Our Non-diegetic Asynchronous Soundtrack Options

No Games - Civil Ryan

The first option for our soundtrack is a song produced my one of my friend's Ryan. It is quite fast-paced, so we may use this if our opening sequence ends up being a horror (idea one) because it sounds more upbeat than a soundtrack for a thriller film. This track isn't very creepy, but may suit a running scene or a scene with a lot of action.

Haunted - Ross Bugden

This second option is one of our favourites because it would go well with a thriller (idea two) and sounds very creepy. This is the sound that we're going for at the moment and resembles a child-like soundtrack or a lullaby. This soundtrack is copyright and royalty free, so I wouldn't have to pay to use it.

Witch's Lair - Desperate Measures

This last option creates a more eerie atmosphere than the first two and would also go well with a thriller opening sequence. It may suit a stalker scene or someone being followed and is also copyright and royalty free so would be easy to use.

Psycho Film Scored Analysis

This is one of the most popular pieces of film score music. It was composed by Bernard Herrmann and is the theme for the film Psycho, by Alfred Hitchcock. It could be argues that the Psycho theme is Herrmann's best and most admired film score. It was created on a low budget and so only involves string instruments, which happen to suit the genre of a horror/thriller. Herrmann had the idea that the string instruments to reflect the black and white cinematography. The theme is played in the very beginning of the film with the opening credits, as well as appearing in other intense parts of the film (the infamous shower scene). The fact that the score is just string instruments and it is a somewhat small instrumental ensemble creates tension for the audience because of the fact that it is quite fast paced and the volume of the instruments often change with sharp jabs of violin to shock the audience.

The score has influenced many other pieces, including one adaptation of the score by Danny Elfman, which was actually made for the 1998 remake of the film. Elfman is a famous composer and song-writer and has worked with people such as Tim Burton. There are other scores that have been influenced by Psycho, which have copied it's use of sharp jab sounds to create suspense.

The theme plays in the opening credits, however nothing dramatic actually happens for the first 15-20 minutes of the film, which created the affect of the audience being on edge because the theme would be stuck in their heads whilst they are watching the first few scenes.

I will be finding a score for out opening sequence, which created tension for our audience. Psycho is a horror/thriller, however out film won't include many elements of a horror. Therefore, the piece that we end up using may be a bit slower paced than this score. We want it to have a dark tone and be a bit unsettling so that the audience know that there is something wrong and they can be on edge whilst watching.

The History/Elements of Film Scores

The History of Music in Film

Before the 1930s all movies were silent. Music was commonly included in theatre productions and was brought to films to add some depth to the images shown on the screen for the audience as well as for tradition.
The majority of silent films were accompanies by full orchestras, organists, and pianists. Various books of music were published to provide ideas for scene music to have an affect on mood, element, or event. 

During the 1930s, music was established as a vital element within film. Sound within films was usually Western Classical Music (from the 19th century) would play over the film. However, original scores started to become a normal thing.Mas Steiner was the first to write a completely original score for King Kong (1933). Composers began to develop their own styles of supporting film.

In the 1940s, composers began to evolve in their work, and one of the most important and influential composers was Bernard Hermann (who I have mentioned on a previous post). He was able to create music to enhance the films that they were made for.
Jazz music had become common in the industry from the 1950s. It required less musicians, so orchestration was less expensive. James Myers and Max Freedman wrote the first rock song to appear in a film (1953), as the use of different genres was experimented with. The 1960s and 1970s included perfecting previously learned techniques and uses and also a few highly memorable scores.

The first widespread use of synthesized sound took place in the 1980s, which stemmed a film score revolution which made it a more popular choice. it became possible to score a whole film with only one performer for the very first time, using a synthesizer to product the sounds of various instruments. This caused popular songs to be produced and used as film scores.

Today, with the ongoing development of new technology and knowledge, film composers have the ability to create the perfect film score. This enhances the film and transforms it into an experience for the audience.

