Rough Cut Feedback

Our feedback for our rough cut was generally positive, recieving comments praising the final long shot at the end and the credits at the end which were superimposed over a piece of paper which says 'dead' over it repeatedly. The issue of no non-diegetic sound came up repeatedly. We had always intended to do this, but is good to know the importance of adding this to our thriller.

Rough Cut

Locations

The main location of the film is the path outside the house and the interior inside of it. We are going to use Oliver's Dad's house for both of them.

Gate:

The gate that the man walks through in one of the opening shots, is very eerie and Gothic-styled. This fits in very well with the mysterious stages of the beginning of the thriller.

Alley:

There is also an alley leading up to the front door. The house looks very antiquated which is why we wanted to shoot the film here because it gives an eerie, mysterious quality that the character is experiencing, to the film.

Kitchen:

This is the kitchen and in Oliver's house. This is a perfect spot for the final shot, which has the camera slowly moving down the hall into the lounge.






Lounge:

This is how the end of the final shot will look, with the murdered figure lying dead on the sofa at the far end of the lounge.

Final Storyboard

This is the final version of my storyboard. As you can see I have added the insert shot of the kettle at the very beginning of the film. I have also noted that the title of the film will appear at the end of the opening sequence. I have decided to call the film "Hired Help" because the continuing story would reveal that the man has been hired to murder the man, and that the villain of the piece is, in fact, the 'hired help'.

I have noted at the top of the page, which shots will be in colour and which will be in black & white.



Audience Questionaire

I asked thirty of my friends and family to complete this questionaire and below are the results. An audience questionaire will give me a greater understanding of what I should and should not include in my thriller, and general guidlines in regard of character, plot, story and mood.

Note: This quesitonaire was conducted after the drawing up of the intial storyboard to see whether we would have to change anything for the final storyboard.

1.) Are you male or female?

As you can see, a higher percentage (63%) of males answered my questionaire. It is merely chance that I could find more males than females, but it does give me a better idea of what my target audence, who are predominantly males, would like to see in my Thriller.

2.) Which age group do you fall under?

This chart shows that the majority of the people (60%) that completed the questionaire fell under the age bracket of 16-21. This is most likely because I asked more of my friends, who are my age, than people older than me. I do not think this will affect the results as my target audience for my Thriller is teenage males.

3.) Do you prefer the Thrillers you watch to be in colour or black & white?

The results show that the people I questioned would want neither just colour or just black and white but a combination of both. This coincides well with my idea to shoot part of my thriller in black & white and colour to show two different passages of time. This technique was also used in Christopher Nolan's thriller "Memento".

4.) How much dialogue would you like there to be in the opening of our thriller?

The response to this question gave a majority of 56% in favour there being not very much dialogue in the opening sequence of my thriller. I like this response because I believe the less dialogue, and the less information that is revealed throughout the opening, the more ambiguous and mysterious the thriller will become.

5.) What weapon would you prefer to include in our thriller?

My gut instinct to include a gun within the opening sequence has been proven as a wise decision as 60% of my audience, 18 of them, would prefer this prop.









6.) How fast would you like the editing to be?

The response showed that the majority (46%) would like fast paced editing in the opening sequence of our thriller. This was the result I was expecting, quite frankly, as it is a common code of thrillers for them to have fast paced editing and this has become the common expectation for them.






7.) When would you prefer the title of the film to appear?

The end of the film was the time most popular to have the title of the film appear. We will put this into effect in our thriller.










8.) Would you want the costumes for the characters to be smart or casual?

I am glad I got this response as it coincides with my story which has characters who would be in casual clothes. The use of casual costume also fits well with the convention of thrillers, in that everyday scenarios play out with brutal twists.







9.) Would you prefer the victim to be a male or a female?

I was pleased with this response because we do want to break conventions within our thriller, and the convention of the female being the victim and damsel in distress is one that has always annoyed me. I am glad to be breaking the codes and conventions of the thriller genre and keeping the victim as a male.

10.) Would you want the acting to be more subtle than exaggerated?

Acting is an important part of the opening sequence of my thriller so I wanted to find out some sense of what my audience wanted. I'm glad that subtle acting was favoured more than exaggerated because my research on thrillers told me that less is more, and underplaying the acting will have more of an impact.

Risk Assessment

The safety of the cast and crew of our thriller is paramount. To ensure that this is the case, we will have to be very careful when handling our props, the equipment and make sure we are generally safe in the locations we are filming in.

Risk:

During filming, the camera could be dropped and damaged.

Who/What is the risk?

The camera.

How can I prevent the risk?

I will make sure that when the camera is on the tripod, it will always be securely screwed on to ensure that it does not fall off and break, and we could lose valuable footage. When the tripod is not being used with the camera, I will hold it firmly in by hands and make it my priority to make sure I do not drop it. When the camera is not in use at all I will keep it in the case that came with it to ensure it does not get damaged.

Risk:

Tripping whilst filming the scene in the alley way.

Who/What is the risk?

Me who will be filming the scene.

How can I prevent the risk?

Make sure Zoran is behind me while I walk backwards with the camera to ensure I do not trip and fall over.

Risk:

Breaking the mug whilst filming.

Who/What is the risk?

The mug.

How can I prevent the risk?

We have identical mugs so it will not be too much of a disaster if we do break one. However, if we do break a mug it could injure someone on the cast and crew so we will be very careful that the mug is never left too close to the end of the worktop.

Risk:

Burning himself on the hot water from the kettle.

Who/What is the risk?

Cast/Crew.

How can I prevent this risk?

We must ensure we are very careful when handling the kettle, but if the unlikely happens, we are right next to a sink so we can use the cold water from the tap to treat the burns.