28th February 2011

We re-filmed the shots in the field with the phone, but we decided it to rest it on a telephone poll rather than having it lying in the grass. We did thi sbecause we thought that the phone was difficult to see while it was lying flat.
Instead of still shots we used zoom shots.We started the camera from a distance and then zoomed in as far as it would go. We then moved the camera closer and zoomed in as far is it would go. We repeated this several times until we got a close up of the phone.
We have decided to edit these shots all together using a dissolve to make it look mysterious and add to the tension.

17th February

We experimented with a number of different ways that we could zoom out from the phone to see what would look best for our final film.

One way we did this was by holding the camera by hand and crouching on a chair and gradually standing up to get a higher angle.

Another way we did this was by attaching the camera to a tripod and then holding the legs of the tripod and lifting it up.

A third way we did this was by attaching the camera to the tripod and then zooming the camera lens out, lifting the camera on the tripod and then extending the legs of the tripod.

Test footage - Laurel Drew and Jamie Parrett

These are some of the shots we have already filmed before they have been editing. We will potentially be using them in our final film.

This is the establishing shot of the field. This is one of the main settings where the rest of the film will take place. It is where the girl is attacked. 

This is another take of the previous shot so we can decide which looks better.

 This is another shot of the film when the camera begins to focus onto the phone thats lying in the grass.

 This is the same as the one above again giving us two shots to choose from to make sure we get the best footage for our film.

 This shot is a bit closer to the phone beginning to focus more onto it showing it's importance to the film.

 This is a close up shot of the phone from an angle where we will see it ringing the various characters.

 This is another close up of the phone from a different angle so we can see which angle looks best for the final film.

Again this is another close up of the phone but from another different angle giving us more choice.

 Again this is another shot of the phone from a different angle.

 This a close up of a different phone when it is ringing the characters. This shows us what the shot will look like if we used a different phone in the final film and allows us to see if the names of who the phone is ringing will show up on the camera.

 This shot is still a close up of the phone ringing the characters but you can hear that the person at the other end isn't able to answer. This is another idea we could use for our film to show that they don't hear the phone. We may use this idea in our final product.

 This is another close up of the second phone without the answer phone. This gives us another choice of which shoot to use in our final film.

 This is a shot of the character Jay walking though the woods without his dog so we can get an idea of how it will look and what position the camera could be in when we film this shot for real. This could also be a possible location for other scenes throughout the film. It also shows us what the shot will look like without the dog and we may use this shot instead depending on which looks best in our final film and if we are able to get a dog to film.

 This is another shot of Jay walking through the woods but from a different angle and camera position. This allows us to see what the shot looks like using different positions of the camera and allows us to see what looks best. We might also use this shot as one of the shots for match on action to be used when the character answers his phone.

This shot may be used as a potential part of match on action. Jay is answering the phone allowing us to get an idea of the angle and camera position to shot this where it's directly in from of him of slightly to one side. Also we may have him walk past the camera showing him continuing his journey. 

These test shots allow us to get possible ideas of locations, camera angles and positioning. They also allows us to find out a bit about how we want the lighting and how to make it look like the character is being watched. The shots of the phone also what type of props we could use and want potential costumes we may use. The answer phone message also gives us an idea of how this may look and whether or not to use this in our final film. 

14th February 2011

Group -
We started filming the opening to our film. We managed to film the establishing shot and the shots of the phone in the field. We also filmed a rough scene of Jay walking down the pathway without his dog, we might use this instead or we will film it with Bruce. We have uploaded the shots and roughly edited them how we can.

Animatic/Storyboard - Jamie Parrett (Voiceover/Storyboard), Chris Bailey (Editing)

Animatic - Jamie Parrett (storyboard, drawing), Chris Bailey (editing) and Laurel Drew (photography and editing)

Health and Safety Risk Assessment - Laurel Drew

Bedroom
Objects and cables on the floor may cause people to trip over.
We don't have an image of the exact bedroom location but we have an example of the sort of thing we are going to create which shows possible hazards within the environment.
Bathroom
The water and electricity may create a risk.
Cables may cause people to trip over.

Kitchen
Sharp knives used to cut and butter the toast may cut the actors.
The toaster may burn the actor when they remove the toast.
Cables may trip up people.
The water from the sinks and electricity may cause a risk
We dont have exact location shots, but we have examples of the kind of thing we are looking for which shows possible health and safety risks.


