Final Synopsis

The story revolves around a gangster whose dark past begins to haunt him after quitting a life of crime and seeking to contribute to society.

We begin with the gangster (Max) getting dressed. He is getting ready in his bathroom for seemingly another day at his new job. Max then opens up the mirror to reveal a pistol which he then picks up, cocks and places inside his jacket. He then picks up his keys and unlocks the door showing an old acquaintance of his (Kieran) waiting for him outside.

The next scene involves the gangster and his old acquaintance in their car, waiting for a previous client (Adam) to pass by. At which point they chase him down and run him over, putting them in the boot of their car and then proceed to interrogate him about the whereabouts of their drug stash. They leave him to think about what he is going to say, then when the acquaintance is alone; the client attempts to stab him but then is beaten to submission until he tells them where the drugs are. Finally, the old acquaintance and gangster exit the room, switch off the light and the title of the film appears.

The Filming and Editing Process

Since we started filming, we have found that our pre-production processes such as storyboards, shot lists and scripts are not necessarily concrete. This is most certainly apparent when the filming process actually begins, as the medium of film is a creative art form, this, in turn, affects the actual film and how it is put together.

For us in particular, the actual environments used to film in have limitations in space, lighting and sound. These all have to be taken in to account when filming to avoid mistakes such as continuity errors. Consequently, we have had to change much of our shots and some of our narrative.

We even considered changing some of our locations, but for practicality issues, not because their use wouldn’t have been realistic. Our main change would have been to film the street shots outside Kieran’s house, but due to problems with the equipment-mainly a lack of charge on the camera-we instead kept with our original plan and filmed the shots at Adam’s house before filming the interrogations scene. The interrogation scenes could not be filmed during the first opportunity we had to do them, again because of faults with the camera, but we did finish the drug dealing scene on the street. However, we decided to re-film some of these shots at a later date, to have plenty of choices during the editing stage of our production.

A good example of the above would be the bathroom scene, where Adam actually had to stand in the bath to film. The art of improvisation is a key weapon in any film director's arsenal. Another good example would be re-doing the scene where a gun is taken out of the bathroom cabinet. For this we could not use a tripod, as we did not have the connector for the camera to be attached securely. So we used the actual environment as the tripod, and this brought a greater realism to the scene, as well as more intimacy with the character in the scene.

When it came to reviewing what we thought would be our final edit before we evaluated or production, we found that we had a major issue, in that it was simply too confusing to be used as an opening to a thriller. To correct this, we decided against using a dual temporal perspective, and instead created a single scene out of the flashbacks and reverted them to full colour. This made the whole production ‘flow’ better when compared to our initial idea of switching between past and present shots.

Possible Problems on Shoot

People

We found that when we were filming the car scene that some people disrupted some of our shots by walking onto them, so obviously we had to wait for them to not be on the area of the location we needed to use (which was quite a big stretch of road). Furthermore, seeing as we were pretending to chase Adam in the car, one neighbour was a bit concerned by this, so we made sure to inform her on what we were doing (filming media coursework). We then informed the rest of the neighbours and they all agreed to let us film and not get in the way of our filming.

The road we selected to film on is not very busy which obviously means that there’s much less hassle regarding unwanted sound and getting in people’s way. Although the odd car does drive down the road, so we stopped accordingly to make sure we didn't cause any disruption, as well as explaining what we were doing to any driver who asked.

Another problem with using another person for our opening (Max’s Dad) was getting a time that was long enough and convenient enough for us to film. This is why we filmed that particular part in the weekend as he was off work.

With the bathroom scene, we just had to make sure Max’s Mum and Dad were out of the house to ensure that there was no unwanted background noise and that we wouldn’t be interrupted whilst filming. We also made sure to organize a set time slot with them, and fill them in on what exactly we would be doing.

Weather

This did not affect our filming so much as only a small portion of our opening was outside, it was quite cold in the middle of winter; but we made sure to wear appropriate clothing so this did not inhibit our work.

Lighting

This was a much bigger issue, and one that we made sure to plan for as it started to go dark at about 4PM. We made sure to film at about midday so we had plenty of time to film, and, if necessary, film shots again if we weren’t happy with them. Then at about 4:30 – 5:00PM we started to film the interrogation scene as this is what we needed to achieve our chiaroscuro, low key; high contrast lighting that would establish the sinister mood we needed.

For the bathroom scene, we also made sure to film during the day as we needed day scene to contrast with the night scene as the binary opposite of good and evil.

Legal

As we were using a BB gun that looks very similar to an actual gun, we made sure that we didn’t use it outside as obviously people would assume that it is a real gun and this could get us in trouble with the Police for possession of firearms. It was of course fine to use it inside however.

Risk Assessment

The three locations for our production each had their own inherent risks, but these were minimised as much as possible to ensure safe filming of our production.

