Initial Script

Billy Parker

EXT. WOODS.

 

March 21^st 2016. An unknown woods, with a taped crime scene at the back of a forest area. On the ground there is a wallet, some headphones and a phone, spewed all around, but all close to each other. All of these items have been marked with yellow evidence cards. In the middle of all of the evidence is a dead body, covered in a white sheet.

Two forensic scientists are seen just finishing the job of covering the dead body. They walk away from the crime scene, and this is where they cross paths with two police officers. One of the police officers Sargent Smith – female, twenty years old, long hair – is walking ahead of the other named Sargent Johnson – male, 20 years old, considerably tall – with the forensics passing on their left hand side.

The police are next seen talking to a member of public – male, 17 years old, running outfit, considerably short – is being asked questions by the police. The detective – male, 30 years old, smart clothes, long coat – appears, and begins to walk towards the crime scene.

 

Detective first arrives, walking towards the crime scene. Police 1

 

Sgt Johnson:                Sir.

 

Detective:                    Nods but does not look policeman in the eye.

 

Sgt Johnson:                We have a murder case.

Both Characters cross underneath the tape. The detective stops to take in the surroundings. They begin to walk slowly through the reasonably small crime scene.

 

Sgt Johnson:                A man has been found with numerous traumas to the head. We do not know the murder weapon, but it is safe to assume that the person did not have a comfortable death.

 

They arrive and pause at the dead body

 

The woman bled out, and the forensics are trying to find out the time of death, but we won’t know for a few days.

 

Detective:                    hmm.

 

Sgt Johnson:                (points to evidence) all we have are a phone and a wallet in the close area.

Both characters walk over to the wallet on the ground. The detective puts his rubber gloves on.  The detective kneels down and picks up the wallet. He opens it.

 

Detective:                    What do we know about this woman?

 

Sgt Johnson:                Her name is Sarah Morgan. She was 51 years old, and was married with two sons. From what we understand, we don’t know any reason for anyone to murder her.

 

Detective:                    Do her family know?

 

Stands up and begins to walk away.

 

Sgt Johnson:                Yes, we have phoned the family to let them know.

 

Both characters arrive and meet with Police 2

 

Sgt Smith:                   (slight sense of worry in her tone) Sir, with all due respect, I don’t know how you will find the murderer. There is no clear evidence, no fingerprints, nothing to work from.

 

Sgt Johnson:                (assertive) No, trust me when I tell you, that if anybody can solve this case, it’s Detective Martins.

 

Sgt Smith:                   (slightly confused) Well,

 

*Slight pause*

 

 (Assertive) we have to leave now anyway. We need to let the forensics come and asses the area.

Detective:                    Ok, I’ll catch up to you.

 

Detective turns around and has a final assessment of the crime scene.

Final Costume Decisions For Our film Opening

George Watkins

 

o   Forensic scientists

We went with the same idea that we had for these characters originally with the full white overall suits, blue rubber gloves and face masks, from of the characters in our film these characters look the best in that we managed to ace their costumes and we got them to look exactly how we wanted them to.

o   Dust sheet

We felt we couldn’t really go wrong with this costume to cover the dead body as it’s a rather simple look of having a plain white sheet laid out over the top of the body. So for this costume I believe we got this costume very accurate to the way we wanted it.

 

 o   Policemen/ police women

For these characters we decided we wanted them to be wearing dark jumpers, black trousers and police hats ideally however we didn’t manage this look in our film with both of the characters having different looks to them which wasn’t ideal, despite this we did manage to get hold of the exact police hats we were after and from these hats you can spot these characters are police from the representation of the hats.

 

o   Detective

Just like the police characters we didn’t manage to perfect this characters look however we feel the costume that our detective ended up wearing worked very well especially with the long black coat and how the character stands out compared to the rest of the characters with his all black look with the shirt and tie which also gives of a sense that the character could be important when dressed like this and in our film the detective is very important in the story line of the film.

o   Member of public (Runner)

This costume turned out pretty accurately to what we wanted in a sports clothing of the colour black and looking like he is doing running or a type of sport so the audience can make predictions on what kind of character he is.