Elements of a Film Score

TEMP TRACKS

This is an existing piece of music score, which is used during editing to guide the mood or atmosphere. Composers are often asked to recreate or imitate a specific composer or style in the temp track. Sometimes directors like the temp score more than the original score and choose to reject it.

STRUCTURE

Films often include different themes for character, events, ideas or objects. these can be played in different styles or variations depending on what they represent. For example, John Williams' score for the Star Wars Saga includes different themes that are associated with different characters: Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia.

SOURCE MUSIC
Most films have around 40 to 120 minutes of music. Some have very little, and some have music that plays throughout. Source music is music that only comes from an on screen source that can actually be seen, for example music playing from a TV or a radio.

Film Name - Target Audience Feedback

Whilst brainstorming ideas for our opening sequence and thinking about what we wanted the plot to be. We had to think about what we wanted the name of our film to be. Although we have already produced the first cut of the opening sequence, we weren't certain on the initial name that we chose. We used 'Skitzo' but then decided that we liked 'Schizo' as well. This is because we wanted to portray the idea of the protagonist having schizophrenia so both would work. However, we couldn't decide on which one we wanted to use for our final cut. We decided to write them both on A4 pieces of paper and ask 10 students from a year 13 media class (aged 17-18) to write their name on a post-it note and stick it on their favourite title.

We picked this class because we wanted to ask students who would be able to watch the film in the cinema, as out BBFC rating is a 15. We also asked both boys and girls to get a varied opinion.

As you can see, 6/10 students liked 'Schizo' as the title, therefore we will be changing our film title because we personally like 'Schizo' more, and other people do as well.

Equipment for Filming Opening Sequence

The camera we used to film is a Hitachi High Definition Video Camera DZHV595E. It is able to film in high definition, as well as do things such as zoom and time lapse. It's quite small so it wasn't a hassle to carry around and it is good to shoot with because it is easy to travel with. This was good for us because we shot outdoors and didn't find it to be a difficult task. 

Here is the tripod that we used. It is a Hama Star 63 Tripod. It was adjustable so that we could get the shots that we wanted by changing to different heights and different angles. It also has a handle so we were able to pan when needed. 

How Did Our Filming Day Go - Video

In this video, we talk about how our filming day went. We discuss what went well and what could've been improved on our filming day.

First Cut - Main Task BLOOPERS

FIRST CUT - Main Task

This is the first cut of our main task. It is not the final cut yet, as we must change the names on the opening credits to ours. I used fake names for this cut because I wanted to test out how this cut looked with different names first. We also need to improve our first and second idents (Orion Films and Flight Pictures) because they are unclear and we could like to improve their quality. The film title screen must be changed as well because it is not very clear and we want to make the font suit the film a bit more by resembling someone's handwriting. Additionally, we would like the door scene to be a bit faster because we want the pace to resemble how the protagonist is feeling.

Filming Schedule for Opening Sequence

Here is the filming schedule that we used to keep track of what we were doing on the day of filming. We kept to it most of the time, but we were conscious of it getting too dark so we tried to speed up the final scenes that we shot a little bit. That being said, the rest of the schedule went to plan.

Costume and Props for Opening Sequence

We want Lauren to be dressed in clothes that resemble a teenage school girl. Therefore we have chosen typical clothing such as black skinny jeans. Also, white converses are typical for a young person to wear. As well as this, her hair will be up in a ponytail to show her innocence in the opening sequence.We are thinking about putting glasses on her to make her seem more vulnerable to the viewer as well. Her props involve her iPhone, covered in a case that makes it evident that she's young, and her backpack is to make her seem as she is coming home from school.

Tinika's costume is different because we want her to also look childish, but have a creepy element to her so it's obvious that her character isn't normal. She will be wearing a dress and a cardigan, which are normal items of clothing for a young person to wear, but the prop that makes her whole costume is the mask she wears. She will be wearing a mask so that the viewer can question whether she's the antagonist or not. Also, the mask hides her identity to create an effect that suits the genre (thriller).

