My Character Profiles

Thesde are a few rough character profiles I design. I will use these while directing my actors so that they play the character to the best of their ability.

Jovelle Anthony Williams:

Age: 17

Gender: Male

Nationality: British

Race: Afro-Carribean

Height: 160cm

Weight: 75kg

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Black

Distinguishing Features: Scar over right eyebrow

Family: Christine Williams (Mother)
Keith Williams (Father)
Mia Williams (Sister) - Deceased

Personality: Dark, Serious

Hobbies: Writing, Video games, Reading, Individual Sports

Likes: Call of Duty, Twilight novels, reading, writing, badminton

Dislikes: Socialising, groups of people, bright rooms, her father

Favourite Word: Fantasy

Favourite sayings: “This place is depressing…”
“I’m bored…”
“Kill me… kill me now…”
“I hate you…”

Character description: Seemingly a normal college student, Jovelle actually suffers from Schizophrenia and he regularly experiences hallucinations which cause him to see people who don’t exist. The story revolves around Jovelle taking guidance from one of his hallucinations (Raven) and eventually ending up taking the life of his love interest.



Krystal Kimberly Holmes:

Age: 16 (and a half!)

Gender: Female

Nationality: British

Race: Caucasian

Height: 156cm

Weight: 65kg

Eye Colour: Blue

Hair Colour: Blonde/Brown

Distinguishing Features: Tattoo on left shoulder

Family: Jonathan Holmes (Father)
Jillian Holmes (Mother)

Personality: Bubbly, Spontaneous, Warm

Hobbies: Video Games, Sports, Socialising, Shopping

Likes: Cartoons, Tennis, Acting, Blue!

Dislikes: Small spaces, lots of key rings

Favourite Word: Super!

Favourite sayings: “That’s absolutely super!”
“Brill”
“I dunno really…”

Character description: A beautiful young woman who is lusted after by many, including Jovelle. Being a long time friend of Jovelle due to living with Jovelle temporarily in a care home, both have a soft spot for each other. She is aware of Jovelle’s love for her but chooses to turn a blind eye due to her parents/friends views and their warnings on Jovelle being "unstable and dangerous".



“Raven”:

Age: 17

Gender: Female

Nationality: British

Race: Caucasian, Chinese

Height: 172cm

Weight: 64kg

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Black, Purple

Distinguishing Features: Style of clothing

Family: Unknown (presumed to be deceased)

Personality: Dark, Serious, Sardonic

Hobbies: “Doesn’t really have any…”

Likes: “Nothing really…”

Dislikes: “A lot of things…”

Favourite Word: Purpose

Favourite sayings: “What is your purpose?”
“Understand my words…”
“I hate my life…”

Character description: Being a physical apparition created by Jovelle’s inner turmoil, Raven knows Jovelle even better than she knows herself. Raven can only be seen by Jovelle and tends to appear when she is alone or isolated. Her twisted personality causes her to enjoy watching Jovelle’s suffering, and she capitalises on Jovelle’s crumbling mindset, causing her to murder her love interest.



Christine Williams

Age: 35

Gender: Female

Nationality: British

Race: Afro-carribean

Height: 175cm

Weight: 64kg

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Brown

Distinguishing Features: Scars on left hand

Family: Jovelle Williams (Daughter)
Keith Williams (Husband)
Mia Williams (Daughter) - Deceased

Personality: Depressed, Suicidal, Withdrawn, Unstable

Hobbies: “Doesn’t really have any…”

Likes: “…”

Dislikes: Keith

Favourite Word: “…”

Favourite sayings: “…”

Character description: Having Jovelle at a young age, she in a sense lost part of her childhood and grew up stressed and miserable. Her misery grows when she bared a second child, which is stillborn. She was a victim of domestic violence throughout her married life and after her husband was jailed, fell into a deep depression and became reliant on anti-depression tablets.



Keith Williams

Age: 38

Gender: Male

Nationality: British

Race: Afro-carribean

Height: 187cm

Weight: 82kg

Eye Colour: Brown

Hair Colour: Brown

Distinguishing Features: Receding hairline, Speech pattern

Family: Jovelle Williams (Daughter)
Christine Williams (Wife)
Mia Williams (Daughter) - Deceased

Personality: Aggressive,

Hobbies: “Doesn’t really have any…”

Likes: Money, Beer

Dislikes: Cowards, Traitors

Favourite Word: Justice

Favourite sayings: “You think you can take me?”
“Bring it…”
“Come get some…”

Character description: Being an ex-conman, Keith is obsessed with getting money. After going through many different forms of petty crime (e.g. mugging, selling drugs etc), he attempted an armed robbery, however one of his subordinates shot one of the hostages in a stand off and the group were sent to prison. Keith was given a 20 year sentence. Jovelle despises him due to his violent ways, and her earliest memories of him include him beating her and her mother.

My Film Opening Script

1. INT. HALLWAY. DAY

The film begins with a black screen. There is ominous background sound playing alongside the institution Logos to create suspense. While the logos are being shown, an argument between Jovelle and Krystal will be taking place.

JOVELLE
(Smirks)
Found you…

KRYSTAL
(Nervously)
Please, give me a chance to explain…

There is a long silence.

