Opening Scene Narration - Miss Miller

Opening Scene Narration

In order to make our group storyboard as we all had to first come up with an individual storyboard. After we created our individual storyboards we all sat down together in class and began to write out our group storyboard that would incorporate as many aspects of our individual storyboards as possible. We lifted the best parts of each of our individual storyboards into the group storyboard in order to create a piece that was not only containing work from all of us to create a joint effort, but also to make sure only the best is used and to smooth out any inconsistencies.

In the first frame, the audience see an extreme close-up of a picture of the victim, so there will be no required actors in the shot and the setting will be the killer's planning room. The iconography will be the photo of the victim and the lighting will be low-key lighting. The audience will hear silence and as it is the first shot there will be no editing as there is nothing to edit from.

In the second frame, the audience will see a close-up of the planning board in the planning room where the killer seemingly plans his murders, there will be no actors in this shot and the location will still be in the planning room. The iconography will be more photos of the victim and her school, as well as older victims, and the lighting will be low-key lighting. The audience will hear he start of eerie music to connote something bad is happening and the editing will be linking of shots to the previous shot.

In the third frame, the audience will see a close-up of the planning board but it is becoming more distant now, there are still no actors and the setting is still in the planning room. The iconography is the same as before with some more photos and some notes pinned to the planning board and the lighting is low-key lighting. The audience hear the continuation of the eerie music heard previously. The editing is more linking of shots between the previous shot.

In the fourth frame, a mid-shot is used with the killer finally in view of the audience and the planning board becoming less central as the focus is shifted towards the killer, so the killer is now a required actor as he has finally appeared and the setting is still the planning room. The iconography is the planning board and the knife that the killer is holding while the lighting is low-key lighting. The audience will hear more of the eerie music as it continues on and the editing will be more linking of shots to show they are all connected.

In the fifth frame, an establishing shot will be used of the outside of the school to show the audience where the scene is located, so there will be no actors or iconography featured, and there will be a fade into this shot. There will be the off-screen sound of a bell ringing and natural high-key lighting will be used in the shot.

In the sixth frame, a tracking shot of the victim will be used outside of the school to show the victim is attending school and in a safe area, so the victim will be featured in the shot, but there will be no iconography, with there being a fade into this shot from the previous shot, there will be the off-screen sound of a school bell heard ringing and natural high-key lighting will be used.

In the seventh frame, the audience will see an over the shoulder shot of the victim inside the school swiping her id card to show that she is located in the school, iconography included will be an id swipe card that the victim uses and the only actor in the scene will be the victim. The audience will hear the on-screen sound of a beep and the shot will use high-key lighting, while there will also be straight cut transition from the last scene.

In the eighth frame, a low angle shot of the victim walking down the hallway will be seen with creep following her close behind, so the scene will have the victim and the creep in it with no iconography featured, and there will be a straight cut from the last shot. The audience will hear silence except for the on-screen footsteps and there will be high-key lighting in the shot.

In the ninth frame, the audience see a low angle shot of the creep as he talks to the victim in the hallway, so the scene will have the victim and the creep in it, and there will be no iconography used. There will be a straight cut from the last shot to this one and there will be high-key lighting used in the scene. The audience will hear diegetic dialogue of "I have something to show you".

In the tenth frame the audience will see a high-angle shot of the victim's response to the creep, still taking place in the hallway and still containing the victim and the creep. There will be no use of iconography in this scene and the lighting will be high-key lighting. The audience will hear diegetic dialogue of "No thank you, excuse me", and as this is a conversation the editing used will be a shot reverse shot.
In the eleventh frame the audience will see a point of view from the killer's perspective as he comes down the same hallway the victim and creep are in, so the actor would be the killer. There will be no use of iconography and the light will be high-key lighting. the audience will be able to hear off-screen sound of a small scuffle taking place between the victim and the creep. The editing from the last shot to this shot will be a jump cut.

In the twelfth frame, the audience will see a shallow focus of the killer about to turn the corner where the audience can see the creep's dead body with a knife sticking out, so the actors used will be the creep and the killer and the location will be thee hallway again to keep up with continuity. The iconography in this scene will be the knife and the lighting will be high-key lighting. The audience will hear a non-diegetic sound of something like a sharp violin sound to emphasize the stabbing. The editing of this shot from the last will be a straight cut.

In the thirteenth frame, the audience see a low angle shot of the killer looking surprised at the death of the creep when he finds his body, so the actors needed for this shot would be the killer and the creep and the setting would be the same hallway as before to keep up with continuity. The iconography used would be the knife in the creep and the lighting would be top lighting. The audience will hear the non-diegetic sound of eerie music beignning to play in the background that is quite low. The editing from the last shot to this shot would be a jump cut.

In the fourteenth frame, the audience sees an over the shoulder shot of the victim walking away from the scene and the killer is looking on after her, so the victim and the killer would be required for this scene and the setting would be the same hallway as before but it would have moved away from where the body is. There would be no iconography used for this scene and the lighting would be high-key lighting. The audience will hear a continuation of the non-diegetic eerie music that would now be progressively more louder as the scene goes on. The editing from the last shot to this shot would be a jump cut.

