Final song for Title Sequence

This is the final song that we are going to use in our title sequence. We are going to use this song over the others previously mentioned because it has that espionage secret spy feel to it that the others just simply do not have. It also contains an edginess to the song which also relates to how the film will play out and what is shown in the opening two minutes that we have made.

(Credits to Alex)

Third Story Board

Our third storyboard that we have made ensures that we have enthused as much of the espionage element of a thriller while also making sure that it is entertaining enough for the audience. The main changes that we have made is that we are no longer showing the man waiting for the person running as it takes away suspense because the audience can already put two and two together making it less thrilling whereas this new way we are editing ensures that we keep the suspense within the opening.  

(Credits to Alex)

Posted 20 hours ago by Alexander Patrick-Smith

Second Story Board

We have now decided to change the story slightly because we felt like our last one did not quite fit the requirements of an espionage thriller. We feel as a group that this new story line builds up a more suspenseful atmosphere with a person running while another person is waiting. We would shoot this by it cutting between the runner and the person waiting for him. At the end the audience is left to wonder what the bomb is going to be used for in the rest of the film. 

(Credits to Alex)

Production name and logo

Production name and logo

From the mind map Georgie made on the ideas of production names for our film company, as a group we came to decision to that the one we liked the most was Mercury Productions, so from this Georgie looked on a few websites to see how we would like to present our company name.

(Credits to Georgie)

This is a collection of logo's that Georgie has made for our company name with the name just below the images. We have also now agreed as a group that the triangle one in the top right hand corner because it looks like it would fit in well with our video and has that simple yet effective look. 

(Credits to Alex)

New location

Our group has decided that we will not be able to film in the locations that we actually planned to shoot at. this is because it would be too hard for us to get to those locations to shoot with all the equipment and that shooting in public would also be difficult and an inconvenience. this would be because the public would mess up the continuity of the video. therefore we have decided to shoot in a much more controlled environment which will be in our school. 

This is the location for where we will shoot our final video. It is inside our school so is convenient for us to shoot in and also we will all be available to shoot together when we can. We will also be able to keep the continuity for each time we shoot because there wont be many people in the shot.

This is a view of the inside of the building of where we are going to shoot but on the ground level of the building. This also persuaded us to shoot in this location because it is a a very big building with lots of space to try and get different shots and give us the best opportunity to get a good mark.

This is an example shot of what our film what look like on the upper levels of the building. Again there is a lot of space to film and I also feel like it would make for some really cool shots that we could incorporate into our two minute opening.

(Credits to Alex)

Evaluation questions
In the evaluation the following questions must be answered:

• In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

We have challenged the conventions of an espionage film by making the main terrorist a white person. this challenges the conventions of ethnic division. We have used a relevant genre for the time period that we live in which uses the usual conventions for a film like this. Furthermore, we have used a familiar location to people that would watch the film to connote that even our own communities would not be safe, challenging the conventions of espionage.

• How does your media product represent particular social groups?

We have decided to not segregate social groups in our product because we are trying to get the message out that it does not matter what you look like because everybody is the same and it will make people question who they think are the real enemy.

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

The UK company Metrodome would be able to distribute our film because it mainly produces low budget thriller films to be viewed by a niche market. Also a big company would want to take a look at it because the public are very interested in thriller espionages and so this could be a big hit if a big company picked it up and chose it.

• Who would be the audience for your media product?

Overall our video would contain a lot of realistic violence and so would be aimed at an adult market. Our film would need to contain violence to depict a relevant story and to keep the audience interested otherwise it would seem like there would never be a real motive in the whole of the film and therefore would not be very interesting to watch.

• How did you attract/address your audience?

We attracted and addressed the audience by using a variety of marketing skills to entice people to come and look at the film. For example we created lots of different posters that people would see o that the word would get spread around about this new up and coming film. We also would create a trailer for the film which would try and make it look as exciting as possible to get the audiences attention and make them think that it would be a good film to watch.

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

• Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?

(Credits to Alex)

Shot list

This is our shot list for the first continuity edit, we are hoping to include a variety of different shots and camera angles.


