Mise en Scene

Our film revolves around an everyman character named Matthew, a name chosen for it's Biblical connotations, pointing to his innocence of the crime he is accused of. We wanted to do everything to make the character seem as average as possible- we chose plain and generally dark coloured clothing and a dark coloured coat so that there was nothing too distinguishing about his costume.

Rachel's character is supposed to seem innocent at the beginning of the film, but the audience would later find out about her involvement in a seedy drug world, so we wanted there to be hints of edginess about her. Instances of this include when we see her smoking a cigarette in the living room and the costume of a Bruce Springsteen T-shirt. We chose the name Rachel because it means 'innocent lamb'- this conveys her status as a victim of the murder, but is also ironic when it is revelaed that she leads a double life.

The focal point of our opening is Werrington Rec and the bushes in and around it. The opening shows the supposedly happy couple taking a romantic stroll across a field and then a bridge in the sunshine- the crossing of the bridge is supposed to represent them crossing over into a different phase in their lives. The next time we see it is when Matthew is talking to Rachel on the phone while sitting on a bench- we can see the trees in the background, which is supposed to indicate that the situation is right behind him, and there is nothing he can do to stop it. Also, we see Matthew walking towards a playground- this is to represent him walking past innocence.

Audience Research

Before we began filming, my group put together a questionnaire about what attracts our target audience- people aged between 16-24- to watch a film. We asked thirty people within the age group to complete the questionnaire.This comprised of seven questions. Here, I have posted the most common three answers to each question.

1. What type of Genre are you interested in?
1. Comedy
2. Romance
3. Violence (Horror/Action movies)

2. What interests you in this type of Genre?
1. It makes you laugh
2. Interesting and edgy
3. Escapism- fantasy and romance

3. What interests you in going to the cinema?
1. Socialising- spending time with friends.
2. Wanting to see the film
3. The experience- quality of the picture, food and drink, etc.

4. How do you usually watch films?
1. On the TV
2. On DVD
3. On the Internet

5. Do you watch certain films because of a certain actor/actress? (If yes please state who?)
1. No
2. Yes, Jim Carey (Yes Man, Liar Liar, The Truman Show)
3. Yes, Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Carribean, Sweeney Todd, Edawrd Scissorhands)

6. Do you watch certain films because of certain Directors? (If yes please state who?)
1. No
2. Yes, Stephen Spielberg (Jaws, E.T., Jurassic Park)
3. Yes, James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic, Terminator 2)

7. Name 3 films you have recently seen at the cinema?
1. Avatar (3D)
2. Alice in Wonderland (3D)
3. Twilight Saga: New Moon

From this information, we worked out that our target audience were interested in technology, based on the preference for 3D films at the cinema and the fact that several people answered that they watched films on the internet. In order to attract this audience with our film, we could consider integrating technology somehow into the plot of the film or using viral marketing.

Also, we found the things that most attracted our audience were violence and comedy. Based on this, we put a brutal murder in the first few minutes of our film in order to grab that audience's attention. However, we were unsure of how to work in comedy into our script.

Shooting: reshooting the death scene and opening.

We decided that we were unsatisfied with the footage we had shot of the character Rachel's death scene. The lighting in the shot was too orange and dark, and as we were inside, we were unable to make a lot of mess, which is difficult when attempting to shoot a bloody death scene. To remedy this, we decided to shoot the scene outside and in daylight. Although the ominosity of night is lost, we felt that having the character Matthew wake up in the morning added to the mystery and made the audience wonder what had gone on throughout the night. The outdoor location also allowed for us to make more mess, and the location we selected- an area surrounded by gnarled old trees, but close to a picturesque field with a bridge going over a brook- added more atmosphere to the scenes. We had also used Werrington Rec in an earlier scene, therefore establishing it's connection with the character.

Day #4

Date: 17th April

Location: Woodland at Werrington Rec

- As we were shooting in a public place, we had to be careful not to include any pedestrians in the shot, as this would cause continuity errors.

- We had to carefully examine earlier footage to ensure that the actors were wearing the correct costume- for instance, Rachel is wearing several bracelets in the scene, and we had to ensure that they were each on the same wrist.