Main Task - Schizo Script

Production Task- Schizo Script

EMILY- Lauren Hewitt

ABBIE/ABIGAIL- Monique Jackson 

FADE IN:

EMILY:

Human beings, we have dark sides; we have dark issues in our lives. To progress anywhere in life, you have to face your demons.

I learnt that the hard way.

EXT. PATHWAY - DAY

EMILY walking - On an empty pathway next to a field.She turns around, but doesn't see anything.

A girl is behind her 

'ping'

She checks her phone,then texts ABBIE. She looks behind again and continues to walk up the path.

She Takes out her phone calling ABBIE on her phone.

'ring RING RING!!!' 

EMILY:

Hey, where are you?

ABBIE:

I'm at home, where are you?

EMILY:

But you said you wanted to play a game.

ABBIE:

No I didn't. You're acting crazy.

A girl is standing closer, to her left. She turns her head

EMILY puts the phone in her pocket and runs to--

EXT. THE FRONT DOOR - DAY

And turns around when she feels a hand on her shoulder.

EMILY:

You?

THE END

Shot List - Opening Sequence

Here is our shot list that we used for our opening sequence. We printed it off and took it with us to use whilst filming to make sure that we got all of the shots that we needed.

Theories of Narrative

These are two theories of narrative which I have researched about the structure of narratives. They are very popular and I may use this in the creation of my opening sequence, as the aim of an opening sequence is to set up a narrative.

TZVETAN TODOROV'S THEORY

He states that most story's follow the same pattern, consisting of 5 steps:

• EQUILIBRIUM - The first part of the film, whereby everything is balanced and in order.
• DISRUPTION - A problem will arise in the story to disrupt the balance and happiness. 
• REALISATION - The characters realise that something is wrong in the story.
• RESTORED ORDER - The characters will attempt to fix the problem.
• NEW EQUILIBRIUM - The final part of the story, where balance is restored and the problem is resolved.

This theory follows the idea that the narrative of films is a repetitive pattern of harmony, disruption, and then harmony again. This is evidently true for most films and therefore we must assume that our film will also follow this theory. We must make sure that the elements of our opening sequence (music and lighting) can set up the equilibrium of somewhat peacefulness, but we must also make sure that we add a sense of darkness to create some unease.

VLADIMIR PROPP'S THEORY

He developed his theory by noticing a pattern in characters in folk tales:

• THE HERO - Usually seeks something.
• THE VILLAIN - Struggles against the hero.
• THE DONOR - Helps the hero or gives them a magical object.
• THE FALSE HERO - Perceived as good but emerges as evil.
• THE DISPATCHER - Sends the hero on their way.
• THE HELPER - Helps the hero on their quest.
• THE PRINCESS - The person who marries the hero.

This theory states that the characters in a film help to move the story along. In our opening sequence, only 3 characters are included. The protagonist is established as she is first seen and looks to be seeking something. We can therefore assume that she is the hero, and the second character who is seen and not heard is the villain. However, because not much us seen during the sequence, the characters aren't definite and could always change around as the plot changes.

Shots, Angles, and Movements - Research Discussion

In this video we look at different camera shots, movements and we look a bit at editing. This has helped us see common ways these techniques are used and how we could use them in our own sequence.

Location Planning

After considering other places to film our opening sequence, we decided to settle on the area around Tinika's house. This way, we could get the shot of Lauren running up to the door as discussed for the scene end scene.














The long paths near Tinika's house enable us to create an eerie effect to match our genre as a thriller. This is because long paths relate to never ending trails, which make for a creepy effect in a film opening.

This is a public field, so we won't have to get permission for filming here. However, there may be a few people passing by, so when filming we must make sure to not get them in shot and work around them.

Progress Check Discussion #1

Storyboard for Opening Sequence

Casting of Characters

Casting for Opening Sequence

We wanted our protagonist, Emily, to have a sort of typical teenage girl look. We wanted her to look kind of innocent so that the audience would be more likely to give her sympathy, but we also didn't want her to look too young and vulnerable. Therefore we preferenced a girl with blonde hair to portray that innocence, but she shouldn't have a 'baby-face' look so that it is clear she is a young adult. The costume of our character will have more influence on how she will be portrayed because we plan to dress her in darker colours not bright colours, so that it is clear that the movie will be dark, which will help to show the genre to the audience.

