Shot list with images

 

Credit to Matthew Bostock

Kate's Revenge

And here is our final product. Enjoy!

Matthew Bostock Foundation Production: Kate's Revenge

Summary of filming days

Day 1) On this day we filmed all our shots that comprise our "present day" timeline in addition to all the shots of trains that we used in our production.
For the present day timeline we filmed inside Bourne cemetary, we started at 8 o'clock and we were planning to stay there until 11; however we managed to get all the shots we needed very quickly and with no problems. The shots we took here were those of our original idea for the title screen that was to have the credits roll on the gravestones. We later abandoned this idea as it proved to be impractical and didn't look good or in theme with the rest of the production.
In addition to the gravestone shots we also filmed our intro that consists in Connor Marshall walking towards a gravestone (not showing the name) while carrying flowers and placng them at the base of the grave.
Subsequently we moved to the Tallington level crossing and took our shots of the trains to use in the production; it took from 1 till 3 to get all a wide variety of shots that we could use n the film.

Day 2) In this day we filmed all the shots from the flashback that is the main bulk of the production. We filmed at a discontinued train line in Rippingale, here we managed to get all our footage and came up with our current idea of the credits that consisted of writing our credits on the track sleepers. However this idea was discarded as the tracks were wet and we couldn't write properly on them, however we modified this idea and wrote the credits on some planks that Matthew had the good idea to bring. These planks were then positioned on one of the abandones train locomotives that were present on site. We also used the same planks to write our title on.
Overral the day went without any major problems.

Revised props and equipment list

Our original props and equipment lists have had to be reviewed because our initial ideas differ from what we ended up doing and using. Our first props list told of how we were going to use the materials from Branch Brothers and create our very own train tracks to use for the filming of our production. This is not the way we did it in the end as we found a much better solution in using an actual inactive track in Rippingale instead of going through the painful experience of trying to build our own tracks even if it would show more imagination. Because of this, we ended up using completely different props to that which was mentioned in our previous post for the props.

Props:

Gravestone - For the mourner to put the flowers at that would give the indication of death which is a conventional theme for thriller films.

Flowers - To indicate that the mourner actually cares for the person who has died, allowing the audience to fell at least some sympathy for the person that had died and channel more hate towards the killer.

Balaclava - To hide the identity of the killer and make it even more effective when he pulls his mask off and reveals his true identity.

Torn piece on beclloth - To act as a makeshift gag to use to prevent our victim from screaming or causing any loud noises that could give away what is happening.

Handbag - For our victim to be holding to give a sense of realism and to be thrown away dramatically by our victim to show that she really is fighting for her life and that is all she cares about at that moment in time.

Planks and Chalk - Used to create our credits and titles using clever filming and inspired ideas to create good titles to flash in and out throughout the film.

Equipment:

2 Tripods
2 Cameras
1 Video Camera Dolly
2 Umbrella's
1 Clipboard

Final shot list

1. Production ident
2. Gravestone with "presents" on it. Mid close-up.
3. "Kate's Revenge" written on plank on side of train, shot zooms out, close-up to long-shot
4. Cut away shot of the train, extreme close-up
5. "Connor Marshall" written on plank
6. Shot of Connor walking through graveyard
7. Close-up of gravestone with Connor walking towards it
8. ECU of flowers being laid
9. Cut away shot of train moving, close-up
10. Fade to white - "Annbelle Potts" written on plank
11. Shot of Annabelle standing on platform, mid-shot
12. Pan shot moving on dolly towards Annabelle
13. "James Craig" written on plank
14. Front shot of Annabelle standing on platform, James comes up behind, gags her, pulls her on to ground and puts her over his shoulder
15. Long shot of James/Annabelle walking down the platform
16. "Directed by Matthew Bostock" written on plank
17. Cut away shot of train, close up
18. Low shot of James throwing Annabelle on to track, mid-shot
19. "Edited by James Parronchi" written on plank
20. Cut away shot of train, extreme close up
21. Shot of James tying Annabelle down to track, long shot
22. Shot of James tying Annabelle down to track, mid shot
23. Cut away shot of train moving, extreme close up
24. High angle shot of James getting up and running after Annabelle
25. Mid shot of James picking up Annabelle and carrying her over to train track
26. Match on action shot of James/Annabelle walking over to train track
27. Match on action shot of James/Annabelle walking over to train track
28. Mid shot of James putting Annabelle down onto train track
29. "Narrated by Henry Saunston" written onto plank
30. Over shoulder shot of James pulling off balaclava
31. Shot-reverse-shot of Annabelle looking shocked
32. Mid shot of the rock
33. Close up of James's hand moving towards Annabelle's face
34. Mid shot of James tying Annabelle to train track
35. Cut away of train, long shot
36. Low angle shot showing Annabelle's face with James jumping up onto platform and walking away
37. High angle shot of Annabelle laying on train track
38. Close up of Annabelle screaming, fade to black.

