Thriller work- Thank you actors

Thanking the actors for their participation

Dear Lynne and Bobby,

Just a huge thank you for taking part in our thriller on Wednesday, we really appreciate the amount of patience you had with us. You were so fabulous as our characters and we're so glad you were apart of it.

Thank you again

The crew: Beth, Matt, Flora and Tobi

Thriller work- Account of shoot day

Account of shoot day

When we arrived in the editing suite, the day immediately began not following our preparation. We were told that the set drawing and description hadn't been given to the set designer and we therefore had to build our set in the studio that day, meaning we must search around the school for the props and furniture we needed. Due to the lack of time to collect things, we had to alter our idea of a 'expensive looking hotel' to fit with things that we had. We decided to use a funky, neon lit setting with the idea that we could change our target audience to a younger generation. We finally adjusted to the idea, and the mysterious darkness linked to the thriller genre we wanted to create. Beforehand, we lacked certainty of day plan, however once the set was built we had confidence in what we were doing. Instead of the hotel room, we nicknamed our set 'the sex palace' as it finalised as was hugely seductive with the dimmed lighting and fur covers on be bed and settee. 

The set completed

Using the studio gave us dominant decisions on the details of the thrillers setting and (would have) given us a variety of choices for the environment. The Mise En Scene was a little mixed up, but we concluded that the opening  would be abstract helping the audience to wonder questions for the rest of the film. We originally made a list of props we wanted, but due again to time issues we didn't get all we desired. Instead, we grabbed as many things as possible that could be included into a possible story line- these included: old fashioned camera, ashtray, whiskey bottle and glasses, lighter, lipstick, 'rude' photograph slides. Tea coasters were used to portray the woman's changing emotions- moody, shocked, sexual. 

The scene begins with a continuous tracking shot following over all the props on the table (dressed with purple material) leading onto half a dozen slides stuck to the light box, suggesting the raunchy setting with what's portrayed in them. The track then takes us to the settee with a blazer and tie swung over the arm, leading the camera down to the foot of women, tracking upwards to follow the stocking being pulled up the leg. This lead to the image of a hand roped to the bed, following onto the dead face of Bobby. 
This whole tracking shot took a good 15 takes to get right, as the camera HAD to follow the path we'd decided without stopping. It took a long time to rehearse and we knew this, so instead of getting the actors in early morning we chose the time to set up lighting and so on and also as rehearsal period. Once the track had been perfectly rehearsed and memorised, the actors arrived after lunch at 2.00pm. 

Tobi takes control of the camera for the tracking shot- Lynne awaits direction

For Ava and Barry we chose recommended actors. Lynne Whitehead was said to be actress, and she seemed hugely keen to be in the thriller. She was perfect of the part, as she could play a seductive murderess easily, with her mass of curls and the red lips we gave her she looked just the part we wanted. Although she played the evil character, she was hugely likeable to an audience as she added a type of humour to the character. Lynne was wonderful to work with, and hugely patient with our inexperience with filming so we thank her for that. Bobby Genower was picked at the 'dead man' who lays, murdered on the bed. We chose him, again, out of recommendation and he looked perfect for that old fashioned, wealthy yet gullible man. I cannot explain how fabulously patient he was being roped to a bed for nearly 2 hours. Both were fantastic and had a close friendship as colleagues so worked great together. 

 

Break for tea and biscuits- Flora admires the set

We borrowed outfits from the college's costume cupboard for our actors. We decided in alteration from our original idea of not knowing Ava was female from the beginning by dressing her in full black. However we resulted in giving her a lace dress as it would then make sense pulling stockings up. The dress also gave her that younger, typical beautiful murderess character we wanted for the target audience. Bob wore a shirt and black trousers, demonstrating his wealth and superiority that has now been stolen by a dominant female. 

Bobby awaits direction- patiently!

Lighting was dimmed, with the neon lights presenting different emotions in the scene. We had strip 
lights underneath some of the furniture. Red light was placed under the desk to show a frustration of Ava looking for something through the objects (a particular slide). Purple was placed under the sofa and blue on the bed to symbolise the coldness of death in the atmosphere. Apart from the coloured lights, we used a natural looking light, suggesting a seedy room at night attempting a chiaroscuro setting of light and dark. On the third and last shot was a close up in which we were originally going to use a projector for light, to link to the theme of film and slides, however when the projector was off, the light on Lynne's face was perfect with a blue glow, making the mood hugely intimate and mysterious creating an anticipation for the audience.

We planned to have no sound in the sequence, to add to the tensity, and to make it a little different from other thrillers, as they'd usually use music.  Instead however, we decided on having a film projector playing- for the light and the sound. The continuous  ticking noise was like a stopwatch for time, forming suspense. All this, helps the audience to ask frequent questions of what'll happen. We decided to pre record with the mic, the natural sound of the room to add over during editing, so the sound on the film recording isn't empty and dull.

