Thriller Opening Sequence

Our edited opening sequence.

Production Obstacles

Although we had many successes during our filming, there were still a number of obstacles that we encountered through out the process that made our sequence much harder.

12/11/10

Today I came in and did all of my work (updating my blog and checking over the storyboard) in about 10 minutes so I had 2 hours and 20 minutes with nothing to do so I felt this was a very wasted lesson.

19/11/10

We filmed our opening sequence today and we had a lot of problems. We spent about an hour trying to sort out our camera as the boom wasn't working. In the end, we realised that there was no way to fix this problem so we had to result in using a zoom mic instead which was much less reliable and harder to use but there were no more cameras with boom boxes left so we had to settle for it. We got most of the footage we wanted to get filmed but we had to cut out a couple of clips and save the part where the main character wakes up in her bed to film next week as we had no time to film it today. It was also very muddy in the cemetery so we had a lot of times where someone nearly slipped, including me whilst I was running with the camera which meant we had to film some shots a number of times.

22/11/10

We were meant to film our final scene for this lesson but we didn't have the correct location to film in as we needed a bed so we couldn't get any filming done today.

25/11/10

Chloe was a bit late today so we couldn't film until period 4.

10/12/10

We were told that we Cascade's face wasn't evil enough so we had to edit a lot of the clips to cut out his face to add more suspense to the opening sequence. This look a lot of effort as most of our clips had Cascade's face in them so we had to go to great efforts in order to cut it out whilst still maintaining the same types of clips.

13/12/10

We got a number of questionnaires back today but the computer we were using had no USB plug to plug our hard drives into the computer so it took us a while to actually get anything done.

11/03/11

We had a whole day of editing or sequence for the final time today. It went quite well but we did have a few obstacles such as the debate over whether the overall title should be at the end of the sequence or the beginning.

Production Successes

When we started filming for our thriller opening sequence, we had a number of successes that made our filming go very smoothly.

05/11/10

Today we started planning everything out. I was in charge of the storyboard which I finished within the double lesson. Chloe and Cascade also got what they were meant to do done.

15/11/10

More planning took place today. We all reviewed each others work that we had done and made any necessary changes. My storyboard was fine so I no longer have to worry about that.

18/11/10

I took my little sister to the park to get a shot of her on the swings for a part of the opening sequence. This went well as it was quick to film so I had everything done in a matter of minutes.

19/11/10

Today we filmed our thriller opening sequence. It was shot in the cemetery near Clissold Park. We got almost all shots that we wanted done as well as a number of ones we didn't even plan such as a long shot of Chloe running through the cemetery that we will use for the titles.

22/11/10

We hired a perfect room to film our final scene in for Thursday.

23/11/10

I started editing today and got almost all of it done from the clips that we have so far.

25/11/10

We finally got all of our footage filmed and it went very smoothly.

10/12/10

We were told that Cascade's face wasn't menacing enough for our thriller so we had to cut it out. It was hard on some clips but when we had done it successfully, it worked much better.

08/03/11

We changed a couple of things in our opening sequence today. We shortened some of the clips as we felt they were too long and didn't give enough impact such as the one of the girl running to a tree which we felt was too long and lost its effect after a while.

11/03/11

We had a whole day to finalise our opening sequences today. I think it was a very successful day, we made a lot of changes that really benefitted our sequence. We refilmed the final scene where the girl wakes up from her dream and it looks much more scary and panicked now which is what we were aiming for in the first place, the use of heartbeats reinforces this. We also changed the titles to much more fitting ones that play on a gravestone-like background and shake violently whilst playing, adding more suspense and emphasis to the sequence as a whole.

The Dark Knight Presentation

My coursework piece analysing the opening sequence of The Dark Knight.

Some of the captions were too small to read so I have print screened them to allow everyone to be able to read them.

Panic Room Presentation

My first coursework piece analysing the Panic Room opening sequence.

Some of the text is too small to see the captions so I have print screened them to allow people to see them.

Shot List for our Thriller Opening

Shot 1: As the girl begins to run into the graveyard, a point-of-view shot is used to make it feel as if the audience is the girl and they get the same sense of fear that the girl is getting.

Shot 2: The next shot shows the girl skidding to a halt and then quickly spinning round to look at something behind her. A medium shot will be used here so we only see half of the girl and some of her surroundings but not too drastically.

Shot 3: Another medium shot is used to film the boy as he slowly walks towards the girl. The camera zooms in ever so slightly and slowly to give a slow yet dramatic effect. He then begins to talk to the girl telling her that he's going to get her.

Shot 4: We go back to the medium shot of the girl who gasps and the camera then rapidly does an extreme closeup of the girls eye. A flash can be seen before we see the next clip.