 

 

Our film shot list

George Watkins

 

 

01:59 –

02:03   Camera pans down to phone at evidence card           'Panning (sideways movement)'           Preparing for the final part of the opening before the flashback.

02:05 –

02:07   close up of phone ringing with contact on phone       'Still'      Add a scene of mystery with to the scene with the unknown contact calling the phone found at the crime scene.

some complications occurred when creating this shot list. this shot list will help us when creating our own film opening as we can use this to look at the range of shots we our using and see if we should include more or less shots to make our film look as best as possible and we can also get a taste of how the running order in terms of shots and how the opening will look in the audiences view.

 

Props

Nathan Copping

Our film opening will contain a vareity of 6 props which we will use to create our opening. These props help develop the mise-en-scene of the setting and allow us to portray generic conventions of crime films. These props are;

• Phone - The phone is an iconic part of our crime thriller as it is used to build tension at the very end of our opening scene. The phone call shows the contact that is ringing them therefore gives the audience something to think about making them watch the rest of the film which is very important.

• Wallet & ID - The walet and ID is key as this shows the persons indentity, therefore the investigation gains a new piece of information which can link to the phone call. The wallet contains this vital piece of evidence therefore it is a piece of evidence and tats why we are using it.

• Evidence cards - Evidence cards are one of the generic conventions of crime scenes as they are always use the mark pieces of evidence found. We will use these so that we can make our crime scene as realistic as possible so that our film opening is at a god standard.

• Police tape - Police tape is another generic convention of crime scenes are usually the perimeter is bordered off with this tape to let the public know that there is a crime scene. We will use this to make sure we have used all of the necessary conventions and iconography possible.

• Police light -  The police light is to set the scene. we have used this to make sure that the scene is set and make sure the audience can clearly understand what is happening and what authorites are present at the crime scene.

• Notepad & pen - The notepad & pen is used for the detective and this is a generic convention of detectives as they are always seen the carry them around with them to take down notes, therefore we will use one to make sure the detective is displayed properly.

• Dust sheet - A Dust sheet is used to cover the body. This is a generic convention again of most crime scenes where a white sheet covers the body. Therefore we will use a dust sheet as an alternative to replicate a crime scene the best we can.

The scenes in our film and how the film will run

George Watkins

This is how our film opening will run with every scene listed with the titles it will have on the screen at the same time and also the duration of each camera shot.

o   Institutional logo (3 secs) (moose logo)

o   2^nd institutional logo (3 secs)  ( C12pictures)

o   Establishing shot of scene (5 secs) with (directors title & star actor title)

o   *Fade to black* (film title: GIALLO) (4 secs)

o   Shot of dead body with forensic 1 & 2 including actors names (7 secs) with (focus on body then pan with movement of forensics)

o   Long shot + low angle of police as forensics walk behind (5 secs) with (police actors names) 

o   Tracking from behind of detective. (8 seconds) with (casting by title)

o   Tracking from front of section of detective doing up jacket (5 secs) with (editing by title)

o   Mid to long Shot at acute angle of police taking down notes from member of public (3 secs)  (music supervisor title)

o   Long Shot of detective going under police tape (4 secs) (costumer designer title)

o   POV of detective panning looking at the murder scene (3 secs) (prop organiser title)

o   Mid shot tracking of detective walking towards the dead body. Police man joins the detective within the tape. (speaks about crime scene and body when they reach body) (20 secs)

o    Mid shot Inspector walks over to evidence to investigate. Begins to put gloves on (6 seconds)   

o   Low angle close up from in front of detective finishing putting gloves on and picking up a piece of evidence which is a wallet. (3 secs)

o   Over shoulder shot of policeman talking to detective. Low angle. (2 secs)

o   Over the shoulder shot of the wallet. (4 secs)

o   Same over the shoulder shot of policeman talking to detective. (3 secs)