Max’s Garage
The main danger was in the use of a knife in the fight scene. To prevent any injuries, we used a blunt knife and used the flat side when Kieran’s wrist is seen to be cut.
We also practiced the blocking punches whilst the garage was well lit before filming them with chiaroscuro lighting.

Road
The road we used was on a housing estate, so there was a risk of our filming being interrupted by passing cars and therefore accidents. However, it isn’t near a main road, so we didn’t have this problem. There was a risk of cars pulling out from the several driveways, so we had to check there was nobody in them before we filmed the car chase scene, which was also risky due to the fact that it was in the middle of the road.

Someone being chased by a car may look slightly odd to the public, so we informed Max’s neighbours that we were filming AS coursework before we started.

Bathroom
Due to the small sized of Max’s bathroom, some of the shots had to be filmed from inside a slightly wet bath. To reduce the risk of slipping, we first dried it with a towel, and then put down a non-slip mat, which also prevented it from being scratched by the tripod.

Logo Design

Original logo

The word 'enigma' itself creates mystery and this is reinforced with a well known symbol of the Illuminati, a organisation also surrounded with mystery. The 'burn' effect, light leaks and vignetting could also be seen to suggest conflict, as the original image has been damaged.

Final logo

The text used for 'Enigma Productions' is a sans-serif Marquisette BTN lined font which looks heavily stylized and almost handritten, making the style of the text instantly recognizable in the advertising world, which is important for getting the film recognized among the thousands of films released each year.  

Initially, it was cropped, and the text was added in the online photo editing programme Pixlr, and then a filter and vignertte was applied, and 'burn' effect was used in Pixlromatic. The text size was changed in a further edit to make it more visible.  

 

However, the logo was later edited in Adobe Photoshop CS2, which allowed us to edit the top of the image which had writing that took away from the main focal point of the pyramid, and so we used the clone tool to remove this from the image. Photoshop also contained our desired font. The 'burn' effect, light leaks and vignetting could also be seen to suggest conflict, as the original image has been damaged.

Money connotes power and authority. Most things in life can only be bought with money, this relates to the themes of drugs and underground crime as seen in our Thriller opening. Specifically, the interrogaters have power over the victim, The character in the end scene is obviously very wealthy, as he wears a suit and owns a nice house, with pictures of many family members and friends, so he is rich in the sense of money and also life. In contrast to this, the victims life is desolate, he has no money, no possessions but the clothes on his back, and no one to help him. This is a binary opposition of rich and poor.

Soundtrack

http://ghosts.nin.com/main/faq

Originally, we were going to use music from Mogwai, a Post Rock band who have an ominous, ambiguous sound which is full of texture.  We tried to get around this problem by using another, lesser known Post Rock band, but again, copyright issues relating to Creative Commons Licences stopped us from using them. 

Due to the fact that these first choices for our soundtrack were copyrighted, we decided to use a track  by Nine Inch Nails from either  the album 'Ghosts I-V,' or 'The Slip', as they are both  free to use under Creative Commons, as they are being used in a non-profitable production.

http://dl.nin.com/theslip/signup

As there is no dialogue during the interior bathroom shots, the music will play a prominent role, with very often little other than the sound a running water or traffic to compete with. However, this will change during the interrogation scenes, where we are likely to only use diegetic background noise with the dialogue between the three characters.

Due to the fact that our first choices for our soundtrack of were copyrighted, we decided to use a track  by Nine Inch Nails from either the album 'Ghosts I-V,' or 'The Slip', as they are both free to use under Creative Commons, as they are being used in a non profitable production. Nine Inch Nails' industrial sound is perfect for the ominous, disconcerting nature of Thrillers.

As there is no dialogue during the flashback shots or the interior bathroom shots, the music will play a prominent role, with very often little other than the sound a running water or traffic to compete with. However, this will change during the interrogation scenes, where we are likely to only use diegetic background noise with the dialogue between the three characters.

The piece we used for the bathroom scene (01 Ghosts I from the Ghosts I-V album) is sparse due to the individual piano playing dissonant chords. We thought this fit the main character's (Max) personality as he is vulnerable and trying to rid himself of his previous life, and start anew. Additionally, the track could be said to evoke a 'classical' style of music, similar to some of Chopin's pieces on the piano. Seeing as classical music is more upmarket, and stereotypically it's listeners are more 'intelligent', it punctuates the persona we try to create of Max's character being successful in his work.

The tracks we ended up using for the interrogation scene were 'The Four of Us Are Dying' and 'Corona Radiata' which are both from The Slip. The former worked well for the action part of the interrogation as it has a sinister, sneaky sort of sound; emphasising the fact that Adam sneaks up on Kieran with a knife. The music is also more foregrounded in the sound mix to give build tension and atmosphere. 

