What board game should we use - research

Monopoly 

we could use monopoly as it is a multiplayer board game. however since there is so much going on on the board it may be difficult for the audience to pick up on the subtle details that we need to hint at that make it known that the father is imagining it. 

Chess

we could use chess as it is a two player board game and would be easier to shoot with since the board goes at a specific angle. since the pieces on the board are so well known and recognisable it would be easy for the audience to establish what the characters are doing and to drop hints. however, chess can be played alone and the audience may misinterpret it as the father teaching the child how to play since only his pieces will be moves, children re also unlikely to be playing chess

Checkers

we could use a checkers board as it is also a two player only game and is easy for children to understand. however the pieces are flat which would make it more difficult to shoot. the board is also not as eye catching as the other two board games

Shot list

1. establishing shot of the house from the driveway
2. wide shot of the apartment 
3. shot of the father and daughter playing chess // from hallways angle 
4. shot of the father and daughter playing chess // close up 
5. over the shoulder shot of the father and daughter playing at the table 
6. shot of the chess pieces moving 
7. shot of the father getting up and walking to the kitchen 
8. shot of the kettle turning on 
9. shot of the father reaching up to get a mug (no children mug)
10. over the shoulder shot of the father leaning on the counter and watching his daughter play chess
11. mid shot of the father leaning on the counter and then turning around grabbing the kettle 
12. close up of his hand picking up the kettle 
13. mid shot of him pouring the coffee
14. close up of him burning his hand 
15. low angle shot of his face going blank 
16. focus transfer of his face and then child staring in the background staring directly at him 
17. mid shot of daughter freezing is strange position 
18. wide of father in the kitchen fixing his hand 
19. shot of the daughter beginning to play again 
20. shot of the man picking up his coffee up
21. shot of the man opening the fridge and taking out a sandwich
22. tracking shot of the man walking back to the table and handing his daughter the sandwich 
23. mid shot of the father and daughter sitting down and playing again
24. close up of the father moving a chess piece 
25. close up of his burnt hand 
26. over the shoulder pan behind the fathers head 
27. transition to daughter not being there 
28. wide shot of the man sitting alone playing chess at a table (acting like daughter is still there)
29. close up of mouldy sandwiches on table 
30. wide shot of the house again. 

Mood board

 

The genre of our opening title sequence is horror. the sequence starts out in the seemingly happy home of the father and daughter, the colours are bright and they appear to be very happily playing a board game together. however, toward the end of the sequence we transition into that actuality of the home and see the same home in its actual darkness, the man it sitting at the table alone still pretending his daughter is there, theres mouldy food everywhere and there is a pill bottle spilt out on the table. 

the split and mirror between the mood board is meant to symbolise the transition into darkness, the left side is what the man is imagining and the right is whats revealed when the transition occurs. 

Independant research - how to make a fake burn

 How to make a faux burn

1. the first step in making fake burns is to use a red shade of creme shade to redden the first layer of skin that you are going to create. for this 

2. the second step is to use a translucent setting powder to set the red colour in place so that it does not rub off on to other surfaces that the hand may touch 

3. the third step is where we create the illusion of peeling of broken skin. to do this you take white liquid school glue and brush some on another part of your skin and wait for it to dry 

4. the fourth step is to peal the glue off of your skin once it has dried. the dried glue mimicks the texture of your skin once it has dried

5. the fifth step is to apply the faux skin to the "burnt" hand. to do this you can use a thin layer of the school glue and then apply the sheet of glue over it.

6. the final step of the application is to use a pair of tweezers to pick at the dried glue to further add to the illusion of flaky skin

Product/tools list:

red creme makeup:

ben nye bruise wheel SFX makeup

£38

I-magic flash colours body paint

£8

White glue:

Elmers school glue

£2.99

Setting powder:

Ben Nye natural colorless powder

£23

NYX professional transluscent setting powder

£9

Planning the idea

 Locations:

rough draft: 

Hurtwood House kitchen

studio

Final: 

Stu's house/kitchen

Characters:

rough draft: 

two students from private study

Final: 

Stu's (Father) 

Stu's daughter (Daughter)

Props:

Rough draft: 

tea cup from canteen 

plates from canteen 

piece of paper (posing as the board game)

Hurtwood House kitchen furniture 

Final:

coffee cup

kettle 

chess game

plates 

table 

chairs 

Mouldy food 

Roles and equipment 

Rough draft:

Camera: alternating

set design: alternating 

(Only two people are attending class in group as two members have COVID)

Final:

Director:

Editing:

Camera:

Set design:

makeup:

lighting: 

(alternating roles)

Opening scene breakdown - feedback

Scene breakdown

•  the scene opens up with two children playing monopoly at a table 
• then there is shot of the father making a cup of coffee in the kitchen next door
• the children can be heard in the background 
• the father spills the coffee on himself and burns himself 
• when the father spills the coffee on himself and the noise of the children dissipates
• a shot the the children sitting still and staring is shown
• the father then zones back in a smiles as he walks back to the table 
• the family begins playing monopoly and laughing 
• a shot from behind the fathers head is shown of a mirror where we can see the reality of the father behind alone.

