Rough Cut - Miss Miller

A rough cut is the first draft of what our final opening scene, it roughly resembles the final product but still is not properly edited meaning that it doesn't flow as well as the final product. Our rough cut included all the appropriate scenes which we plan to use in our final product but the editing of the sequence is not at the standard which we aim for in our final opening sequence. Our rough copy showed that we need to improve the digetic sound of our sequence as we didn't take it out when it was meant to, we also plan to change the opening credits as they didn't relate so much to a thriller film 

I believe our rough cut was extremely important in creating a successful opening sequence as it gave us a clear idea of what specific elements we needed to improve about our opening thriller sequence, it also allowed us to understand if our thriller was successful in evoking emotions and if not how we could improve it to build relationships between the characters and audience.

After producing our rough cut we showed it to many people who are within our target audience category and they gave us feedback on how we could improve it to make a complete opening sequence. I believe this feedback was extremely beneficial towards making our final sequence as within our thriller we aimed to use many elements such as relatable characters and settings to help form a relationship between the characters and audience hoping that this would cause them to emphasise with the protagonists emotions and therefore be more engrossed within the narrative.

To receive this feedback we presented our rough copy to 20 people of our target audience of 17-25 year olds. Within this presentation we created a powerpoint this powerpoint consisted of a brief outline of our narrative, a slide on how our opening sequence fits codes and conventions of the thriller genre and a couple of slides on how we created our thriller. We then played our thriller opening sequence and asked the audience to fill out a form which stated what they think went well within our thriller, what we could improve and the mark they believe we got out of 60.

The feedback we received from showing our target audience our opening sequence was consistent in the fact that they believed that the overall narrative of our opening sequence was successful and the specific cinematography we used was appropriate and effective but from the feedback we received from peers was, that we could improve  the digetic sound the we had not yet removed, and also the credits they had to be more relative to the thriller genre as they was not eye catching or scary enough for this genre. 

Planning Opening Credits-Miss Georgiou

Planning Opening Credits

Credits are important and significant within a film because they introduce the film to the audience and what the film is called. Also the credits introduces who is in the film such as the actors, the directors' names, the production name and the editing/producers name. In the opening credits they also inform and prepare the audience for the type of film that we will be watching. Some directors have a trademark on their opening sequences so the audience know who the director is before his name even appears on the screen. 

Se7en Opening Credits Analysis

In the opening sequence of Se7en the colours used in the opening sequence were mostly black and white with the background being black and the text being white which can show a contrast between good and evil, black being evil and white being good. This can inform the audience that this film can be between good and evil. This is conventional to a thriller because in thrillers there is always a villain and a victim and the villain is the evil and the victim is the good person which shows that this is a war between good and evil. 

The style of credits used were short snippets of photographs as the background and the text in front of the background which shows that this is an opening sequence and not a trailer. This shows that this is a thriller film because everything is jerky and disturbing which shows that the film will be disturbing and jerky and that the audience should expect this in this thriller opening sequence therefore it will connect with the film and give the audience an insight. This is conventional to a thriller because not everything in a thriller is normal and 'plain sailing' it is not normal and causes the audience to become scared and disorientated. 

The creepy font and the flickering of the text creating an earthquake effect gives a sense of mystery as if the person that is behind the opening credits who looks like is going through some evidence is quite shifty and that may describe the character in the background. The credits are like hand written which almost matches the written text on the book behind it. The jerky and disturbing images might be an insight for the audience that, that is what the film is going to be like, and that the audience will be jerky and slightly disturbed by the following film. 

The thriller conventions used in this opening sequence are pictures of victims as this may be the only recognition of the victims that we will see because they have already been killed off. Also low key lighting is used to create tension and suspense within the film which can show the audience that this film will be scary. Blood is also mainly used in thrillers as it shows that there is a murder that has happened, blood is a main convention in thriller films because people are always murdered in thrillers. Dead bodies are always shown in thrillers because there is always a mystery behind a thriller and who the unidentified murderer is which is another convention that you find in thrillers. 

Individual Analysis

My individual analysis was from the film Memento, in this film the opening credits where in hand writing style. By making it this font it makes the scene seem spooky as though a child has wrote it or a villain, this is conventional to a thriller because by using a hand writing style it can make the audience feel paranoid and instantly get them thinking in who could be writing the credits.

The colours used in the opening scene of memento where white and the occasional snippet of black, both these colours are related to good or evil. By doing this it shows there could be a mixture of good and bad throughout the film, and also a villain and victim relationship.

Also the credits in this opening scene will fade in and out, this automatically creates suspense as well as a feeling of fear. This is conventional to a thriller because the fade puts the audience on edge as it gets them thinking about the likelihood of the film and what is going to happen.

My Groups Credits:

My group credits will be similar to the film memento as I liked the fade of the text as it appears, so  will try to input that onto our own credits, i will also try to get a typewriting effect put onto them as this makes the scene seem interesting and how the rest of the film will pan out.

The style of font i will be writing is a handwriting type, this is because it looks scary and is conventional to a thriller, because by using this it indicates someone could have wrote it on a wall to make someone fear them. Also by using this style it looks some what aggresive and it will get the audience thinking into who could of wriote them weather it be a villian or victim.

