Completed Production

YESCOMPLETEDSWEETCAROLINE from Gabrielle Royle on Vimeo.

Audience Response

AUDIENCE RESPONSE FINISHED from Jodie Mountain on Vimeo.

Evaluation Question 7

Evaluation Question 6

Evaluation Question 5

Question 5: 

The opening to our film could relate to the film 'Ills', as they both show a mysterious crime being committed, in which we never identify who the killer actually is, and in both films, the victim is a helpless female, alone in a derelict area, who dies within the opening 5 minutes of the film. We related our film to Ills as we thought it would attract a similar audience, as both openings leave the viewer wanting to find out more and asking questions such as 'Well, where can the film go from here?' and 'Who is the killer and why has he killed them?'. When researching, we found that a lot of films use this method of starting with a disruption leaving the audience guessing, such as 'Face-Off' and 'Sixth Sense', where the disruption occurs within the opening title sequences, like our production. (Below, a link to the opening titles of Face-Off, showing the disruption happening during the opening 5 minutes of the film).

  During our production, the cheery sound of 'Neil Diamond-Sweet Caroline' plays whilst two girls sit and drink in a bar. This music could be said to be contrapuntal as we have previously scene the girl in question running for her life down an abandoned rail-way track in the dead of night, and we can hear the panic in her heart beat. We used this contrapuntal music as it juxtaposes the idea of the film, and when the song starts to turn slow and sinister, it notifies the audience that something bad is going to happen. We got this idea from the film 'Face-Off', when the contrapuntal, happy music during the opening scene turns sinister when the boy is shot. We feel like this is the unique selling point of our film as the song which links in with our production's title is edited to sound dangerous and is heard in a way that it wont have previously been heard before. It also foreshadows that a happy atmosphere is about to take a turn for the worst.

When talking about synergy in the media, it means that teamwork will produce an overall better end product, than if each individual person in the group were working towards the same goal individually. Synergy applies to us as we split the work load between us, to achieve a better end product, than if we were to do it all individually.

Media institutions recognise that audiences enjoy using converged technology, and want to consume media in a variety of different ways, for example: trailers, videos, jingles etc. This can be used to promote a companies film and to boost sales to create a profit. If we were wanting to promote our film, we would have to start off small scale, perhaps by creating trailers and posters. In the industry, if a film does well and creates a lot of sales, a company may wish to merchandise. This could be done by creating a game, a range of toys, or something along those lines.For example, Star Wars has created a range of computer games which has increased the films reputation.

Evaluation Question 4

Question four media from groyley

Evaluation Question 3

Evaluation Question 2

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

The main girl character, Molly, plays a similar character to that played by Maggie Grace in the 2008 thriller 'Taken'.

Both characters/productions are similar as they both start off with a happy equilibrium event i.e. Molly is going for a night out with her friend, similarly Kim is going on holiday with the best friend. Both girls dress in respectable clothing, are around the same ago and portray happy characters all of which builds up their vulnerable persona. Both characters are naively preyed upon by a male character and unbeknown to them later are taken advantage of.

They however also have differences, a major difference is the resolution of the situations. Molly does not have anyone to save her in our production and end up being killed by the villain, however in Taken her father is trying to help her throughout and comes to her rescue at the end. Another difference between the two story lines is that Kim was not left on her own in Taken her and her friend got taken together however Molly is left on her own from the beginning which creates more tension from the audience.

Molly fits with the stereotype of a typical damsel in distress. She is a young female character, this portrays her as weak and helpless in the eyes of the viewer. She is an easy prey. We have dressed her is respectable clothing in order to show that this situation could happen to anyone and not just those who look more provocative. Doing this also surprises the viewer and plays against their expectations.


Our male character is similar to that played by  Michael Eklund in the 2013 thriller ‘The Call’.