Inspiration

One of the very first films ever made showed a girl being tied down to the railway tracks and being run over. We decided to reference the birth of true cinematography in our production by using a similar idea, this would give our film a more retro feel to it. This is accentuated by the effects that we have applied to all the shots, namely "Vignette" for the main film and "Old film" for the titles.
For the titles themselves we originally wanted to write on the sleepers themselves and move the camera along the tracks to achieve a sense of continuity. However due to difficluty in achieving a good, stable shot and the negatevely affecting position of the sun at the time of filming, we resorted to placing planks of wood on one of the trains present at the location, this adds a sense of continuity into our film.

Preliminary

This is our preliminary task: we did this to familiarize ourselves with camera work, team work and editing skills.

Actor Profiles

Name: Annabelle Potts
Age: 17
Role: Victim (Kate)

Annabelle was chosen for this role because she looks like the type of person who would be waiting for a train early on a morning. Annabelle's height is not dissimilar to the height of our protagonist, James, meaning that James could throw Annabelle over his shoulder without too much difficulty

Name: James Craig
Age: 16
Role: Protagonist

James has an interest in acting, and is part of our media group, which is why he was chosen for this task. James is a similar height to Annabelle, which meant he could throw her over his shoulder easily. James was able to play the part well, and when dressed in a balaclava, looked like a traditional killer.

Name: Connor Marshall
Age: 17
Role: Mourner

Connor was chosen for this role as he has the ability to look sad, and as though he would be able to be mourning at a grave. Connor played this role very well, and enabled us to get all the shots we needed.

Overall, our second filming day went very well. The location we used was perfect for the subject at hand and we managed to complete all the filming in record time and without incident.
We were also very fortuate witht the weather being totally different from the first day as in the production we have divided the script into a shot in the present (filmed on the first day) and a flashback (the second day).
The change in weather allowed us to make the distinction between the two timelines more obvious.

Photos from our filming at Tallngton level crosing (first day).

Filming Location

We have found a fantastic stretch of disused train track to use for our production. The former train house is still on site, and runs alongside the train track, so it will give the impression that the girl is waiting for a train to come. However, there are two trains on the tracks that cannot be moved, which may present us with some issues. The map below shows how we will overcome this issue:

Final Shotlist

 

 

1. Pan right through the four gravestones, with titles on each one

2. A cut away shot of the train moving – Close up shot

3. Girl is waiting at the train station with killer close behind – mid shot

4. Point of View from Killer, gagging the girl.

5. Another cut away of the train moving quickly – close up shot

6. Shot of killer gagging the girl, and lifts girl over his shoulder, walking her down the train track – mid close

up shot

7. Shot of killer putting girl down onto the train track – mid/long shot

8. Shot of the girl being tied down to the train track – close up

9. OTS shot from the killers shoulder, removes balaclava and turns to camera, at which point the girl looks shocked and recognises the killer – close up

