Filming Experience

After we had taken out our camera, after school on Friday 4th December, we went straight to the Croydon lookout point that took us longer than we expected to find. We were in quite a rush because we wanted to get there before it got dark. Luckily we found it just in time and set up the tripod and camera for an extreme long shot of Jake, the actor, sitting on the edge of a wall looking over London. We really liked how the shot turned out because you could see very far across the wall and it was the perfect atmosphere for the beginning of our film.

We used the focus and zoom buttons on the camera to get three different shots of Jake sitting on the wall, one close up, one long shot and one extreme long shot. Another thing that added to the realness of the shot was the fact that birds were flying pass which added a nice effect.

Our next shot was a pan of the landscape view across London and then coming back to Jake sitting on the wall. This had to be shot a couple of times because we couldn't decide the speed of the pan, the first one we did was too fast, then too slow but we finally got the perfect shot in the end. Then we did a close up of Jakes face but we didn't want the camera to see his whole face to make it more mysterious and make the audience want to know who the boy is.

The next shot was Jake pulling a box of matches out of his pocket. We used an extreme close up by using the zoom button on the camera that only needed one quick shot.

Storyboard

Production Schedual

For our opening sequence we will need to film in four separate locations. The locations are a police interview room, Starbucks, the female characters alley to her house and the top of a hill in Croydon.

We will film the police interview room shots during school time as we can stay within the school site and find a basic room to convert into a police interview area. This is our best believable attempt of making a police interview room, because we do not know of any other buildings we can gain access too that contain suitable rooms or gain entry to a real police station. Therefore we will film these shots during our media lesson on Wednesday 2nd December. Luckily lighting in this scene is not an issue, because if there is a lack of sunlight in the room we can effortlessly turn a light switch on. Consequently we filmed as the sun was setting from about 2-4pm.

For the Starbucks shots we shall film these the same day we will film the scene of the boy on the hill. This will be beneficial to us because the whether conditions needed are roughly the same for both scenes so we do not need to make two trips. These conditions will need to preferably be not too wet. There also needs to be a fair amount of sunlight available as the scenes are to be shot during the day in the afternoon-ish late morning time. Subsequently we will film these shots on Friday 4th December, between 1-4pm.

For the last shot, of the boy and the girl walking down the alley way outside the girl's house, we need the conditions to be sun setting/dark so it gives the effect that the characters are going to the girl's house after a day out. For this location we shall use my own Nan's house. This is because this property is the house that most looks like the home for students or young persons to be living at that our group knows of. We shall film this Tuesday 7th December after school time between 3-6pm.

Prop List

The props we will be using are very basic and easy to come by.

Interview Room

In the interview room we will need and table and three chairs. This is to show that people we in here recently. We will also need a tape player to play the tape that will be hear over the top of our entire film, and we will also need a cup of coffee spilt over and a few papers, this is to show an interview has already taken place.

The Lookout Point

At the lookout point the main prop we will need will be the box of matches. This is because the matches play a key role throughout the film, as the boys tick is lighting matches over and over again when he is nervous. We will have him smoking as this gives the impression that he doesn't care about his health and give him a bad guy image in the film.

The Coffee Shop

In the coffee shop we won't be using any props, as we don't want to divert concentration from the main action of the two meeting and getting on with one another.

Taking the girl home

Again we won't use any props in this shot as we want to show the bond between the two of them growing and becoming stronger as she invites him into her house.

Character Information

The Boy

The boy is the main character in our film, aged 16 and with dark hair.

He is an odd character and has an obsession with lighting matches.

He is the only character that we see properly but we never actually see his face, this adds suspence as we never discover his true identity.

Played by Jake.

The Girl

The girl plays a very small but vital role, she is the boys friend and she speaks on the voice over throughout the film.

She is also aged 16 and with long blonde hair.

Played by Ellen.

Detail On Target Audience

Our thriller film is going to be a psychological thriller, following the story of a mentally ill young man. Our opening sequence is therefore aimed at mainly young women, late teenagers and especially young men. This film will also aim at older adults, but mainly younger people due to the main characters being involved are of the rough same age.

Men will be targeted more than women because the film will feature some violence throughout and this appeals more to men generally than it does to women. Also most of the characters included in this film will be male, therefore the film becomes quite a manly film.

Location Information

We are using a few different locations in our film, this is to enhance impact so the audience can take in the surroundings and see how it blends in with the mood of the shot.

Boy On The Hill

The location for this is going to be in croydon, in the middle of a wooded area just next to coombe lane tram stop, called "the lookout point." This place has a large concrete-wall which can be sat on, in front of it is a layout of the whole of London, and surrounding it is wooded areas on either side. We chose this place as it is easy to get to, has a very god view and is quite quiet, so we can film without any interruptions.

Flash Backs

For the flash backs we are using two locations.

The first will starbucks in croydon high street. We picked this location for the exact opposite reason that we did the woods. There will be lots of people walking around and traffic, this shows that they are in a busy area with lots of people, and it makes it seem like the audience are just a person watching them from the other side of a road. The only problem we may have with this is filming in public, meaning we will need special permission from the coffee shop owner. if this doesn't work we are going to have to film somewhere else or film our few seconds and then move on.

Our next flash back will be at jakes Nan's house, we chose this because it is easy to get to and the house it is quite small, making it easier to film. also we know the owner, meaning we can actually use their house.

The Interview Room

The interview room we are going to use isn't actually going to be a police room, as we aren't allowed to film inside of one. Instead what we are going to do is black out windows in a room with dark walls and set up two chairs and a desk in a corner, we are then not going to film anything outside of the corner. this is going to be filmed in one of our practice rooms as it is easy to access.

Shot List

Shot 1: black screen, cassette button pressed, interview starts as the only background sound.

Shot 2: CU of cassette playing. On a table

Shot 3: MS of cassette playing and a coffee cup on a table, with two empty chairs in a interview room.

Shot 4: MS of the back of a boy, hood up, with the whole of London in front of him, woods surrounding him.

Shot 5: CU plan shot of London, then panning across to the side of the boys face his hood up.

Shot 5: LS of boy and girl sitting in a coffee shop.

Shot 6: 2 SHOT of the boy and girl chatting in the coffee shop.

Shot 7: CU side of the boy’s head, takes a pull of a cigarette then breaths it out.

Shot 8: BCU high angle of coffee trickling around a table to the edge.

Shot 9: BCU coffee dripping off the side of the table.

Shot 10: LS of boy and girl walking down a street, they then pause in front of a house and the girl walks in first followed by the boy, the door then slams.

Shot 11: CU of fan blowing and turning, with the paper attached.

Shot 12: OTS shot with no people !!!

Shot 13: BCU of boy getting a box of matches out of his pocket

Shot 14: LS of girl in café on her own in same stance as last time and same time of day.

Shot 15: MS of girl looking worried from outside.

Shot 16: CU of boy lighting a match, match is then followed up and you can see the bottom of the boys mouth. The boy the smiles and puts the match out with his fingers.