In the production we took turns in roles of direction, calling camera roll and camera control although we seemed to adapt a certain role although none were in control. We worked as a team. I enjoyed directing our actors, as I was able to put forward my own ideas, and have them accepted. I took the role of telling Lynne when to pull up her stocking for a shot, which was a pretty precise and accurate job. I had to watch the tv in which the film was shown, decide a moment for her to begin pulling them up in the tracking shot and indicate with a hand gesture. It doesn't sound a lot but each little thing counted. As a team, I think we finally, after the many months, began to merge in ways of 
thinking to bring ideas together. Matt got the responsibility of continuity for the actors (assuring Lynne was in the right place, and Bobby was tied to the bed tight enough), Flora called' standby, rolling, action, cut!) Tobi controlled the cameras movement on the tracks and the rest of the shots and I just tried to assure our actors were happy (with tea, coffee, biscuits etc.)

Assistance in getting the focus with the tracking shot

As a group decided on 1 tracking shot, to create that slow anticipation of a thriller genre, and two quick shots, making the audience ask questions on who was in them and what was the purpose? It's 
intriguing. It also meant the day was spent focussing on what shot, which was a lot less stressful than multiple shots. All the features we included: moody lighting, slow shots, ticking of the film, the seductive setting, the young women, all helped to form the thriller atmosphere that our target audience would hope to see. 

Despite the stressful start, and continuous changing in ideas, as a whole we are thoroughly pleased with how the thriller turned out, with the main shot day actually going entirely smoothly and easily. Obviously, through assistance, we have created a great thriller that people would certainly enjoy at the cinema. The Mise En Scene wasn't what wanted, but due to understandable circumstances we made it work, although if I'd got the chance, I would have reverted back to the original setting. Overall we are very happy with the result and are looking forward to editing it. Thank you to everyone who assisted in our thriller filming: prop providers, actors, extra crew, we did it through your help, so thank you.

Thrillerwork- Interview about thrillers

                          

 Interview

 

1. What do you expect to see in a thriller?

Suspense; people being pursued; potential for danger and death; adrenaline building.

2.What do you like about thrillers?

Nervous anticipation; feeling of excitement; things that get your heart racing or make you jump.

3. Favourite thriller and why?

Fatal attraction (everyday family put in danger because of wrong decision- because of it's believability and that is what makes it scary.

    
4.  Would you watch a film about a female murderess?

Yes, I think the female element makes it less predictable and more suitable.

5. Favourite film genre

Romantic comedy; Drama/ thriller

6. Age
40 ish!! 

7. What do you look for in a film?
Strong believable characters; emotion and connection between character. I need to be able to relate to them and be on the journey with them.

        

Thrillerwork- shooting schedule

 

Shooting schedule

9.00am- Arrive at set
9.15am- Assure props and lighting are in place for shooting
9.45am- Start rehearsing the tracking shot (to get it accurate)
10.15am- Begin to film the tracking shot around the room
10.45am- Break for drinks
11.00am- Continue attempting tracking shot to get exactly right- making changes along the way
12.00pm- Get close ups on everything apart from actors.
1.00pm- Lunch break
2.00pm- Bob arrives on set, inform him about what's happening in the scene and filming
2.20pm- Bob's in makeup and costume
2.30pm- Begin filming Bob's sections, close up of face and so on.
3.10pm- Lynne arrives on set- we assure makeup and costume are in place
3.30pm- Begin shooting scenes with Lynne
4.00pm- Break for drinks
4.20pm- Back to filming making sure all shots are complete (all close ups e.g. wedding ring)
5.00pm- Finish around 5.00pm

Thrillerwork- Distribution

Distribution


Warner Bros wouldn't distribute our film as we are first time film makers with no previous experience and there is virtually no budget behind the film. So we decided to use Vertigo Films who are a British production and distribution company who have produced and distributed a crime revenge thriller called WΔZ with Tom Hardy and Selma Blair about a female killer. This film is similar to our film therefore Vertigo is more likely to distribute our film. We decided if Vertigo accepted our film, we would have to distribute it through promotion and other forms of marketing the film. Possibly, one of the best ways of promoting a film is through word of mouth hype and to create the hype, our film would be played in around 60 cinemas for free for a limited time and ,through word of mouth, help promote our film. People would then naturally become excited at the prospect of seeing a free film due to the prices of seeing a film these days. However, we would still get a budget as the cinemas would have to pay us to show the film. The prospect of the free film would entice more people to see our film and with the film showing at cinemas spread over Britain, the film’s popularity would hopefully grow. 