- We also decided to change an element of the screenplay- before, we wanted the audience to question whether Matthew had commited the murder or not. In this version, we made it clear that something was wrong from the beginning- a man is lurking in the background of several shots. We did this because we decided it made for a more exciting opening two minutes.

Preliminary Task

This is the video of our preliminary task. Due to a technical error in converting the files, the size of the picture is quite small- if we can rectify this, we intend to.

Shooting the film

We shot our movie over a period of three seperate filming days. I made notes over the course of those days about what we planned to do that day, what we achieved, what errors occurred and so on.

Day #1:
Date: 12th March 2010
Location: A ground floor flat in Walton Park, Werrington.

- Today we filmed a significant amount of the indoor scenes. As the majority of our film takes place inside the couple's flat, we managed to film the establishing shot (of the protagonist and his girlfriend cuddling on the sofa), several different angles of a shot involving the protagonist cooking dinner, and a shot consisting of a brief conversation between the two demonstrating the 180 degree rule.

- We wanted to show a very brief clip of the romantic comedy film Pretty Woman at the beginning of the scene, to show a paralell between the loving relationships of the couple on screen and the couple our film is about. However, filming a television screen resulted in a seriously distorted picture- we discovered from this that, should we include this clip, we would need to find another way to get the images.

- Due to a mistake involving costumes, we had to refilm the scene in the kitchen- the character was not supposed to be wearing a particular item of jewellery in the scene. Had we included this, it would have resulted in a continuity error.

- We selected the flats because the interior was small and cosy- we wanted it to seem as though the couple had bought their first home together. Also, the exterior of the buildings are covered in dark wood, which we felt represented the sinister events to take place there, and the closeness of them had a claustrophobic feel.

Day #2:
Date: 16th March 2010
Locations: Werrington Rec, My back garden

- As the weather was reasonable, we decided to shoot the outdoor scenes today. This consisted of a scene with Matthew on the phone to his girlfriend whilst sitting on a bench, presumably on his lunch break from work.

- We chose the location of Werrington Rec for this scene because one side of the place has a clump of trees- at the time of filming, bare of leaves- which we felt represented the sinister aspects of the film, and on the other side is a playground, which we see Matthew walking towards- this is intended to represent his eventual innocence.

- The footage filmed in my back garden was not part of the main project- we filmed ourselves talking about the film and our characters as part of the extra feature we have been asked to do. Our feature is going to be something like a featurette, including footage of us filming scenes, us being 'interviewed' and us discussing the costumes, music, etc.

Day #3:
Date: 19th March 2010
Location: A ground floor flat at Walton Park, Werrington

- This time, we chose to film in the evening, because we were filming the death scene of the protagonist's girlfriend, and wanted it to be dark to increase the feeling of fear.

- An error in our filming occured- in some of the scenes showing the body of the protagonist's girlfriend, a ketchup bottle, used as part of a solution we tried to concoct to look like blood, is clearly visible.

Sound in film

Sound is a pivotal element of a film- it is important in creating mood, enhancing a particular scene or establishing significance. There are two main types of sound; diegetic and non diegetic.

Diegetic Sound

Diegetic sound is when the sound the audience hears is also heard by the characters, An example of this could be birdsong, background chatter or a song on a radio the character has switched on. These are the kinds of sounds heard in everyday life.

Non Diegetic Sound

Non Diegetic sound is a kind of sound that the characters in a piece of film would not be able to hear- i.e. it has been added in post-production. Often non diegetic sound is heard in the background of a scene or played over a montage of clips. Commonly, non diegetic sounds are songs or pieces of music.

In our film, we make use of both diegetic and non diegetic sounds. Most noticeably, we use the song 'Represent' by The Kitchen Club throughout our film- we chose this song because it enhanced the sinister mood of our piece, as well as being easy to use as it is a song by a local band, and therefore copyright-free. We also use certain diegetic sounds for effect, for example, the sound of a knife clattering on a wooden floor to emphasise shock, and the sound of a romantic film playing in the background as we establish our protagonist as being in a loving relationship with his girlfriend.