Soap Opera – Evaluation

Evaluation

Planning: Our main influences were from programmes such as Skins and The Inbetweeners, which helped in thinking of our storyline. The planning got very confusing as everyone had different ideas and we changed the idea many times. A lot of the ideas were very unrealistic as the only setting we were able to use is the school and we had no money to spend on props and costumes. We chose to use ourselves as the characters, which we later found out was a bad idea as a few people felt uncomfortable with their roles. Also, because each of us were playing a character, we didn’t have enough people to do the filming.

Filming: The filming of our soap didn’t go to well as it wasn’t well organised. We didn’t have any costumes and there was a lack of props which therefore changed a lot of the ideas we originally had. We only had one person filming which made it very difficult to get different angles and camera shots. None of us were very sure of the story line and the characters they were playing, so most people weren’t very enthusiastic about it.

Editing: We have not edited our soap yet so I cannot evaluate it.

Characters

Daniel B: A guitar player but a secret opera singer.

Alex O: A chav but secretly likes reading

Rachel H: Head girl but a secret bully

Molly C: Popular flirter but a secret virgin

Sam T: Supposed to be gay, will young wannabe, but was ill and not present.

Joanne H: Weirdo but likes to film people

Emily S: Geek but a secret druggy

Mike S: Cool guy but drug dealer

Luke D: (Filming) Narcoleptic

Mr G: Cool teacher

All characters are supposed to be representing stereotypes and to show how people are different to what they are supposed to be like just the way they look.

Story Board

Above is the story board that we have made for our thriller opening sequence, the storyboard is complete with examples of sound effects and techniques that we are going to use at our editing stage.

Soundtrack Research

We need to do some research into what different soundtracks are used in thrillers. This is because when we make our thriller opening sequence, we will be using a soundtrack at the beginning as this will make it much more professional and it will also create an effective mise en scene for the viewer. The soundtrack will create a mise en scene that denotes fear into the audience’s minds which will create suspense and tension as the action begins.

In order to see how professional thrillers use soundtracks in their openings, we had to research and analyse different horrors to see what effect they had and how this aided their production. The first thriller that we looked at was ‘The Butterfly Effect’, here it is below; 

The sound for a soundtrack is non-diegetic as the characters in the shots cannot hear this type of music, it is purely for the benefit of the audience, this is because the soundtrack is there to add to the mise en scene. In the opening of ‘The Butterfly Effect’ the soundtrack begins with an ambient sound that changes in dynamics to create a crescendo that develops through the opening sequence. This type of music creates a sense of suspense for the audience. The soundtrack then gradually turns into a fast paced drum beat that mimics that of a heart beat denoting that central character/possible protagonist is tense about something, it also connotes to the audience that the character is experiencing fear. The sound matches the action on screen as the character is seen to be rushing around, the character then hastily scribbles a note which leaves the audience wondering what has happened. 

The soundtrack used in ‘The Butterfly Effect’ relates to our media project as we will probably be using some form of ambient sound during our editing process. This type of music creates the effective ‘horror’ mise en scene that we are trying to create with our opening sequence. The heartbeat is also extremely effective in the soundtrack, we could try to use this style of drumbeat in our editing to create tension for the audience.

Another thriller that we looked at while doing our research into thriller soundtracks was ‘Creep’. Here is the first 6 minutes of the opening sequence: 

The first 2 minutes and 40 seconds play a non-diegetic soundtrack to accompany names of the people who made the film, including the directors and producers. As the titles play, the soundtrack is that of again an ambient sound. This sound however is combined with other sound motifs for example the sound of a train pulling into a station and the sound of a train’s breaks screeching as it comes to a standstill. These sounds have been added to the ‘Creep’ opening sequence as the setting of the film is an underground train station – I think that adding in these extra sounds creates an excellent mise en scene for the opening, it sets the scene while denoting the setting to the viewer in a subtle manor. 