In the fifteenth frame, the audience sees a close-up of the victim looking back at the killer as she walks off to hint that she did it, the actors required would be just the victim and the setting would be at the bottom of the stairwell further down the hallway. The would be no iconography used or this scene and the lighting would be top lighting. The audience will hear the eerie non-diegetic music continue to play but begin to get more fast-paced to signify the fast-paced events that are to come. The editing used in this scene would be a reaction shot of the victim's face.

In the sixteenth frame, the audience sees a cantered angle of a long shot of the killer beginning to chase after the victim after telling her to stop, so the actors required would be the killer and the setting would be the stair well as he has begun chasing her. There is no iconography used in this scene and the lighting would be high-key lighting. The audience will hear the non-diegetic eerie music get lower while the diegetic dialogue of the killer yelling "Hey!", The editing used in this scene will be another reaction shot of the killer to what the victim is doing.

In the seventeenth frame, the audience will see that the killer has followed the killer down the hallway and out of the building to find that the victim has vanished through a deep focus, the actors required for this scene would just be the killer and the setting would be outside the school for this. There is no iconography in this scene and the lighting will be natural high-key lighting. The audience will hear silence when this shot is shown and the editing used will be a jump cut from the last shot.

In the eighteenth frame, a zoom in will be used as the killer is knocked unconscious by the victim although this is not known by the audience, so the actors required would be the killer and the victim and the setting would still be the outside of the school. The iconography in this scene will be a blunt object that the victim hits the killer with and the lighting will be natural high-key lighting as the scene takes place outside. The audience will hear an on-screen thud sound that would have be to enhanced in editing to make it louder and the editing used will be a straight cut from the last scene.

In the nineteenth frame, a steadicam with a cantered angle will be shown when the killer is recovering from the blow to the head and some time has passed, so the actors required would be just the killer for this scene and the setting would be the same outside location as the narrative hasn't moved anywhere. There is no iconography in this shot and the lighting will be natural high-key lighting again as it is still taking place outside. The audeince will hear the off-screen sound of the wind howling in the distance and the editing from the last shot to this one will be a fade.

In the twentieth frame, a long shot with a high angle will be used when the killer returns to the building to find the body gone and a mysterious calling card left in it's place from the victim, so the actors required for this shot would be just the killer and the setting would be back to the hallway as this is where originally the body was. The iconography in this shot would be the calling card with an 'S' written on it to lure the killer to a trap and the lighting used will be top lighting. The editing from the last shot to this one will be a straight cut.

In the twenty-first frame, an extreme close-up of the calling card will be shown to draw attention to it and it's significance, so there will be no actors in this shot as it is just the iconography and the setting will be inside the school again as the location hasn't changed. The iconography in this scene will be the calling card of the victim and the lighting will be top lighting on it. The audience will hear a non-diegetic ominous sound to show the odd circumstances of what is happening and the editing used will be a jump cut from the previous shot.

In the twenty-second frame, the audience will see a shallow focus of the victim walking down the street with the killer blurry in the background, so the actors required would be the killer and the victim and the setting will be on an isolated street that is empty of people. There will be no iconography in this shot and the lighting will be natural high-key lighting. The audience will hear the on-screen sound of footsteps and the editing will be a khuleshov effect and a fade from the last shot.

In the twenty-third frame, the audience will see a long shot of the killer about to grab the victim from behind to finally kill her, so the actors required would be the killer and the victim and the setting would be the same street just further down to show they have actually been walking. There will be no iconography in this scene and the lighting will be natural high-key lighting as the shot takes place outside. The audience will hear non-diegetic drums that are slow to begin with but pick up in pace as the killer gets closer to the victim. The editing will be a straight cut from the last shot.

In the twenty-fourth frame, the audience will see a tracking shot on the victim as he grabs the victim and she turns round to stab him in the chest, so the actors required would be the killer and the victim again and the setting would be the same spot on the same street as was before. The iconography of this shot will be the knife that the victim uses and the lighting will be the natural high-key lighting. The audience hear an end to the drums as the knife goes into the killer and is replaced with silence. The editing used will be a jump cut from the previous shot.

In the twenty-fifth frame, the audience see a high-angle shot of the killer lying on the floor with a stab wound after the killer stabs him, so the actors required would be just the killer and the location will be the same street as before. The iconography will be the knife that the victim used to stab the killer and the lighting used will be natural high-key lighting. The audience will hear diegetic dialogue that is: "How could you kill all those people? I can't let you kill anyone else!" with on-screen grunts. The editing from the previous shot to this shot will be a reaction shot.

In the twenty-sixth frame, the audience see a mid-shot of the victim about to execute the killer and delivers some dialogue, so the actors required would be the victim and the killer and the setting would be on the same spot of the same street. The iconography of this scene will be the knife that the killer uses and the lighting will be natural high-key lighting. The audience will hear the diegetic dialogue: "My reasons are none of your concern... and I think my past isn't your current concern". The editing used will be a reaction shot from the previous shot to the next.