Person A walks up to a door
Shot of hand pushing door
Shot of person A walking through the door
Shot of person B sitting down
Shot of person A asking person B if they're ok
Reverse shot (CU) of person B replying
Shot of person B standing up
Shot of person B asking person A a question
Shot of person A's reaction and answer
Person B sighs and walks out the fire exit
Person A follows after person B out the fire exit
Shot of person A and person B facing each other
Location- Spanish department

Actors: Georgie, Alex

(Credits to Alex)

Storyboard - 1st continuity edit

This is the storyboard of our first continuity edit. It shows how we are going to film it and what shots we are going to use. It will only need to be 60 seconds long and so we need to also make sure that we keep to the 180 degree rule so that the audience does not get confused.

(Credits to alex)

Mark Scheme
Mark scheme
Level 1 0–23 marks

The work for the main task is possibly incomplete. There is minimal evidence in the work of the
creative use of any relevant technical skills such as:
• holding a shot steady, where appropriate.
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate
• shooting material appropriate to the task set.
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting;
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer.
• using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set.
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.
• using titles appropriately.

Level 2 24–35 marks

There is evidence of a basic level of ability in the creative use of some of the following technical
skills:
• holding a shot steady, where appropriate.
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate.
• shooting material appropriate to the task set.
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting.
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer.
• using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set.
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.
• using titles appropriately.

Level 3 36–47 marks

There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills:
• holding a shot steady, where appropriate.
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate.
• shooting material appropriate to the task set.
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting.
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer.
• using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set.
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.
• using titles appropriately.

Level 4 48–60 marks

There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:
• holding a shot steady, where appropriate.
• framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.
• using a variety of shot distances as appropriate.
• shooting material appropriate to the task set.
• selecting mise-en-scène including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting.
• editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer.
• using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set.
• using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.
• using titles appropriately.
Audio
Level 1 0–23 marks

The work for the main task is possibly incomplete. There is minimal evidence in the work of the
creative use of any relevant technical skills such as:
• recording voice(s) clearly in studio/confined setting.
• recording voice(s) clearly in location/outdoor interviews/presentations.
• accurately using language and register.
• integrating recorded material, as appropriate.
• editing and mixing sounds appropriately.
• editing to create continuity and meaning.
• integrating jingles, music, location sounds and sound effects, where appropriate.

Level 2 24–35 marks

There is evidence of a basic level of ability in the creative use of some of the following technical
skills:
• recording voice(s) clearly in studio/confined setting.
• recording voice(s) clearly in location/outdoor interviews/presentations.
• accurately using language and register.
• integrating recorded material, as appropriate.
• editing and mixing sounds appropriately.
• editing to create continuity and meaning.
• integrating jingles, music, location sounds and sound effects, where appropriate.

Level 3 36–47 marks
There is evidence of proficiency in the creative use of many of the following technical skills:
• recording voice(s) clearly in studio/confined setting.
• recording voice(s) clearly in location/outdoor interviews/presentations.
• accurately using language and register.
• integrating recorded material, as appropriate.
• editing and mixing sounds appropriately.
• editing to create continuity and meaning.
• integrating jingles, music, location sounds and sound effects, where appropriate.

Level 4 48–60 marks
There is evidence of excellence in the creative use of most of the following technical skills:
• recording voice(s) clearly in studio/confined setting.
• recording voice(s) clearly in location/outdoor interviews/presentations.
• accurately using language and register.
• integrating recorded material, as appropriate.
• editing and mixing sounds appropriately.
• editing to create continuity and meaning.
• integrating jingles, music, location sounds and sound effects, where appropriate.


I am aiming to get a level 3 after looking at this mark scheme because I feel like our group should be able to pull together to create a decent video of a thriller opening while also getting the right amount of research to get those good marks.

(Credits to Alex)

Written storyboard


For our storyline we came up with two ideas for our final thriller opening.

