Were there any health and safety logistical problems?

In our scene we didn’t do any stunts, we were also filming in a child friendly place of a school.

So we did not have to go through any risk assessments.

How did you organise your human resources?

a)      Actors – We assigned the actors roles at the start of the filming process. We then had to direct them in the filming process.

b)      Costumes – We organised the costumes, by telling our actors to come dressed casual, as though you are just at a normal day in school.

c)       Props – The only major prop that was used in filming was the doors. We organised it by choosing if they were going to be open or closed before shooting.

How did you manage your cameras?

We managed our cameras, by looking after them all the time. We also only allowed trained people to work on the cameras.

How did you manage your lighting?

We managed our lighting by using only natural lighting during the walking scene in the corridor. And then used the red heads reflected off walls in the Suite to create an ambience.

How did your storyboarding and shooting script work in practise?

We didn’t change much from the original plan, but by the time we realised we didn’t shoot one scene it was too late, we would have had to shoot that scene all over again, and it is very hard to do because of continuity reasons, such as the actors must wear the same costumes.

The outcome of this happening meant that the speaking section had to be cut short, but we did recover it in editing.

How successful were you in managing your time?

We were very successful in managing our time, as we did it very quickly.

How did digital technology enable you to develop creatively?

Digital technology enabled us to develop creatively, using the camera equipment we able to adjust the iris controls, which determines how much light comes in, we could use the focus pull, to adjust the depth of field, and use the zoom to zoom into the subject without moving.

During the editing process, we could use the razor tool in Adobe Premiere too cut the film, and then stick the two shoots together.

In filming and editing, how did you ensure that the meaning would be apparent to the audience?

We used light tones, and high key lighting to show that this scene isn’t meant to make the audience be in fear, it is just meant to be a meet up of two students from school.

In editing we reduced harsh sounds and lighting that was produced during the filming process. And also cut out parts when other people accidently walked into our shot.

What type of people have you represented in your piece?

We wanted to represent young kids at school, which have no time to have a conversation.

We wanted a real type of conversation almost not scripted but would have happened in normal day life, we also wanted it to be kind of awkward when they finished talking.

What sort of realism have you constructed?

We wanted to have a natural conversation, and had to be cut really short otherwise it would take up too much time.

What role do the micro elements play in the construction of verisimilitude?

The mise-en scene, acting, dialogue and style of camerawork, are all used to focus on the realism of school life we wanted to portray in the macro level of the textual world.

Evaluation - Question 7 (TRANSCRIPT)

(Please see the post below for the animated sequence)

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

We chose the companies, Jerry Bruckheimer films and Blumhouse productions.

As many of Jerry Bruckheimer films are high budget Hollywood movies, where most of them are co-produced by big cooperation's such as Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures and Warner Bros, We thought that our movie could be as famous as some of the movies this company makes.

We also used this film company, as the logo is quite spooky and leering, even though it is used in many children's style movies.

We used Blumhouse Productions as all of the movies that this company makes are in the horror/thriller genre. Many of the films that this company produces are well known to be scary, and many have been made into sequels due to popular demand.

Some of these films that this company produces are seen as the most horrifying and scary of the movies that are made to this date.

We hope that our movie could be distributed by this company as it is a very well know fully horror film studio.

Films that Jerry Bruckheimer has been linked to include the likes of Top Gun, Flashdance,  Pirates of the Caribbean and other non-cartoon Disney movies, including Prince of Persia and Lone Ranger. All the movies listed contain high budget actors, and some have made a success from the release of these films, one of these is Tom Cruise from the movie Top Gun, also Johnny Depp has one of the most recognisable costumes of film history, in the Pirate of the Caribbean film series. Most of Jerry Bruckheimer’s films are a Box office success as they have some backing from big companies like Walt Disney studios, which attracts in the younger audiences.

One of the most successful producers of all time, Bruckheimer has been nicknamed "Mr. Blockbuster", due to his track record of commercially successful, high-grossing films. Overall, his films have brought in over $13 billion to Hollywood, and have launched the careers of numerous actors and directors.

In July 2003, Bruckheimer was honored by Variety magazine as the first producer in Hollywood history to produce the top two highest-grossing films of a single weekend, Bad Boys II and Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Pirates of the Caribbean was a popular box office hit, it was well received by critics and filmgoers alike. After the unexpected success of the first film, Walt Disney Pictures revealed that a trilogy was in the works. The sequel, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, proved to be very successful, breaking records worldwide the day of its premiere. In the end it acquired a total of $1,066,179,725 (£640,463,756) at the worldwide box office, becoming the third and fastest film to reach this amount. Altogether just this film franchise has grossed over £1.68 billion worldwide.

Movies that Blumhouse productions have made include the likes of Paranormal Activity, The Purge and Insidious, they tend to produces micro and low-budget genre movies, and are one of the only companies that specialize in producing thriller movies. Many of the movies released are seen by some as the scariest movies ever made, Blumhouse’s highly profitable credits began with Paranormal Activity which was made with only £9,000. The film was released by Paramount Pictures and grossed over £11 million worldwide. Blumhouse produced the Paranormal sequels, Insidious which grossed over £58 million worldwide on a budget of $1.5m and Sinister, which so far has grossed over £52 million worldwide on a budget of £1.8 million.

These films have been distributed to the whole world and don’t single out any culture or country, Pirates of the Caribbean has been voice dubbed into languages from German to Punjabi. Paranormal Activity and Pirates of the Caribbean are both subtitled in 27 different languages.

Even though Blumhouse is a low budget film producer, it is able to be shown in large multiplex cinemas, next to the likes of the big companies like Jerry Bruckheimer.

