Costume + props

We need the murderer and the witness to be wearing similar, if not the same clothes.
The character is meant to have just been at a casual party/gathering and so should be wearing clothes like jeans and a hooded jumper. The hooded jumper will also be useful for the murder scene to conceal the identity of the murderer.

The victim will be wearing 'nice clothes' under a quite big coat. She needs to look quite vulnerable.

We need a distinctive object to link the murderer to the victim and for this we will probably use a ring. Although this may look a little strange it will anchor the story very well.

Our character will probably be smoking so were gonna need cigarettes. we may also need a can so that he can be drinking. We will also need fake drugs.

Nathan

Test Shoot Weekend

At the weekend we went to Hampstead Heath for a test shoot. Despite a couple of hitches with equipment i think the weekend was quite successful. We had a fierce battle with the elements but due to careful planning and consideration the weather did not prove a challenge (apart from the temperature!).

The footage we took was of mixed quality. I think we were perhaps a tad rusty with the camera and there was definitely positive correlation between the time out and the quality of the footage. We took a couple of out of focus shots and a couple of perhaps undesirable handheld shots.

Although the natural sound is not a particularly important feature for the sequence we had interference caused by a rowdy gang of ducks and two killer swans. Despite the winged worlds attempts i think that the sound was quite successful. the boom mic proved immensely valuable because it allowed us to exaggerate sounds we wanted to focus on.

The mise-en-scene of our shots were mostly fine. we had a couple were we weren't happy with the positioning of characters etc. but we re-shot all of them.

I think if we focus on pre-shoot organization such as shot logs and also make sure we correctly log all of our shots the next shoots will run very smoothly and we should get very good footage to use when editing,

best regards,

Nathan.

Music Update

We have now asked a friend of ours to compose a piece of music for the thriller. This means we can have a much more individual piece of music and one that fits the sequence a lot better. A good analogy would perhaps be a hand tailored suit from Gieves and Hawkes compared to any old outfit.

Hopefully we will be able to make an arrangement that works,
nathan,.
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The Opening sequence of Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels

The group gathered for some inspiration the other day. We watched a selection of opening sequences and i was designated to write on Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

It is quite a funny opening sequence which sets the scene for the rest of the film. It introduces a lot of the main characters. The narration is an idea that we have considered using, we think it would help to anchor the story line which would be helpful for the viewer.

Although it is a different style of film i think there is a lot we could learn:

-The film has a very British feel which we need in our opening sequence. I think this is achieved through the setting and the accents.
-The mise-en-scene is very important in the opening sequence to set up the correct atmosphere and this is something we need to focus on.
-The scene is outdoors and this is similar to ours so we could look at the type of filming techniques used to inspire us
-And much more as well.

The use of music is good in the sequence. it builds up throughout the clip and reaches a climax towards the end. i think we need to achieve something similar.

Thanks.
nathan.
xxx

Opening Sequence Analysis - Hannibal

The opening sequence of this film starts convetionally with the universal studios brand image and the mgm lion. We see a black screen and piano music starts playing a soft and slow tune. A black man's voice cuts in as a voice over as we continue to see a black screen. This makes the audience wonder who is speaking and why we are just seeing black? The non diegetic music doesn't get quieter as the man is speaking over it, instead his voice is just loud and booming. We then hear another voice of a white male so the audience is able to establish that we are hearing a conversation. As this new voice appears red letters listing the production compay and other credits start to appear. Red might have been used as it has the connotation of blood and death. As we watch the titles appearing and dissappearing a small screen shot becomes visisble and gradually gets bigger showing us the people talking and their location. This shot appears in the right hand side in the middle of the screen and gets bigger to fill the whole screen. Whilst this is happenig both the diegetic and non-diegetic sounds are continuing. As the shot gets bigger we etablish that its a long shot of what could be a library in a persons home. We can see three men two sitting opposite each other whilst the other one stands. We also see that one of the men is in a wheelchair and we wonder why. The mood of the room is quite dark and there isn't much lighting making the room look quite brooding.

The camera slowly pans round from right to left to have a straight shot of the men facing each other. The next shot is a CU of the white males face which is very very damaged. We can see he has no lips and permant scarring all over his face. We can also see that he has one eye and thin grey hair suggesting that he is quite old. We then cut to a medium close up of the black guy responding to what the other character has just said, a reaction shot. Then we cut back to the white male and then back to the black male before the shot changes to a long shot of the white male in the wheelchair and the 2nd white male standing beside him. This gives the audience the opportunity to see what both men are wearing and what they look like. We then cut to a long shot of the black picking up a pink box. We then have an extreme long shot from far off so that we see the profile of the black male as he presents the box to the white male in the wheelchair. The music in this exchage between the two characters has become softer and quieter and the diegetic sound has become more dominant. The camera zooms in on the white males face when the black male opens the box to show him whats inside. The voice of the white male is really raspy and we can hear his deep breathing in this part of the scene. We cut to see whats inside the box from the perspective of the white male in the wheelchair, POV shot. The audience is able to see that it is a mask inside. The camera zooms in closer and closer entering the box then the shot fades to black with the title Hannibal written in red letters. The music has become louder again as the voices are no longer heard.

Jennifer

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Meeting 19th November

In our meeting today we finalised our idea properly and made sure we knew exactly what we are doing such as who was responsible for what props. We also decided what the main shots were that we wanted to practice in our test shoot weekend. These were:

• The opening shot of the protagonist sitting on the bench watching people walk past.
• POV of the killer strangling the victim and then seeing the protagonist
• Flashback shots of the night before when the protagonit was getting intoxicated

We arranged the details of our meeting tomorrow at Jake's house. We plan to watch at least 4 opening sequences for inspiration and ideas on our thriller. We will analyse these and later blog. We will also have a meeting to finalise the details for our test shoot weekend.

Jennifer

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Meeting 19/11

Change of idea!
We will keep the original beginning idea, but change the last few shots.
The idea is that there is a long shot of the murder from druggie POV, and then a POV of the murderer strangling the girl(we see his hands with ring seen previously in the sequence). Then back to the long shot of the guy watching the murder.
We may see the ring before when he is sitting on the bench possibly rubbing his legs. The shot would not obviously be a CU of the ring, but the ring should be dominant in the shot without making it too obvious we are trying to show the ring.

Mike
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