The document summarizes the process of creating a 2 minute opening scene for a psychological thriller film. The group decided on this genre as it suited their strengths. They established characters through stereotypes and relationships. Iconography and editing were used to transition between a happy opening scene and a dark ending. A variety of filming techniques like POV shots, close-ups, and match cuts were employed. Sound design with diegetic and non-diegetic sounds also helped set the atmosphere. Through this process, the group learned about new film technologies, camerawork, lighting, editing skills, and improved their use of camera shots.

1. Q1
My group and I had the task of creating a 2 minute opening of a film. After a lot of research and
brainstorming of ideas we decided to make a psychological thriller, as it was we felt it was a very
interesting genre, and would allow us to work to our strengths.
The narrative in this movie is non-linear as it doesn’t follow any rule or chronological order when
telling the story on screen. There is a lot of enigma codes which makes the audience question a lot of
aspects, such as ‘why is that character not talking’ or ‘wait, what did he just said?’ It also allowed for
the establishment of characters and present their personalities to the audience and help them
understand what there all about. This was done through stereotypes and the way they communicate
with each other. We also established each of the characters relation together and how they reacted
towards each other. This was displayed from anything like dialect and speech to the seating plan, in
which the Edward is closest to Damian whilst Steve is sitting all alone on the other side. This echoes
their relationship with each other and foreshadows and tells the audience of an upcoming event.
The iconography in this movie is key to help establish the switch in mood and scenery of the two
contrasting scenes and make the transition from the happy opening to the dark ending. In the
friends scene the table is messy and the room is full of life. There is overexposure of light from the
sun making it seem like a nice bright day and really lifting the mood in the scene. However there are
blank playing cards which are an enigma code of something being wrong. This in contrast with the
blood scene has almost a calmer room, however it is dark in is underexposed with one single weak
light lighting the room. The three friends Edward, Steve and Maurice all have scabs and scars on
faces and look angry and almost demonic and revenge hungry. There is also now writing on the
playing cards. One word per character, describing what has happened to them and how they feel
about Damian; Why?, Murder, Death.
With the editing it was quite straightforward through most of it as it was just a matter of focussing
on effectively transitioning scenes and making the film flow. I also needed to add titles and credits
which met various forms and conventions and needed to get the right font, size and colour and place
it in a suitable position; which we felt was during the start in between the detectives walking up to
the house and during close-ups focusing on the character. I synced the music so it matched the
scene and the image on the screen. The most difficult aspect of this task was special effects to help
create an unsettling feel to the final scene. I used effects such an earthquake and radial blur as well
as layering scenes over each other. I also changed the tinting of the scenes to make scenes darker
and emphasis the dark imagery.
During filming we used a variety of techniques and shot types. We looked at other films of the same
genre and tried to pick out some shot types that are characteristic of them, or ones that help to
immerse the audience and create the atmosphere that we want in the scene. We also looked at
scenes in which friends are talking to each other for inspiration and what kind of angles are effective
during scenes of that nature. We used POV shots in which we are able to get the audience feel what
it is like to be that character and get the characters perspective and show something of importance.
We found that it was very effective in scenes of darkness and horror. We also used others such as
wide shot which helped us establish the scenes. Another key shot were close ups which helped in
focusing the point on one certain aspect and character, especially when wanting to allow the
audience to notice an aspect such as facial features etc. We used panning to help make the scenes
more stimulating and more flowing, instead of stagnated. Match on action was prevalent in the
movie as we wanted to get one certain aspect displayed from different angles. Another technique

