Friday 20 March 2015

Music and dialogue

My group and I have each discussed multiple ideas for music we should use throughout our piece, each giving equal contribution. This was one of the areas of production that our group had not fully researched, therefore we drafted ideas together and tested them with the animatic before shooting.

Two films that come to mind when finding the most effective uses of music are 'American Psycho' and 'Reservoir dogs'. Each film uses music to juxtapose the nature of the scene, signifying the character in shot is either disturbed and calm about a gruesome or horrific situation. This use of music is very relevant to our own project as 'Joseph' is a very disturbed character whose radical nature drives the plot line at the opening of the film. Therefore we are considering using a feel-good and light-hearted track for Joseph to listen to whilst finalizing the bomb and carrying it into school.. Furthermore, this choice of music is different to the music used in most modern thrillers; breaking the stereotype.


We have also decided on using another atmospheric track to create a more suspenseful and thrilling tone. This will be played all the way throughout the opening as it is completely non-diagetic and has no relationship with the music Joseph is listening to. During editing and drafting we will decide on a final choice for which song we will use, but for now we have rough ideas to build on when the time comes.



Filming final piece (at school)

Before filming at school, we decided to location scout to find a suitable location that would compliment the storyboard. For this we found two main locations, a corridor to show the subject entering the school, and our classroom where we would film the end of our piece.

After deciding on the two area we would shoot, we began to clear the sets, this mainly involved re-positioning stationary in order to give Joseph more space on screen whilst still signifying he is in a school. There were no other props we needed to include other than the bag Joseph would be carrying and then laying down by his chair.

Whilst filming the shots we would use, we used my phone to record audio to get clearer dialogue with less background noise and interference than if we were using the camera mic. We planned to then sync this audio with the footage during the editing process. Myself and Ashley also feature in the opening now as we decided having 'students' in the class would make the school look more believable.

We may also change this scene in our second draft to include dialogue from Ashley and/or myself as we feel a conversation will enable us to explore new areas of filming audio and possibly gain us higher marks.

Set for final piece

For the part of our opening which is to be filmed outside of school, we are simply looking for a room with a table and office chair. We decided to film at a guest house which included all the necessities after Benoit had been location scouting.

Before filming, each member of the group brought their props to the location to set up before filming. We then developed the set into how it would look for the final shoot. As we will most likely re-shoot after the first draft, we only made make-shift props, for instance the desk, chair and bomb will be changed before the final cut.



In order to achieve low-key-lighting we blocked up natural light from windows as much as we could, then used a table lamp which would focus on the objects being filmed, whilst keeping the subject mostly in the dark. This enabled for the character to look more mysterious when filming.

Discussing film name

Throughout planning and researching my group and I have thought of multiple names for the film. For our final title we are looking for something thrilling as well as relating heavily to the characters personality and intentions which will initially drive the film.

Here are some rough ideas for names we have drafted for the film:

- Oblivious
- Snake of England
- Interloper
- Joseph

We decided on the name Oblivious because it's short and clean as well as tying into the plot of the film. It directly relates to the protagonist 'Joseph' and how everyone perceives him in a way that is heavily contrasted to his actual intentions.
This is possibly the most thrilling part of the film as the opening focus' on establishing Joseph and signifying that nobody else is aware or suspects his role as a terrorist.

Wednesday 11 March 2015

Prop selection

For props, we mostly need scraps of work and tools as well as the bomb. The tools are required to make Josephs desk look messy, signifying that the bomb is homemade as well as enforcing the intelligence and dedication of Joseph in achieving his goal. The tools which I will provide will consist of items such as screws, wire cutters, screwdrivers etc...

I have also been given the task of making the bomb which I have aimed to look like a block of C4. The draft bomb has been made using wires, candle sticks wrapped in packing tape, and an old clock. For the final bomb I will not use a standard clock as we want the time to stay still and not count down. This enables us to film multiple shots of Joseph crafting without the clock counting up or down. I will also try to make the bomb timer lit so that it is clearer to the audience as we are using low-key lighting. This reinforces it's significance in the scene.

Further props include article cut-outs as well as propaganda featuring previous terrorist attacks. This establishes the motive of Joseph, introducing the idea that he is obsessed with terrorism, aiming to perform an attack of his own.

Each of the props we are using therefore add to Josephs character development which we feel is important in the opening, by introducing these props gradually, the audience will become more intrigued and disturbed by the character Joseph. 

Costumes for final piece

We will only focus on one character in the opening; Joseph played by Aayush. Our goal for his costume is to have his clothes and acting from in school to outside of school to contrast one another. Therefore he will be wearing dark clothes (connoting danger) when he is outside of school, then lighter clothes (connoting innocence) inside of school. This will reflect his change in personality within the two environments, as secretly he is a terrorist, but in public he presents himself as a normal student in order to blend in with the other students.

In addition to this, when in school Joseph will have to look more nerdy to compliment his disguise. We have therefore decided that in school Joseph will wear both a fully buttoned up light shirt as well as glasses.



When Joseph films his threat video he will be most immersed in his terrorist personality, therefore he will be wearing the darkest and bold clothing. He will also be very well covered up, not revealing his identity, so a mask will be used, both disguising him and creating mystery.

Whilst assembling the bomb, Joseph will be wearing his school clothes, just without the glasses as well as his shirt being unbuttoned. This signifies he is in transition between the two personalities.