The characters are similar due to the fact the both have similar dress codes, they wear shabby clothing, on our case he is wearing his work clothes and in The Call he is wearing casual clothes. Both men look like they could be ordinary men however inside they are both corrupt. Both men prey on girls that fit the stereotypical vulnerable, damsel in distress stereotype in order to then kill them



They also differ, in The Call his character preys on a number of different girls in a number of different ways such as sneaking into their house or kidnapping them in a car park however in our production the male character only has one victim and he comes across her by drugging her in a pub. They both dress in similar clothes however the colors of the clothes signify different things, we dress our character in dark clothes to represent the evil character inside however in The Call he is dressed in pale creamy colors to make him look dirty and scruffy. These colors will show when he is sweating or dirty which will revolt the viewer and add to their dislike.


He is wearing shabby,dark clothes and is a male young man. We have created him to follow the same patterns of a stereotypical antagonistic man. We want to make it obvious that he is the villain in the film and that she should be wary. This builds the tension in the bar as the audience can predict what is going to happen before it actually happens. By dressing him in dark clothing it connotes his dark, evil character, using shabby work clothes also helps to create an  un-liked character, this is used in many films to create a revolting personality.

Evaluation Question 1

Storyline

The story line is about a girl going on a night out and getting drugged by a man who is in the same pub as her, this happens in the opening and the rest of the film is about what happened to him afterwards and wether he will get caught. The opening helps set this storyline up as it first explains whats happened and gets the audience involved with the action, it builds up their opinions on the character and then makes them want the male character to be found and punished for his actions. The whole idea of the opening is setting the scene and getting the audience involved with the story line in order to enjoy the film to its full potential.

Genre

The opening uses a lot of dark, chiaroscuro lighting and sinister background music, this all helps to build the atmosphere and tensions needed to a thriller film.

How the characters are introduced

The girl is the first to be seen, this is when she is running down the railway. Introducing her like this gets the action within the film started straight away and gets the viewer interested from the very beginning, it also introduces her as an endangered character so the audience knows what to expect from the very beginning.

The first time the male character is seen is in the pub at the bar, here he is sat having a pint and is in his work clothes, portraying him like this makes him look like a normal person however the audiences opinion will soon change.

COMPLETED COMMENTARY from Jodie Mountain on Vimeo.

Production so far

Evaluation of Shoots

In my opinion, the shoots went well overall. We had a little hiccup with the weather as we did not relaise how cold it would be to film outside, so we had to split the filming of the train track scene into two nights. We also did not anticipate the natural lighting correctly, we did not realise how short time we had to film before the lighting became too dark. We managed out the shooting well, and all pulled our weight within each shoot. We planned to shoot each scene omnce a week on a wednesday night as that was when we were all free. Although, we all turned up and did our best to get it done, the filming took more time than we anticipated.We dealt with this efficiently and planned a night when all the members of the group were free to carry on with the filming. Throughout the filming we stook to the shott list and script, although every now and again we had ideas that we thought would improve the footage. For example, the end shot, the shadow of the axe on the wall, was thgought of as we were filming, this has created a more eerie atmosphere and increased the suspense within our production. As a team we worked extremely well together, giving each other helpful criticism on different aspects of the shoot. I was the actress in the film, so i could not see what looked best on the camera. The other members who were filming and providing light told me what positions to move into, how fast to run etc, which obviously looked better on camera. We all worked together to create the best production we could, and this souly came down to team work and helping one another.

Prop List

 We used various props to create a more realistic production.

Group Chat

We used a group chat to organise the various filming days. This was an easier way of communicating rather than through text message or face to face, as can all talk at once and we have records to remember the times and date of filming.

Story Board of our Production

STORY BOARD! from groyley

If we used famous actors....

Actress- Girl
















If we created a world wide film, we would use Vanessa Hudgens to play the role of the young vulnerable girl. She is a 25 year old actress from California. She played the role of Cindy in Frozen Ground, a young, stripper that was very self conscious and aware of herself. She was then captured and abused, whilst on the run she became very vulnerable and scared. Therefore she would work perfectly in our film as the girl is running away from an ex-boyfriend that has drugged and trying to kill her.


