Titles

Our titles are going to appear on black screens in a gradient silver and the font Platimumband BT. We have done this because we want to separate the scenes so that it is clear to our audience where the flashbacks and the normal time scenes are. This is a convention that isn't normally used by films in the Action Thriller Genre as they normally have them; in the end credits; in a music video; or over the film in a bottom corner.

We have set out the titles so that they clearly show every ones names but everyone gets the credit for what they did and that it is shared out.

These are our titles;

A Three Lions Ltd Production

Actors

Graham Trotter

Sarah Adams

Ashley Wood

Todd Rae

Director

Armarnie Senior

Executive Producers

Armanie Senior

Sarah Adams

Filmed By

Sarah Adams

Screenplay Producer

Graham Trotter

Costume Designer

Graham Trotter

Sound Producers

Kenny Nettlingham

Jamie Carter

Zak Riley

Ms Streton 

Title Research

For our title we have decided to do some research by looking at other films from the same Action Thriller Genre.

Bourne Ultimatum

With Bourne Ultimatum the titles were in the end credits and this could be so that absolutely none of the audiences attention was taken away from the film and it's action scenes and this is a standard convention in action thrillers for this specific reason. Also because, Bourne Ultimatum is the third one in the series everyone already knows exactly who is in it and who has directed it etc...
James Bond Series in General
(Casino Royale)

With the James Bond series the titles are done within a music video montage and this is done so that no action is ignored by the audience because they are watching the titles. Also because it adds to the story becuase, traditionally in a James Bond film the first five minutes is a scene that isn't really related to the rest of the film but the ones that are the music video is used to connect them. It could also be used as another way of getting money because they normally release the single a month before the film and it just helps to hype the film and make sure everyone knows about it.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol

Like James Bond they use a video montage but with the classic Mission Impossible music over it and this is done to introduce the actors and show the audience the different aspects/scenes of the film
Sherlock Holmes

Like Bourne Ultimatum the titles were in the end credits and this could be so that absolutely none of the audiences attention was taken away from the film and it's action scenes and this is a standard convention in action thrillers for this specific reason.

Expendables

With the Expendables the different titles appear in the bottom corners of the screen over the film. This convention is used when there are loads of big name stars like; Sylvester Stallone; Jason Statham; and Bruce Willis so that the titles don't take up too much time in the film.

The Matrix: Reloaded
                                     i

The Matrix uses the same techniques as the James Bond and Mission Impossible series.

Colour

Colour is a vital aspect in a film as it sets the scene from the get go as it helps to tell the story. Even though most films are done in colour now their are films like "The Artist" and "Schindler's List" that are in black and white to represent the time in which the film is set in. Despite this during Schindler's List there is a part when the Nazis are raiding the homes of Jews and are lining them up to either shoot them or lock them up in a concentration/death camp (Which I believe is associated with the 'Night of the Long Knives' ) and there is a little girl in a red dress and she is the only thing in the whole film that is in colour and this was so significant to the films success and she has become an iconic figure.

I believe that the girl in the red dress is supposed to symbolize hope and a bright future for the Jews and the other 'sub-humans' as Hitler called them that were being locked away in the Nazi Death Camps. It could also show innocence in the Jewish race at this time in Nazi Germany and the fact that she is in almost every shot is also significant as it helps to tell a story in it's own right.

We intend to use colour in our opening as it will add to the story and the time that the scene is set. We did negotiate the idea of a scene or two being in black and white but eventhough it would so that we are able to play with the standard conventions we decided against as it could give the audience the wrong impression and would look right for a couple of the scenes.

Sound

After we done the music we decided to look at the sound techniques so that we could get the sound perfect in our opening scene. The two types of sound that we looked at were;

Diegetic Sound (Actual Sound)

• Dialogue.
• Sounds made by on-screen objects.
• Music that is represented as coming from instruments.
• Can be either on/off screen depending on the source of the sound.

Non-Diegetic Sound (Commentary Sound)

• Narrator's Commentary
• Sound effects that are added in for dramatic effect
• Mood Music such as in Skyfall or Jaws

Music is used to signal an iconic moment and the return of an iconic prop in the James Bond Series, which is the Aston Martin DB5. The Aston Martin DB5 was the car that Sean Connery drove around in the first ever Bond film Dr.No and has become an iconic figure in the James Bond series. The music is meant to symbolize that and pass on the cars importance to the film series long time fans and younger audience who first Bond film was Skyfall. 

The use of Mood Music is a standard convention in films and a prime example of this is in Jaws as whenever the audience would hear the music they would instantly think that the Shark (Jaws) was about to attack.

Go straight to 1 minute and 40 seconds as the rest is just talking

The music is supposed to strike fear and anxiety into the mind of the audience and build up the scenes suspense as the Shark is about to turn up which also means that someone is about to die.

Music

For our music we have asked people from the A Level Media Studies Class to produce a piece of music that will be used in our film opening as well as go towards their final grade. When we asked them to do this for us we explained to them what we wanted for it in the simplest way that we could and this involved us saying that we wanted a piece of rock music with a piano section in the middle for the flashbacks but we also wanted to two parts of the music to coincide with each other and smoothly join up together. We told to imagine the film as Jason Statham meets Taken and we explained to them the plot and they agreed and said that they'd have it for us within a week.

