The main risk that we had to acknowledge was the knife scene, we took in to account the way the knife was held (sharp end down). This could have been a lot more dangerous if a lunge or stab had been part of the script.
The tripod, when we were filming the forest scene, was on quite a steep slope, this was quite risky to film but we managed to keep it firmly grounded.
We chose to use these locations to film because they fit really well with our theme and narrative. The first location, in the woods, creates the eerie atmosphere which we wanted. The other location is going to be used as a contrast, on a sunny day, because it is a normal, everyday setting which is a clear comparison to the previous location. This also creates an enigma code.
Characters
Lucy
Beth
Kadie
Nicola
(Eerie Music)
(Abstract combination off girls having fun)
Lucy- Are you excited about tomorrow?
Beth- I’m very excited!
(Giggling from all girls)
Lucy- I’m scared!
(More giggling)
Lucy- Ooh, don’t even talk to me about it.
Beth- I think you two need to get your act together.
Nicola- I’m so excited about camping.
Beth- Bye.
Lucy- Bye.
Kadie- Bye.
Lucy- See you later.
(Giggling as entering the scene)
Beth- I hope she’s ready!
Kadie- I know, she best be on time.
(Knock, Knock, Knock at the door)
Beth- Everyone’s meeting us in 10 minutes, Come on Lucy!
(Knocking loudly on the door)
(Nicola and Beth walk out off frame)
Beth- Come on Nicola let’s go and wait in the car.
(Knife noise)
(Non – Diegetic music begins)
Kadie- Finally!
Lucy- I’m sorry, I’ll be two minutes alright? Just carry this for me please…
(Walks out off frame)
Lucy- Hang on ill be two minutes just getting my bags
Kadie- Are you ready?
Lucy- Yeah!
Kadie- Right lets go.
(Both characters walk out off frame)
(Non – Diegetic music fades in and out)
Like most films this 1987 film dolls starts with ‘Empire pictures present’ leading on to ’A charles band production’ and then following with the title ‘dolls’. These are a key asset to be put at the beginning of an opening sequence.
Shortly following on after is ’starring’ with an individual list of names of actors appearing.
‘casting director’, ‘costume designer’, ‘dolls effects’, ’special make up effects created by’, ‘production designer’, ‘executive in charge of production’, ‘associate producer’, ’editor’, ‘music supervision’, ‘music by and additional music by’, ‘director of photography’, ‘executive producer’ then gradually follow on behind. These titles are the less important, so are always more likely to be put either in the middle of right at the end. This is because the viewer is going to be less interested, and would much prefer to know who the actors are of the director.
Normally right at the end there will be a sequence of ‘written by’, ‘produced by’ and ‘directed by’. These are always the most important and are always the audiences favorite to know.
The appearance the the title sequence is very simple, and the list just appears one by one with a simple fade in fade out, white writing on a black background.
‘New line cinema presents’, ‘an arnold kopelson production’ and ‘ a film by david fincher’ are once again at the beginning of the sequence, but strangely there is an odd put together after would. It begins with a couple of actors names then straight away flicks to the film title ’seven’, but then oddly there are more actors names after.
After the beginning sequence there are the same old not as important titles in the middle ‘casting by’, ‘music by’, ‘costumes designed by’, ‘edited by’, ‘production designed by’, ‘director of photography’, ‘co producers’, ‘ co-executive producers’, ‘ executive producers’.
‘written by’, ‘produced by’ and ‘directed by’ are then put at the end, most important, and have most interest from the viewer.
The style of the sequence is very sketchy, and jigsaw puzzle like. The only negative of the style is that the writing is very hard to read unless you were willing to pause the film and re-read. Also i have noticed that in the background of the titles there are images which almost prepares the viewer of what is to come. It defiantly shows the genre very well with the dark gloomy colors and the echoey music in the background.
‘Danyves enterprises , lTD presents’ , ‘a BMBC production’ is again placed at the beginning of the the sequence. After this a few actors names appear and then it flicks straight to the title ‘mirage’, then very simualar to ’se7en’ more actors names appear.
After this the middle part of the opening titles are the basics like ‘production designer’ following with ‘original music by’, ‘edited by’, ’special make-up effects’, ‘associate producer’, ‘director of photography’, ’screenplay by’.
Then after a brief pause ‘produced by’ and ‘directed by’ follow on behind.
The style of this sequence is very clever as there is just a black background with simple white writing fading in and out like ‘dolls’ but there are short pauses with a image of a car, which make even the opening sequence tense. I think this is very clever, again preparing the audience for what is to come, like ’se7en’.
Storyboard Shot Numbers:
Day/Night: Both
Starting Time: 4pm day 1, 12am day 2
Synopsis: Mystery killings, normal events leading up to them
Assembly Location: Target woods/Beth’s House
Probable Wrap Time: 6pm day 1, 1:30 day 2
Cast/Personnel: Nicola Clarke, Lucy Hart, Beth Parker and Kadie Whorlton.
Extras: N/A
Stunts/SFX: N/A
Risk Assessment Notes: Steep hills on first location, to tackle this problem we had to stabilise the tripod securely.
Props: Bottles, Bags
Wardrobe: Warm Clothes (day1), Casual clothes (day2)
Technical Responsibilities: Responsibilities shared equally according to who was acting at one time.
Notes/Successes/Failures/Revisions
The first location (Target Woods) seemed to work very well to capture the eary panning shots, but to film it the main part appeared difficult because it was on such a slope. We successfully used mysterious objects such as; a old jacket hung on a tree and a smashed up toy car in the woods to create a horror affect. There was a dead rat in a tree which we zoomed in on and used as part of the negativity in our end product, this also resembled an idea which we found watching ‘True Blood’.
Our second location (Beth’s House) was perfect to film the beginning part of the film, where the plot thickens. It was a nice sunny day which already contrasted with the cold, dark woods we earlier filmed at. We tried to keep the sun behind the camera in order for all the shots to be in the right light setting, it was hard to avoid this because it was such a sunny day, but we did manage to succeed.
Sorority Row
The opening sequence of Sorority Row begins with a ‘fade into shot’ of all the characters having some drinks and having a laugh, in medium shot. It then flicks to a one shot of one of the main characters, then flicks straight back to the establishing shot. A number of two shots and one shot’s are then used as the conversation flows. The suspense builds up as the girls seem to be planning something. They raise their glasses; take a drink, and then the storyline seems to take place. The range of shots don’t seem to differ much, they alternate from one shot, to, two shot, to wide shot of the girls.
True Blood
The opening sequence of True Blood begins with very fast panning shots from the bottom of the screen, changing quickly but the panning flows from one shot to the next. Along with each shot a name of a person involved with the production of the film flashes up. More panning shots are used which are unusually incorporated with quick flashing shots of busy events, e.g. a festival like place and a fight at a race. Suddenly the theme of a porn-like situation shows as a comparison to the earlier images of violence and murder. The ranges of shots are all completely different but seem to all portray the same uncomfortable feeling for the audience. Close-ups are used to show worried expressions on small children’s faces, along with an extreme close-up of a child eating a tomato (which could be seen as a vampire child drinking blood). All of these shots trick the audience into thinking bad things are happening the entire time, but in reality nothing bad is actually happening. There are also a few zooms used, one zooms into a dead rat then zooms back out into a high angle shot. The mixture of sexual happenings and death related situations works really well together to make people wonder what is really going on, this is good, as it makes the audience want to know what’s going to happen next.