o   Tracking shot of detective walking with policeman 1 towards exit. Camera stops with them and pans in front of them all talking (11 secs)

o   SRS of conversation (8 secs) 

o    Long shot of policemen leaving (5 secs)

o   Close up on detective looking around (3 secs)

o   Long shot of detective leaving (3 secs)

o   Close up on detective looking back (1 second)

o   POV of detective looking back at crime scene (2 secs)

o   Long shot of detective walking out of camera.(2 secs) Pans down to ringing phone 2 seconds later. Panning of camera (4 secs) . Extreme close up on phone contact for 2 seconds. ( 10 seconds)

o   Fade to black (1 second) “earlier that day…” appears (2 secs). Fade to white (1 second)

 

To sumarise on our film opening what happens is; a dead body is found by a runner who stummbles across the body then the police are called to the seen where they and a couple of forensics examine the area before the inspector arrives who also takes a look in at evidence of the death before eventually i phone call is heard from the phone of the dead person.

 

In the rest of the film we will be showing the time before the death and the build up to how this person dies which is why our group believe showing the murder case then having a flash back works well in that we are setting up the audience so they know a death is coming but they just do not know how it occured or why.  

Why we chose our genre

Nathan

We chose our genre because we thought that it would be a different one from the previous film openings created. We chose the crime thriller genre as we had an initial idea to do an investigation of a murder in our film, therefore we thought that a crime thriller would be a genre to base our film opening around.

Crime genre - Crime fiction id the literary genre that fictionalises crimes, their detection, criminals, and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as historical fiction or science fiction, but the boundaries are indistinct.

Thriller genre - Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television, having a numerous subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Successful examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock.

Therefore we chose to combine these two genres as we initially thought of having an investigation as the main narrative therefore we decided to use the crime genre. The thriller genre however, came from the suspense and tension we were planning on building in our opening scene therefore we decided to use this genre as well.

Rough Title order

Nathan

• Moose productions presents (4 secs)
• In association with C12 media (4 secs)
• A Billy Parker film (4 secs)
• Matt Nunez (4 secs)
• GIALLO (5 secs)
• Owen Thomas (3 secs)
• Rhys Williams (3 secs)
• Jenna Tubby (3 secs)
• Tom O'Meara (3 secs)
• Casting by Josh Breeze (3 secs)
• Film Editor Nathan Copping (3 secs)
• Costume Designer George Watkins (3 secs)
• Music supervisor Nathan Copping (3 secs)
• Director of Photography Josh breeze (3 secs) 
• Co-Producers George Watkins and Josh Breeze (4 secs)
• Produced by Billy Parker and Nathan Copping (4.5 secs)
• Directed by Billy Parker (5 secs)

Research Into Audience Figures

Billy Parker.

For our genre of crime/investigation, it is difficult because the genre is implemented into a very high number of other genres and films. for example, some of the most famous films which are about detectives and solving crime are 'seven' and 'catch me if you can'. Both of these films would not however be classed as a crime film, because 'se7en' is much more of a psychological thriller, and 'catch me if you can' is a biopic of the man Frank Abagnale. Seven has a lifetime gross of $327 million as of 26/2/16, and so we can see that the film is extremely successful. I believe that this is relevant to our film due to the fact that our film is a crime thriller, and so this is similar to the type of film that seven is.

 

Another example of a crime thriller film is 'The Dark Knight'. This film is of course a superhero film, but the film is definitely a crime thriller due to the aspects such as the mob, the police and the psychopathic Joker character all are key integral parts to the film. The film made $158 000 000 on it's opening weekend, which could indicate to our group how the big name of Batman may be the cause of the large amount of money which is generated by the name, and this is backed up by how the opening weekend for Seven was just under 14 000 000 , a considerable difference between the two. As a mainstream company we want our film to do well on the opening weekend otherwise our film would be seen as a flop. We will have to bear all of this information in mind. In regards to film openings, we will now have to make an extremely good one in order to entice audiences around the world to come and view our film so we can generate the greatest possible buzz for our opening.