Our choice was our friend Lauren. She was also in our preliminary task, is in our class so she was a very convenient choice. She was also available to film when we planned to, and said that she wouldn't mind being in our opening sequence. However, the main reason that we chose her is because she has the look that we're going for; she has blonde hair and owns the clothes for the costume that we want to use, and she is also 17, so she looks like a young adult. Our choice in casting was effective, because she is in our class and she also studies drama, so we were able to explain to her exactly what we wanted her to do so she is able to play the part perfectly.

For the character of 'Abby', who plays 'Emily's' friend, whom she calls, she wouldn't be seen in the sequence, so we wanted a character with a 'teenage' voice, who could voice act well. We decided to go with our friend Monique for this character, as she also studies drama, so she will be able to accurately do the phone call scene. She is also a convenient choice because she is also in our class as well.

The final character choice was the masked character. For this option, we preferably wanted someone who studied drama as well, and someone who was able to have a kind of creepy/messy look. However, we asked around, and no one else was available for when we wanted to film. Therefore, we decided to go with Tinika, who is in our group. This was an effective choice, because she also studies drama, and also knows exactly what we want this character to do/look like. She also has long, puffy hair, which we can make look very wild, so that the audience is shocked by her look. She would also need to be present when we filmed because she is part of our group, so overall she was a good choice. However, because she will be co-directing but also a part of the production, we may be delayed whilst filming so we can both watch back the footage and make sure it is accurate.

DRAFT - Opening Sequence

This is the first draft of our opening sequence. It is not final because it is based on one of our film ideas (idea number one), that we wanted to test out. Our idents aren't completed yet, so we have inserted some draft names of what they will be. We have also decided that this genre (horror) isn't what we want to go with for our final piece. This is partly because we want to make it more thriller based, but also we had a lot of difficulty whilst filming it was dark outside because our camera couldn't focus and we ended up filming with my iPhone instead. This made our production look less professional because we couldn't use a tripod and I had to make sure I held my phone as still as possible to get a good effect. However, we don't want the final production to be steadycam. Overall, this draft ended up not looking how we wanted it do and so we must pick a new film date.

PSYCHO - Analysis

Psycho (1960)

• The story is based on the 1959 novel by Robert Bloch.
• STARRING - Anthony Perkins, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam, John McIntire, Janet Leigh.
• PRODUCED BY - Alfred Hitchcock
• STUDIO - Shamley Productions
• DISTRIBUTED BY - Paramount Pictures
• RELEASE - 16 June 1960 (US), 4 August 1960 (UK)
• BUDGET - $806,947
• BOX OFFICE - $50,000,000

One of the main elements of this opening sequence is the sound that is used. The non-diegetic, asynchronous sound begins straight away and is very dramatic. This may create tension in the audience and make them wonder what the film has to offer and what will come next. The sound also suits the genre of the film as a psychological thriller because it is very startling. 

Most of the opening sequence is taken up by the titles of the film. However, they still have an effect because there is a continuous pattern of lines throughout. This may present a 'harsh' effect because of this pattern. As well as this, the opening is in black and white, and although all films would be in black and white at this time, there is no soft grey tones, only black and white. As well as this, the titles in the opening sequence single out the important people involved in production. For example, the main female role's name comes up in bigger writing than other characters.

When the title sequence ends, the music automatically softens and the establishing shot is a big city, shown in a long shot, which pans around so the audience is able to see. The town looks quite big, and the music is softer, which contrasts the soundtrack in the beginning. This could confuse the audience and make them curious as to what will happen in the film and why the music was so dramatic before.

Editing is fast-paced and creates this along with the cinematography of the camera getting closer to a window at the end of the opening sequence creates an effect of the audience being intrusive about what is going on inside of the room.