In the twenty-seventh frame, the audience see a zoom-out as the victim stabs the killer again to finish him off, so the actors required would be the killer and the victim and the setting would be the same street as before as the narrative isn't calling for a change in location. The iconography in this shot will be the knife that the victim is using and the lighting will be natural high-key lighting. The audience will hear the diegetic dialogue: "You won't be alone for long, when your friends come for me, I'll send them to you...". The editing for this shot will be a jump cut from the previous shot.

In the twenty-eight frame, the audience see a deep focus of the killer in the foreground and the victim walking off in the background, so the actors required would be the victim and the killer and the setting will be the street but further down as the victim has begun walking away. There is no iconography in this shot as the victim took the knife with her and the lighting will be natural high-key lighting. The audience will hear the on-screen sound of the killer's last breaths before the audience are left in silence. The editing will be a fade from the previous shot.

This has helped to finalize our group storyboard as we can see what parts fit best into our pieces and what will work the best in the storyboard, rather than keeping in poor pieces of the narrative over better parts of the narrative. This has also allowed us to visualize what we want to show in our piece in order to know what the piece would look like and give us a chance to modify our narrative if we needed to.

Planning Group Storyboard - Miss Miller

Planning Group Storyboard

In our groups, we made a group storyboard in order to combine our ideas and come up with a general storyboard around our narrative, that we will use for filming as it contains everything that thee group have decided upon and what we think will be interesting for the audience. When creating this we collaborated and compared the variations in each other's individual storyboards and took note of how one group member made a choice that was better than the other group member's and kept it for the final storyboard.

We have created a group storyboard in order to make the production of our opening sequence easier as we will have everything already planned out in terms of what we need and how it will look, as well as being able to have a collective storyboard featuring everyone's idea. We have taken specific elements from each other's individual storyboard in order to combine the best of all our storyboards and make sure we produced a piece that everyone had contributed their best parts too in order to create a conventional and engaging narrative for the audience.

In our piece we have decided to use Nojus's version of the planning room opening over mine and Olivia's. The audience see a zoom out of the killer's planning board from a picture of the victim (Olivia), that slowly includes more pictures and the back of the killer (Nojus). We decided to incorporate this over mine and Olivia's openings as we felt that it was more mysterious and intriguing and would engage the audience more a there is a lot to take in and aspects of the scene like the killer's hidden identity will allow the audience to think about who the killer is. While also creating suspense as the audience do not know who the killer is and will have to wait to the end of the film to have the killer revealed to them or be presented with enough information to work it out themselves. This was easy to incorporate as this scene doesn't have much of an impact on the rest of the opening sequence as it is isolated from the rest of the events, and as long as the audience get the message that he is planning to kill the victim. This can relate back to the 'Se7en' opening sequence as in that opening sequence the audience see an unknown killer performing odd actions, which creates suspense in the audience as they want to know who this character is so they can work out the killer before the main character does, and so it relates to our opening sequence as the audience will see the killer planning the murder he will commit.

Another element that we have used from a group member's work is the fast-paced chase scene from Nojus's work. The audience see the killer running after the victim as she was last seen with the creeper and he has been murdered, and so in order to stop her from getting far away before he can get to her, he begins chasing her. We have decided to use this version of chase scene as it was more fast-paced than the other chase scenes presented, which would be more conventional as the audience expect to see the killer be determined to kill the victim, enough to chase after her, while the other chase scenes presented were more slow-paced and wouldn't be as enjoyable for the audience as there has been a lot of suspense being built-up that is taking too long to pay off, whereas Nojus's chase led to a engaging scene due to it breaking up long spans of suspense. Nojus's chase created shock as the audience don't expect to see the killer chasing after the victim in broad daylight, showing that he has more confidence than the victim and will be able to keep up with her, indicating that he will be able to capture and restrain her until he attempts to kill her. This will be easy to incorporate into the storyboard as it would require faster-paced editing that would be easy to show in the storyboard and, as we haven't started filming yet, wouldn't lead us to have to change anything major in our piece, and the speed of this chase doesn't have much of an impact on the following scene. This can relate back to the 'Scream' opening in which the victim is seen running throughout her house away from the killer who will attempt to kill her, yet the audience haven't seen the killer yet, only heard his voice, but in our scene we show the other side of the killer following the victim who is rarely seen during the chase, although we see her before the chase scene.

Another element tat we have used for our group storyboard was the iconography of the calling card left by the victim, who is really the killer, that I included in my own storyboard. The audience see the killer reenter the school where the creeps body was, although in his place is a note left by the victim. This was incorporated into the storyboard as it would bridge the gap between the killer being knocked out and losing the tracks of the killer, and rediscovering where she is and being able to catch up to her, my inclusion of this was kept in the group storyboard as it made it clearer to the audience how the killer knew the victim murdered the creep. This creates suspense in the audience as they are starting to have what they expected of the narrative overturned due to the plot twist changing what they thought would happen, and so they have to wait and see what the narrative will reveal to them in order to attempt to work out what the victim's true identity is and what she has planned. This being included into our piece required a small change to a shot in order to make sure the audience could see the note and read what it says so they can see the same information that the killer is getting and allowing them to continue to engage themselves in the narrative. This could relate back to 'Saw', as the killer has a recognizable look and voice, puppet man and a slow gravelly voice, that the audience can recognize that will help them to determine what the killer has done in the future and if it is their handiwork or not in the killings that will take place.