 

We will be taking the main inspiration from this information as the confirmation that we need to be distributed by a mainstream company. these films have all made a lot of money and are all critically acclaimed for their openings. I know now that we should use the ideas in dark knight of building up a character by introducing them and keeping a face reveal for a short period of time to establish the characters dominance as this is something that helped the film become so popular is the antagonist of the Joker. For us, we want to establish our detective character as having importance and dominance and so we will not directly do it how The Dark Knight does with the face reveal right at the end but we will be using it as inspiration.

Institutional Logo Research

Josh Breeze

Institutional Logo Research

Mainstream film institutes have very different logos to other small independent institutes as they need to have a logo that stands out from others rival companies. The reasons for doing this is that you they want consumers of their films to instantly know the institute of the film, so that if a individual enjoys films made by a certain institute, they can easily recognize the company by their logo. Mainstreams institutes normally put a lot of funding into their logo, which makes it look  more professional and by using cinematic and animations showing their logo before their film starts. In contrast to this, independent film institutes don't have as big budgets as mainstream companies meaning that the logo itself isn't as professional because small institutes such as Film4 and Lions gate don't really need to create as big of any image as mainstream film companies as they are only targeting a small target audience with their films.

Example of mainstream logos;

The key features of this mainstream logo is that has many different elements to the logo to make the logo look professional and appeals to the audience, as they have the sufficient funds to create such a complex logo unlike a independent institution. Another key feature to this logo is that it is animated by panning around of the logo to reveal the whole logo.

Example of independent logos;

The key features of a independent institutional log is first off that they are generally very simplest and doesn't really have many layers to them. As independent film companies are only appealing to a niche audience, they don't need a logo as complex as a mainstream company. Also independent institutions normally have a small budget meaning that they don't have the sufficient funds to create something as professional as the 20th century fox logo.

From the research into institutional logos, I found that mainstream and independent films logos are a lot different from each other as mainstream institution have quite complex and visually pleasing logos, where as independent films have very simplest logos. As we have chosen to be a mainstream film company, this means that we will need to have a quite complex log appealing to a mass audience. this will also have to have some sort of animation within the logo, to achieve the same result as other mainstream logos that already exist.

Location Scouting

George Watkins

1.      Our first location is a local woods in Melbourne, Chelmsford, this location is ideal as its secluded and quite which is the kind of place you would expect a murder to take place therefore this location is very much ideal and I feel the woods gives the location a lonely and mysterious feel to it which is ideal for our genres chosen. However this location also has a few negatives such as there are houses close by which could possibly be seen in our film and the thick muddy path could be seen by the viewers as a busy walk way taking away some of that empty feel to this location.

2.      The second location is very similar to the first one as we want to prioritise woodland areas for our filming location as we feel this will be the most effective kind of location for our film opening as murders stereotypical take place in woods or other quiet and hidden away areas. However after scouting this location we found that many dog walkers pass through this wood and this could be an inconvenience when filming our opening giving this location an unrealistic feel when viewing the film. So we this location is one of the worse ones we could use out of the 5

3.      Changing up from the woodlands we found an abandoned building near our school we is also a place we took interest in due to its scary and secluded feel and the rough look it has, the kind of place you could expect a bad thing to happen making it very suited for our films narrative. However we feel the graffiti in the background spoils this location slightly.

 

 

4.      Our most preferred location is also the most local location to our group which is a nature reserve in Broomfield which is very secluded and not many locals go to this area which means we will face no interruptions also it has a lot of woodlands with multiple different areas whether it’s an open space, heavy and thick branches or placed in a slight hill, as it goes I can’t think of many negatives about this location however it is quite a wet location and has lots of puddles and wet mud which means it could be a different location to film in. 

 

5.      Our final location is a corn field close to our school which is rather secluded however it’s not particularly the best location as its rather boring and we would need permission to film there from the owner of the field and also it’s not very easy to film there without destroying the crop and there isn’t much of a back drop at this location however I do like the fact this location is flat which means you can fit a range of different length shots into our film.