Shot 5: This clip shows a long shot of a roundabout in a playground spinning by itself. The camera is greyed and dreary to give a dark flashback effect.

Shot 6: The camera flashes again and the clip stays the same as a long shot but we very briefly see a young boy spinning along with the roundabout. This is the boy that died in the fatal accident when the girl and boy were both kids. He is the boy's brother.

Shot 7: The camera flashes again and we again see the long shot of the roundabout spinning without anyone on it again.

Shot 8: The camera then rapidly zooms out of the girl's eye and we get the same medium shot of her before as she still gasps and pants with fright.

Shot 9: There is then an over the shoulder shot filmed over the boys shoulder and we can see the girl. He then says a couple of things to her and turns to leave.

Shot 10: The camera then shows a long shot of the boy walking out of the graveyard.

Shot 11: For the third time, we get a medium shot of the girl as she stands there for a moment before speeding off camera in the opposite direction the boy had been walking in.

Shot 12: We then get a panning medium shot of the girl as she runs towards the exit of the graveyard.

Shot 13: The girl quickly rushes out and bumps into her friend in a medium two shot.

Shot 14: We then get an over the shoulder shot from the girl as her friend puts her hands on her shoulders and gently shakes her, asking what's wrong and why she's panicking so much.

Shot 15: The camera then flashes again and we get a closeup of the girl as she quickly sits up in her bed, gasping and panting as she recollects her thoughts.

Shot 16: We then get a long shot of the girl as she sits in her bed and begins to realise that she was having yet another dream.

Shot 17: We then get a medium shot as the camera slowly zooms into the girl sitting in her bed as she begins to cry.

3.2 Synopsis

The synopsis for our thriller opening sequence tells the tale of a teenage girl who, in the past, was friends with a boy. They used to play a lot in a park, especially on the roundabout but one day whilst they were playing with the boys younger brother, the girl accidently knocked him off the roundabout causing him to take a fatal blow to the head and ended up dying. From that day on, the boy threatened to get the girl back and take revenge on what she did to his brother. Since then, the boy was put in a mental institute as he went somewhat insane from what happened that day in the playground and it's impossible for him to get out of the mental institute. The girl however, sees him coming after her all the time to take revenge for his brother.

The opening starts with the girl screaming and running into a graveyard and being followed by the boy who is in fact a figment of her imagination however, the audience do not know this until the end of the film and they think that the boy is actually there. Once again, he states that he will get her. Shocked, the camera rapidly zooms in quickly to an extreme closeup of her eye where we then see a quick flashback she has of the roundabout spinning round and round with no one on it. Echoed voices and laughing children can be heard in the background that are all mashed up so all the words are not audible. The shot of the roundabout then flashes and we see, for a split second, the boy's brother on it. The camera then flashes again and the boy is gone, leaving the roundabout to just spin again with no one else on it. This is a representation of the girl's insanity as the brother isn't really there as well as a representation of the boy's helplessness to do anything for his brother whilst he watches him on the roundabout, reinforced by the point of view shot from the boy's point of view. The camera then zooms out of her eye and we see her panicking and breathing heavily. The boy then turns and leaves the graveyard and the girl quickly turns and starts running out of the graveyard. She runs into her friend who asks her why she's running and looks so panicked. We then see a closeup of her face as she breaths really heavily and then the camera quickly cuts to her waking up from a dream.

The rest of the movie incorporates the boy, in her imagination chasing after her to take revenge on her. He starts to kill off all her loved ones as she slowly begins to lose her sanity as he kills off more and more of her loved ones.

In the end of the film we find out that the boy never actually existed away from the mental institute and he had never escaped at all, all the things that he did were actually done by the girl herself as she slipped into a state of insanity through out the film and begun to kill her loved ones herself but saw it as the boy doing it instead of her. In the very end, she ends up in a mental institute herself as we finally find out that she was the main cause of all the insanity and deaths through out the film.

The Final Preliminary Exercise

This is the final version of my preliminary exercise.

The Editing Process

Last media lesson was spent editing the final process of our preliminary exercise.

The Editing and Final Cut Pro

We worked using Final Cut Pro, a professional and powerful editing software that has all the effects and factors we need to edit a good preliminary exercise.

Previously to this lesson we had looked at the simple parts of Final Cut Pro and how to use it effectively. We learnt how to add titles which helped us when we edited our actual preliminary exercise in which we used titles and credits. We also learnt how to use simple tools such as the knife which allows us to cut clips in specific places to cut out parts that we no longer want and need. We also learnt about the timebars in which we place the clips as well as cutting them from that specific area and finally we learnt about the windows we use to edit and view the clips in.