Another element that we chose to include in our group storyboard was the diegetic dialogue heard at the end of the opening sequence, as used in my own piece. The audience will hear a small exchange between the killer and the victim at the end of the sequence that informs the audience that more killers are coming after her and she doesn't intend to stop killing. This will be used because it adds a variance in the sound heard as there is not a lot of different sounds used in the piece and this would give something refreshing for the audience to listen to which also explains more about the role of the killer being a vigilante and the victim doing the killing in the opening sequence and before the events of the film. This creates intrigue in the audience as they want to know who the killer's friends are and what role they will play in the remainder of the film and if they will be able to stop the victim's killing spree, while the audience also want to know why the victim is killing people. This was a bit difficult to add into the sequence as we had to think of what they would say that would be interesting to her and be ambiguous enough for the audience to want to keep watching to find out what they are talking about in more detail than what is shown. This could relate back to thrillers like 'Scream' and 'Saw' that rely on dialogue to inform the audience about what is going on in the sequence in a way that the audience can listen to without it distracting them from what is going on in the scene, while the scene usually shows things of little interest to the audience in order to have them focus more on the dialogue.

Another element we used from the group storyboard is the more frequent use of a knife in the shots, as was included in Olivia's storyboard. The audience will see the creep with the knife still next to the body, rather than having the knife be removed. This will show the audience that something brutal has happened and that there is still danger lurking about and that this will affect the narrative and put all the characters into dangerous circumstances, rather than having the knife disappear which would negate the extra effects that leaving the knife could bring. This creates surprise in the audience as they do not expect the killer to be well trained enough to commit multiple murders without being caught but still be careless enough to leave the knife behind, as well as the knife being left out in broad daylight in a public place around schoolchildren. This was difficult to add due to how we would be able to keep the knife with us and out in the open in school without having anyone be in danger, so we have decided to have it be out for as quick as possible and, when we come to filming, make sure that everyone using it is careful with it. The use of a knife can relate back to films like 'Halloween' where Michael uses a knife to murder his sister silently without anyone hearing that could land him into trouble for being found with a knife and a dead body, although in ours we will be using the knife to indicate that it was a silent kill made by the victim that no one was around to hear.

Another element that was used from the group storyboard was the use of silence, as was included in Olivia's storyboard. The audience will only hear the footsteps of the killer as they see a point of view shot through his perspective when he turns the corner to find the body. This was used because it would make the scene more mysterious and force the audience to engage in the narrative in order for them to continue to understand what is going on in the film and gather evidence to make an educated guess as to who the killer might be, while the use of a silences and on-screen sound of footsteps leaves the audience wondering who committed the murder. This creates intrigue in the audience as they want to know who killed the creep in order to look out for this character and begin to speculate on how they can affect the victim's attempt to solve the murder and bring the killer to justice. This was easy to incorporate into our piece as it would rely on us changing the sound from eerie music to silence and, as no filming has taken place, there would be no scenes that needed to be re-shot in order to get what we want, only our plan would have to be changed. This relates, again, back to 'Halloween' where before the audience see the murder there is silence, to indicate the build up of suspense in the audience as they do not know what will come next as they do not have the sound to help them in what they think.

I think our storyboard was conventional and engaging to our audience as we featured many conventions from the genre that the audience will expect, like the chase scene towards the end of the opening sequence that will create suspense in the audience as they don't know whether the killer will catch the victim or the use of knives that are used to connote the danger of the scene and the dangerous circumstances the victim is in. We managed to incorporate our ideas easily into one final collaboration as we all had individual storyboards that were quite similar due to discussing a general plot for our opening sequence beforehand, so we our differences were deviations in events or different locations and camera angles. This meant that we could easily replace a scene with another variation of the scene that is better than the original, our opening of the killer planning the kill differed between each group member but we decided in the end to use Nojus's opening. Something we had to compromise on was the use of the iconography of the knife sticking out of the creeps back as I had originally not wanted to have the knife in the back and just have the dead body, however Olivia thought it would be better for the knife to still be in the scene in order to show the brutality of the situation.

Individual Storyboard - Miss Miller

Individual Storyboard

A storyboard is made in order to keep track of the chain of events in the film and get the events down in chronological order on paper. This helps because it means the filmmakers can get a sense of what they will do in order to tell the narrative and if what they are planning is coherent to the audience. This also helps because they can get a rough picture of what they want the scene to look like and what they want in it and how they would like to organize the different micro-elements to their liking.

Before we start our group storyboard for when we come to filming, we have made individual storyboards between the three of us in order to all show each other what we think the opening sequence should look like. This helps when we come to our group storyboard as it will allow us to lift different pieces of our storyboards into our final one so we can get the best of what we have planned and make sure everyone has contributed to the final piece. I have made sure to include specific elements within my storyboard in order to make it more conventional and to help the audience to engage in my narrative.