SHUTTER ISLAND - Analysis

Shutter Island (2010)

• This thriller is based on the 2003 novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane.
• STARRING - Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Patricia Clarkson, Max von Sydow.
• PRODUCED BY - Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Bradley J. Fischer, Martin Scorsese.
• STUDIO - Paramount Pictures, Phoenix Pictures, Sikelia Productions, Appian Way
• DISTRIBUTED BY - Paramount Pictures
• RELEASE - 19 February 2010 (US), 12 March 2010 (UK)
• BUDGET - $80 million
• BOX OFFICE - $294,804,195

The opening sequence of this film does not include any titles, apart from the production companies ident then the film title. It then goes straight into the establishing shot, which is a long shot view of the sea. There is visible fog in the setting, however it fades and a boat is seen in the shot. The first character introduced is the protagonist, played by Leonardo DiCaprio. The diegetic, asynchronous sound of him retching is heard before he is seen in the film. We can see that he is in the boat and can assume that he has sea sickness as he ways to himself "pull yourself together, Teddy...it's just water".

We know that the film is set in a different time, because there is text shown that says 'Boston Harbour Islands 1954'. However, this is also evident by the costumes of the characters. The first two characters seen are both in suits with top hats and long trench coats, which aren't clothes that are worn in the modern world.

Once the two first characters leave arrive at Shutter Island, there is dramatic non-diegetic asynchronous music that starts to play, which gets louder. This clearly suggests that they are entering a dangerous place and that there is a situation that the audience don't know about yet.

The police officers on Shutter Island are all armed and look unsettled. The police officer gives the main protagonist directions and finishes his dialogue off with "is that understood?" which suggests that the protagonist doesn't have much control over himself and he does not have much power in the film. This is evident by the fact that he was ill in the very beginning so he may be fragile, and he clearly follows the orders given to him by others.

These elements of the sequence compliment the film's genre as a mystery/thriller because the audience is unaware of what the problem is and why there are so many police officers at Shutter Island and why they're so on edge.

In relation to editing, the opening uses continuity editing but an interesting element to it is that it is quite slow in the very beginning. However, as the characters reach Shutter Island, the speed picks up in order to create tension in the audience.

The BBFC Certificate of Our Film

The BBFC certificate is a key aspect of making a film. It will determine who is restricted from watching the film and therefore it has a big effect on the audience. An example is a film aimed at children that is given a 15 rating. This would mean that the target audience wouldn't be able to view the film.

As our film is aimed at young adults, it would be ideal for us to maintain a 15 rating because it would allow our target audience to view the film in cinemas as well as purchase it to be viewed at home.

According to the BBFC website, our film can include a "strong threat and horror as long as there is no sustained focus on sadistic or sexualised threat". Our opening sequence doesn't have a string threat to horror, but there are elements that make it evident that the genre isn't suitable for children. The BBFC website says that "a work which has a very dark or unsettling tone which could disturb the audience" is less likely to be passed at a 12/12A rating. Our film would be viewed as unsettling and maybe could disturb a younger audience, so a 15 rating rather than a 12/12A option is a good choice for our sequence.

The audience could see strong violence or hear strong language, but none of this is included in our actual sequence, so it could most likely be classed as a 15 rating. If we did plan to include violence or strong language, we could potentially use a great deal. However, our sequence doesn't tackle a lot of the 15 specification, so we shouldn't have to struggle with any particular elements.

Alfred Hitchcock - Suspense and Thriller

Suspense and Thriller - Alfred Hitchcock

Hitchcock was a very famous director and producer, who was nicknamed "The Master of Suspense". He had a very successful career and developed a fashion of directing which made him more recognisable; he involved trademarks such as camera movement resembling a persons gaze to maximise anxiety and fear. This helped audiences to become familiar with his work.Many of his films have twisted storylines, which involve themes from psychoanalysis.Three of his most popular films were Psycho, Rear Window and Vertigo.  I have looked at the film openings of these three films and have used them to help me plan for when I create my own thriller film opening.