The first thing we needed to do was plug the camera into the computer to transfer all the clips to the computer. We used IMovie HD to capture the clips as it cuts them into sections instead of putting the clips in one large clips which is what would happen if we captured straight into Final Cut Pro. This took a bit of time to do as the camera was transferring significantly slowly for some reason but we finally managed to do it in the end.

My main job was editor so I took it into my hands to edit the final piece. I started off by moving all the clips from IMovie HD to Final Cut Pro and then looking for the correct clips I needed for the final edited piece. As I started previously, we filmed the exercise three times so I had to skim through all of the clips that we had to find the correct filming we had done. Once I had done that I begun to place the clips in the timeline. This was quite a simple task as I have previously done the Creative and Media Diploma so I am quite used to placing clips in Final Cut Pro as well as using effects and cutting them.

Technology and the Camera

Whilst we were using the camera, we learnt a lot about it and its technology. We especially learnt the importance of having all the correct equipment as the absense of the mic and boom caused a number of major problems. In future, I have to remember to have all equipment ready and able: the mic, the boom, the camera itself, the tape, the battery, the tripod and the headphones to make an effective video. I also learnt the importance of testing the camera to make sure everything works before I start filming just to make sure that silly things like the lens cap aren't still on or to check to see if the sound doesn't work entirely.

The shots we used

The first shot we used in our preliminary exercise was a point of view shot of one of the characters, Jessie, played by me walking through the door and greeting Bob, played by Niel. This gives a dramatic effect to the scene and makes the audience fell that they are the character which makes it seem as if they have the same fear that Jessie has as she goes to have her interview to decide her future job.

The second shot we used was an over the shoulder shot directed from my shoulder and looking at Niel. We used this as our shot-reverse shot as we switched from my shoulder over to Niel's shoulder continuously. This was effective as it gives a dramatic effect and allows both characters to be on camera but from a more interesting perspective.


We also has another over the shoulder shot, this time over Niel's shoulder and directing the camera at me. This was an example of using the 180-degree rule as we made sure that the camera was over opposite shoulders whilst filming to ensure that we didn't break it.


This was a long two shot of both me and Niel sitting opposite to each other and exchanging a couple of words. This is a good shot to use as you can again see both characters but this time they look parallel to each other which looks good on camera, especially if one character is shorter than the other and in this case, they were.


We then zoomed in on me and Niel shaking hands which we had previously also done in the long two shot. This was to enhance and emphasise the effect of the handshake.


We then had a long shot of Zainab, playing a random person walking around the corner. This was the beginning of using match on action.


The final shot was a wide shot that shows me walking down the same corridor that we just saw Zainab walk around the corner to. This is an example of match on action as it showed both me and Zainab in different places but still keeping to the film rules.

The Tools

This is an example of the timeline with all of our clips placed in it including the titles and credits. We had to drag clips and cut them to the correct length in the timeline and then finally put them together to make the final piece.


This is all the clips that we filmed and how they were presented in Final Cut Pro. We had to select the correct clips from here and then drag them into the timeline to edit the final video.

This is the toolbar that had all of the tools that we were to use. The only tools I used were the mouse tool which I used to click and drag clips and the knife tool which I used to split and cut clips up.

3.1 What I learned by doing the Construction Preliminary Exercise

During the construction preliminary exercise, we had to film a character walking across a room, sitting down and exchanging a couple of lines of dialogue. We also had to demonstrate the 180-degree rule, match on action and shot/reverse shot.

During this exercise I worked with Zainab, Abderahim and Niel and our scenario was a girl called Jessie (who I played) having a job interview to be a teacher with the boss of the school, Bob (played by Niel).

I learned a lot of things during this exercise such as the importance of location and sound.

In our first time filming, we did it in the office library and it turned out really well. We had good shots and they demonstrated all the shots that we needed (although we did break the 180-degree rule once) but we didn't receive a mic and boom so our sound was very quiet and was barley audible which caused a problem resulting in us having to film again.

The second time, we decided to film in the recording studio but another group had also booked it at the same time. This showed us that organisation was key and it resulted in us having to alternate between groups and we ended up not filming all the shots we needed before we were meant to be leaving the recording studio for the second group to use. Without some key footage, our film was incomplete so we had to film for a third time.

The third and final time was filmed in a teachers office which was perfect for our scenario. We made sure the sound worked and we had a mic and boom this time to make sure the sound was perfect. We also did it quickly so we had enough time to film everything and we managed to get all the footage done quickly with time to spare before lunch which gave us time to get all the equipment back to Howard, showing our organisation skills had improved.

I learned a lot during this exercise and I will take this knowledge and use it for the next time we film.