My Storyboard:

An example of what I have included is a tracking shot on the victim. I would like to see a tracking shot follow the victim as she walks into the school and end just before she enters the building, shown in frame 7. This tells the audience that there is someone watching her and that she has something sinister lurking close to her, while the school is used to 'protect' her from the evil as the shot ends as she walks in. This will create suspense in the audience as they don't know whether this is something following her or not and if she will be attacked before she can get to safety or not. This leads the audience to worry for the victim as she has been presented as an innocent character that does not deserve to die, while also creating suspense as the audience are concerned that the killer might hurt innocent children in the school as well. I took inspiration from the opening sequence of 'Scream' when Drew Barrymore's character is moving around the house and being tormented by the killer, while the audience are unsure of when he will attack as the shot isn't point of view but the attention is still centered on the victim.

Another example of what I have included is for the killer's identity to be hidden. This is shown in frame number 5, wherein the killer has his back to the audience with a mask on as he looks at the planning board. This tells the audience that the killer is attempting to stay hidden from his victim, connoting that he doesn't want to get caught and plans on killing again afterwards, also suggesting that the girl on the board isn't that important to him. This will create suspense in the audience as they will be unable to spot the killer and know who he is truly is, making it harder for him to come to justice as no one will know who they are looking for. This intrigues the audience as they want to know who the killer is and why he is targeting women in order to find a way to stop him that the victim will also be able to find and use in order to save herself. I took inspiration from 'Halloween' and it's opening sequence as the audience are not shown who the killer is as they see the events from his point of view, something that creates suspense as they do not know what they are going to see next as they don't truly know the character, something I think I will also be able to do.

Another example of what I have included is the use of a knife. This is shown in frame number 16, where the Creep is lying on the floor with a knife sticking out of him in a pool of blood. This connotes to the audience the danger that the victim and characters around her as in as the killer is able to wield a deadly weapon with no one able to overpower and himself being able to get away cleanly while using it. This creates shock in the audience as it is a sudden reveal of the use of a knife that the audience may not have been expecting, and so now they have to start thinking of how a knife will be used in the rest of the sequence and if the killer will use on the victim. This makes the audience worry for the victim as she is unprepared, as women are stereotyped as being weak, and may not be able to defend herself should the killer attack her with a knife, so her chances of surviving are slim. I took inspiration from 'The Shining' in which the killer wields an axe to kill people and, while this is very different from a knife, I like the physical dominance that is attributed to the killer when a weapon is involved as it shows the audience that the killer has more than just his strength at his disposal.

I think my storyboard would be conventional on it's own and engage the audience due to having an interesting narrative and the use of conventional features, like the use of a knife and a female victim. This will help my group as when we are making the group storyboard we can use what I have done and the conventional parts and put them into the storyboard while adding my other group member's ideas in order to create an idea that contains all of the best parts and ideas form all of our pieces. Something I would like to change is the lack of iconography in the sequence by adding more items that can also add to the narrative, with another thing I'd like to change being the editing as I have used many straight cuts in a row that I need to change in order to create a varied and refreshing sequence that the audience will not get bored with.

Planning Opening Credits - Miss Georgiou

Planning Opening Credits

Opening credits are important to include when creating a film for a variety of reasons that benefit the audience. The opening credits allow the audience to recognise who the actors are in correlation to how much they feature in the film and their prominence as a character. The style of the credits will also allow the audience to recognise the style of the film in order to get them prepared for what they are about to see and what the general theme of the film will be. The credits can also allow the audience to gather information about what the narrative is based on what they can see during the credits making them want to know more about the film as what they see in the credits will be left quite ambiguous. The different fonts and colours used in the opening credits will also help to give the audience an idea of what the narrative will be like white font on a black background could suggest a struggle between good and evil.

In the opening credits of 'Se7en', there is a drab theme to the colours used. In the opening credits the audience see white writing against a dimly lit background of drab colours like browns and tans. This tells the audience that the film will feature a struggle between good and evil as the conflicting light and dark colours suggest, with the small white areas suggesting that the good side is not as strong as the evil side. This makes the audience want to continue watching as what is going on is very ominous and creates suspense as the audience are left questioning as to what is going.

In the opening credits of 'se7en', the style of the credits are used to introduce the killer to the audience. The font used in the opening credits is seen as jagged and hand-written with effects over the words to make them look as if they are shifting. This tells the audience that the killer is unstable because the writing is jagged and shifting, suggesting that he is unable to control himself and cannot perform tasks like a normal person, instead having to do everything in his own twisted way. The shifting credits suggest that he is unable to see things like regular people do and sees things in his own way, what may disgust a normal person he may enjoy. This creates suspense in the audience as they want to know more about the killer as he has been shown so ominously here with a series of disturbing activities, making him more interesting to the character as they want to see how he will effect the narrative.