Actor-Male





















Zachary Quinto would be a good actor to play the part of the ex-boyfriend that spikes the girl and chafes her eventually killing her. Quinto has a mysterious look about him connoting that he is a villain and has an underlying motif.

Target audience

When we were creating the story line and the plot of our thriller production, we had to take into consideration who we were aiming the film at. As we are all teenage girls, we thought it would be easier to aim the film at a young adults, as we would understand what they like and enjoy. We used a young girl (actual age of 16 playing a girl aged 21) as this allows the young audience to relate to the girl, making it much more scary. We also used a young male actor, aged 22 to create that suspense and again reinforcing the fact that the audience can relate to him and the situation.

Shot List

1.      First shot is a high angled shot from behind a girl of her running. She’s holding her heels in her hand and her dress seems scruffy and ripped
2.      Cut to a close-up of her face (mascara running down etc.), looking left and right with heavy panting to show she’s scared
3.      We cut to her legs running from the side as there’s a tracking shot
4.      Cut back to the behind of her, this time a panning shot for a few seconds but she will be getting further away
5.      Close-up shot of the girls face gasping and looking left
6.      Here there’s a long shot (she’s still looking left) but she stops completely
7.      She drops her shoes and we cut to a close up tracking shot of them falling to the floor (slow motion)
8.      Point of view shot of the girl (as she’s just looked sideways)
9.      The point of view shows the green bushes and they’re rustling – diegetic sounds of her crying and gasping heavier and heavier
10.  Zoom into the bushes as it rustles more and more
11.  Extreme close-up of her eyes as they shut


12.  Cut to flashback of what she saw before
13.  Black and white scene
14.  Long shot of two people sat at the bar
15.  Close-up on girls face, this time she has no make-up running down it etc.
16.  Tracking shot of girl drinking
17.  Extreme close up on drink as she puts it back on the counter
18.  Cut back to longshot
19.  Over the shoulder shot of the guy standing up
20.  *Start montage of Jump cuts* Close up of guy ‘accidentally’ knocking the girls bag off the counter
21.  *Close up of the bag on the floor as the contents spill
22.  *Cut to close-up of the guys hand taking something out his pocket
23.  *Jump cuts of his hand going to put it in the drink of the girl
24.  *Close up of the drink with the pill fizzing in it
25.  *Close-up of girl drinking the drink


26.  Cut back to the prior scene – non-diegetic uncomfortable/disturbing music
27.  Extreme long shot of the car going over a hill or something
28.  Extreme long shot of car, but different angle...can’t see the driver
29.  Dark lighting, close-up of a hand on a car wheel
30.  Long shot of the darkness but diegetic rustling sound of car going over grass
31.  Point of view shot of killer, looking out the window…wobbly
32.  Cut to close-up of radio in car
33.  Close-up point of view gloved hand presses a button on the radio
34.  Diegetic sound, really loud, contrapuntal music
35.  Cut to exterior of car as it comes to a halt – diegetic music with it
36.  Contrapuntal music continues, back shoulder shot of the killer stood at back of car
37.  Close-up of black gloved hand on the boot opener handle
38.  Sustained medium-shot of the boot opening
39.  Still sustained shot, close up, we see a person with hands tied and tape over her lips (same girl as before) and we see a shovel
40.  Close up of girls wriggling for help
41.  Cut to close up on the shovel, see the same gloved hand but his hand on the handle of the shovel
42.  Ellipses edit to back shot again with the man slamming the boot shut
43.  High angled, sustained medium tracking shot of the guy from behind dragging the shovel
44.  Cut to front of guy stopping – medium close-up but just on the bottom of his legs
45.  Sustained long shot of him digging and digging. Wobbly to suggest insecurities
46.  Cut to back long shot of him opening the boot
47.  Close up of the girl wriggling again in the boot
48.  Cut to ellipses edit of him carrying the girl from the front…can’t see his face
49.  Jump cuts so film from ages away then cut closer and closer to create an eerie look
50.  Close up of killer at screen, only see his eyes (wide eyed)