The soundtrack for ‘Creep’ is very successful in creating the right atmosphere for the viewer and I think that when we come to edit our opening sequence, we will use some of the techniques that ‘Creep’ uses. An example of where we could use this would be to add things like running water into our soundtrack as parts of the opening for our thriller are set in a bathroom. 

Soundtracks are used in openings to films for many reasons, they help ease the audience until a film by adding non-diegetic sound into the mise en scene. For example, in a comedy the music would be light and cheerful with high pitched tones to add to the lighter side of the film whereas in a horror the music is likely to be more subdued and of a lower pitch – this represents a different tone of feeling for the viewer. A soundtrack could also be used to make the opening more enjoyable for the viewer as an opening needs to grab the audience’s attention right from the start – a soundtrack helps to achieve this. 

When we edit our thriller we will need a good soundtrack to accompany the footage on screen. We will be using different types of sound to create a soundtrack that is effective with our thriller opening, in order to do this we will be using sound effects and music in our soundtrack. I think that a sound that will definitely be used in our soundtrack that has been decided through analysing different thriller openings will be an ambient sound as this is used in lots of thrillers as it sets the correct mise en scene that he editors desire. Other sounds that we will probably add to our soundtrack will be the sound of a tap dripping, a heartbeat (in order to create tension), a light switch turning off, heavy breathing and screaming. These sound will either be made by my group, or taken from a database and added into our soundtrack. 

A further thing that we will have to consider when we make our soundtrack will be our target audience. From their views, we will make a soundtrack to see what they prefer in a horror soundtrack. This will assure that the soundtrack that we create will be popular with our target audience and therefore, they will enjoy the opening to our film.

Storyline/Setting/Title/Roles..

Roles;

Acting-

• Chloe will be playing a teenage girl, who is haunted by her conscience in a ghost form, and the ghost is from a past life.
• Molly is playing the ghost, who haunts Chloe.
• Sam is playing a doctor in one of Chloe’s flashbacks.

Camera work-

            I think the camera work will be done mainly by Rachel and Alex as they aren’t acting in the scenes which gives them the time to film it, and this way they will always remember what they filmed.

Editing-

            We are all going to edit the video ourselves, because we all have different editing styles that we would like to use.

Soundtrack-

             Sam will be making the soundtrack using, Freesound.org and other sound effects and music sites.

Story Title;

            To start out we weren’t sure on our title, until we developed our whole storyline for the thriller although we wont be filming it all. Our title is ‘Mort De Conscience’, the reasons we choose to use french is because something happened to Chloe the main protagonist in a past life, hence why her conscience is haunting her, and to try get away from it she moves to france but it doesn’t help her for long.  Mort De means death in french because Chloe kills herself, and Conscience because Molly is Chloe’s Conscience in ghost form to show that she’s in her head. Another reason we used french is because we looked at other AS media thrillers and the titles were boring or dull for example: Tracker, Redemption,  Unworthy and Illegal Justice.

Setting;

          Main setting of our thriller opening will be mainly in Alex’s bathroom because thats where Chloe kills herself. She also will be sitting in the bathroom before she has her flashbacks. One of the flashbacks is into a school toilets, for this we will use the lower school black as its easily accessable. Another one of the flashbacks is into a doctor’s surgery, for this we will use the medical room because its the closest thing we could get thats like a doctors. And the last flashback is  of a creepy house down Alex’s road. We also have a shot of Chloe walking down a road, for this we will use the road Alex’s lives down which is Burnway.