I havent decided yet to use a red font or white, so i will discuss this with my group before i make the final decision. I am thinking about using red because it is the colour that indicates fear and blood, and looks dangerous. Also by using red it ties in with the style of font i will be using so it looks like someone may of wrote it with blood. Where as the white will look more professional and this can also relate to a thriller as it looks cold and would be unfamiliar to the audience.

The order in which the credits will go is as follows:

• Company Name
• Director
• Fim Title
• Actors
• Casting
• Sound Technician
• Costume
• Editor
• Production Designer
• Director of Photography
• Co - Producer
• Co - Executive Producer
• Producers
• Screenplay
• Mese-En-Scene Co ordinator
• Director

Production roles - Miss Miller

People need to be allocated specific roles when creating a film because, it makes everything a lot more organised, it becomes more organised because people understand what elements of the film they have to focus on, and if there was a problem in there field they wouldn't have any other people distracting them and telling them the wrong things. People who are good at certain things will be allocated the roles that they specialise in, which allows the production to be more efficient and successful.

Some of the roles used in productions are:

• Producer -  A is a person responsible for the financial and managerial aspects of the making of a film.  

• Director - A person who is in charge of an activity, department, or organisation.

• Actor - A person whose profession is acting on the stage, in films, or on television

• Director of Photography - A cinematographer is the chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, and responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image

• Sound Technician - They prepare, operate and maintain technical equipment to amplify, enhance, mix or reproduce sound.

• Screenplay Writer - A screenwriter or scriptwriter or scenarist is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media such as film

• MES Co-ordinators -  This is someone who controls costumes, make-up, iconography etc

• Editors - Somebody who makes the film flow by editing the scenes and cutting things out

Leandra: Actress/sound technicians/screenplay writer/producer

Nathaliah: Editor/mise-en-scene coordinator/screenplay writer/producer

James: Director/director of photography/screenplay writer/producer

We decided who would take on what role by the amount of responsibility that we can handle and the abilities that we possess because each one of us have our own abilities and we use them in different ways as we have different ideas and plans to make something. 

I was assigned the role of director because I have the ability to take control in difficult situations so for me to overlook the whole project. I believe this will help improve our sequence because if i'm able to take control when things get difficult we will be able to overcome it quicker and and get on with the work without out any more problems. The director and has numerous amount of abilities to make the film a lot better and believable. I also have the responsibility as director of photography because I am the only one with the ability to work a camera and be able to use it to create character representation by using different camera angles in the scene and to know how to introduce a character or scene. I was also given the role of screenplay writer as well because if we incorporate the three of us in our group we can create a good piece of script that will be interesting but not too complicated that it will confuse the audience. 

Leandra is one of the lead characters as the actress playing the victim because she has the ability and responsibility to act appropriately according to the scene and able to make the correct facial expressions and act the correct way to connect with the audience, also to make them feel a part of the film. I believe by making Leandra the actress it will improve our sequence because she is the one in the group who fits the 'vulnerable female' look, so the viewers will be able to relate to it more. She looks more like a victim because of her vulnerable posture and body language, also our character representation we chose to go for a girl who was a typical English white girl which was the whole description that Leandra was able to fit into and to complete because of her look. So far in our filming she has succeeded as the victim because she has been able to pull off a vulnerable look,

Leandra is also a screenplay writer because she has the ability to make a story and to plan out who says what line and when and also including narrative words and actions so that they work and are synchronised with the words and the scene that the victim and the villain are in. I believe by allocating this role to Leandra it will help improve our screenplay because she is the best she has the widest vocabulary in the group so this will help improve our screenplay  Also it helps the camera man and producer to know where the camera should be placed, also this helped the sound technician which was also Leandra to know what type of sounds should be put in the specific scene. This made the film a lot more enjoyable and the music related to the opening sequence created suspense and tension which is what we aim to make the audience feel tense as they see it all unfold. 

Nathaliah was assigned the role of the editor because she has the ability to know how to make the scene a lot better and more tense. This will help us to create a successful opening sequence because Nathaliah has the responsibility of creativity which is what she owns, a creative spirit which will enable us to have a successful opening sequence. Nathaliah is also the mise-en-scene coordinator because she has the ability to set a scene, use certain iconography, lighting, colour, hair, make up and also positioning the characters in a certain way to make the characters become represented in certain ways. This will be useful as we intend to make the villain seem scary and intimidating while we make the victim seem vulnerable and small. This will show the audience which character is what and how their actions take part in the opening sequence. Nathaliah also played a part as a screenplay writer as she helped my by using her own individual ideas to incorporate her own ideas into the script to make the opening sequence a lot more believable and interesting to grab the audiences attention. 
We assigned all three of us the role of producer because we each have the ability to set up the scene and not apply it to one specific person because they may not have an idea that will make the scene better, instead someone else in the group may have a better idea therefore it would be best to assign all three of us the role of producer.     
                     
Having specific roles and jobs in a film/opening sequence is better because it means that we are each able to focus on our own jobs and then feedback to the group instead of there being no organisation and there being a problem and a lack of communication or there may be a disagreement in the group and may leave one of the group members unhappy and not satisfied with the end result of the opening sequence.