JOVELLE
And I loved you… loved you…

KRYSTAL
No… don’t say that… (Pause) Look, we can start again, please! Just… forgive me…

JOVELLE
(repeating Krystal’s words)
Forgive you…

There is a long silence.

KRYSTAL
(pleading)
No please, no…

JOVELLE
(angrily)
Enough!

KRYSTAL
(loudly)
No don’t!

The sound of a gunshot acts as a sound bridge into the scene, which shows blood being splattered against the wall. The camera cuts to a canted shot behind JOVELLE, showing KRYSTAL lying feebly on the ground. In JOVELLE’S hand, a pistol is shown. The camera cuts to a point of view shot, showing JOVELLE looking downwards at KRYSTAL, who is reaching up towards him. The camera pans upwards to a mid shot of JOVELLE, who is shown to stare at KRYSTAL for a couple of seconds, before raising the pistol. The camera cuts to a mid shot of KRYSTAL holding her arm up to JOVELLE. The sound of gunfire sounds out and KRYSTAL reacts to this by jerking upwards three times, before her arm falls deadly to her side. The camera cuts to a standard shot of the blood oozing slowly across the floor. The camera cuts to an extreme close up shot of JOVELLE’s mouth, on which a brief satisfied smile can be seen before quickly dissolving. The camera jumps to another close up shot of JOVELLE running her fingers through the blood. The camera quickly cuts again a long shot of JOVELLE scrawling “I’m sorry” on the wall in blood with her free hand. The camera jumps to a close up shot of JOVELLE raising the gun to her own head. JOVELLE takes a deep breath before the camera cuts to an extreme close up shot which shows JOVELLE’s finger pulling on the trigger. The screen quickly fades to black as the sound of the gunshot sounds out. The title screen will show during this black screen.

CUT TO:
2. INT. STUDY. NIGHT

The screen fades from black to an establishing shot of a youthful version of JOVELLE sat the study, typing on the computer. The camera cuts to an extreme close up shot of the computer screen, which shows Jovelle typing “I saw her again today…”

CUT TO:
EXT. FIELD. DAY

The camera cuts to a close up point of view shot of a youthful version of KRYSTAL, who turns around slowly and smiles cutely towards the camera.

CUT TO:
INT. STUDY. NIGHT

The camera cuts to a high angle shot of JOVELLE sat the study, taking a quick sip of her drink before placing the can down and beginning to type on the computer. The camera quickly pans around JOVELLE before cutting to a low angle shot of her face. She scowls at the computer, before resuming typing. The camera cuts to an extreme close up shot of the computer screen. On it, we see “And it’s all because of my father” The camera jumps to the same shot, however this time what is on the screen has been replaced with “I hate him…” The same sentence is copy & pasted beside the previous in a following frame. In the following frame, a much larger scale version of the previous phrase is pasted below the others.

CUT TO:
INT. BEDROOM. NIGHT

The camera cuts to a mid shot of JOVELLE, huddled in the corner, staring upwards at her father. Her eyes focus on the belt in his hand then her head falls between her knees.

CUT TO:
INT. LIVING ROOM. DAY

The camera cuts to a high angle establishing shot of JOVELLE laying in the living room, writing in her diary. She is flicking her feet backwards and forwards in a childlike manner and rocking her head from side to side. The camera cuts to an extreme close up shot of the diary. In it, the audience will see JOVELLE write “I can’t take much more of this…”

CUT TO:
INT. PARK. DAY

The camera jumps to a low angle shot of JOVELLE sat on a climbing frame, staring at her forearm, a knife in her other hand. The camera jumps to a point of view shot of JOVELLE’s wrists, where two jagged bloody gashes can be seen running along her forearm. The camera jumps to an extreme close up shot of her bloody finger. Then camera cuts to another extreme close up shot of JOVELLE placing her bloody finger in her mouth.

CUT TO:
INT. STUDY. DAY

The camera cuts to a close up shot of JOVELLE staring out of the window. The camera cuts to an establishing shot of RAVEN who is crossing the road. There is a series of fragmented frames used to show this and the following. RAVEN crosses the road and walks past the driveway. She suddenly reappears at the bottom of the driveway and begins to walk up it. RAVEN suddenly stops walking and looks up at the camera. The camera then zooms in on her face as a sardonic smirk appears. In a quick transition between frames, RAVEN disappears. The screen fades to black.

JOVELLE
(Long Pause)
Let me tell you a story. I warn you… It’s in no way a happy one. It’s a story… about love… about death… about me…

My Animatic Storyboard

Below is an animatic storyboard I created for my films opening, based on my "Initial Storyboard". I created the animatic sotryboard so that I could get a rough idea of how my film would run and how the soundtrack would run alongside my film's opening.

Some Feedback

I recently asked other people to evaluate my film ideas and ideas in my film opening, and I recieved this feeback:

Some of the people said that I had a good initial idea, but I really need to stress my Genre and make sure that I am not giving awasy too much of the storyline in the opening two minutes of my film. I also was told that I need to make sure that my props are realistic and the events in the film opening are performed effectively.

My Initial Story Board

Below is a link to my Initial Story Board

My Initial Story Board

Below is a series of videoes in which I am talking through each frame and discussing my film opening.

Part 1


Part 2


I showed my storyboard to a variety of people and they gave me feedback, saying that I should try not to give too much information away in the film's opening. I plan to use this feedback to make sure that my film's opening is gripping, not too confusing, yet forces the audience to ask questions about what is to happen later in the film.