Field
Cables hidden by long grass may cause people to trip.
Hidden tree roots may cause people to trip in the mud.
Think links to the location shots below, showing the possible hazards that may occur during filming.
Worth Way
Tripping over cables causing a danger.
The dog may be difficult to control and run into equipment and knock people over.
The road and pavement is fairly narrow which may create danger from oncoming vehicles.
This is shown in the below location shots.

Analysis into similar products - Laurel Drew

I liked the beginning of Inception when the man is lying on a beach and the audience aren't sure quite how he got there. We thought we would use something along these lines because it creates enigma and grips the audience because they want to find out how they got there. Many of the thriller films we researched as a group played with the narrative structure and began with the disruption. We thought this was also a good technique to use and the films thats used this were often the better films. We decided to have the phone already lying in the field when the film begins because we thought that it would grip the viewer and make the want to watch the rest of the film to find out what happened. We also decided to start at this part of the film because we found that films that use restricted narration grip the audiences attention more because they  take the same journey as the characters and find out information with them. We decided to uses this technique by starting with the phone in the field because we found that films with Unrestricted narration because irritating and frustrating to watch. The film 21 Grams research by Emma used cuts between  different characters which creates confusion because the audience aren't sure what connects them. We decided to use a similar technique because we thought it was really effective because it created enigma and gripped the audience. A lot of thriller films also use a contrast in locations and settings. We thought this worked well because it enhances the suspense of the opening and adds to confusion.

Researching other thriller films really help us as a group and enabled us to gather good techniques for are own opening. It also helps as discover what didn't work well and allowed us to learn from other people mistakes to make are project the best it could be. It also showed us subjects and plots which thriller films cover and enabled us to come us with a different and effective plot ourselves.

Storyboard - Jamie Parrett

Sound - Laurel Drew and Emma Chamberlain

For the first main part of the sequence we wanted to create a thrilling effect that reflects ideas used in sequences such as Donie Darko 21 Grams. This silence creates a thrill because the audience are left unkowing. Following this, the phone dial tone will be heard, this will be edited onto the sequence using garage band. The naturalistic settings with the casual characters will be reflected with the sound in this part of the sequences. For instance, the radio playing in the background to help us with character understanding that they are part of an every day family who listen to radio in the mornings.

Diegetic:

Crows in the empty field
Dialling from the phone in the field
Phone ringing, three different types of ringing
‘Chirpy’ birds when walking the dog

Bruce’s claws walking on the road
Jay and Bruce’s breathing
Radio in the kitchen
The toast popping out of the toaster
Toast being buttered
Dialogue

The shower

A hair dryer

Non Diegetic:



We have noted that the ringtones of the people will vary and reflect their personalities. We need to find out whether we are allowed to use copyrighted music or if we have to produce our own. After asking we found that we can use copyrighted music if it's in the ringtones or radio, because of this we can now choose ringtones that reflect the personalities, as discussed earlier.

Location and decisions - Chris Bailey

This is a shot of one of the walk ways down the 

Worth Way. We are going to be using the worth way filming when we see the man walking his dog and getting a phone call from the withheld number. Worth Way is a nature walk from East Grinstead to three bridges. This shot is going to be very effective as it’s the first time we see the character and it’s where the audience start to feel a connection towards the character shown who is going to be known as Jay. Also this shot is very effective as it is in a natural environment. We will be filming this shot during the day/ early morning so it is not dark. The reason why we are not filming when it is dark is that darkness is a convention of horror films.As this is a public place we are filming I have emailed the trustee of the
Worth Way asking permission to film while we are there. To the right is the email we sent to him and we will upload an image of his response when we get an email back.

We are useing the bedroom as another shot when we are introduced to a different character into our film. We have decided to use the bedroom as it will be a shot that people can relate to as they are just waking up. Also it is another naturalistic setting which will make our film move beliveable as it will be one of our bedrooms and we are a bunch of students, so therefore it is a students bedroom. We are going to have the first shot of her feet getting out of bed, and the camera will be on the persons feet. This is effective as we wont be able to seee the characters face so it is hidden. The seccond shot will be of the girl who is on her dressing table drying her hair.

