Planning opening to a thriller feature film

The points i have researched and undertaken to plan for our opening to a thriller film are:
- A brief synopsis of the plot

The main parts of the opening have been listed.
- Planning Edit
This includes the plot outline with transition effects that could be used between each shot during editing. Various transitions and effects have been listed that we could possibly use.
- Soundtrack
I have chosen a few sound tracks that would be appropriate to the various scenes in our opening.
- Equipment list
I have listed the pieces of equipment we will be using during filming and the type of brand each piece is

Brief Synopsis of the plot

Jodie sitting on a benchJodie drinking a bottle of VodkaRyan turning upThem kissingJodie slaps/scratches himEvil side shown Jodie sitting in graveyardJodie runs from RyanGoes down alleyway,Ryan is waiting for herArgues, pushes him he bumps his head and diesNext day Jodie walks into school Chantelle they talkJodie traps them both in toiletsKills ChantelleLights flashing loud shoutingBlood over her handsEvil side looks in mirror and smiles good side stares.

Planning Edit

Jodie sitting on a bench
1 - Cut to
Jodie drinking a bottle of Vodka
2 - Camera swivels around to
Ryan turning up
3 - Cut to
Them kissing
4 - Zoom out to
Jodie slaps/scratches him
5 - Cut to
Evil side shown Jodie sitting in graveyard
6 - Camera pans to
Jodie runs from Ryan
7 - Cut to
Goes down alleyway, 8 - Zooms in to Ryan is waiting for her
9 - Cut to
Argues, pushes him he bumps his head and dies
10 - Fade in from black
Next day Jodie walks into school Chantelle they talk
11 - Cut to
Jodie traps them both in toilets
12 - Cut to
Kills Chantelle
13 - Fades out to (black)
Lights flashing loud shouting
14 - Cut to
Blood over her hands
15 - Camera pans up to
Evil side looks in mirror and smiles good side stares

The reason why i chose each of the transitions.

Transition 1: i chose to cut to Jodie drinking the bottle of the vodka becuase we could have a long shot of her sitting on the bench and then perhaps cut to a close up of her drinking the bottle of vodka so this would be the most effective transition.

Transition 2: The camera would swivel/turn around/pan from Jodie to Ryan turning up. I think this would be an effective transition because the whole shot flows into one instead of having two shots one being of Jodie which then would cut to Ryan turning up.

Transition 3: The next shot would be cut to Jodie and Ryan kissing as the previous shot could be a long shot and with this shot being them kissing a close up shot would be preferred so the best transition would be to cut to this shot.

Transition 4: The next shot would then zoom out to a long shot of Jodie slapping Ryan then the camera will be able to pan as Jodie runs away which will be the most effective shot.
Transition 5: The next shot will be cut to the evil side of Jodie shown this would be an appropriate transition becuase it is the evil side being shown.
Transition 6: the camera then pans as Jodie runs away, this would be appropriate because the audience could feel as if they were really there and watching.

Transition 7: the next shot is cut to the scene in the alleyway this is the most appropriate transition as its a new location to the opening.
Transition 8: Ryan is waiting for Jodie to turn up down the alleyway so the camera zoom into his face which will be a close up shot of him, this is so that the audience can see the expression on his face and can try and understand how he feels about the situation.

Transition 9: the next shot is cut to the argument and Ryan being killed. The reason i chose to cut is becuase you have a close up of Ryan's face but then you would need a long shot of Ryan and Jodie argueing and resulting in Ryan's death and then fades out to black as he dies, becuase as he is dying he is leaving the opening so this would be an appropriate transition to use.

Transition 10: The next shot is then faded in from black as Ryan has just died. The following shot is Jodie walking into school the next day so the fade in from black is appropriate it as it is a new day.

Transition 11: From the previous shot this next clip is cut to of Jodie trapping Chantelle in the toilets. As both characters are in a different place in school it seemed appropriate to cut to this shot instead of using other transitions.
Transition 12: the next shot to is cut to Chantelle's death. I chose this transition again because we could cut qucikly from shot to shot building suspense and tension to the moment where Jodie kills Chantelle.

Transition 13: As Jodie is killing Chantelle the shot could fade out to black which fits in with her dying.

Transition 14: The next shot is then cut to Jodie with the blood over her hands. We could also fade in from the black again but i think cutting to this shot would be more effective.

Transition 15: From the blood on Jodie's hands the camera then pans up to see her evil side reflection in the mirror.

List of video transitions
Cut - one shot is then cut to another, quick change over.
Dissolve - one shot would dissolve into another adding effect to the scene and shot.
Shapes expand from centre of screen - one shot can expand over the old shot from the centre.
Fade in/out - this is quite effective becuase when it fades in or out the audience have got to wait to see what will happen in the next shot to follow.
Pixelate - one shot pixelates into a new shot, making the shot distorted from one to the other.
Wipe - one shot moves off the screen e.g. left to right and the new shot follows onto the screen.
Camera pans - As a character is moving in a shot the camera can pan and follow that character, it is effective becuase the audience coud feel as if they are actually there looking and watching.

List of Effects
Zoom in - this allows the audience to see more detail for an example a characters face, the audience could see the characters facila expression and can understand the emotions they are feeling.

Zoom out - zooming out, the audience can see more of the location in that scene getting an idea of where a location is and what is going on.
Gray Scale - gray scale is usually used to go back in the past to represent the past (many years ago)
Film grain/age - gives the scene more age, showing the audience perhaps the scene is from the past etc.
Hue - change the colour, hue and contrast of a shot making it abnormal.

Soundtrack

Song evaluation
Thriller film

These songs are not copyrighted.
They all came from www.freeplaymusic.com

Song: A bad feel
- Upbeat soundtrack
- Sounds as if someone is in a rush (perhaps running away from something/someone
- This may fit in with our thriller opening but seems a bit too upbeat and we don’t really have a proper chase just one of our characters running away from another character but that scene I don’t think would really go well with this music.

Song: After Sundown
- Begins quietly
- Builds tension
- Music comes across a bit mysterious
- Perhaps someone or something is watching something or someone else.
- I don’t think this would fit in with our opening as it appears to sound like a mystery piece of music and we don’t have anything along those lines in our opening

Song: Dark times
- Mysterious music
- Loud
- Builds tension
- This music may go with the scene in the toilets after the death has happened
- This music may even go with the scene down the alley way building up to the point of the death.

Equipment List

Item of equipment and Brand
Camera Sony-----HDV
Tripod---------------Manfrotto
Microphone--------Rode
Dolly------------------Manfrotto