Important Notice

During the research and development stage of my film’s Production, I decided to change the name of my film. My initial film title ideas were: “All for You” and “The Diary of a Nobody”, however I have changed my films name to “Shadow of the Mind”, as I think this is a much stronger title and reflects the message of the play better. It will also show the purpose the the character Raven, whose appearance can be seen as the personified form of Jovelle's dark mind.

Constructing my Film Opening's Narrative

This is an Initial Idea I Had For My Film Opening. This is quite basic and therefore does not contain all of the camera angles I would use, however it serves as a rought idea for what I am planning to do:

• An ominous background noise will be used to build tension. The film will start with the end of the narrative. The screen will be black as the film begins. The opening logos will run before the film starts. The logo’s will be:
• Lone Raven Pictures Presents…
• Produced + Directed By… Aero’s Edit
• Sound of distant shouting. This is followed by the sound of protest, followed by gunfire. The camera cuts into the action just in time to see the blood spatter on the wall.
• (Male 1) is staring at (Female 1) who lies dead on the ground.
• (Male 1) is shown to be holding the gun. His hand is injured and his blood is dripping down the barrel of the gun.
• Cars going past can be heard in the background
• The sound of police cars suddenly becomes apparent. (Male 1) remains motionless.
• Police are shown rushing up the stairs (their legs will be shown but only their legs.
• (Male 1) hears the police banging on the door. He appears calm walks over to the mirror and uses his bloody hand to write “I’m sorry” on it. The image in the mirror will flicker to the teenage version of himself
• (Male 1) Places the gun against his head and pulls the trigger.
• Before the gun fires, cut to films title. Sound of gun fire causes the titles to begin to appear as if written.
• Edgy music will begin to play along side the opening credits (etc…). Quick snappy jump cuts between scenes which show events in the character’s past will make the opening more surreal:
• Writing in Diary (long shot of character in “Study”, scrawling manically in his diary.
• Jump cut to a high angle shot that shows him writing pages and pages in his diary.
• The camera focuses in on his writing. It becomes apparent that he is writing about a girl. The sentence that will be highlighted to the audience will be “I saw her again today…”
• Jump cut to a close up of “love interest”. She turns towards the camera, and smiles.
• The camera quickly flickers between her and the dead body a couple of times before cutting back to a high angle shot of him, still scrawling away in his diary.
• The camera cuts quickly to more events in his past, which show him hidden in the cupboard, watching his parents arguing. His father is backing his mother into a corner.
• The scene cuts slightly into the future where his mother is being brutally attacked by his father. The camera zooms in on the wardrobe where the he is shown crying.
• Suddenly, a loud (almost demonic) scream arises which acts as a sound bridge into the next frame, where the camera is focusing again on the words in the diary. “I hate him, I hate him, I HATE HIM!!!” will be all that appears on the page.
• Another jump cut shows a close up of (Male 1) alone in a room, slicing open his finger with a razor blade. He looks at his finger for a second, before bringing his finger to his bloody mouth and licking it.
• The jump cuts between frames now grow faster and the frames themselves grow shorter. The frames flicker between the previous one and the current one to create tension. There will also be a build in tense background noise.
• Jump cut to a close up of him staring out of the window.
• Jump cut to a P.O.V shot of him looking out the window. There is no movement in the road.
• Jump cut to the same scene. “Raven” has appeared. In the centre of the street. She is looking down the road. (Long Shot)
• Jump cut to the same scene. She is looking upwards at the camera. (Long Shot yet closer)
• Zoom in on the same shot. (Long Shot yet closer)
• Zoom in on the same frame. (Body Length Shot)
• Zoom in on the same frame. (Mid Shot)
• Zoom in on the same frame. (Close up)
• Zoom in on the same frame (Extreme close up on eyes)
• Jump cut to the first shot of “Raven” in the middle of the road, looking upwards at the camera. (Long Shot)
• Jump cut to the same shot. “Raven” has disappeared.
• The montage of jump cuts cease as the sound reaches its climax. There is now an ominous silence.
• The camera focuses on (Main 1) who is starting out of the window. He has a blank expression on his face, showing this experience is now normal for him. He turns around slowly and sees “Raven”
• The screen jumps to a black screen.
• In my film, this would then go into the films plot but this is where my film opening ends.


In this, I have used (Main 1) to represent my main male protagonist in my film, as i have not yet decided on a name for him. Some of the ideas I have in miond for his name are:

- Jovelle Antony Williams - Originates from two of my names (Jovelle & Antony) along with my mother's maiden name (Williams)
- Jaden Lucas - This name was randomly created by being chosen randomly from two hats, one containing a variety of forenames and the other containing surnames
(The names mentioned above are ones I'm siding with as in my film, the character's who are on close terms with the protagonist will refer to him as "Jay")
- Andrew Jones - Generated by random choice from a hat.
- Scott Johnson - Generated by random choice from a hat.

