Transition test

For today, I am testing different transitions to use for the affect of the home video. I can not make use a handful of transition because they do not provide the feel of a home video. The ones I have tested here are simple fading transitions.

Title names and credits

This opening sequence shows the name of those involved. For my thriller opening, I am going to include.
A Lion Entertainment production
Actor, Anjali Derashri, April De Alwis, Roshni Mepani
Director of Photography: John Reed
Special effects: Arron Dellwis
Casting by: Donna Robbie
Costume design: Kate Brewer
Make-up: Alan Kennedy
Sound track by: Purple Planet
Edited by: Heath E Wigg
screenplay by: Ricky Lincoln
Directed by: Roshni Mepani

Storyboard for second location.

soundtrack for Slice

For the soundtrack for my thriller I want something slow paced with an eerie sound. Possibly a track similar to this song:



This song has the mystery effect of the unknown similar to the main character. This is because my main character watched a home video with a which features her but she is not sure who the people in the video are. She can be seen with them and she is seen laughing and having a good time but she can not place them in her memory, she also does not recognise the place and is in a state of confusion.

After doing some research I found 3 tracks that I liked which emitted a similar effect.
Orphanage
In My Nightmares
Is Anyone There

This is the policy for Purple Planet - Royalty Free Music


All of the music in our free section (available at the links to the right) can be used for just about any project where music is needed - this could be your website, blog or a sharing site such as youtube, vimeo etc.

We simply ask that you add a link in the text to your video that credits us as:

Music: http://www.purple-planet.com

Please don't forget the 'http:// 'part as it creates a clickable link.

If you are a member of the youtube partner programme, it's fine to use our music. If you credit us, youtube will know the music is licenced correctly.

Increasingly, youtube are very hot on copyright infringment. If you don't credit us on youtube, that's fine, though you will probably be sent a copyright ID match. If you simply ackowledge this, ads may run on your video for which we receive a share. This is not the same as a 'copyright strike' and your account status is not affected.

This does not apply to other sites. if you put a video using our music on your own blog or website, there is no chance of it being content ID matched.


Situations requiring a paid-for licence

Pre-formatted licences can be automatically purchased and the details filled in by you, the user. These cost $8 for up to five separate tracks and are valid on a 'per-project' basis.

You will need a licence if a third party, ie a distributor, asks for one.

For example:

-Integrating our music within a game or app. A distributor, such as' google play',
will need to see proof of licensing.

-You have created a product for someone and have no control over how it is distibuted.

-Integrating our product within an audiobook that you sell, for example on amazon.

-Publicly playing our music where the venue owners need proof of licensing.

-Broadcast on radio/TV where the station requires proof of licensing.

Preparation with actors

when considering who I would ask to act in the thriller opening, I took into consideration the age of the characters and if the actions would be typical of a person in their teens. Thinking of this, I decided to go with quite a young person. The people I asked are between 14-19, although someone of that age does not typically take the role of someone who has a breakdown or someone who has Dissociative Personality Disorder or is not asked to because the majority of people suffering from this or from something similar are aged or are diagnosed when they are slightly older. However there are some younger people who are showing symptoms of Dissociative Personality Disorder but they are a minority so their cases are not publicised as much.

For this scene the location was:

Shot List

Two shot, two actors (April and Anjali) one on foreground, one in back ground.
Two shot, Low angle two actors (April and Anjali) on climbing frame.
Two shot, two actors (Freya and April) dancing around
Two shot, two actors (myself and Anjali) dancing around
Three shot, Three actors, on a swing (Freya and Anjali)
shot with four people, walking off camera to show "home video"

SECOND LOCATION
Mid shot from back, actor sitting on bed
Close up showing confused/state of shock of actors expression
Close up from the left
Panning Mid Shot of Laptop showing video
Mid shot of person standing up
Tracking shot from back showing person walking
Mid shot from Right showing person writing
Close up from front showing what the person is writing
Mid shot from from Right showing person writing in diary on desk
Pan up to see another actor near door, looking into room.

storyboard for thriller...yet to be named

This is the final initial storyboard for my thriller. This storyboard is different to what  I had originally thought of and imagined. The reason for this change is, after a discussion, I found the story would have been too confusing and would not make sense. Another reason for this change is the original idea would have looked much more like a horror than thriller, this version of the story will convey more conventions of a thriller than a horror, opposite of the original idea.

This storyboard does not show all of the shots, the different types of shots will be easier to draw as a storyboard.

