Extra scene

After feedback of our opening, we thought that adding a final scene after the title would be good to help continue the opening and build back up the tension after the victim has been kidnapped. We have decided the scene is going to be the victims friend becoming aware that her best friend is missing and rushes out of her house to find her, making the audience wanting to keep on watching and see what happens to the victim and her friend. This has also changed our story board, as before it ended at the title "MISSING."

Filming Day 3 & 4

 

During our final days of filming we focused on the wood scenes towards the end, and re-filmed any other footage that we didn't think was good enough. We mainly used the shoulder mount for the DSLR camera as many shots we did was POV shots, for example we had a scene of the antagonist chasing the protagonist and to make it more dramatic we used a POV shot. Also, we had another POV shot on the final clip of the protagonist when the antagonist is behind her and puts a bag over her head to create a black screen where we planned to place the title.

Filming Day 2

The second day filming we re-filmed the footage that wasn't in focus from the first day because we didn't put the DSLR camera in "auto" so that it focuses automatically to avoid bad blurry shots. After re-filming we started filming in the woods, we used new equipment such as the shoulder mount to create shots that weren't as steady as using a tripod for point of view shots from the antagonist and protagonist. This helped create more realistic POV shots. We attempted to use the Go-Pro to film more shots from the point of view as the Go-Pro was directly on her head of the characters, but we were conscious about whether it may be hard to control how the shots look as you can't see a screen. Overall, the day was successful and at the end we planned for our next filming.

Shooting schedule 2

Filming Day 1

Our first day filming in our new location was partially successful. We filmed the most part of the road scene and planned ahead for our next filming in the woods. We got some good footage, and we used the DSLR camera and tripod to film steady and professional shots. However, something's we didn't think about which made our next filming days easier as we learnt from our experience, for example, we didn't put the camera in the mode "auto" therefore when we came to edit our footage together later that day, some weren't in focus, making it look unprofessional. During the first days filming we attempted a range of shots to try and vary the footage without making it confusing and too much for the audience by trying to keep to the 180 degree rule. We also tried panning, however the footage didn't come out as smooth and seamless as we'd liked.

Shooting schedule 1

Binary Opposites and Narrative Codes

Binary opposites

Binary opposite is a 'theory of meaning' which can be applied to texts and all kinds of media. Levi Strauss created this theory as he believed words were understood by the difference between its opposite word, this is what we call binary opposite. For example, our understanding of "villain" is dependant on the opposite, "hero". This is a typical use of binary opposite within films, between good and evil and the antagonist and the protagonist.


This is how we will incorporate binary opposites into our thriller film opening, by having a villain and a hero. Binary opposites allow the audience to clearly see the difference between two opposite characters and is easily recognisable.

Narrative Codes

Barthes believed that there are 5 codes that describe the meaning of a text and one or more of these codes will describe the text. He believed that texts can be 'open' (different ways) and 'closed' (only one option). The five codes:

• Hermeneutic/enigma code - refers to mystery within a text, no clear answers are given this makes the audience want to carry on watching and find out what happens.
• Proairetic/action code - contains elements of action adding suspension
• Semantic code - suggests or refers to additional meanings to the literal meaning
• Symbolic code - symbolism within the text this shows opposites to show contrast and create more tension meaning and character development.
• Referential code - refers to an external body of knowledge such as scientific, historical and cultural knowledge.

In our thriller opening we will incorporate some of these narrative codes, for example, the hermeneutic/enigma code. In our thriller opening the protagonist is kept a mystery, creating tension and not giving the audience any clear answers. This will give the audience a reason to carry on watching.

Location Change

We have changed location from where we originally planned and started to film (2nd location on my previous blog post "Possible Locations"). This is due to problems we encountered when we tried to film there, such as, the road beside where we was attempting to film was too busy and ruined the atmosphere and sound of the footage. Also, the day we chose to film the weather was extremely windy, again ruining the audio. From this point on we checked the weather prior to filming to ensure the conditions were suitable to film in.

Thriller Directors

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock was an English film director and producer who is most famous for his thriller films. Hitchcock used a range of unique techniques to create suspense providing the audience with a very distinct viewing experience. He was talented for creating themes of false accusations, conflicted emotions and plot twist endings very skilfully. In 1939, Hitchcock moved to Hollywood to continue his career in film.

Most famous thrillers:

• The 39 Steps
• Vertigo
• Psycho
• Shadow of a doubt

Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg is an American film director, screen writer and producer. The first big break through for Spielberg was, "Jaws" a thriller grossed more than $470 million worldwide at the box office. In Jaws Spielberg used a range of techniques to build tension such as dramatic music and specially selected camera shots.

Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino is an independent American film director and often chooses to star act in his own films such as Pulp Fiction. He's popular for displaying non-linear exciting films often involving violence. His arguably most famous independent film and thought of one of the best independent films of all time was "Reservoir Dogs." Closely follows by "Pulp Fiction" nominated for 7 Academy Awards.

Most famous thrillers:

• Pulp Fiction
• Django Unchained
• Reservoir Dogs
• Kill Bill 1 & 2