I have also used (Female 1) to represent my female lead protagonist. Some of the names I have chosen are:

- Krystal Holmes - I chose the surname randomly from a hat, however the first name of this character was a play on the word "Crystal", subtlely indicating that she is precious through the main character's eyes. I used this to come up with more names, including:
- Sapphire
- Ruby
- Precious
- Jade

Constructing my Film's Narrative

This is the initial idea of my film's narrative. I am still making changes to the narrative of my film but the current underline plot of my film is:



Part 1:

A boy of 17 finds his life lacking purpose, as the one thing he lives for (in this case Krystal) can never be his. After Jovelle’s narration about his life so far, he almost gets into a scrape with Callum, the school tough guy. Then, one day, he meets the mysterious “Raven” when she asks him for a lighter for her cigarette. She jokes with him, telling him that “she quit just this morning”. Her dark mood intrigues Jovelle as it offers him comfort and a sense of familiarity. The two part, knowing their paths will cross once again. Jovelle is sat at the back of the classroom when he is partnered up with Krystal. The two are slightly nervous around each other but find out they have a lot in common. When Jovelle leaves school, he meets up with Raven who has been waiting for him. She tells him that Krystal is bad news and not to be trusted. Jovelle asks her how she knows about Krystal, and just who the hell she is. She tells him to call her “Raven”, and hops on the bus. (KEY MOMENT) She shows her ticket to the bus driver and walks on, exchanging a few last words with Jovelle. The bus driver asks Jovelle if he’s getting on or not and Jovelle shakes his head by mistake and the bus departs. Jovelle then realises he missed his bus. Jovelle gets home late to find his mother sat alone by the table, a cup of coffee in one hand and an empty bottle of antidepressants in the other. She is a mess. Jovelle tried to offer her solitude and tells her she should stop taking the pills, however the argument escalates and she throws an opened letter at him which is a visiting order from the state prison. The two argue and Jovelle’s mother ends up slapping him. Enraged, yet near tears, Jovelle retreats upstairs, where Raven is awaiting him. He asks her how she got in and she tells him the back door was left open so she walked in, and that she hoped Jovelle’s mother wouldn’t mind. Jovelle tells her that “that crazy bitch probably wouldn’t have noticed”, a statement he quickly regrets saying.

He then tells Raven, alongside a coinciding flashback, that his father was sentenced to 12 years in prison due to domestic violence, attempted murder, possession of narcotics and assault on a police officer. The flashback shows his brutal attack on Jovelle’s mother (the elongated version of what was shown in the film’s opening) followed by the police breaking into his home and arresting him. Returning to the present, Jovelle tells Raven that his father wants to meet with him, but he can’t do it because he knows it will upset his mother and may push her over the edge. Raven takes Jovelle out to a club in order to help clear his mind. The two talk and end the night with a kiss.

Jovelle is stunned and feels guilty for sharing his first kiss with someone other than Krystal, but she tells him not to worry and it doesn’t mean anything. The two awkwardly depart. The story continues and Jovelle and Krystal see more and more of each other. One day at the bus stop, Callum decides to start trouble. Jovelle is all up for a fight; however he cannot bring himself to throw a punch when he sees Krystal, and is disgraced with a sound beating. Krystal shouts, “leave him alone!” which fills Jovelle with hope and at the same time he feels weakened that he had to rely on the assistance from her. Someone eventually breaks up the fight and Jovelle casually, with barely a scratch on him, gets up and begins to head home, but is followed by Krystal, who apologises for not being of any more help and invites him out.

Jovelle meets up with her and the two spend the day together and are about to move in to kiss, when Jovelle receives a call from his mother, and Krystal leaves.
Over the course of the next week, Jovelle and Krystal become close friends. One day, the two are talking when Callum walks past and lightly insults Jovelle. Jovelle, in the presence of Krystal, feels a strange power sweep over him and insults Callum straight back. Callum, now feeling challenged, tries to threaten Jovelle and force him to back down, but Jovelle doesn’t. Jovelle, led by a strange desire to impress Krystal and finally put Callum in his place, shows Callum up by countering all his attacks with ease, before kicking him in his groin, causing him to cry and wet himself. Callum, realising he has been made a fool out of, nastily insults Jovelle and his family, which not only earns him the loss of respect from his friends, but a punch in the face by Jovelle. Jovelle is suspended for the rest of the week for fighting, but feels as though it was worth it. Jovelle is by the river throwing stones in the river when he is met by Raven. She seems cynical about Krystal and tells Jovelle he’s making a huge mistake, before leaving. Jovelle doesn’t see Raven for a long while after their argument. During that time, Jovelle’s father escapes from jail, his fearful mother kills herself, Callum leaves the school and Jovelle and Krystal finally get together after the funeral.

Jovelle continues life as normal until one day when he is attacked by a knife wielding Callum on his way home. Callum drives the knife into Jovelle’s shoulder, but Jovelle quickly reverses the situation by knocking Callum out with a brick, but Jovelle lets all of his suppressed rage out on Callum’s unconscious body and bludgeons his head in. Raven, who had been watching the whole thing, appears and offers Jovelle support as he begins to crack under the realisation that he is now a murderer. The two, under Raven’s guidance, remove all traces of Jovelle’s presence from the scene, before telephoning the police, telling them that Jovelle’s father has committed murder and has now head to his hideout. Finally, Raven tells Jovelle to remove the knife from his shoulder, before forcing him to hold it out and ramming it into his chest. As he collapses, she tells him that she has done him a favour as now the police will view him as a victim of his father as a pose to a suspect. Jovelle finally collapses and blacks out due to blood loss. From here, there will be a short section where Jovelle’s father’s hideout is surrounded by police and refusing to be captured again, he begins to shoot at the police, but is shot in the head and dies.