When they played what they recorded we played it against the rough edit that we were halfway through making and it fitted perfectly with the music being exactly what we asked for .

Skyfall opening

Last night I put Skyfall on and this was for a couple of reasons; firstly I'm a massive James Bond fan; and secondly, because it's an action thriller and would share the standard conventions of other action thrillers and our own. While watching it and trying to not get to involved with the action I noticed three specific standard conventions that any audience would come to expect from an action thriller opening scene and these were;

(These were the only two clips of the opening scene that were good enough for me to post on my blog)

1. The opening scene has the audience asking questions to make them keep watching the film, as the film will answer the questions throughout yet have the audience asking more leading the way for a sequel.

Questions could be like this;

• What has happened?
• Who is this person?
• What are they doing?
• What's he after?
• Where are they?

This is something that we look to impose into our opening as we believe that it is essential for the opening to work the way we want it to.

2. The scene is neither to fast nor too slow as it starts with a blurred figure of James Bond walking towards the camera and this instantly grips the audiences attention with a slow walk, however when Bond gets into the car the scene speeds up and gets the audiences adrenaline going. This shows that the use of speed is a very important convention in action thrillers and has to be just right, because if it isn't it can bore or overwhelm the audience and they will lose interest and in a way this is like an application form or an interview. This is because they employer or interviewer will always remember the start and end of an interview they will never remember the middle. This means that it is so important when making a film to get the start and the end absolutely perfect.

3. The music used really sets the scene in the opening scene and throughout the film and it helps the audience understand what is going on in the scene. The producers of Skyfall did this really well and it is a convention that we duly intend to use in our film opening due to the fact the it helps to connect the audience to the film.

However music can sometimes be used to refer to previous films in a series and set iconic moments such as in Skyfall when the Aston Martin DB5 is revealed. This helps to appease people who have followed a film series for a long time or seen every single one of the films like James Bond or Harry Potter.

Opening Scene research

For the research on opening scenes we decided to look at films within the same genre so we chose Casino Royale and I also looked at Killers Elite due to the fact that the film has the link with genre and the fact that someone gets kidnapped in it. This helped us to look at the standard conventions of the genre for opening scenes in films. We noticed that the film is always at an average pace to keep the audience interested and wanting to see more, also if their are any titles in the opening scene they are in the corners of the scene from left bottom to right top. This is so the titles don't take to much away from the action and so that their isn't any arguments about whose name comes first. A great example of this is in the Towering Inferno where they had two big name actors like Steve McQueen and Paul Newman.

Towering Inferno

Casino Royale

Good Points

• Good speed to the scene so that it doesn't confuse or bore the audience. This is important as for action scenes they need to be fast paced as long as it isn't too fast paced so that the audience get confused.
• The fact that the opening scene is in black and white adds mystery to the scene and keeps the audience asking questions about what is going on, who is he tracking, etc... Also it gives the scene a sense of traditionalism and looks very simple and easy on the eye.
• It is everything that you'd expect from an action thriller, as it uses all of the standard conventions while testing some of them like the use of black and white footage which doesn't really get used anymore. In fact the only film that has really been used in lately is the Artist and that is because that is a Black and White Silent Romantic Comedy and the use of Black and White Footage has been used to add a periodic sense to the film as it is set in 1927-32 Hollywood.
• Everything you'd expect from a James Bond film because it is fast paced and immediately grasps the audiences attention while not given any of the films main plot away.

Killers Elite

• Its the standard fat paced start to an action thriller film that is made like this to entice and grasp the attention of it's intended demographic of 14-35 year old males.

Script

Loan Shark

By Three Lions Productions

Graham Trotter as Owen Gray

Sarah Adams as Sarah Grey

Owen: These figures don't add up

Sarah: What do you mean, they don't add up?

Owen: They say that we are £100 pound short and still owe quite a bit of rent and our bills aren't getting paid.

(Sarah Panicking) 

Sarah: Well, what are we going to do about it.

Owen: We're going to have to take out another loan to pay the rent as the landlord says that he can't wait anymore as he also has bills to pay.

(Sarah Shouts)

No! Not another loan. The bank won't allow it.

(Owen desperately says)

Owen: But there's no work in the country at the moment, so it looks like there's no other choice

(Sarah says angrily)

Sarah: For Christ sake sort it out or I'm leaving

(Sarah storms out leaving Owen sitting there with his head in his hands)

I was handed the responsibility of writing the script as we choose to delegate tasks for out to each other with Marnie and Sarah doing the shooting timetable, while I was making the script. The script is for the conversation between Owen and Sarah over money and is meant to show the audience the financial constraints that the two characters are under, while showing the relationship of the two characters and the way that they care for each other.

Story Board

Shot 1- Wide shot of town

Shot 2 - Wide Shot, pan of House

Shot 3 - Pan, Wide Shot of room

Shot 4 - Close Up of main character getting ready

Shot 5 - Close up tilt of belt

Shot 6 - Close up and tilt of Gun in Belt

Shot 7 - Jacket being put on

Shot 8 - Close up and tracking movement of feet walking

Shot 9 - Medium shot from behind the main character walking out the door

Shot 10 - Master Shot of the Loan sharks loacation with the main character and bodyguard in the scene