In the opening credits of 'se7en', the killer's identity is hidden from the audience which is conventional to the genre. The audience only see what the killer is doing with no indications to who he is or what he looks like. This tells the audience that this is most likely the killer as they expect to have the killer's identity hidden from them. The killer is also seen doing odd things like using a razor blade to cut wax off his fingers and blacking out words in a passage, suggesting that the killer is attempting to cover his tracks in order to stop the authorities from catching up to him. This creates intrigue in the audience as they do not know what to expect from the killer as not much is revealed about him, yet the audience want to know more about him as he will be a large part of the narrative of the sequence.

In the opening credits of 'se7en', the order of appearance has been used to interest the audience. The audience see the credits go from the Production company, director, actor, title of film, actors continued, casting, music, costumes, editors, production, camera operator, co-producer, producer, writers, director. The director and the main actors feature towards the beginning of the credits in order to interest the audience more as they want to know what involved these people had in the film, like a notable actor like Brad Pitt having a high position will indicate that he is important to the film,so fans of his will seek out this film in order to see as much of this actor as possible. This creates intrigue as the audience want to know what their favorite actor or director has done with the film in order to feel more connected to them and their work, and they also want to see how their work has turned out and what it is like.

This is what I designed in Final Cut Pro X for our opening credits. I decided to make sure the color was black and white in order to be conventional, as this connotes the inner struggle between the good and evil in the sequence, something the audience expect to see in the film as it allows for there to be a conflict that the main victim will have to solve before the killer can finish his killing spree. I also chose to make the font size to be smaller against the background as this would connote that the killer is stronger than the victim and will be able to overpower them, while being conventional due to the audience expecting to see the killer overpower the victim in order to create suspense in the audience due to the audience not knowing if the victim will be able to overpower the killer and stop him from continuing his killing spree. I also chose for the positioning of the text to be in the corner of the screen as this would represent how the victim is searching  for the killer in order to attempt to stop him, not knowing that he is all around the victim and able to stay in control of the situation, with this being conventional  as the audience expect to see the killer be able to learn information about the victim form watching them, leading them to threaten characters and be able to kill them easily due to him knowing where they are and what they're doing.

Group Member: Nojus
Strengths: I like the use of black and white to represent the struggle of good and evil in the film, something that the audience will pick up on and allow them to recognize that it is a thriller film as it is conventional for the audience to see a struggle between good and evil in the thriller film as the victim attempts to fight back against the killer. The spacing of the letters suggest the isolation that the victims will feel as they attempt to escape the killer, while also tying in really well with the title of 'The Stalking' and how the victim will be isolated on her own before the killer reaches her, conventional of the thriller genre as the audience expect to see the victim alone without any help before the killer kills them.
Weaknesses: The font of this idea looks very futuristic to me and could lead the audience to thinking that this could be a sci-fi film and not a thriller film as the audience would expect a more rough font that could resemble more of a scrawl to suggest to them that the killer is mentally unstable as he is unable to write properly, although this font comes across as neater and more like stars on a night sky, which leads me to think of a possible sci-fi setting.

Group Member: Olivia
Strengths: Like Nojus's idea, the color works well as it also has the connotation of the struggle between good and evil in the narrative, as shown by the white writing on a black background, which is conventional as the audience expect to see the victim and the killer attempt to outwit one another, although the victim is usually able to overcome the killer in the end of the sequence.
Weaknesses: I think the font is not fitting for our thriller film as it seems to be very cartoonish to the audience, while also being very unconventional as the audience expect to see a scrawl or a more sharp font, whereas this font is very small and unassuming, so it will not draw the audience's attention. The positioning of the text is also off-center and in an odd position, with the writing being higher suggesting that the victim is more powerful than the killer, which is unconventional as the audience expect to see the killer be more powerful than the victim, so by reversing this it will confuse the audience.

Group Member: Harry
Strengths: Like Olivia and Nojus' idea, the use of black and white will serve to connote to the audience the struggle between good and evil in the film and how the victim will have a hard time overcoming the power of the killer that looms over her which is conventional as the audience expect to see that the killer is more powerful than the victim.
Weaknesses: I think the positioning of the text in my piece is poorly done, as it is too low down for the audience to see and will look too far off the center, meaning they will have to keep darting their eyes around the screen or we will have to keep the credits in the same place for the whole sequence which will be boring for the audience to watch, rather than having them appearing a little off in a direction with each new credit that appears, with this not serving any purpose as to what I want the audience to know as it's distance from the middle might connote that she has already escaped before the film begins, which is unconventional for the genre. The font is also quite small so the audience will have to strain their eyes to see it and may seem to lose focus on what is going on on-screen, which is what we do not want, while the small size could connote that the victim is extremely weak and will have no chance resisting the killer, which is unconventional for the genre.

We have decided to work on Nojus' idea as it is conventional to the genre as it connotes through letter spacing that the victim will be isolated before the killer strikes which is conventional of the the thriller genre, while it also connotes that the struggle between good, the victim, and evil, the killer, and how they will have to overcome each other in order to stay alive, although the smaller amounts of white suggest that the killer is stronger than the victim, something the audience expects to see in the killer genre. Our credits will, from what we have seen be used in other thriller films, contain all the people that have worked on the film which will be mine, Nojus' and Olivia's name appearing in the positions that are traditionally used with a production company that would make a thriller film, with the positions we will film appearing in sequence as production company, director, actors, title of film, actors continued, casting, music, costumes, editors, production, camera operator, co-producer, producer, writers and finally directors. I think our credits should appear on a black background to begin with then fade into when the victim, Olivia, is walking to school while the audience watches from the killers point of view, but the killer will not appear in the frame.

