Ident Research

For our film opening, we are going for a low budget, indie film sort of vibe. We will hopefully achieve this by creating an ident which is now too showy and bright.

Some examples of the 'big six' big budget idents from Hollywood studios are:

Twentieth Century Fox

Paramount

Universal

Warner Bros

Columbia Pictures

Walt Disney Pictures

To avoid looking too mainstream and high budget, we can avoid using big showy and elaborate idents. Some examples of lower budget and perhaps more arthouse-like idents are ones such as:

Svensk Filmindustri

Mosfilm

Les films du lonsange

Cuba Pictures

BBC films

UK film council

We are going to aim to make our ident more similar to these ones, because we are going for a deliberately gritty and low budget feel, also it is set in largely grey areas of London, similar to films such as 'fishtank' and 'shifty'.

B.M

Shotlist

W.H B.M

Jasper Thomas - Costume Images

For the flashback of Jasper's arrest we would like him to look unprepared and make him seem as if he is a very normal and everyday boy. For this we would like him to wear casual simple everyday clothes e.g. jeans, top and a jumper or hoodie. For example: 

For the court scene, we want Jasper to look as if he has tried really really hard to make a good impression. Ideally we would like him to wear a simple suit (similar to the ones below) but more ill-fitting to look as if he doesn't dress up often.

W.H

Character Costume - Jasper Thomas

In our opening sequence, we will mainly be seeing Jasper at the courthouse so for his costume, we want him to be dressed quite smartly in a suit to make him look like he's made a huge effort for it and so shows the audience that he considers the court case hugely important. We would also like to give the impression that he is making such a huge effort to make him seem innocent.

The only other time we see Jasper (if we choose to include this scene) is when there are flashback references to him being arrested from Ally's mind. For these shots, we would like Jasper to simply be wearing jeans and t-shirt as in the narrative, he will just be sitting at home with his family.

W.H B.M

Character Costume - Ally Quinn

For Ally's costume, we wanted quite standard, non-specific running gear that is of dark shades so she is highlighted against bright backgrounds. We didn't want her to look as if she goes running a lot (not wearing actual running gear) more as if she was running simply to be alone with her thoughts and so was wearing quite simple clothing that she had found in her cupboard.

Costume 2 - We would also like to show Ally getting ready for court/going to court. For her costume for that, we would like her to look smart and well dressed, wearing simple clothing such as a dress and suit jacket. Opposing to her running gear, we would like her to wear quite a bright dress to highlight that she is the most important person there.

W.H

Character - Jasper Thomas

Character profile: Jasper Thomas

Jasper is a 23 year old man who lives at home, just finished university and has never committed a crime in his life. He is a very good person and has a loving relationship with his family and a great relationship with his friends. He would be the last person to commit a crime.

For our actor, we chose our friend Luke Forryan. We thought Luke would be suitable to play Jasper as he looks quite young and unthreatening and so it makes the audience question to whether he is actually guilty or not.

B.M W.H

Other actors influences: 

We chose Luke because of influences of other actors who we considered to look unthreatening and young. For example:

Jesse Eisenberg: 

JJ from 'Skins' (Ollie Barbieri):

Michael Cera:

Thriller Sequence - Narrative

Ally is on a run to forget her sorrows/reflect on what has happened and the day ahead of her. Throughout her run she is thinking back to when Jasper Thomas was arrested (unfairly?) with flashbacks of her watching him being arrested and taken into a car from his house, and she has a moment of reflection and stillness by the river. This shot is interrupted by a cut to her slamming the door in her house and beginning to get ready to go to court that day. We cut back and fourth to Jasper in back of car going through city towards court looking nervous and upset. Finally we show Ally arriving at court sitting in front of car with mother next to her driving. End with shot of Ally and Jasper sharing a look and then Jasper being violently ushered into court, with Ally taking a deep breath and following with mother.

Cut to title


W.H & B.M

Character - Ally Quinn

We chose our friend Sabby to be our main character as she lives very near us which will make filming a lot easier for all of us and since the main part is quite a standard teenage girl, there were no specific requirements she had to fulfil. 

Character Profile: 

Ally Quinn is a 19 year old girl who just recently got out of school. She still lives with her parents. She has a close relationship with her parents, especially her mum but she can sometimes act uptight as if she is hiding something from them. Although she is a kind and friendly person, she also is quite fierce and brave. She also has an air of mystery and suspicion which may lead to suspicions over false accusation about Jasper. She doesn't do a lot of exercise generally but she enjoys running when her mind is preoccupied with other things and when she likes to get away from her family/home. 