Filming Risk Assesment

Item	Level Of Risk	Methods of Avoidance
Chloe doesn’t arrive at location	2	We will text her or call her the night before we are due to film to make sure that she remembers and that she arrives on time.
Camera Doesn’t Work	3	We will take two cameras to the location to avoid the risk.
Camera Runs Out of Battery	4	We will fully charge the battery for the camera and take a second spare battery incase the first one runs out of charge.
Chloe drowns in the water	1	We will not allow her to be under the water for longer than necessary and we will check with her that she is able to breathe.
Unable to use the bathroom location at Alex’s house	2	Check with Alex and her family to assure that the location will be available for the entire filming time.
Chloe scared of being under the water	1	Check with Chloe that she does not have this fear and if she does, hire another actor.
Sam unable to join the group filming because of the location (girl’s toilets)	5	Film in the location after school times so that he will be able to join the group as everyone will have gone home.
Cameraman or actor becomes ill	2	Make sure that we have a backup camera man and actor to ensure that we can stick to the deadlines
People getting in the way of filming.	6	Film at a less busy time (e.g. after school)

What happens in Media…

In media, we were set a task to create a RomCom. Heres our outtakes and the things we did to try and come up with ideas…

Storyboard Feedback

Group members

Sam Trusler, Alex O’Connor, Rachel Helsby and Molly Clifton

Idea

A girl is haunted by her conscience and is driven to insanity and tops herself in the tub. Flashbacks.

Strengths

- lots of central storyboard shots

- use of media language

- detail of storyboard

- storyboard is organised

- framing is well done

- variation of shots types

Areas to Improve

1. Close up of feet, crack of door opening. Eyeline match. High angle.

3. Close up of turning of the page,  POV. lighting change from 3 to 5.

4. Close up – same 3 shots at different distances. lighting dimmed.

5. Consider filming and also photograph (freeze frame) close up of mouth etc.

6. Shot of close up again- high angle looking down to her eye.

7. Point of view to show dazzed nature (blurrryness).

8. Mise En Scene, prop elements = tablets (see 21) mirror reflection showing girl – hitcock?

9. Sheet at different shot distances (close point of view).

10. Different distances.

11. Legs walking close up. Pan = shot duration.

12. Shots of window being open (lengths of shot).

13. Pan + Zooms.

14. Eye, hand trembling close up.

15. Frame locations = hands, sink, face.

16. Over the shoulder/under the shoulder to point of view.

17. Frame smaller items.

18. Close up of mirror reflection (mirror-metif).

20. Different angles and distances.

21. Good!

24. Closer – Extreme.

26. Close ups.

27. Chloe wear robe whole time in bathroom —> psycho.

28. Follow on to foot getting into bath.

       Turn tap off.

       Close up of tap dripping.

31. Pan of close up of hair in water,

Fade flash of Molly in bath.

Storyboard

1. Establishing shot of girl walking into bathroom.

2. Close up of hand turning on light to bathroom.

3. Flash back of medium shot sitting in her bedroom alone reading a book on her bed.

4. Lights go out.

5. Girl screaming as she heard someone turn the light off

6. Girl goes over to turn the light back on

7. Walk back to bed heavy breathing from shock

8. Flashback back long shot girl standing in the bathroom shaking her head trying to get the flashback out of her mind.

9. Close up to girl turning on the radio

10. Extreme close up of girls’ eyes when she hears the song that plays.

11. Flashback to her walking past the house with the same song playing.

12. Close up of girl doing the same expression as before.

13. Long shot of girl walking down the road.

14. Mid shot of girl turning round to see if anyone is behind her.

15. Flashback back long shot girl standing in the bathroom shaking her head trying to get the flashback out of her mind.

16. Mid shot of girl walking over to the bath turning the tap on.

17. Flashback to girl turning the tap on in the school toilets.

18. Mid shot of girl looking up and seeing someone behind her.

19. Mid shot of girl looking behind her, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone there.

20. Flashback back long shot girl standing in the bathroom shaking her head trying to get the flashback out of her mind.

21. Mid shot of girl walking over to the bathroom cupboard.

22. Close up of hand getting out pills.

23. Extreme close up of putting pills in hand.

24. Close up of girls face taking a deep breathes.

25. Flashback to long shot of Psychiatrist – “you’re just going to have to live with this for the rest of your life.”

26. Flashback back girl standing in the bathroom shaking her head trying to get the flashback out of her mind.

27. Mid shot of girl dropping her robe from behind.

28. Close up of feet when the robe drops.

29. Fade into close up of girl’s face in the bath.

30. Close up of girl’s face slowly going under the water.

31. Point of view shot of girl closing her eyes – fade to black.

32. Title page – Mort de Conscience.

Costume, Props, Setting, Mise-en Scene

Costume

Chloe (protagonist): For the flashbacks, mainly the colour white so theres is a contrast between her and the ghost. Casual clothing so the audience can relate to the main character. School uniform for some of the flashbacks. Dressing gown before she gets into the bath.