Feedback

• The little details are the most important
• don't go overboard with the fact that he's imagining it. don't make it too obvious 
• don't add a mother too he scene as it poses a challenge for casting because the family has to look like it could be related 
• a 360 degree track/pan is not possible due to spacing issues 
• find a place to add the title into the scene 
• the details are important as it has too be two minutes long 
• the details have to be so subtle but so obvious that if the audience watches it a second time they begin to notice what the details allude too

Camera workshop #1

 In the camera workshop that we did today, we learned some of the practical and technical aspects of a camera. in the workshop we were given a Black Magic 4k camera and Pro6 tripod to assemble and learn the basics of. we learned how to transport heavy/expensive equipment with the passing phrases "yours" and "mine". when handeling heavy/expensive equipment it is advised that when you are holding the weight of the item to say "mine" and once you have released the weight of the equipment to say "yours". some of the practical and technical things we learnt were

How to put up a tripod:

to but up a tripod you need to stand it up right and open up the legs of the tripod. you then twist the knobs at the base and top of the tripod to higher or lower the tripod. (remember to put your foot in the middle of the tripod to stabilise it)

The spirit level

the spirit level of the camera is the yellow dot at the top of the tripod with a bubble in it that helps you to level the device. this helps the camera to pitch and roll 

How to move the camera on the tripod 

to move the top of the tripod you need to rotate the two small levers, one beneath the handle and the other on the left side.

mounting the camera:

to mount the camera you need to press the small oval button on the left side of the tripod base and slowly line the bottom of the camera into the slot at the top, then turn the small lever of the right side to lock the camera in place (give the camera a light wiggle to make sure its in place)

putting the battery in place:

to put the battery in place you just slide it onto the back of the camera until you hear a click 

you then flip open the screen, take the lens cap off, and turn the camera on.

Zooming:

when you zoom on a camera lens you are changing hoe close you are to a certain object. to zoom the camera lens in you rotate the largest ring round the lens closest to the end of the lens gently, this will retract and expand the lens.

                                                                         zooming in ^

                                                                        zooming out ^

Focus: 

when you change the focus you are adjusting the lens to a diffrent focal point. to do this you must gently rotate the ring closest to the base of the lens

Exposure: 

the exposure is the amount of light that reaches the sensor on the camera, making what you are filming darker, or lighter. to change this you must rotate the small blue switch at the very base of the lens (be VERY gentle as it is conveniently right next to the lens eject button)

White-balance:

when you change the white-balance on the camera you are changing the colours based on the light source you are filming. to do this you must click on the '5700k' icon on the screen, then select the apropriate light source 

striking the kit:

when the director says "Strike the kit' it means that it is time to dismantle all the equipment and put it away.

Our group opening scene idea

Idea

this opening title sequence will be for a horror movie,

the scene opens up with a shot of a mother and her two kids playing a board game at a table. we then see a shot of the father in the kitchen making a cup of coffee. As he is making the coffee he burn himself accidentally resulting in him wincing, as he does this the sound of the kids playing goes quiet as he zones out. he then zones back in and shakes his head almost as if-trying to gain consciousness and smiles as he walks back in to the room where his wife and kids are. He sits down at the table with them and begins to happily play with his family. a 360 shot of the family playing is shown and as we see behind the father there is a mirror that shows that he is alone and there is no family with him. the camera then pans behind the fathers head and as it emerges we see t he man sitting alone in a decaying room still laughing manically as if he thinks its real 

the rest of the movie

the rest of the movie follows the plot of the man believing that his family is real until he slowly starts noticing small details that allude to hum being alone. it is his slow decline into insanity 

Getting into our production groups

The group:

Kate

Isabella

Annie

Laura

 On Friday we got into our production groups and started exploring ideas for our final idea. as of right now we are exploring the idea of combining Mine and Annies idea to create a sort of imaginary family type of scene.