We expect our company that we made up, ‘Blood and Bones’, to be distributed independently first, however with our large backing from major company Jerry Bruckheimer, and with the notorious horror themed filmed production, Blumhouse, we will be able to release it to big cinema companies if we are able to make a sequel.

The other outlets for our film instead of being shown in the cinema, might be on plane journeys, or even placed on TV, as a made-for-TV movie which could be shown on channels such as Universal Channel, Movies 24 owned and operated by NBCUniversal, Fox, Movies4Men or Sony Movie Channel, which all show movies that are either old or weren’t released in the cinema. We could also release it online, through Netflix, who have started producing their own original movies; or the YouTube service where customers have to pay to watch the movie.

Evaluation - Question 7 (Voki)

Evaluation - Question 6 (Haiku Deck)

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Evaluation - Question 5

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Evaluation - Question 4 (Prezi)

Evaluation - Question 3 (emaze)

Evaluation - Question 2 (Spicynodes)

Evaluation - Question 1 (Video)

Please set the quality of the video to '720p HD' to get the best quality.

Audience Screening - Answers

Audience Screening

We organised and advertised to fellow classmates and peers in our year to come to the Media room and watch our Thriller Title Sequence. We also gave them a questionnaire for them to fill out once they had watched it.

1. Did you find the extract particularly jumpy or thrilling?

-      If so what elements were they?

-      If not what do you think could be done to improve on that?

2. Were you shocked that the killer was a woman?

3. Were there any elements you would improve upon?

4. Did you understand the plot the whole way through?

5. Were there any shots that you are confused about?

6. Ultimately what did you enjoy about it?

7. Did the music suit the theme of the extract?

8. Which was your favourite shot?

9. Would you say that it looks particularly amateurish?

10.What would you hope to happen in the rest of the movie?

The Questionnaire consisted of 10 questions, only once we had conducted the screening did we realise that we really should have asked for more quantitative data, but we were able to extract this data from some of the answers people gave

Movie Posters

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This movie poster that I designed, encases all the elements we wanted from our movie:

• It includes an extreme close up of our killers eyes showing clearly the emotion, as the genre is a psychological thriller.
• Also as the framing is so tight the viewer is unable to recognise the gender of the individual in the picture, and so adds to the shock value when they watch our movie.

It also contains:

• Mainly black and dark colours, with white writing which emphases that it is a very dark movie.
• The font is based on a Typewriter lettering, typewriters are much less used nowadays due to technology evolving, however I thought that it adds a sense of anonymity to the person who is writing.
• I included the Director, Producer, and our Actors, onto the actual poster, so that people know who they are going to see, and this as well as the credits of a movie is almost like a resumé for anyone that works on a film.

'Loose Ends' - Opening Sequence

BBFC Film Rating

The BBFC is the 'British Board of Film Classification'. It is responsible for the national classification and censorship of films within the United Kingdom.

After careful reviewing, we have decided that our film would be rated 15.

Summary of information: Films under this category can contain adult themes, hard drugs, regular use of foul language and limited use of very strong language, strong violence and strong sex references, and nudity without graphic detail. Sexual activity may be portrayed but without any strong detail. Sexual violence may be shown if discreet and justified by context.

Due to the "strong threat and horror" and the "strong sadistic violence", we feel that the rating 15 is appropriate for our Thriller.

Making our own Production Company Logo

Hollywood Movie Distributors

I spent many hours searching the internet for Movie Distribution companies using YouTube, it was very hard to find a company that suits our thriller film, and a company that would put money towards our film. We filtered it down to a final 2 which were:

Jerry Bruckheimer Films
Many of Jerry Bruckheimer's film are high budget Hollywood movies, where most of them are co produced by big cooperation's such as Paramount Pictures, Walt Disney Pictures and Warner Bros.


And so there movies are very highly known such as Top Gun, Pirates of the Caribbean and a few real life Disney movies.
We hope that our movies could be as famous as these are. We used this film company, as the logo is quite spooky and leering, even though it is used in many children's style movies.





Blumhouse Productions
Our second film company is Blumhouse Productions, all of the movies that this company makes are in the horror/thriller genre. Many of the films that this company produces is well known to be scary, and many have been made into sequels due to popular demand. Examples include: Paranormal Activity, The Purge and Insidious.


Some of these films that this company produces are seen as the most horrifying and scary of the movies that are made to this date.
We hope that our movie could be distributed by this company as it is a very well know fully horror film studio.

Editing the Thriller

Filming the Thriller

Filming Schedule

Letters to Actors

As one of our actors is under the age of 16, we must gain permission from their parents, We must do this to comply with the rules of the Child Protection Act.

Replies from our letters:

Risk Assessment

Potential Hazard	Low/Medium/High Risk	Control Measures
Equipment (Camera, tripod and dolly)	Medium	To avoid tripping over and injuring the crew. All members of public and crew that are not using the camera equipment should be far from the facility. When opening the tripod the spikes are very sharp, and could injure someone, to avoid this open the tripod where no one can be hurt, but are looked after by supervisors
Location (Bridge)	High	The location is under a bridge in Camden, this area is fairly dangerous with the general public. We are also working near water, and so must be supervised by an adult at all times.
PLOT RESTRAINTS
Dragging Body	High	We will be dragging one of our actors on the gravel in the opening sequence. To make this safe, we will pull our actor on a moving cart, to avoid actually dragging our actor on the floor, and injuring them in the process
Knife	High	A fake knife will be used, which may disturb any onlookers as this significant prop is used in an outside scene. To attempt to stop this from happening, we will make clear to any members of the public that we are filming, and that the knife is not real.
Young Actors	High	A young girl is observed to being hit by her father, this will not actually be undertaken. And to protect the rules of the Child Protection Act our young actor must be supervised by a suitable guardian, we wrote a letter of consent for the parents to sign