The latter on the other hand is much more suited for dialogue driven scenes, as it is atmospheric and does not rely on riffs or ostinatos. It is backgrounded in the mix to connote an uncertainty in the atmosphere of the opening. The track relies mainly on pedal notes and so it is very slow, which works much better on the first part of the interrogation as the action following it is much more fast paced.

Costume, Cast and Props

I was cast as the 'victim' as I am 6' 3" and skinny, making me appear the most vulnerable out of the three of us.











Kieran Brooks plays the 'brute' of the situation acting as Max's thug doing his dirty work. He fits in well with this role because he is the biggest one of us and the most intimidating. During the film he wears all black, whilst wearing a hoody to relate to 'gang culture' and the negative stereotypical view of hoodies.

 Max Lake plays the 'mastermind' behind the whole abduction and fits in well with his enigmatic role shrouded with mystery regarding who he is and what is he doing. Max is wearing a suit during our entire production connoting professionalism and that he is an intelligent man which helps enforce his 'mastermind' role.

  

As we couldn't obtain cocaine due to financial and legal restictions, we made a mixture of flour, baking soda and sugar. Glucose powder and powdered milk is often used in Hollywood films, but as it wasn't being snorted it in our production it didn't reallymatter what it was made from.

We also used a toy .38 revolver as it connotes danger and death. .38 revolvers are also really cheap to purchase and are a common weapon worldwide for civilians which makes the film seem more realistic as it would be harder for a group of young adult males to acquire armaments.

 As the revolver was blue so therefore obviously didn't fit our production, we used a more realistic  black M9 Raffica BB gun in the re-shot bathroom scene.

Locations

 Front room
We used Max's house for one of the scenes within the film. His lounge helps show that he has a family or a history of one due to the number of pictures around the room, but as the house is empty apart from Max, it makes you wonder where they are or what happened to them. One of the other locations that we used is Max's bathroom. The reason we used the bathroom is because it is a common preparation area for people getting ready for work and it helps shroud him with enigma as he has a nice house but yet, he stores a pistol in his cabinet.

Bathroom
Max's bathroom was chosen for convenience and because it contains a mirror in which his gun could be hidden and withdrawn from. However, the small size created a problem with setting up the tripod and some shots had to be filmed from within the bath.






 












  
Max's garage 
The main location was Max’s garage which we used for the interrogation scene of our opening. The room was very dark and was lit by one light which therefore made it chiaroscuro lighting. The fact that it went dark very quickly also added to the effect. The garage was also unsettling and made it seem like a thriller as it was filled with power tools which are possible items which are dangerous and could be used in an interrogation, reinforcing our reason for using the garage.                                                          

 


 Office
We also used his dad's office for the match-on-action shots in which Max and Kieran enter the garage

 

















 Street
The street outside of Max’s house provided an ideal location for our car following/chase scene due to the road being straight and very long. Not a lot of cars come past either as the house is at the end of the street providing us the ability to film undisturbed.
 

Title and Credit Choice

We will use a Sans-Serif font for the titles and credits due to the informality as opposed to Serif fonts which are much more formal. This informality works well with the informal and seemingly everyday themes covered in the film. We will also use black and white for the credits, motion overlay, smoke-like text which comes close, zooms in and disperses and hence links well with the subject matter of drugs. There are three flashbacks and in each will be one actors' name. The title of the film 'The Tester' will be shown in this smoke like font, and will be blown out adding a stylized look and mysteriousness, leading the audience to question the themes that will be covered in the film opening.

 

The Sixth Sense font above is similar to what our fonts for our titles and credits will look like. As you can see, the font is Sans-Serif lending the text an informal look and it looks almost handwritten. During the opening credits for Sixth Sense, the font zooms in to making it larger and clearer before dispersing, leaving a black screen awaiting another name to appear. This idea would be good to replicate slightly whilst adding our own touches to it as it helps create an enigma behind it all. We could make the text look like smoke in which it then lingers before dispersing off the screen.

 

The film Se7en opening credits font is similar to the Sixth Sense in that it is done against a black background with a white, handwritten style font. The way it is done creates enigmas as the font is shaky within Se7en which helps create uncertainty to the audience.

We can use the same style font in our production as it it is eerie and ominous which helps create atmosphere.

Whilst all of the above is all well and good, we have found that in our video editor Pinnacle there are technical limitations relating to animated fonts. Our smoke idea therefore might not be possible so we have come up with some alternatives. Firstly, we tried Avid studio as it contained more titles than Pinaccle but we found that it could not meet our needs as far as a good, ominous title for a Thriller goes.

One of our ideas is a ransom note style font, this relates to actual events in the opening as the hostage is kidnapped, thus enhancing the actual narrative of the opening regarding enigmas and how the ransom note might relate to the story.