10. Another shot of the train moving quickly – close up

11. Killer runs off leaving the girl helpless – close up

12. Side on shot of train coming, indicates death – close up

13. FTB, final shot shows mourner walking up to gravestone and laying flowers – mid shot

Title Credits for our Production

Director – Matthew Bostock

Editor – James Parronchi

Starring – James Craig, Annabelle Potts & Connor Marshall

Producer – Connor Marshall

Narration - James Parronchi

Camera Operators – James Parronchi & Matthew Bostock

Analysis of a title sequence

The title sequences above are all taken from the ‘How we Built Britain’ title sequence. The sequence consists of a series of aerial/high angle pan shots of buildings shaped as the letters that make up the word ‘Britain’. Some shots were also created in the edit using 3D effects in software such as Adobe Photoshop. The shots pan the different buildings, which range from old castles to modern day skyscrapers. Two shots of each building are then edited together, and arranged to spell the word Britain.

For the final shot, each of the buildings are then edited next to each other, with the words ‘How we Built’ edited towards the top left of the shot. This then makes the whole title of the film appear on the last frame. As this is a television series, it does not feature any text overlay for roles such as director or editor, as we would perhaps more commonly expect in films of the Thriller genre.

An interesting technique used is the introduction of a Land Rover car in each shot from the A of Britain, which can be seen driving through each shot. This gives the sense of continuity, and makes the audience feel as though they are driving through, finding these letters on their journey. The car then drives along all of the letters in the final shot.

Apart from the car, no other props are used, and no obvious additional lighting is introduced. Each shot typically features the countryside, apart from the N, which is filmed in a city environment.

Questionnaire results

I asked 10 people, including both males and females, aged between 11-17 a questionnaire to help us improve our thriller opening. The results can be seen below:

The results from question one show that people like Comedy films the most, followed by Horror films and Thriller. This shows us that although we are not making a comedy film, we could try and add an element of comedy into our thriller opening, to try and attract a wider audience. 

Question 2 shows that people in our target age group go to the cinema quite frequently. A large proportion went to the cinema just 2-4 weeks ago, and so we should bear in mind that our film does not need to be in the cinema for too long. 

Question three shows us that over 3/4 of the people like films to be 1 1/2 and 2 hours long. This shows us that the film cannot be too long, as the audience's attention might diminish if it is any longer. Also, it shows us that fast editing and fast-paced action need to be included to maintain the audience's enjoyment. 

The large proportion of our target audience do not stream movies online. This shows us that making the effort to make our film available on services such as Netflix would perhaps be a wasted effort, and that people would prefer to enjoy our movie via more traditional media methods. 

Question five shows us that the majority of people would like to go out with friends given t wo hours leisure time, instead of watching a movie. It shows us that we should work on promoting our film on posters, billboards, in taxis, buses and resturants, instead of working on promotions in the cinema. 

The last film the majority of people watched was Skyfall, the new James Bond film. At the time our survey went out, this film was extremely popular, and so it shows that people watch films that are 'in trend' - films that other people are watching and talking about on social media services such as Twitter and Facebook, and on the television and the news. 

100% of the people we asked said that they would like to watch a film involving death. This shows us that we should ensure we involve death in our film, and this is something that we have included in the opening of our thriller. 

Around 50% of our audience would spend between £5:01 and £10 on a film. Again, this shows our group that if we were working on selling our film, this is the price range we should base it on. 

This shows that most people would prefer to watch films where they have to concentrate on the plot. Therefore, we should work on making the plot more complex, and perhaps slightly twisted, so that it slowly becomes apparent to the audience how the film will end. 

Question 10 shows that the majority of our sample agree with the statement that they are a film enthusiast. It shows us that the people who we are targeting our film at are people who watch films on a regular basis, and therefore they will be experts at analysing and watching films. Therefore, we should work to ensure the film is as good as it can be, to provide the audience with the maximum amount of enjoyment.

These results give us an essential background knowledge of thrillers and how to make ours an effective thriller; we can extrapilate these results and apply them to ours to show that we have used this market research to improve our production. These results also give us an interesting insight how people react and respond to thrillers and how much they actually enjoy them, it also shows how the latest trends in the film industry are setting.

Storyboard