51.  Immediately cut to opening titles (full screen of title)
52.  Next scene- its day time, long shot of crime scene investigation tape and two people stood observing one crime scene investigator on the floor. Overlay titles
53.  Close up of the tape wobbling and rustling in the wind
54.  Fade to black to suggest the end of our piece

Sweet Caroline Synopsis

Synopsis

When a girl gets spiked on a night out with friends, her evening takes a dramatic toll when she finds herself running for her life on an abandoned railway track. Trying to make sense of the events that have happened. A fall may prove fatal in an attempt to escape from a deranged ex-boyfriend who cannot seem to get to grips that their relationship has ended. When local authorities are alerted of the girl’s disappearance, a frantic search party set out to find her in hoping that they aren’t too late.

Production Make-Up

Production Make-Up

When organising the make-up to use for our production, we wanted to create the look of a victim, young girl that has been through a traumatic time. We used a light coloured base to show she is cold and scared. The black around the eyes connotes that shes has been crying and also portrays fear. We used the bright pink lipstick again as this was used in the pub scene, therefore bringing the scenes together and creating a more natural and realistic film.

Weather Preparations for Filiming

 Weather

We had to make sure the weather was right before we planned to film. We found it difficult to plan the filming time and use it wisely as we only had a space of roughly 30 minutes, where the lighting was perfect. It was extremely difficult to film when it is pitch black, as even though the camera has night mode, it did not allow use to create the atmosphere we wanted. Before planning filming time we checked the weather forecast and realised it would be dry, but windy, this is exactly the weather we needed.

Locations for Filming

Primary Location

• Out of use train tracks, in Holly's garden
• Setting- nigh time, dark and mysterious
• The whole of the scene is the same lighting.

 Secondary Location

• In a pub (my family's pub)
• Flickering lighting, bright colours to create the happy, vibrant atmosphere.

Back to Primary Location

• Back to original scene after the flash back of the pub and we see the contact between the killer and girl in the flashback.
• Dark lighting gain, strong lighting frequently eg, car lights or torch to create the mystery again.

Costume List

FEMALE CHARACTER

The idea we had for the girl’s clothing was to make her look sophisticated and classy, to make her look like the classic damsel in distress. We chose black clothing as it is simple and gives the sophisticated look.  Her hair is up in a tidy bun again to create her sleek look, representing her respectable character.

In the bar

• Nice, classy, black dress.
• High heeled boots
• Neat and tidy hair, up in a bun.
• Pink lipstick.
• Clutch bag.
• Big, black, fur coat.

Running down the tracks·      

• Same dress.
• Heels in hand.
• Same big fur coat.
• No clutch bag.

Makeup
Her makeup in the bar is very neat and natural with bright pink lipstick and dark eyes, this changes as she is running down the tracks. When she is on the tracks her makeup has smudged to make her look more distressed, she will also have blood on her forehead after she falls over.

MALE CHARACTER

The male character will be dressed in a baggy dark jumper, with baggy dark work pants. We have dressed him to look shabby to create an opposite style than the girl.


Dressing him shabby makes him look very unappealing and helps build up his antagonist character. His black clothes are used to portray his dark, evil character.

 In the bar
In the bar, the male character will be wearing a baggy dark t-shirt with his baggy work pants.


On the railway tracks
On the tracks in addition to his clothes he will be wearing a baggy dark jumper with its hood up in order to shadow his face.

Script

Scene one - train tracks
Molly
Diegetic sound:
*heavy breathing*
Breathing continues to become heavier as she runs down the track and slowly fades quieter as she runs away from camera

Diegetic sound:
*gasp*
As she turns around and sees someone in the distance she gasps with fear.