In our group we are using Snapchat to communicate and we have created a group chat
with all of the members of our group.

Horror Opening title sequence #3

 This opening title sequence will be for a horror movie

the scene opens up with a shot of a mother and daughter having a conversation over the phone. the mother and daughter are talking about random things such as family life, work and other topics. as they are talking we are able to see full shots of the mother sitting on her couch and cleaning, and just doing odd tasks around her house, however we are only ever able to see the daughters mouth or eyes when she speaks. the mother then asks her daughter how her family are doing and if her and her husband have solved that argument that they were having last week, the daughter then responds with a laugh and says that it was just a silly fight and that it all worked out in the end. as they are talking the mother sits down on the couch as sees that these is breaking news on the Tv. the reporter then talks about how a father and two children have been found dead in the forest, she then identifies each of the subjects by name which happen to be her daughters husband and kids, the reporter then says that the primary suspect the mother is most likely on the run and is nowhere to be found. a look of horror crosses the Mothers face as she realises what her daughter is done. She says her daughters name over the phone and we see the first full body shot of her daughter who is wearing clothes covered in blood holding a child teddy bear, she is sitting is a dark shed looking room as she eerily responds with "i told you mommy it all worked out in the end".

the rest of the movie will follow the narrative of the police and mother looking for her murderer of a daughter, however the daughter will only answer phone calls from her mother. as this is the only way of tracking her that they have, the movie is a series of eerie phone calls from the mother to daughter in an effort to track her.

 

Opening titles sequence #2 Feedback

 Problem: the 80s time period that the horror sequence was set in poses an obstacle as it can be very expensive due to the expansive set costs. if there is any details on mise-en-scene that are not accurate to the time period, the audience will notice and it will ruin the facade of the scene.

Solution: the time period of the sequence can be adjusted as it does not add anything to the scene. the atmosphere and 80s vibe of the set can still be kept if needed, however it can be set in a modern time period to expenses

Problem: Children, children can pose a problem as they are difficult to work with as it forces you to rely on their acting ability 

Solution: The ages of the children can be altered to be teenagers so that we can cast someone older

Problem: The climax of the story is reached too fast. most movies only reach the big climax mid to end of the movie. However, this opening the father is found out too fast and there is no tension created.

Solution: Allow the "normal family dinner" to take place for longer to create tension. then let the son realise his father isn't his father at the same time as the audience when he passes the mirror. This would mean that we change the linear narrative of the movie, so that the title sequence takes place in the middle of the story 

 

Horror Opening title sequence #1

The movie opens with a shot of someone entering a home and immediately shutting the door behind them (but not locking it. We then transition to them beginning a routine of  cleaning up the kitchen almost as if winding down for the night, as they do this there is a radio broadcast in the background explaining a sighting of a “highly dangerous” unidentifiable creature in a nearby village and warning all surrounding areas to keep their doors locked at night. Just as the broadcast issues the warning the person turns down the radio almost as if they had not comprehended the statement. The person then begins to get ready for bed and lock her doors for the night, as they get to the back door they call for their dog who they had let out earlier but there is no response from the dog, the person then brushed it off and leaves the back door slightly open in order for their dog to be able to get back in. the last shot is a shot of the person walking back into the house and a deformed hand coming from the outside around the door.

the rest of the movie follows the narrative of this unidentifiable person/creature in an almost apocalyptic fashion. the plot evolves to the discovery of multiple creatures of its kind and the evolution of them and how that effects the world.

 

horror opening title sequence #2

This opening scene will be to a Horror movie 

The movie opens with a family having dinner at the dinner table when the father begins acting out of the ordinary in small ways. as they're eating dinner his son beings to notice that there is something out of the ordinary happening and leaves the dinner table. as he leaves the table he makes eye-contact with his "Father" and grabs his phone as he leaves. his father stares blankly at the doorway that the son left through. the mother then cals to the father to bing him out of his delirious state to which he responds by getting up from the table in the dinging room and following the sons path. as the father passes a mirror in the hallway there is no reflection seen. when he gets to the sons bedroom he sees a telephone wire coming from inside the wardrobe,  his son is hiding in a wardrobe calling 911. the father then aggressively opens the cupboard door to reveal the son, the last shot is of the phone dropping on the floor as 911 operator asks "911 what is your emergency...hello?".

the rest of the movie will follow the narrative of the being masquerading as this families father as he secretly begins wreaking havoc on the neighbourhood. they follow the story of each member of the family finding out and eventually one of them figuring out what he is and trying to find their actual father.