Part 2:
There has been a huge jump of about 7 years and the characters are now adults. Jovelle and Krystal haven’t spoken in years and Jovelle hasn’t seen Raven since that night. One day, Jovelle meets up with Krystal and the two hit it off and end up together again. Raven makes a reappearance and Jovelle will begin to change. After Krystal becomes pregnant and his child is stillborn, Jovelle slowly begins to become paranoid and lose his grip on his sanity. Raven takes advantage of Jovelle’s crumbling sanity to twist his mind but before she can convince him to kill Krystal, he ends up in a mental institution. He manages to escape and, now completely under Raven’s influence and believes Krystal is evil and murdered his baby (this is not true but is what he believes due to Raven’s lies.) Jovelle finds the gun that has remained hidden in his house for years since his father hid it years ago and after Krystal arrives home, he locks her in and begins to threaten her with it. Krystal finds out that Jovelle killed Callum years ago and realises that he is not joking when he threaten to kill her. Taking her chances, Jovelle tries to escape but Jovelle grabs hold of her. She bits hard down on his hand, causing severe damage to it. Jovelle finally throws her down and shoots her through the chest. She dies almost instantly. Jovelle becomes aware of the mistake he made and murders himself. Raven, walks alongside Jovelle’s body and smiles, before disappearing, confirming to the audience that she was in fact all along just an apparition.

Thinking about Narrative

In order to construct the narrative for my film opening, I designed a 3D storyboard using post-it notes and jelly babies. I did this by arranging the jelly babies onto each post-it note, before placing time duration, shot type, transition and sound, in a separate heading underneath. By doing this, it allowed my to picture each scene in my head with included background, ambience and cast, making the overall ideas of my piece a lot stronger. I also found that by using different colour jelly babies, I could quickly determine for myself just who the antagonist, protagonist and additional characters would appear in each scene. This then allowed me to deconstruct my own 3D storyboard for mise purposes, which meant that I could question my own ideas and make adaptations to my storyboard, making my overall idea a lot stronger in the end. I did find this a lot more beneficial than doing a simple sketch as it was quicker and the pieces could be moved about as a pose to having to redraw the entire picture.

Above is an image of my 3D storyboard.

Research into the Thriller genre

Thrillers are a genre seen in media, film and televison texts that uses suspence and excitement as a common method to tell a story to an audience. The main purpose of the film is to generally keep the audience on the edge of their seats as the plot builds to a climax. Most thriller films excel in covering up important information from the audience until the end of the film where there is usually a big reveal in which the "mysteries" in the film are seemingly solved. Common thriller storylines revolve around crime (kiddnappings, heists, revenge being a few prime choices), however quite a large amount of thriller films (especially psychological thrillers) focus on more psychological themes (mind games, stalking, confinement, obsession being a few examples.) The most common type of thriller is the psychological thriller, however after the assassination of Presedent Kennidy, polical thrillers became very popular. Thriller films can be seen to have a "villain driven" plotline which the protagonist must overcome.

The majority of Thriller films are set in "ordinary" settings and the majority of the protagonists are regular citizens unacustomed to dangerous situations. However in crime based thriller films, the protagonists can be tough guys who are accustomed to danger (for example, detectives and police officers)

Thriller films are very similar to mysteries, however; the main difference is that in Thriller films, the hero attempts to foil a villain’s plan while in mystery films, the hero is trying to solve a crime that has already happened. For example, murder mysteries would be spoiled if the murderer was revealed from the start, however in thrillers the murder would be revealed to the audience from the beginning. Thrillers usually are a lot grander than mysteries, for example, while a mystery will end when the crime is solved, thriller films usually climax when the hero defeats the villain and saves the day. Another key difference is heroes in mystery films usually suvive once they mystery is solved, however, in a respectable amount of thriller films, the hero is often killed during the film’s climax. This method is highly influenced by “film noir” or “tragedy” films, which also show the hero to fall during the film’s ending. Recent thriller films seem to have converged with the horror genre and have a more sadistic tone and exhibit a lot more gore, violence and murders to the audience.

My Film Brief/ My Film Opening Brief

Below is a rough idea of my film's narrative. I simplified my film’s storyline into roughly 25 words in order to get an idea of what my whole film would be about, before focusing on the beginning. My film brief is as follows:

"A disturbed male of 17 finds solitude in the mysterious gothic girl known as ‘Raven’whose negative influence gradually leads him towards a murderous fate.”


I have also designed a film brief for my film's opening, which goes as follows:

"We will be introduced to the protagonist and will be given some insight into his past which lead them to become the way they are today"

Initial Ideas for My Film

Below is a link to the "Initial Ideas For My Film"

enjoy...

Initial ideas for my film

Notes on my Chosen Genre

I have gone for a hybrid genre. My main genre is Thriller, however; I have decided to incorperate an aspect of Horror into my film to make it that little bit more exciting. I think that the Horror aspect will excite my audience, while the Thriller aspect will encourage my audience to think. I have chosen these genres because I think that Thriller films are exciting and I have a lot of ideas of what a good Thriller film should look like. Also, I lot of my initial ideas were a combination of Horror and Thriler, which is why I have chosen this genre. I have also chosen Horror as I think that the Horror aspect can be used to add to the development of the characters and could be used to strengthen and stress the psychotic themes in the film.