Planning Characters - Miss Miller

Planning Characters

We use characters in our piece as it gives someone for the audience to build relationships with and so give someone for the audience to support and become more interested in as they will be watching how they deal with situations and if they will hinder or help the progression of the narrative to a happy ending. They also allow the audience to engage further with the narrative as the audience have begun to like the characters and so want to learn more about what is in store for them in the narrative, and think about how they are going to deal with these upcoming changes to the narrative.

We have planned for our killer to be very conventional and fit into the narrative. The killer will wear a dark hoodie and mask, he is around the same age as the victim, teens, and disguises as a regular school attender and is a male. We want the killer to wear dark clothes and have a mask in order to disguise his identity from the characters in the film and the audience in order to increase the mystery around him and who he is actually is. He will also disguise himself in order to get closer to the victim without her or the audience knowing in order to increase the shock of the plot twist as they don't know why her friend has turned on her. This is conventional of the killer in a thriller film as the audience expect to see a masked killer in order to raise suspicion around him and enhance his sinister presence as they do not know who this person is and why he has chosen the victim to be his first kill. His costume will create intrigue in the audience as they want to know why he is wearing such dark colours and what he intends to do to the victim while wearing them, as darker colours have a more sinister connotation than lighter clothes. His age and gender engage the audience in the narrative as they don't know why someone so young has turned to killing people and so they feel the need to watch closer in order to pick up information in order to find out more about him and why he has decided to take such a sudden change in his life. His age and gender also creates a relationship between him and the audience as they know he will be physically capable to carry out the murders and kill the victim, making the audience wonder if the victim will be able to escape him and how, as he is physically dominating, while his age makes the audience question how someone could grow up so disturbed at such a young age. When he is disguised the audience become more engaged in the narrative as, when he is disguised, he comes off as quiet and shy, so when he appears to the audience they want to know more about him to determine if he is the killer or not and what effect he will have on the narrative. This helps to build a relationship with the character as they are unsure if he is the killer or not, as he seems too shy to be the killer, with the audience thinking he might just be a red herring for the audience.

We have planned for our victim to be a conventional character in the narrative. The victim will appear in a school uniform, to fit with the setting, with a white blouse and little makeup while her personality will be shy but friendly and caring. She is also a teenage schoolgirl. The uniform, blouse and makeup carry the connotation of the victim being an innocent character as the audience wouldn't associate a schoolgirl with someone who deserves to die, and her personality has been noted as friendly and caring to represent how she will be determined to escape and stop the killer in order to stop him from hurting anybody else. Her age makes the audience think that she is too young to be targeted by the killer, as she would be thought of as being young. The audience expect to see the victim in white and a school uniform to represent her as being innocent and causing the audience to consider why the killer would be targeting someone who, on the surface, hasn't done anything wrong. This helps to engage the audience with the narrative as they want to see if there is any reason why she would be targeted, usually surrounding her past, due to her doing something bad that she has tried to cover up. This creates a relationship between the audience and the victim as they want her to survive the killer due to her being an innocent character and, due to the audience's morals, wouldn't want her to die for not doing anything wrong. The audience expect to see a younger female victim as it connotes that she will not be able to survive the killer targeting her and will struggle to escape, creating suspense as they won't know if she will be able to get away or not. The helps the audience to engage in the narrative as they want to notice something about the killer that she will notice too to use against him and survive his attacks on her. The audience become concerned for this characters safety due to her age and gender not being enough to physically dominate the killer, meaning that she might not be able to get away from him.

We have planned for the victim's friend to be a red herring. The victim's friend (VF) will wear a grey suit as part of his school uniform, he is the same age as the victim, and will come off as creepy in dialogue and mannerisms when he is talking to the victim. The grey suit will be used to confuse the audience on whether he is good or bad and lead who the audience think is the killer astray. By having the same age as the killer it will mislead the audience to think that he is not the killer as he is too young to be capable of committing such heinous crimes, yet by having a creepy personality he will tempt the audience to think this way as he has the personality of a killer and seems capable of it supported by the fact he is a male who are stereotyped as being stronger than women. The audience expect to see a red herring in a thriller film to lead them astray in the film in order for the victim to take longer to find the killer and give him a chance to kill again, leading to an all new set of clues for the victim to find, in our film this will be shown through the VF's grey suit and creepy personality. This engages the audience in the narrative as they pay more attention to the narrative as they want to collect as much information on this character in order to decide for themselves whether he is the killer or not. The audience build a relationship through this as they want to know as much as possible about this character in order to make an educated decision as to whether he is the killer or not and whether the victim is in danger or not. Other elements of the VF's character are the same as the killer in order to confuse the audience as to if he could be the killer as he would have the same physical attributes as a potential killer and, if it came to it, he could overpower the victim.