The first storyline we can up with was that there were two spy men at lunch talking about the villain, then there was a tracking shot of another man who we haven't named yet but we want him to be a terrorist about to ruin the other two men's plans, first we see a tracking shot of the 'terrorist' shoes walking along the street and then the camera pans upwards to see the characters full body, at that point there will be a pause in the music as he starts to walk faster the music starts to get louder and faster. At this point the volume of the music will decrease and there will be a medium shot of the terrorist facing the two men. As he goes into his pocket, he pulls out a gun and at this point there will be digetic sound, like a bang so it warns the audience whats about to happen or to at least predict what will happen and then well cut to a shot of the two men panicking and trying to talk to him and at the point the terrorist will then shoot the two men leaving them on the floor to bleed to death and there will be a close up of the blood dripping of either the shot in the neck or dripping of his hand either way we want to get a shot of the blood dripping of a part of the mans body, however if that isn't successful we thought due to them being at a restaurant, the glass of whine dripping could be graphic match to the blood dripping, or just the glass tipped over of the water dripping and that will be the only sound you can hear or maybe a faded sound of police/ambulance sirens.

For this opening we want 5 actors - 3 Men and 2 Women

We want the women so that we can balance out the gender however were not sure where we will be putting these, even if they are the waitresses in the back ground- this is something well need to discuss.


(Credits to Georgie)

I think that the first opening idea was the easier and better one to do however it may also be tricky because of the tracking shots involved in the sequence.    (Credits to Alex)

                              Production Name ideas

This is our mind map of the production name ideas that we have come up with. After much discussion we decided to choose mercury productions as our company name because we feel that it fits well for the task at hand. 

Props

Props

For our opening sequence we only have two props;

One is a normal black bag, which will be full, to have the look that it contains a bomb, we chose to use just a plain bag because its very simple and doesn't give a lot away about the character, this keeps the mysterious and thrilling factor to the opening sequence.

The second one is a balaclava for the second character, this is used to create a mysterious and ominous affect, and to make the scene thrilling. For the purpose of the scene it is to hide the identity of the character to make it look like the character is very important and people knowing who he is could be dangerous.

We agreed that these props will be very relevant to what we need to make our film about espionage, this is because these are often used in real life to depict a terrorist. 

(Credits to Alex)

Objective of the project

To create the opening sequence to a thriller film that is two minutes long.

How to accomplish this objective:

Storyline - Writer, Story board, Script

Filming - Director, Actors, Location

Audio - Music research

Editing - Editor, Producer

All of these things will be needed to complete the task at hand and so we need to assign these jobs to each person in our group.

(Credits to Alex)

Jobs

Jobs

After evaluating what they were good at, Jordan and Alex decided to give each other jobs for the filming process and onwards. They analysed what they were both good at and where they could both help each other in their weak spots. Both of them have a big key role in the filming process. and apparently Georgie and I do nothing.

Jordan - Director,  Camera, Cinematography and Editor

Alex -Actor, Audio (music), Editor and Writer

  Jordan believes that the acting job best suits him because they are challenging the stereotypes within OUR two minute opening and so this would work. Alex is also looking at the audio because he likes to try and find the correct and most suitable music for our video. Furthermore, he is co editor with Jordan because together they can help each other to get the smoothest editing as they can get and get it done in a quick time frame as well. Alex is also writing the script because he has some good ideas for what could happen within our opening. Georgie and I were unaware of this, due to no communication at all. When disussing what roles we should all play, they shrug, so we are in the dark.

3rd continuity task

3rd continuity task

(video needs to be added)

This is our third try at the continuity editing task. The last one that we did was not long enough and there for we had to re-shoot it. The last one we did also had some out of place shots as a whole anyway. This time we used the right time frame which is at least a minute and also improved some of the shots that we used.

Continuity edit two

Continuity edit two

This is our second edit of the continuity task. I feel like we have improved in some aspects of the video. These include the 180 degree rule which i think we have kept to but I think that some of the shots still could have been improved. For example, the first panning shot in the beginning of the video is still a bit to shaky. Also the editing was a bit rough in this edit because it sometimes cuts too quickly so the person is too rushed into what is going on. We need to think about how we will shoot our final video to ensure that it will be as good as we can make it.