I see Thriller films as a cross between Action and Horror, however Thriller films allow the audience to engage in the film and forces your audience to think. I like this characteristic in Thriller films as, like action films, it can engage your audience while at the same time, the horror aspect can be used to scare your audience.

I see Horror films as a lot of blood and gore that terrifies the audience. I think that this is effective as it makes your audience feel highly self conscious and uncomfortable. I plan to use this not as the main genre in the film, but as a method of scaring my audience and make them feel as uncomfortable as possible.

Mood Board

Below is a link to my "Mood Board" page on Scribd.

Enjoy...

Mood Board

I have going for an overall dark feel which is why I chose these pictures. I thought that these pictures also helped me to get a rough idea of my desired setting, costumes, character appearances and themes raised in my film.

My Mindmap

Below is my Mindmap which I used to develop the ideas for my film.

Enjoy...

Mind Map

Thinking about Certification

I have researched a variety of films from the same Genre as my own, and I have decided on the Genre I am going to use. I have decided that I am going to certify my film "15", as I think that my film has intense themes in it (for example: violence, drug use, mental problems) with may not be understood by people aged below 15. My film does not contain strong nudity, sexual references or gorey violence and therefore my film cannot be certified 18. I have decided against 12A because I believe that the films in my film are too intense for young teenagers.

Target Audience Profile

How are other films in your chosen genre certified?

The majority of the films in my genres (Thriller and Horror) are certified 15 or 18. The majority are certified in the Horror genre (e.g. Scream, The Exorcist, The Shining etc) 18 due to some of the language, themes and content that may be unsuitable for children. Many films in the Thriller genre (e.g. The Godfather, The Terminator films etc) are rated 15, due to the films containing some adult content however being aimed at young adults and teenagers. The majority of the existing Thriller films (e.g. Pulp Fiction, Fight Club, The Silence of the Lambs, Sin City etc) are certified 18 due to them containing themes which are too strong for young teenagers.


Who does your genre target?

My film is going to target teenagers aged between 13 - 19 and young adults aged between 20 - 25, as there will not be too much variation between the schooling experience of the main characters and the targetted audience and therefore the audience will be able to relate to the personal experiences the character has.


What demographic groups are you going to target?

I am going to aim to target demographic groups D and E, as they will be in able to relate to the character as their experiences will be similar to that of the character. Also, this in usually the type of fims that people in the specified dermographic groups and therefore, I will try to target this audience specifically as this will be the type of films they are used.


What audience theories may you apply to your film and its genre?

I will try to use the Uses and Gratifications Theory for my film. As audiences generally go to the cinema to be entertained, I will create my film so that is enteraining to watch. Also, even though some of the characters are quite extreme, I think that the audience’s sometimes watch films in order to find relateable characters and therefore, I plan to make my characters realistic and facing real issues that the audience can understand.


What hobbies might your audience members have?

I think that my audience will enjoy watching films in their free time and will enjoy socialising with a variety of people that they may find similar to characters in my film. Also, I think that some of the audience members may watch anime style cartoons, as some of the themes in anime cartoons are apprent in my film.


What rating would your film get in the UK?

I think that my film will be rated “18”, due to the fact that there will be will be occasional violence and language, and some of the violence in some of the scenes may be too graphic for the film to be classed as a “15”. Also, as some of the films in the film include death, drug use, child abuse, domestic violence, most peope under the age of 18 may not be able handle this.


What other media works does this audience consume regularly?

I think that my average consumer would watch a lot of Soap style programs in which they would try to relate their own lives to that of a characters. I think that most of my audience members would enjoy playing video games to relax or for excitement.


What comparable media works does your average audience member like/dislike?

As mentioned above, I think that some of my audience members will watch anime in their free time, as my film has similar issues raised in it as some anime film. My film also has similarities between otherthriller films, such as fight club, which also contains an alter ego to the main protagonist.


What comparable films has your average audience member seen?

Some well known film ideas are similar to my film. In terms of being a thriller film, my film is similar to films like fight club (as mentioned above). My film however shares more similarites with Novel’s from the Bildungsroman genre, as my film focuses on the mental and physical development of the protagonist.


Where would your average audience member shop for clothes?

I think that my average audience would shop for clothes in places such as River Island, H&M, and other such shop chains. I also think that a large amount of my audience will shop online on shos such as ebay or other online shops.


In what magazines and on what websites would you advertise your film?

I will advertise my film in magazines such as teen magazines and some of the celebrity magazines (e.g. Heat, Hello, OK, etc) I will use social network sites such as Facebook or Twitter to advertise my film, as these type of websites usually are the easiest and most effective way to distribute your film to the audiences (mass or niche)


At screenings for which films (in cinemas now) would you show yours film's trailer?

I would show my film trailer during Thriller and Horror films, as my film is a Thriller/Horror film and will therefore be relevant to my audience’s interests. I will not advertise my film during ay films certified PG or U, as the audience will not only not be old enough to view the film (generally), and the themes in my film will differ from the themes in a PG or U film and therefore the audience will not be interested in my film.