2. we picked up after looking at other scenes and movies was reverse shot is it allowed for a flowing
conversation and how they react to each other.
During the filming process we realised the importance of sound and how it can affect the audience’s
experience. This meant that the music we chose had to be in sync and made complete sense with
scene, as well as be powerful and atmospheric so that the viewer can truly feel immersed into the
movie. The non-diegetic sounds that we decided to use such as soundtracks and background music
were very true and fitting to each sub-scene of the movie that they were played in. For the detective
scenes we settled for ‘A search for the hidden’. It was fast paced and quite dramatic and worked well
with tension building up and gave more purpose to the detectives walk up to the house. (Place the
scene with and without the music). For the bloody scene at the end in which the friends had now
become monsters/zombies we used ‘Beginning of the end’. This helped show the delusional and
tension available in the scene. It also made the atmosphere of the scene darker, in turn showing the
anger and emotions of the characters more apparent and making a scarier and chilling experience
for the audience, which is the aim and purpose of a movie of such a genre. The diegetic sound that
we focused on were during the friend scene, we made sure that the dialogue was realistic and make
it seem that there is a friendly and warm atmosphere between them, this helped to create the
contrast with the following scene and make it as effective as possible. During the following scene it is
now very aggressive and violent making them seem almost animalistic and through swearing and
carrying an angry tone of voice.
Q2
There are a selective group of characters in our opening, each with a distinct set of characteristics
complying with one certain stereotype or social group.
The main character is Damien. He is an average working class 18 year old college student. He is
neither over achieving nor under achieving and has no stand out set of skills. In this movie he is the
psycho. We represent him as quiet and distant and among with his peers he almost looks lost as if he
isn’t really there as he doesn’t overly react to anything nor does anyone pay any attention to him,
This makes the audience almost wonder if he isn’t actually there, but in reality it is him who is
hallucinating of his friends. He wears a casual suit, to show his mediocrity but also as a form of
mourning as his friends are killed. It is all black showing the darkness whilst the rest of the room is
white, portraying how he is living around purity but he is actually stained with sin. He conforms to
the stereotype of being a psycho as he is quiet and usually like most movies he portrayed as if he is
on the brinks of society. This is like many psychotic thrillers such American psycho. The effect this
has on audiences is that they begin to question what he is true purpose in the scene and what is the
reason of his presence. This automatically makes the audience suggest that something wrong with
him, this partnered with several other clues left on the way to climax turns the audience from
passive to active which was one of our aims in creating a stimulating movie.
The next character is Edward. He is Upper middle class Private school student. He is portrayed as
being quite nervous and timid. He has his top button done up which show to that he is not exactly
popular or an up to date knowledge with the latest teenage fashion. It also shows that he is quite
formal and posh which enforced through his dialect which is proper and grammatically correct. He is
also a yes man as he agrees with everyone else and never really convincingly stands up for himself.
This Confronts to stereotypes as a shy person is nervous and never have any control over a
conversation. He is forcing himself into the conversation and shows a clear lack of confidence in the
he puts himself across as he stutters and looks around for approval from his peers. This effects the
audience in a way of empathy as he is weak and fragile compared to his other two friends. It also

3. seems weird for him to be there as he is not similar at all to his friends. He is seen as the purest and
makes the audience wonder he might have done for Damian to kill him after the final scene unfolds
We then have Steve, the cocky character. He is a lower working class unemployeddropout. He is
wearing no blazer already instigating that he likes to break the rules and doesn’t comply with rules
of society of society and likes to be slightly different and stand out. His also very confrontational and
has a big ego and enjoys mocking others, however he is defensive when people question him. His
big-headed like any cocky character and big’s up himself and loves to put people down. For the
audience he is the least likely to be liked as he shoes he isn’t a very nice person for people to be with
as he pushes them away with his comments and negative atmosphere. This is shown by the fact he
sits on his own.
Maurice is a middle class part time sixth form student, part time footlocker employee. He has his top
button undone showing that he is relaxed and chilled, and much laid back as presented by his
dragged speech and tone of voice, as well as the way he acts. He is however slightly patronising
towards Edwardas he tries to be nice and congratulate more than he should. He is never overly
affected by anything that happens and is the most popular out of them as he is the one who controls
the conversation. The effect he has on the audience is that he is a cool cat and would be enjoyable
to hang around with as he creates a positive rapport for himself and has characteristic of calm and
composure which is something people look for in a person.
The last character to feature is the detective. He is not shown in much detail and not a lot is given
away about him personally but like most detectives he is quite serious. He is a skilled professional at
the age of 33. He looks tired and also seems aggressive but focused. He is also wearing a formal suit,
which is however slightly scruffy and not business like. He seems slightly stressed as if something is
on his mind, but is in control at the same time, and is wanting to finish this case. His tired
appearance is typical of detective work who are known for working long and hard on a case. An
example of this is Luther, who spends almost every single second of his day trying to work at the
case. For the audience this comes across as if he has a very high sense of authourity despite being
very independent. It also shows that he puts his all towards his job, which is a very commendable
characteristic to have.
Q3
Here you can see this is definitely a wide range of media industries who will be happy to look at
producing our film. Household names such as 20th
century fox, paramount movies and lion’s gate
films all have a proven track record of producing successful psychological thrillers. We then have
Warp movies and Miramax who are independent film companies. There are also smaller companies
such as republic films and coffee films as well as amateur online producers such as fear film.
20th
Century Fox is an extremely large distributor of films and is widely recognised as one of the most
successful film companies around. It will give us a big budget to work with to create all the special
effects and get the top actors. They also have knowledge of films of our nature as they have
produced movies such as Fight club and Black swan which have both gone on to be hugely
successful.
Film 4 who are an independent company is great for our calibre of movies as it is the prefect
platform and stepping stone for British actors and distributers which we are and our film complies
with this ethos. They have helped with films such as dead man’s shoes which very much had some
sort of role in us picking this genre and idea as well as Others such the girl who played with fire, a
field in England and Dorian gray.

