Conventions - Christmas Homework

As we are close to filming our project of our thriller film, as individuals we each have to consider every different element of conventions we want included in the project. As my individual preferences may differ from others every contributed is considered and tried to add. Our Thriller is based on a tech-Internet paedophile who is stalking children, this is the general picture which is gained from our 2 minutes.

Costume

Generally I would like the main character to be dressed sensibly and smart as the character is a man based between 25 to 35, and a smart look of a suit or jacket and trousers should portray the "normal" stereotyped working class man or woman. As the scene changes he should be wearing darker clothing as it reaches the more mysterious and suspicious part of the clip, the characters face will never be shown but his body and things around him will be evident, so I think dark layered clothing will be suitable as it suits the style we are trying to portray and will not stand out much in contrast to the other people in the shot.

 

Props

The micro details which will be added to the scene will really change the authenticity look that we can create, so it is important that the props are believable and realistic. As a prop needed within the first shot will be a phone in the characters hand with a photo of a child on it, hopefully we will be able to zoom into the phone to show a glimpse to the audience of the phone, it is a nessesity that the phone is big enough to see and believeable. Another prop which will be needed within the scenes is a computer or laptop, as a few of our shots will be of a computer screen displaying information/photos it is nessesary that we have a computer or laptop, as he is cyber stalking the interet will need to be accessed, in order to do this we will most likely have to film this part at someones house using a computer and internet available. A big part of the detailed to be explained from the plot, there is a notebook next to the character whilst he looks onto the computer and makes notes, this notebook contains photos, scriblles, text and torn out pages to look rustic and used, this has to be on show so it is crutial that we have this notebook as a prop, some pages should have blank pages as I will put some of the credits onto the notebook in an evidently different colour to add to authenticity. As we are finishing the clip with a red herring, we are showing a glimpse of a police uniform to leave the audience confused of the characters status and reason for what he is doing. In order for this to work there must be a clear shot of a hat and badge, and any other police related clothing if we can find it, this will make the scene much more realistic and confusing to the audience.

 Lighting

For our film the general mood created should be mysterious and dark, so by creating this we will film the majority of the clips in medium lighting, when we film in cambridge it should be at around 3-4pm so that as it is winter the light shall be dim but the street lights should illuminate the shots enough so that it is clear to see the content of the shot, but still fits the themes. When filming the shots inside the room will have the illumination from the computer screeens, accompanied by some small lights to light the lighting enough to see the content, when the camera focus's on the police uniform the room will be brighter so that the details can be seen clearly.

Location

We intend to film our beginning scene within the alley way linking Cambridge grafton Centre and Lion Yard, next to the H&M shop, and by doing this there are 2 clear shots available, either the shot of the woodland track leading from one to another illumated by street lights, in order for us to get the ariel view we intend to, we will either enter the resteraunt from across the road and ask permission to film from there, or stand on a bench and then zoom onto the character. The other possible option would be across the road, so the shot shows the people coming from all different directions, by doing this we can achieve the look of business from other people within Cambridge. The second main location where we will film will be at someones house, using a bedroom with the computer and characters, by doing this we can achieve the authenticity of a bedroom within a house, and when the woman calls he can leave the room and use the stairs, persuading the audience of its realisticness. We will hopefully be filming a shot by a bus stop, filming the feet of people leaving the bus, by doing this the audience can only see the feet it leaves them wondering who they are, how old they are, etc creating the mysterious suspense, a bus stop is a good place to film as you dont need permission and it is more commonly used within lots of parts of the world, they are more accessable than trains usually, leaving the audience wondering where the character could be.

Sound and Camera

For the sound to do with our genre and plot of the film i think it is suitable to use heavy breathing noises and a hand held camera shot to create change in the more formal style of steady cam, the breathing noises and hand held camera style will create the idea of a stalker/paedohopile character, as it will be a point of view shot on the screen the person filming will not be evident to the audience. By doing this it creates another train of thought for the audience, and a red herring leaving them asking who was filming? Why were they filming? What were they filming? etc. Throughout the clip there should be a small amount of music or sound effects used, from this the group intend to create our own music, I think that the style should be quite slow and eery, but at certain points have more upbeat, negative mixed music to create a different feeling from the audience.There will be a variety of different camera shots used within the clips will range from over the shoulder, panning from an ariel view to a behind shot, zoom into the character from ariel views, and hand held. This large variety of different camera shots will show diversity and have a professional look to our film.

Credits

My aim for the credits is to look as professional as they can be, we intend to either edit them into the scenes ontop of what else has been within the scene. Another idea that i have is similar to the film Se7en, I liked the idea of the credits being on the notebook, but for this I either intend to physically write the credits onto the notebook, and have them on the computer screen so they stand out from the rest of the content. I hope that the credits will look professional as they are important to the authenticity of the film. 

Hopefully these elements will be included within the film as I believe that they will make it look a lot better, and the micro and macro elements which are included will look professional and authentic.