W. H

Location Photos

In half term, Bea and I went to Southbank to take photos for ideas of where we would ideally like to film the opening of our thriller. The main attraction of the Southbank Centre is that it has many different aspects to it which is what we really require as in the narrative of our thriller, our main girl will be going for an early morning run through the city and so Southbank will be able to provide many different backdrops. 

To make our main character stand out from the rest of the scene, we also wanted to incorporate lots of colour as our plan for the costume is going to be quite grey and dark. This makes the Southbank Centre perfect as it contains a number of bright colours in between buildings as well as quite drab, concrete buildings. 

A lot of the main colours come from stairways around different parts of the Centre, which I think is also very good as it means we can incorporate interesting shots using the height of the stairs.

We would also really like to incorporate shots of landmarks of London to make it clear of where the setting is and also to make our character seem quite detached from her surroundings.

The river is also going to be of huge use to us as we would like the surroundings of our character to be constantly moving so we would probably be filming on Saturdays at Southbank to include lots of people so it is very busy around her when she pauses from her run. 

We also took a number of pictures of grungier/bleaker areas of Southbank Centre as we would like it to look quite depressing to match the mood of our character.

W.H

Explore the use of film language for effect in an opening sequence to a thriller. How does the director engage the audience?

One of the main ways James Cameron engages the audience in the film ‘Aliens’, is through sound. In the opening sequence, Cameron tends to use a lot of climatic orchestral music, which is quite contrapuntal to the futuristic images on screen. This creates quite an ominous and exciting atmosphere and also compliments the sci-fi genre of the film. Cameron also uses a number of diegetic mechanical noises, for example the bleeping noises on the computer screen, within the scene. This has the effect of being more realistic as well as making the audience feel more included in the scene, as if they are actually in it and can hear everything. It also gives an idea of setting as the noises of the computer and the sounds of scanning etc. makes the setting seem very futuristic and helps the audience believe that it is a spaceship. Towards the end of the opening sequence, Cameron also emphasizes and focuses on the sound of the characters breathing – this makes the audience feel quite uncomfortable and makes them feel quite up close to the characters. Also, before the dialogue, the sound can be seen as quite threatening and so warns the audience that there may be danger. However, when the dialogue cuts in, the audience feels more safe and secure and also allows the characters to begin to be introduced to the audience.

Another main way Cameron engages the audience is through lighting. In the very first shot, the lighting is blue which has the effect of making everything look very cold and clinical, forcing the audience to believe that this new world that has been created is quite a cruel and dangerous world. In the first shot actually inside the spaceship, Cameron decided to use little lighting and only on one side which causes the whole set to be in shadows, making the set look very dark and uninhabited resulting in the audience feeling nervous. Cameron also chooses to cover some of the set in an icy dust, which reflects the light, attracting the attention of the audience and also inviting them to the idea that the ship is very old. The little lighting also creates quite a mysterious feel in the shot of a sleeping character as she is still in shadow so it creates an uncertainty of who she is. Another way he uses light to engage the audience is through creating silhouettes. This is achieved very successfully in one part of the opening scene where, by using a strong white back light, he creates a very strong silhouette of a robotic creature. This alerts the audience that something is coming before they even see it producing quite a sinister and dangerous feel.

There is little use of graphics within the opening scene apart from in the credits, which are also important in engaging the audience. The ‘ALIENS’ title is created with very cold blue lighting, which can be quite intense for the audience and so immediately engages them and pulls them into the film. The white credits also stand out very boldly against the black background and so catch the audience’s eye and draw them in.

The most important way Cameron engages the audience is through camera shots and angles. At the beginning of the opening sequence he uses a number of wide shots to show the setting of the scene. This is extremely important, especially as the film is futuristic as it allows the audience to become familiar with the setting and era of the film. He also uses a very long panning shot when we first see inside the spacecraft which engages the audience by making them quite nervous at what could be hidden in the set but also allows them to really get a feel of the place that the film has led them to. These types of panning shots also give the audience the feel as if they are scanning the ship like the robots and so makes them feel more part of the film and more in touch with the futuristic/sci fi feel. Another point at which a wide shot that is used is important is when the silhouettes of the robots are coming up to the door. This zoom shot allows the audience to see everything that is happening while still keeping an air of mystery and allowing the tension to be drawn out. Cameron also uses a number of extreme close up shots of the sleeping figures face. This makes the audience feel quite uncomfortable but also reveals to them that this character is extremely important and so familiarizes her face to them.

W.H