4. Fear films is a very small independent company who focus mainly on producing over the internet.
They are known mainly for their production of horror and thriller and work with several other
production companies. They are very much in our line and have a very understandable approach
that suits us, especially as they specialise in our sort of movie.
However a company that very much will not be willing or suitable for the production of our movie is
Pixar. They are known solely on their huge success in the animation industry, and have an
overwhelming large audience of children automatically ruling them out.
Q4
Our target audience were 16-24 year olds of those who are in further education however it expands
to a wider circle of people, as it contains elements such as humour and crime that others might
enjoy, although it is based on lives of a younger audience who use there dialect and might be
confusing and not appealing for those who aren’t that age. Fans of psychological thrillers would very
much like this so those who may have watched fight club or black swan might be interested in our
movie. There is no specific gender group however it is more aimed at male audience as after looks at
some stats it is evident that men are more likely to enjoy a movie of this type. We are mainly
focusing on appeasing lower to middle class, mainly because of the way the characters act in is what
seen by society and the upper class as wrong however may be accepted more so in lower/middle
class.
We appealed to them by using elements that have already been used
Q5
Q6
During this process we learnt about a lot of different new technologies that are available in the
filming industry. Our main area that we really learnt a lot about was about the camera. We realised
that there was great variety of cameras and we had to pick the right one for our task and not the
most expensive. We had the choice of several with the Canon SLR 600, the Panasonic XL1S 270 KP
Camcorder and the JVC ProHD GY-HM600E to name a few. However despite the higher price tag of
the other two we went for the Canon SLR as it is very good for the cinematic of the scene. Also not
only are there so many cameras, there are even more accessories to go with it such as LED lights
, tripods, handycam and other bits and bobs to help you improve your filming experience. I also
learnt about camera shots and how important that you pick the right shot at the right moment to
help produce the best narrative possible. Also to use and comply with different rules such match on
action and the 180 degree for the scene to be free flowing. Probably The most biggest thing that I
learnt was lighting. I felt that this was probably the biggest obstacle, especially when filming over a
long day or when filming on separate days as it can look cheap and ruin the scene. Also in dark areas
the lighting is difficult to control and the camera might struggle to pick it up. It also can display the
basis of the sort of atmosphere the scene is going to carry.
Editing also come with quite a steep learning curve for me. Firstly we had to chose a program to use,
either final cut or pinnacle studio 16. We then decided to use pinnacle because it was quite user
friendly. I was able to quickly pick up the skill of transitioning scenes well and effectively. I then was
able to build other skills such as a whole variety of SFX that solved issues such as quality of filming,
lighting and add atmosphere with tools such as Radial Blur, Earthquake, corrections and stabilise to
name a few. Music was also something that came as a hindrance as it was hard to find the perfect

5. track to create the atmosphere we wanted. I also learnt shortcuts to all the required tools to make
the process quicker.
Q7
As a group we have picked a whole load of new skills along the way during this process. In our
preliminary task we showed a very limited selection of skills. Our use of camera shots was basic only
using POV, Medium shots, and Revers shots