(video needs to be added)

(credits to alex)

Continuity first edit

Continuity first edit

This is our first edit of the continuity task. I think that it went okay considering that me and Georgie were the only people in our group available on the day that we were shooting. however we could have improved the match on action in some of the shots and also tried to keep a much steady camera in almost all of the shots. this leads me to consider the fact that we should try using different shots instead of ones that involve panning and also movement shots. We should learn from this and re-shoot it to make sure we can fix these errors.




(video needs to be added)

(Credits to Alex)

Our title sequence

For our video we are going to create a 20-30 second title sequence which will hopefully portray the espionage feel while also fitting into the scenes we will film around this title sequence. For our title sequence we are going to film paint being splashed into a tank of water and then slowing this footage down to get a very nice bubbling paint effect. We will use then overlay the credits of people working on the film and also what it is called 'The Decoy'. We will also then put in the music that we finally choose that will fit the video the best.

(Credits to Georgie)

Continuity

This is the final edit of the continuity task video. This one is different to the previous one due to camera work being much better and we achieved this by changing the department we filmed in the first time, we done this due to the lighting being so much better. 

typography - the decoy


We have decided to call our short film 'The Decoy' so I done some research to see what types of fonts will look good for it.

Production Name Ideas




(Credits to Georgie)

Film production company

For our film we will need a production name suitable for our thriller espionage film. For this I done some research on other film productions to get an idea of the type of name we need. We also done research on this so that we done have or choose a film production name that already exists.

- dreamworks animation - Shrek, Madagascar and Kunfu Panda

- 20th century fox - Star Wars, X-Men and Die Hard

- Blue sky studios - Ice Age and Rio

- fox searchlight pictures - Black Swan and 12 Years A Slave

- Metro-Goldwyn Mayer - Wizard Of Oz and Gone With The Wind

- universal studios - Jaws, Dracula, Oblivion and The Wolf Man

- eon productions - James Bond Series

- Working title films - Love Actually, Shaun Of The Dead, Four Weddings And A Dead Funeral

- Paramount pictures - Star Trek, Saving Private Ryan, Forrest Gump and Transformers

- Columbia Pictures - Michael Jackson This Is It, The Karate Kid, Spider-Man and Men In Black

- screen gems - Easy A, Dear John, Friends With Benefits and The Vow

- sony pictures animation - Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and Surfs Up

- Warner bros pictures - Bonnie And Clyde, Batman, Harry Potter, Gravity and The Matrix

- castle rock entertainment - When Harry Met Sally and Miss Congeniality

- new line cinema pictures - A Nightmare On Elm Street, Austin Powers, The Lord Of The Rings, Elf, Hairspray and The Hobbit

- Walt Disney pictures - The Blackhole, The Love Bug, Mary Poppins, The Muppets, Pirates Of The Carribean and Princess Diaries

- Pixar animation studios - Toy Story, A Bugs Life, The Incredibles and Finding Nemo

- Marvel studios - Iron man, Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Avengers

- dimension films - Scream, Spy Kids, Scary Movie, Piranha

- CBS films - The Back Up Plan, The Women In Black

(Credits to Georgie)

Music for the video

For our video we are going to have a full title sequence and so we need some music to over the top of this title sequence to get excitement building. It also needs to be music that relates to the espionage style of titles sequences like James Bond styled music. It will need to convey that what your about to watch is an espionage thriller.

Some examples that I think we could use are:

and many more


(Credits to Alex)

For our video we are going to create a 20-30 second title sequence which will hopefully portray the espionage feel while also fitting into the scenes we will film around this title sequence. For our title sequence we are going to film paint being splashed into a tank of water and then slowing this footage down to get a very nice bubbling paint effect. We will use then overlay the credits of people working on the film and also what it is called 'The Decoy'. We will also then put in the music that we finally choose that will fit the video the best.

We got inspiration to do this idea from various examples on the internet and I thought that this really stood out. Skip to 2:44 for the best part.

Obviously we wont be able to shoot ins such a high fps but we would be able to create something like this for our title sequence. 

I would also like to add that a similar thing was done in Skyfall

(Credits to Alex)