Molly (antagonist): Mainly black clothes throughout so there is a contrast and also creating a dark image.

Sam (doctor): Stereotypical doctors uniform

Props

• Book – Used in one of the flashbacks when Chloe is sitting on a bed reading.
• Pills – Major part of the story line, used to trigger off a flashback.
• Radio – Triggers off another flashback
• Mirror – Used when the ghost can be seen in the reflection.
• Taps – Used to run the bath
• School toilets – Signifying her age and that she’s still at school
• Bath – The main prop thats used. Repetion of the bath the whole way through.

The various props and costumes used relate to the target audience as the characters are the same age as the target audience. The props are used in everyday life so therefore the audience can relate to it when watching. The costumes used are very casual therefore the majority of the audience wear them clothes also.

Setting

The main setting of the film is in the bathroom as this is where the main action takes back. The flashbacks are various places from the young girls (Chloes) life i.e school, home. The bathroom setting is very minimalistic as it is all white. This can represent a relation to the clothes Chloe was previously wearing, or can show a contrast between cleanliness and the scary situation. The other settings i.e school are very normal so there is a contrast. This also relates to the target audience as school is a big part of their age group so can therfore relate to it.

Mise en Scene

In order to make our thriller engaging and effective, we need to make it believable. The way to make it look realistic we need the setting and lighting to look it. The lighting we will use in places other than the bathroom will be from simple lighting. However, the bathroom lights will be off and there will be a spotlight on the bath for there to be a contrast between the present story and the flashbacks. The setting were using is very realistic as were not using a set up or green screen, there all places that the audience can relate to.

Shot Order For Thriller Opening Storyboard

1.Establishing shot of girl walking into bathroom.

2.Close up of hand turning on light to bathroom.

3.Flash back of medium shot sitting in her bedroom alone reading a book on her bed.

4.Lights go out. 5.Girl screaming as she heard someone turn the light off

6.Girl goes over to turn the light back on

7.Walk back to bed heavy breathing from shock

8.Flashback back long shot girl standing in the bathroom shaking her head trying to get the flashback out of her mind.

9.Close up to girl turning on the radio

10.Extreme close up of girls’ eyes when she hears the song that plays.

11.Flashback to her walking past the house with the same song playing.

12.Close up of girl doing the same expression as before.

13.Long shot of girl walking down the road.

14.Mid shot of girl turning round to see if anyone is behind her.

15.Flashback back long shot girl standing in the bathroom shaking her head trying to get the flashback out of her mind.

16.Mid shot of girl walking over to the bath turning the tap on.

17.Flashback to girl turning the tap on in the school toilets.

18.Mid shot of girl looking up and seeing someone behind her.

19.Mid shot of girl putting her head down to get the image out of her head.

 20.Flashback back long shot girl standing in the bathroom shaking her head trying to get the flashback out of her mind.

21.Mid shot of girl walking over to the bathroom cupboard.

22.Close up of hand getting out pills.

23.Extreme close up of putting pills in hand.

24.Close up of girls face taking a deep breathes.

25.Flashback to long shot of Doctor – “you’re just going to have to live with this for the rest of your life.”

26.Flashback back long shot girl standing in the bathroom shaking her head trying to get the flashback out of her mind.

27.Mid shot of girl dropping her robe from behind.

28.Close up of feet when the robe drops.

29.Fade into close up of girl’s face in the bath.

30.Close up of girl’s face slowly going under the water.

31.Point of view shot of girl closing her eyes – fade to black.

32.Title page – Mort de Conscience.