Diegetic sound:
*falling against the floor*
The sound created as she hits the floor


Cuts to flashback - the bar

Diegetic sound:
Molly 
‘ so are we going for some food then’

Friend
‘yes that would be great’
...
*phone rings*
‘oh! Just one moment’
*friend gets up and walks out*

Hustle and bustle of bar and ‘sweet caroline’ playing in the background


Cuts back to molly running down the track

Diegetic sound:


Continuos diegetic noises of her running down the track and heavy breathing

Face-Off Analysis

Face Off

 The first shot is a moving shot and is very blurry, the viewer cannot see what is being filmed, this creates a sense of suspense and mystery. The blurry pictures are in dull colours, mostly grey and brown which is not usual for a thriller as this creates the sinister atmosphere. The shot becomes clear and we realise that it is a moving carousel and this explains why the close up shot was blurred. A shot filmed from the other side of the carousel shows two character riding the carousel. We then see a little boy and a man in a closer shot, they are laughing and smiling whilst spinning on the carousel. The man is also wearing a dark brown shirt, as well as the little boy wearing a plain white t-shirt accompanied by a grey and brown checked shirt. The colours are washed out and dull, which is unusual as usually at a fair ground everything is bright and colourful. However, the washed out colours compel the audience to believe something negative is about to occur. As we are close up to the faces of the characters, they fade out as we see from a distance the whole of the fairground. As we are looking at the fair ground a white cloth appears at the bottom of the screen which is then taken ff to reveal a gun pointing towards the carousel. The silhouette of man stood in the grass with the grey sky behind him and the blurry trees next to him. The man throws the white cloth onto the ground. He then starts to kneel down as the shot fades out and cuts to him drinking from a straw. The camera moves upwards and we see his eye looking straight into the camera, making the audience feel uncomfortable and intimidated by this character. The fact that the killer has brought a drink with him shows that he is confident and suggests he has done this many times before. He places his eye into the lens and squints his left eye to gain focus. Through the point of view shot of the gun lens we see John Travolta and the little boy spinning on the carousel laughing and happy. The killer moves away from the gun and his emotions look resentful and sad, this suggests that he is not going to commit the crime as he feels guilty for what he has planned to do. John Travolta lifts up his child and places him in front of him on the same horse, facing each other. John Travolta strokes the child on his face to connote the affection and love they have for one another. They are both laughing and smiling as Travolta puts his hands round the child’s head and kisses him on the forehead. As he is hugging the little boy another point of view shot from the gun lens shows the back of Travolta and we see the killer release the trigger of the gun. The camera angles right in front of the gun and we see the bullet be released and watch it enter into Travolta’s back piercing through his jacket and blood pouring out. The force of the bullet causes Travolta to jerk back and fall off the carousel with his child in his arms. We then see the blood of the face of the horse which suggests the bullet went through the child as well. Balloons are slowly released into the air away from the carousel. John Travolta is facing down on the grass, he tries to pull himself along the ground to reach the child. A shot of the little boy on the ground not moving suggests the child is lifeless. We then see the emotion of the killer, he looks remorseful and upset as he sees the child lying on the floor. As Travolta reaches the little boy he places his head on to his heart realising he is not breathing. He then picks up his head and hugs him whilst the child is in an upright position, he cries into the child’s shoulder.