Thinking about my Genre

In order to gain more insight in my chosen genre, I have analysed 3 film openings in my chosen genres (Thriller and Horror). As my film is more of a Thriller film than a Horror, I will study the Thriller genre to a greater extent than the Horror genre.

The opening credits of the film "Se7en"

This film opening is clearly a Thriller, as it is unclear and encourages the audience to think. Also, there are a lot of enigma codes in the opening credits which will be relevant to later events in the film. The soundtrack immediately creates an uncomfortable atmosphere for the audience, and the low key lighting used in the scene reflects the rest of the film's narrative. The white writing used in the titles creates a ghostly eerie feel to the film which allows the audience to realise that there will be an aspect of Horror in the film. The appearance of blood and razor blades in the film's opening strengthens this, as blood and tools used for violence are usually seen in Horror films.


The opening credits of the film "Vertigo"

This film immediately makes the audience feel uncomfortable through the slow ominous music. The clip is unclear in meaning, as only the woman's face is shown in an upwards pan. When the scene adopts a red hue and the woman's eye widens, the audience are given an impression that the woman in frame will face violence and death during the film's narrative. The swirl that appears in the woman's eye makes her appear demonic, and it seems as though her purpose in the film may revolve around her having some kind of super power which she uses to do bad things.


The opening credits of the film "Scream"

This film is clearly set up in the beginning to be a Horror film. The innocent beginning with the light hearted acoustic background music allows the audience to settle in the film and relax, allowing the second half of the opening to shock the audience. Immediately, the white title turning red holds connotations of blood and violence. When the knife is shown in the hand of the girl, we as the audience are made aware that the girl will be killed throughout the film's narrative. The high key lighting makes the female appear ghostly and builds on the impression that she will be killed. The sudden change in the tempo and intensity of the music acts as an action note and indicates a murder will soon occur.

I plan to study these films and use techniques in these film openings in my own film's opening.

Looking At Mainstream and Inpendant Film Logos

Examples of mainstream film logos:

Mainstream film logos are created by large American institutions who have enough funding to create more expensive animated logos which can be used to "wow" a diverse audience. These insitution logos are very specific to each company and allows an audience to relate to that institution, as they will have seen the logo either in film trailers on TV or in the cinema. As my own film tagets a niche audience, I will not focus too much on these types of logo as I will not use a logo of this style in my own film.



Examples of independant film logos:

These logos are a lot more basic than that of the mainstream films, and usually these logo's do not contain much (or any) animation, due to the lack of funding to do so. The independant film logos aren't made for engaging the audience with their intricacy and uniqueness, but are merely there to allow the audience to recognise the institution behind the film, allowing the audience to make the decision to watch the film based on what other films the institution has been a part of. I plan to make my film independant and therefore I will create a basic logo which will merely give my institutional name to the audience and show a memorable logo to them which they can relate to other films.

My Research Into Filming Locations

This shows my "Reasearch Into Filming Locations"

My reasearch into filming locations

My Research Into Scenery

My Research Into Scenery

My Research Into Scenery

My Research Into Props

My Reserch Into Props

Research Into Directors

Below is a link to my Research Into Directors. I thought that this would help me to see how different directors compose their films and how each of ther own ideas and styles are apparent in their films. This would help me to then either find my own style or use some of their interesting styles in my own film.

Research Into Directors

My audience analysis

This is the first half of my results. The majority of the people I asked on the first day of my survey were around my targeted age range.

1. In which age group are you in?

This question wasn’t very important to my survey, however it showed me how many people took part in the survey. I planned to aim my film at people aged between “16 – 20”, so most of the people I asked myself were between that age range.




2. Do you occasionally go to the cinema with children? (11 years old and under)

This question would help me to determine whether my targeted audience would take their younger siblings/relatives to the cinema. This would help me as if the majority answered “yes”, I could make adjustments to my ideas before creating my film so that it is suitable for children.

From this, I have found that the majority of people in my age range do not go to the cinema with children, meaning that my idea for my film will not have to be edited much to be suitable for the targeted audience.


3. Which of these film Genres do you prefer?

The importance of this question was to find out just what my audience’s interests were. This would help me decide on a genre for my film, based on what my audience preferred. I will try to include my existing ideas into the film however; I will take into account the preferred genres my audience have chosen.



From this, I found out that the top three genres selected by my audiences are “Action”, “Comedy” and “Thriller.” With this information, I plan to use my initial ideas which were based around the Thriller/Horror genres and add comical moments to the film to comedy lovers, and add a bit of action to the film for people who love excitement in a film.


4. What would you expect to experience from the following Genres? (this can include props, settings, emotions experienced by characters and viewers)

Horror – Most of my audience said that they would expect to feel terrified and would expect a long build up of suspense. Also, the “villain” should remain concealed to add to the mystery, creating a fear of the unknown. Some of the key words assassinated with horror films are: blood, gore, knifes, victims, murders, villains, death, violence, and so on.

Drama – Most of the audience thought that this should be something that they could really submerge themselves into and be able to relate to a central character and their lives. The acting, costumes and setting should be realistic and the entire point of the film should be to create a catharsis.

Crime + Mystery – The surveyed said that these films should have a good complex yet “followable” plot which they cannot predict. There should be a lot of twists and enigma codes throughout the narrative and settings and characters should again be realistic to create a sense of verisimilitude.