 Other ways of promoting our film were to have the posters on the sides of buses or on the Underground. These methods of promotion are typically reserved for films that are already known to be successful so advertising them in this way, will hopefully persuade people to research and watch the film as they believe it will be a competitor with summer blockbusters. Once we have a certain budget, we would probably need to distribute our film further than the UK. Again, we wouldn’t be able to give our film directly to America as it has only been successful in one country. Therefore, we will attempt to distribute our film through Europe. We knew that it was unlikely a European company would pick up our film straight up, so we plan to take our film to different European film festivals using part of the budget made on UK releases through DVD’s and TV releases. Film festivals we intended to release our film at included Berlin Film Festival, Venice Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival where small films such as Antichrist and Only Lovers Left Alive which have all been successful in box office and reception. We planned on promoting our film here in the hope a European film company such as Pathé would pick up our film and wish to distribute it through Europe if we sold the distribution rights to them. Pathé, who are well-known distribution company of thrillers, having distributed films such as Trance, Memento, Centurion and Crash. We later hope that should any American companies see the success of our film in the UK and through Europe, an American company (maybe not Warner Bros but a small studio like Summit Entertainment) would offer to buy the rights to the film and would distribute the film through America and maybe internationally with a portion of the box office money being passed to us.

Thrillerwok- Letter to actors

 

Letter to Bob Genower:

Dear Bob,

We would like to formally invite you to be in our thriller, filming on the 22nd of January. We have chosen you out of recommendation of our media teacher Simon. Obviously, there'll be a little inconvenience for you to come and shoot, so we are very grateful to have you on board!

You've been cast as:
Barry- a businessman with a weakness for younger women (We apologise profusely). It isn't a huge role, as you won't have to say a word, and are only playing dead, laying on a bed. You're co-star will be Lynn Winehead, as we heard she was in your top list of 3.

You're costume:
If you could bring a white shirt and black trousers, and suite jacket, that would be fabulous, as it saves us asking Loz. If you have troubles with this just let us know asap.

You'll be needed:
For a short amount of time, and we'll let you know closer to shooting day.

Thanks again for everything

 Beth, Matt, Flora and Toby

 

Letter to Lynne Whitehead

Dear Lynne,

 

We would like to formally invite you to be in our thriller, filming on the 22nd of January. We have chosen you out of recommendation of our media teacher Simon and we think you're perfect for the part. Obviously, there'll be a little inconvenience for you to come and shoot, so we are very grateful to have you on board!

 

You've been cast as:  

Ava who overpowers men due to their weaknesses of desiring younger women. In the scene, you've just murdered your 6th husband, and leave as you remove your wedding ring. You won't have to kill him, as that happened previously.  

 

You're costume: 

You get a choice of whatever outfit for Ava, as long as its fairly glamorous, as it saves us asking Loz. Also, if you have any stockings, it would be fabulous if you could provide these as they're featured. If you have troubles with this just let us know asap.

 

You'll be needed:

For a short amount of time, and we'll let you know closer to shooting day.

 

Thanks again for everything

 

Beth, Matt, Flora and Toby

Thrillerwork- New Idea after pitch

New idea after pitch

We pitched our main idea to Matt, Luke and Paul, quite confident as we have altered our thriller multiple times. However it got turned down once again, which was frustrating but understandable as when they asked 'After this opening sequence, would you continue watching the film? Is it different and original than any other thriller out there' to which we replied 'no.' This was disappointing for the group after so much hard work and discussion.

Although, we haven't discarded the idea altogether and are attempting to work around it. We were given the idea of a beginning tracking shot around a selection of props we've chosen. This'll be particularly hard, as the track shot will be long and if a fault is made, the shot will have to start from the very beginning. We've altered the thriller to no longer be sexual as it would be unsuitable for Bob to be doing this.

We've also had a change is cast members due to the age gap. We thought it inappropriate to have a 17 year old straddling a 70 year old, even if it was for acting. Although she was attempting to play a 20 something year old, it wouldn't have worked. So we have altered Franchie to Lynn Whitehead.

Lynn Whitehead

Lynne is a teacher at Hurtwood House, and we have chosen her because:
-She can act
-She'll be easy to work with
-Suitable age for the character
-Bob doesn't mind working with her


Our thriller is based on the female overpowering the man, by focussing on his weaknesses, which are young women. She now murders him with poison as it leaves far more open ended questions for the rest of the film.

Thrillerwork- Props change after pitch

 

 

Props change

We've been given the idea to begin the scene with a tracking shot. It follows around the hotel room and we see a selection of props that suggest there's a couple staying there.


Lamps



Used cigarette in ashtray

Champagne bottle in ice bucket and two glasses (one empty, one untouched)



Tie and blazer swung over chair

Women's heels

Paintings (original)

Mirror (showing glimpse and whose on it)

 

 

 

It tracks up the body to him laying on the bed, dead, clearly dead.It then switches to her pulling up her stockings and putting heels on. She walks over, kisses his forehead then walks out, removing her wedding ring as she leaves.

This is the possible set we are going to present to the props and set designer.