I think our killer is conventional as he is physically capable and stronger than the victim due to him being a male, stereotypical killer gender, and so being able to put the victim into real danger that she will have to overcome. I think our victim is conventional as she has the two things that the audience expect in a victim; a likable personality and innocence that will make the audience want her to survive as she will be able to stop the evil that is the killer due to her morality being her greatest weapon. I think my characters will emphasize my genre as they are what the audience would expect to see in a thriller film, as there are a traditional victim and a traditional killer, with both characters being opposites of one another and creating suspense when they are in scenes together, as the audience want the victim to survive due to her likable personality whereas the audience know that the killer is stronger than her and will be able to kill her if he wants. We have decided to plan our characters out before we film in order to make sure that are characters are interesting and conventional for the audience with enough time to change anything should we need to.

Risk Assessment - Miss Georgiou

Risk Assessment

Making a risk assessment allows us to plan the production easier as we are able to analyse all the potential risks of the production and how we can prevent these in order to ensure the actors and crew are safe when filming. By doing this we can ensure that we do not lose any of our valuable time when filming or possibly damaging our people or our equipment due to us not planning it out properly and compensating for the potential dangers. We can also plan backup plans for different risks so we can have something to fall back on and not waste any time when we are filming dealing with preventable mistakes.

Risks	Who could be harmed	Impact	Risk Management	Back-up Plan
Cut using a knife	Actors involved in the scene	High impact, because whoever gets cut with the knife will have to leave to get treated, halting filming	To make sure that this doesn’t happen, the actors using the knife will have to adhere to knife safety in order to use it properly, the knife will also be covered to minimize the chances of contact with the knife’s blade.	If we are unable to use the knife safely we will have to remove the usage of a knife from the scene, and instead have the killer use his hand’s or a weapon that can be less dangerous, like a blunt object.
Slip on wet concrete	Actors and Crew involved in filming outside	High impact, because whoever falls will land on hard concrete that could severely damage them, possibly requiring medical treatment	To make sure that this doesn’t happen, the actors and crew will have to wear appropriate and sturdy footwear when filming outside in order to minimize the chances of slipping by having good grip on the floor.	If this is too much of a problem we will have to halt filming and work on inside scenes until it is not raining and the ground dries up, meaning that the actors and crew will have less chance of slipping.
Trailing leads while filming	Actors and Crew moving about the set	High impact, because whoever trips runs the risk of falling and damaging themselves, and also runs the risk of damaging equipment also.	To make sure this doesn’t happen we will have to tape the loose leads to the floor in order to stop them from being able to caught around someone’s foot and tripping them over. We can also make sure that the crew and actors are aware of the placement of the camera and it’s cables so that they can avoid them.	If this doesn’t work then we will have to make sure that the camera is charged fully so that the camera doesn’t need cables. We could also make sure that only the cameraman can approach the camera so that they don’t have to worry about people getting too close to it.
Weather - Rain	Everyone who is involved with filming this scene	High impact, as people involved in filming can slip on wet surfaces leading them to be hurt. The camera and costumes can also be ruined, slowing production until replacements are found.	To make sure this doesn’t happen we can check the weather before filming, in order to make sure that whenever we begin filming we know that the rain won’t be a problem	If this doesn’t work than we will have to reschedule filming to another day when it is not raining, halting the filming process and wasting the time we have for filming.
Mask’s visibility	The actor wearing the mask	Medium impact, as the actor could possibly not be able to see where he is going and so walk into something, or stumble over an object that could cause him minor damage	To make sure this doesn’t happen we will have sight tests using masks to make sure that the actor can see his surroundings in order to make the mask safer to use, resulting in quicker filming as there is no wasted time.	If this doesn’t work we will have to remove the use of a mask entirely, making filming harder as we will have to rethink shots that have the killer’s mask in to keep the killer’s identity hidden.
Tripod could fall	Crewmember operating the camera.	Medium Impact, because the camera is heavy and could cause damage to the operator if it is dropped on them unsuspectingly	To make sure that this doesn’t happen we can check that the tripod has been set up properly twice, with a different member of production checking it so there can be as much certainty as possible	If this doesn’t work then we will have to move the camera to flatter terrain rather than where we originally planned to set up, making us waste time choosing a new place to set up the camera.

I did not encounter many risks when filming but I did encounter a few small ones. When I was filming outside during the planning scene it began to rain, this could lead failures in the equipment and ruining of costumes, so when we noticed the rain myself and the rest of the crew stood under a tree that would not allow water through in order to wait for the rain to stop and be able to continue filming without damaging equipment or lives and taking more time out of the filming process with having to find replacements. Another risk I encountered while filming was the low visibility of the mask, the mask used was a balaclava with small eyeholes that obscured my vision, that could have lead to myself being hurt when moving around as the ground was wet and I was by a slope that could lead to myself falling and hurting myself if I got too close to it, stopping the filming process as I would have to be taken care of. The risk assessment has allowed me to create a more safe environment when filming and speeding up the filming process as I knew straight away to look for any danger that would halt filming and either clear the danger or move on to another filming location in order to keep my cast and crew safe, meaning that there would be no accidents when filming that would have to halt the process.