Thriller – The audience said that these films should be fast action packed excitement which should shock and at times scare the audience. This type of film should, as its name suggests, “thrill” the audience. Some key signifiers my audience related to these films are: violence, fights, physiological issues, and so on.


5. For which of these reasons do you generally go to the cinema? (you may choose more than one option)

The purpose of this question was to find out about what my audience look for when they go to the cinema and generally category of audience I can trying to pitch my film to.


Other – Some of the comments for “other” were:
• To be entertained
• To see a favourite actor
• To get the full effect of a film from the large screen and surround sound.

I have found from this that the majority of my audience like to be entertained at the cinema only a select few like to go to the cinema to be informed. The film I plan to make may serve to inform people and will cause then to engage their brain, meaning that I may have to pitch my film to a different audience for it to be appreciated and to do well.

6. Which of these would you say is your favourite film out of the following options?

This question was just to give me a rough idea of what films people veer towards. I chose a range of films roughly from each genre so that I could see just where people’s interests lie.




7. Please leave comments on what specifically attracts you to the cinema. (E.g. the excitement, the interesting storyline, the characters, etc…)

Some of the answers to this were:
• The previews and trailers on TV
• If I’ve watched all of the set of a film (e.g. James Bond) I will watch all of the sequels.
• I’ve read the book so therefore I want to see how it works out as a film
• I like the famous actors
• I love the action packed events in the movies
• The larger screen, the surround sound
• The feeling of “Going out”

Taking these into account, I think that the film I design should be action packed and should give the same “I must go and see the sequel” feeling. I think that I should make my own movie as exciting as the cinema and watching my film should feel as special as going out to the cinema.


NOTE - AS THE CHARTS WOULD NOT UPLOAD PROPERLY ONTO THIS, I HAVE REUPLOADED THESE RESULTS ONTO "SCRIBD" AND PROVIDED A LINK TO THAT PAGE.


Below are the results to the survey taken from my audience to find out about their interests...

My Survey Results (Part 1)

My Analysis of Student Films

Above is an AS Media film opening titled "Angeldust". Immediately from watching the film's opening, we are made aware that the film's genre will either be Horror or Thriller. We are made aware that there will be some form of threat (the person entitled Lester727) and many enigma codes are seen in the opening which leads the audience to believe that the person entitled Lester727 is the antagonist of the film. For example, at 0:21, the message says "Found some Fresh Flesh on Facespace", which makes the audience aware that something is not as it seems. This also does not give away too much information to the audience, yet makes the audience aware that the narrative is open and more events are going to happen. The only issue with this film opening is the timing of the titles, as the film's title actually appears quite far in as a pose to right at the beginning of the film which is different to generic films.

The Strengths and Weaknesses of Student Films

In order to gain more knowledge about Student Films before I design my own, I watched a variety of student films in order to learn about some of the common strengths and weaknesses they might share. After watching a variety of these films, I chose two films and analysed them in detail in order to see where the strengths and weaknesses are apparent.

Some of the strengths
One of the strengths of student films is that the ideas from the students are original and most of the time will be different to generic films showcased in mainstream cinemas. As the students will originate from a certain area, their films may tackle events that people in that area could relate to, meaning that a niche audience can easily be targeted. Since the ideas are so original, they will be more intriguing and unique. Finally, the student films gives the students a chance for their work to be viewed by various scouts and directors, meaning they can end up being recognised due to their films.

Some of the weaknesses
A common weakness that student film will share is the lack of funding, which will mean props will be limited and special effects will not be very effective. In the film opening “Peephole”, I noticed that the camera quality was not as high as that of Hollywood filming equipment and the filming was occasionally jolty. This can be due to the awkward filming conditions (e.g. an uneven ground, strong winds etc) which student films cannot accompany for whereas the professional film institutions can film in studious where these drawbacks will not be an issue. In “Peephole”, the audio quality was impaired due to the wind, meaning that the dialogue was sometimes difficult to hear. Also, the actors will be limited due to the lack of contacts the student film makers will have. Also, there is a limited amount of soundtracks which can be used due to the fact that most of the soundtracks are copyrighted and therefore students will not be able to use well known tracks without the permission of the artists. Due to the lack of the points mentioned above, student films cannot bet made to a high enough quality in order to be anything special.

What I plan to do
When I begin to create my film opening, I plan to take into account the strengths and weaknesses mentioned above. I plan to use only my original ideas to make my film as unique and diverse as possible. I will also try to use very little props as possible or the cheapest I can find to conserve funds. I will try to plan on what days I will film ahead of schedule so that I can take weather conditions into account. Also, I will try to hold auditions for character roles so that I can make sure that I have correctly cast each role.

This is the student film I analysed

My Halloween Film Opening Remake

This is a remake of the film opening to Halloween (1978)

Enjoy...


I found recreating the film opening to a film quite interesting and beneficial as it allowed me to see how different fonts and colours used for the film titles can give different effects and set the mood differently for the audience. I also found that this encouraged me to reflect on my own film and helped me to think of a design for my own titles and film opening which would give a certain effect to the audience.

My Shot Lists for My film remakes

Halloween

Shot List (Halloween)


Superbad

Shot List Super Bad)

My storyboards for my remake film openings

In order to gain insight into the conventions of various genres, we analysed variety of film openings and began to create remakes of these film openings. Below are two storyboards to my remake films.