Evaluation of opening scene-task

For our opening credits task we chose to make a thriller film. We felt that this genre would be the easiest one as we all had ideas for the scene and also on how to build the tension needed. We also thought that it would be fun to do something quite different this time as our previous task was a comedy. To start with we all made our own separate storyboards with an idea for a storyline. Then we compared the storyboards and discussed how we could make them into one film scene. This way all of us got a say in planning the scene, and it was an effective way of making our different ideas clear so that we could show them to each other.

Our opening scene shows two young girls walking through a dark park. We filmed from behind, so the audience can only see the silhouette of the girls. With this we aimed to create the feeling of them being followed, the camera is filming them from a distance. Our intension was to make it seem like we are watching the girls through the stalkers eyes, therefore we used a hand hold camera to intensify this effect. By keeping the characters at a distance we also wanted to make the audience wonder who they are, and what is going to happen to them. We wished to make it all seem very mysterious and creepy. In the background one can hear the sound of cars driving past. The lights from the cars make changes in the lighting, and with this we hoped to add a realistic feeling to the scene. We also did this because we thought that people could more easily relate to a realistic scenario, and because the realism would create extra tension. The sound is muted to emphasize that this is going on in the background. The target audience for this film would be younger people, but also adults with interest for this genre. It wound not, however be a film for children and younger teenagers as it is meant to be quite scary at some points. If we were to make the whole film it would probably be given a 15 certificate. We are trying to attract our target audience by playing on the fears of being followed and the vulnerability of walking through a deserted area in the dark.

We did some research before and during this task. This was things like watching films of the same genre carefully to get ideas and to see how the tension was build up etc. We mostly focused on the opening sequences as this was what our task was about. I feel like this helped a lot to get an understanding of the genre and how things can be done, as I have not paid so much attention to the details while watching films before. It also helped me to understand how a thriller film can be built up in different ways and that they often follow some sort of pattern.

We did face some difficulties during this task. One of my biggest problems was that I was absent while the other group members did the filming. This left me a bit confused for some time. However, after watching the film and talking to the others, I feel like I got a good understanding of what they had done and was able to join in when I came back again. Secondly, it was a bit hard to get the lighting to look the same through the whole scene, as the filming took place while it was getting dark. But I think it turned out fine in the end, after some editing had been done. There was also some lack of enthusiasm in our group, this may have been because two group members have been absent, (including myself) which has made planning and co-operation a bit complicated sometimes.

If we were to choose a media institution to distribute our film, we think that the 20 century fox would be a good option as they are a very well-known company, and have done films of the same genre before. People also tend to watch films by these big famous companies, because they have done good films before etc.

Looking back at the preliminary task, I feel that I know more about how to go through the whole process more systematically now. It helped just to have been through it before, so that we were aware of mistakes we could easily do, and avoid them this time. We also used quite a lot of time just coming up with an idea last time, and I feel like we solved this problem effectively this time by making the separate storyboards in the beginning. Even though I was not able to help with the filming, I know many of the things we did wrong the last time has been improved, and I can see that the quality of the film is a lot better. We also added more sound effects in this film, which makes the finished product seem more professional. In the end I am happy with our finished product. We could however have worked better as a team and put more effort into the task, and that is something that could be improved for next time.