The non-diegetic music that accompanies the titles at the beginning of the film is a gentle high-pitched sound of bells accompanied with a more sinister deep tone. The bell sounds effectively sounds like a nursery rhyme, this is to create the contrast between happy and sadness. The sinister atmosphere, because it is a thriller, is created through the lower pitched piece of music in which is much quitter than the other piece. As the titles fade out we see a carousel, which parallels the up-lifting atmosphere of the music. As the carousel spins round the intensified diegetic laughter of a child echo’s above the music. The laughter occurs again as we then see the child. The music suddenly becomes quieter and is cut off by the intensified diegetic noise of the cloth being pulled off the gun.  The music changes into a much more sinister sound with no bells or high pitched instruments, the music sounds as though it is being sang by a large choir, however the voices are drowned and prolonged and the words are not apparent. A loud non-diegetic clicking noise becomes apparent as we see the killer through the lens of the gun. The same sinister music carries on, however a higher note as been added that plays over the music. The music changes, into a familiar happy tune whilst the camera focuses on the father and son on the carousel. The faded noise on gun shot plays over the music as the killer once again looks through the lens. Although the sound of bells are playing they become invisible as a really loud sinister tone takes over as the killer pulls the trigger on the gun. The exaggerated but diegetic noise of the bullet piercing the mans body becomes apparent with no music or non-diegetic sound to accompany it. A loud piercing screeching noise becomes present as the viewers attention is brought to the blood on the horse. The non-diegetic piercing noise continues along with the diegetic ‘chugging’ sound of the carousel spinning. For the first time in the film we hear John Travolta speak as he tries to wake up his son. The screeching noise has gone and it has changed into a deep, low pitched constant melody to create the sad atmosphere. The diegetic noise of John Travolta crying as he holds his son in his arms. The screeching noise returns once again but higher pitched and more intense and this time accompanied with a dark sinister melody and the faint diegetic noise of people talking and screaming.

The first shot is a swish pan which creates the blurry shots of the moving carousel, as a viewer we are unable to identify what this is portraying. A close up shot of the horses on the carousel moving around. A medium long shot of two characters on the other side of the carousel, this soon turns into a close-up shot of their faces as the carousel moves round. An establishing shot shows the whole of the carousel from a long shot view. A close up show is used to establish the gun, which is shown at the bottom of the frame. A long shot shows the killer stood up straight, which then become an extreme close up of the killer drinking from a straw. A tracking shot move upwards to capture the killers eye on a straight on angle. The camera stays on an eye-level angle as the man tilts his head towards the gun. A point of view shot from the killer looking into the gun shows a long shot of the man and child on the carousel. The shot is being taken through frame of the gun lens, and tracks the characters as they move. Another close up of the killer, the camera zooms out to allow the audience to see his full face. A medium close up shot is used again to enable both John Travolta and the child to be in the shot whilst on the carousel. A medium close up on the killer drinking from a straw. A close up shot of the man and child, and an eye line match to show they are looking and interacting with one another. A superimposition is used in a close up shot when the killer is looking through the gun lens. A close up shot of the bullet being released from the gun and a small elipses shot of the bullet leaving the gun and entering John Travolta’s back. A medium close up shot of John Travolta’s reaction as he shot, then a tracking shot to show him falling off the carousel onto the ground. A long shot of the balloons flying away turn into a dissolve shot, then a medium long shot of John Travolta sliding across the ground. It then cuts to the killer, a medium close up establishes his face, then a zoom into a close up shows his emotions. A medium close up shot shows John Travolta realising the child is dead and he cries into the child’s arms, this is all filmed straight on with the camera in one place.

We are introduced to the first two characters whilst they are riding the carousel (John Travolta). The characters are happy and smiling, which connotes they are enjoying themselves and are care-free. Throughout the opening scene the pin become more affectionate and loving towards one another, suggesting they are father and son. John Travolta seems to be a very caring father and idolizes his son, which is portrayed through his behaviour towards him whilst they are on the carousel. As we know Face Off is a thriller, therefore contains a protagonist and an antagonist. Through the way he is portrayed we are compelled to believe John Travolta is the protagonist. He is middle aged,male, fairly strong, he looks courageous and intelligent, therefore creating the ideal image of an thrillier protagonist.

Nicholas Cage is represented as the antagonist as he is the one that commits the crime in the first scene. We are made to believe he is not a stranger to crime as he seems very relaxed and calm about the murder. Cage is also drinking a drink, which shows his confidence and arrogance as he is not wanting to get it over and done with as quick as possible. His aim was also very impressive which again suggest he has experience. Nicholas Cage creates the perfect image for a villain, he is male, dark, mid 30’s and his pointed and structured facial features make him look more stern and harmful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiwA3C2qeRo