The actors I have in mind range from 13-19 years old. Due to this age gap, we will have to find a time that suits everyones timetables. For the first video seen of the two girls dancing around, the location I am thinking of is quite green with trees around. Although this does sound typical, I want to represent the video as being from a fun day out with the characters having a good time. For the second scene, I am hoping to film that in a bedroom or living room. The time of this shoot would be late afternoon/early evening this is because of the natural light at the time. However this could go wrong and there may be too much darkness around the room. Another precaution I will have to take is taking in account of the weather for the outside scene. If this does happen, the date and time of the shoot will have to change, or we will have to change the location last minute to somewhere indoors.
The possible location of the outdoors scene would be somewhere that looks like this:

This location is Aldenham Country Park in Watford







For the scene in the bedroom of the girl, I was told about an episode of Medium which sounded familiar to my storyline. After viewing this episode I know have a clearer idea of how to shoot this scene in terms of different shot types to convey the message to different personalities. currently, I visualise the girl sitting on her bed. The reason she is not lying down is because this position is usually seen in most TV shows or and film to convey the person dreaming the series of events. Due to this, I want my character to be watching the "home video" on a laptop/computer and then start to wonder why  this has been shot and also wonder who the other two people in the video are.

plan for thriller pitch

The event my story is based around is one young girl and her traumatic experience of seeing her friends brutally hurt. If this was 10 minute short film, the story line would follow the young girl trying to overcome what has just happened to her friends. She would seek help towards climax of the film then go on route to finding answers. At the end, she would find the answers she has been looking for, this answer would consist of whoever sent her the first note with the first encounter with the note. Once she has pieced the answer together, the explanation of what actually happened. This explanation scene would show the young girl waking up and checking her phone on a table next to her bed. She then looks at herself in the mirror, then back at her phone. It is this second time she discovers a note saying "You have been warned! !X!x!", on the actual note, there are splatters of blood. The scene then changes to later on in the day, where she is in a cafe sat with her friends, a few young males and a few young females. They are seen to be the only people in the cafe at the time, a person working at the cafe cannot be seen, but it they have served the young people as the young people are sat with food and drink. The young girl who found the note earlier on in the day, sees the note once again, posted on another table. As she tries to focus on the note, she diverts her attention from her friends to the note. When she finally turns her head to her friends, she sees they have all been injured. They have cuts and bruises all over their person.
Due to this story line, the opening of my thriller will show a video of some people (the young girls' friends) having a good time. Over this video, the sound heard will be the young girl laughing and also having a good time. This will be shot using a hand held camera and the imagery will not be stable - it will be fairly shaky to convey that this is the young girls perspective.Next, the young girl will be sitting in her room, perched on her bed. The lighting is fairly dark resembling the natural light seen on a rainy day or the early evening of a winter day. As she get off of the bed and starts walking towards her bedroom wall, flashbacks can be seen of the "good time", the flashbacks consist of still images from the previously seen video. The young girl walks over to a bedroom wall, where there is a note posted, the same note as before - "you have been warned! !X!x!" with the blood splatter as well. Next to the note, there are pictures of the young girls friends on a day out, but there are also photos seen similar to the photos above showing cuts and bruises. The young girl stares at the pictures and then goes over the outline of her friends' faces with her finger. At this point, the camera cuts to someone who is just outside the room. This persons face is not seen, but the camera captures them looking at the girl through either a small transparent area or looking through a space, as the door is not completely closed. As the shot is seen through this persons point of view, their voice is heard saying "this is what she has become. You're our last hope. Can you do anything to help her". To convey this story line, I would make use of a lot of cross cutting and blurred affects. This is to keep the pace moving but also showing the state of mind of the girl when she is reminiscing about the "good times" with her friends.

This is an idea of where the first video seen could be shot. A large rehearsal space because the group of friends were at a rehearsal for a small show and were having a good time during a break.

Through this thriller opening, the message I want to convey is the essence of fear and obsession. If this thriller was to continue, the fear and obsession aspects would uncover with scenes showing the young girl wanting to find out why this has happened. This need for answers would come after a meeting, this meeting would come after it is revealed that she restrains herself from making contact with anyone, to avoid the same fate her friends became victims to.


For the target audience of this film, I would aim for 14 - 18. This is because there would not be any sexual content which would raise the age to a 16. However, I am not sure if it would appeal to all ages due to the relatively young casting, therefore the oldest age bracket I would market to is the age of 18. I would market and publiscise this film by putting up posters around densely populated areas. However, I would also put these posters up around more less populated areas, to ensure as many people are aware as possible regardless of their location. Although, the main medium of publicity would be through word of mouth.

Thriller Idea(s)

my initial idea:
A note is seen on the bedside of a table as she wakes up. She looks closer and concentrates on the note, she sees a blood stain on the note.
Late on in the day, the girl is out with her friends, in the background there are a bunch of people playing football. The ball rolls over to the girl, she then picks it up to throw it back to them. On the ball, there is the same note as she saw before. She then looks back to her friends and sees them all injured with all cuts and bruises over them. After seeing her friends injured, she looks down to her own arms and there are cuts appearing.
On the note, the words "you have been warned" are written. It is signed off as "!X!x!".
The reason this may not work is
It would be hard to picture what might happen next. The conventions would be more of a horror than a thriller.







New idea.
Picture of friends in bruises and cuts around room
girl locked in room
bruises/cuts seen on her lower arm
she is seen rocking back and fourth/seen walking around room, walking up to pictures, running her finger over faces.
thought track by person from the outside - possibly a therapist???
notes posted around her room
at the end, seen writing "save me from the dark" on the wall
The reason this may not work is because 
There will be too many questions rising such as why this girl has pictures of this incident and who this girl is. Although questions are good, there may be too many question which will cause too much confusion.