This shot of the field is going to be the first shot in our sequence. It will be an establishing and with the camera panning from left to right. You will partly see the phone in the middle of the field, however then there will be a close up the phone. The reason that we are going to be useing this setting is that there is nothing else around. This way we can get the audience's attention by wondering what the phone is doing in the middle of this field. Between shots we will be cutting back to a close up of the phone in the middle of the filed ringing differnent people. Also by using this setting it looks very remote and shows that no one else is around, or nothing is around apart from the phone in the middle of the field

The kitchen is another shot when we are introducing another character, In this shot we are going to see somone waking up and going downstairs and making breakfast/ lunch. This is also another setting where memebers of the audience can realate to the person, as most households have kitchens. We are going to see the phone ringing on table while the character is making food. The character is not going to be able to hear the phone as things in the background such as the kettle are going to be louder than the phone

All of the settings and locations we have got we have got permisions for, such as with the bedroom and kitchen we have got permision from our perents and they have all agreed to letting us film.

Script - Emma Chamberlain

We want to keep dialogue to a minimal within the sequence, this creates restricted narration. With this we can keep the confusion of the sequence for the audience and therefore the mood is thrilling.
Only one line of dialouge is neccerseary, this is used in the kitchen location and is as follows; 

Girl: It's ringing!

Characters - Laurel Drew

Claire - Victim, being attacked in a field and rings her best friends for help.
Ellen - Best friend, we see her getting ready in the morning.
Jay - Best friends, owns a dog called Bruce which we see him walking.
Simon - Father or brother to Freya, we see him making Freya and himself toast.
Freya - Daughter or sister of Simon, she tells him that his phone is ringing.
Bruce - Jay's dog who we see being taken for a walk.

Lighting- Emma Chamberlain

We want to try and create a naturalistic morning light for all of the scenes to keep the continuity as all shots are filmed at the same, or similar times. Here's a list of locations and the different lighting we will use to create this natural morning light;

• Field:

• Bedroom:

• Worth Way:

• Kitchen:

Synopsis of the whole film - Laurel Drew

Fighting for her life Claire could only think of three people who would come running, Ellen, Jay and Simon. Best friends since childhood and always promising they were just a phone call away. But when Claire is more in need of her friends than ever they do not answer her calls. Will they be there for her when she needs them the most? Or will she be left to fight alone? 

As Claire is running away from Luke who's only interest is to see her dead. He lures her into a field, and she tries to ring her friends Ellen, Jay and Simon for help. None of them answer her because they dont hear their phones ringing.

After our opening sequence we cut back in time to see Claire on the morning before she meets Luke and their journey to the moment they are in the field.

Props- Emma Chamberlain

Field Scene:
Old Nokia Mobile- Emma's brother (? After initial planning we decided to use Chris's mobile phone as the screen was clearer an we could see who the person was calling. This was a vital part of the sequence because we wanted the audience to know that the owner of the phone was calling a friend and therefore had their name saved on the phone. This builds characterization. 
Person 1:
Mobile- Laurel
Digital clock-
Duvet-
Pillow-
Glass of water-
Towel-



Person 2:

Dog-

Dog lead- We chose not to use a dog in this scene as it would cause complications that where unnecessary. Keeping the scene to just one character walking allows the audience to focus on the character and not on other distracting features such as a dog.

Mobile-
Wedding ring-




Person 3:
Toast  Butter - Chris . The buttering of the toast noise is empathised to make the viewer pay attention to detail.
Knife - Chris
Mobile-
Cutlerly- layed out for 4 people to show that he has a family and they're having breakfast together.
Radio- The radio music is digetic and so it is important we see a radio in the shot.

Opening Plot - Laurel Drew

Establishing shot of a supposedly empty field. The camera then cuts to a shiny looking object which is a phone but the audience can't see what this is. It then cuts slightly closer to show more of the phone. A cut further close up and the audience can now see what it is. The then close up on the screen of the phone and see that is it's calling Ellen. We then cut to Ellen's bedroom where there is a close up of her phone when it starts ringing. We see her hand hit the phone and answer it. She then gets out of bed and gets ready. We then cut back to the phone who rings Jay. We then cut to Jay walking his dog Bruce. We then cut back to the field where we finally see the phone ringing Simon who is making breakfast for his family. Freya then shouts out 'It's ringing' when his phone rings and then we cut to the title of the film which is 'It's ringing'.