following on from today's lesson about possible problems, i have thought about 5 things that i could do to make the shooting run as smoothly as possible.

1: keep concentration
2: keep continuity
3: have as detailed a shot list as possible
4: make sure to do good shots, not rushing everything.
5: not get sidetracked

final idea

wow!

right.

opening of a serial killer, planning his next move, targeting young women, lots of props like maps and polariods, opening like the credits for se7en. lots of detail, of him preparing, montage style, with titles and stuff like him X ing on a map, and getting on a suit.

cut to black, with title of film on, hear sound of doorbell, cut to finger ringing on bell, and then have the door opening ots of him, as she opens the door we cut to ots of her (bringing in continuity editing), and he starts selling her stuff, like glass or something, and then she goes to close the door to shoo him away, cause he's creeping her out, and he puts his foot in the door and starts to muscle his way inside. sho t of floor with the sound of a thud and you then see her red wine fall on the floor where the camera is. This makes the audience want to know what happened but still guess she is dead.

James and Luke

notes on last year's thrillers

Successful elements:

silent water: fab storyline, is actually spooky, builds up good tension, music helped build up tension. a few great shots, e.g. end shot of girl in the water, the shot where the girl's dead friend is seen in the mirror is in my opinion one of the best shots from all of last year's thrillers. good credits.

the stepfather: Great cinematography, continuity editing of cooking sequence is almost seamless, use of small girl is great, adds eeriness. Use of children is generally effective. some fab shots, e.g. the cutting of the cucumber, the shot of the girl where there's loads of space above her head


things that i think could have been improved on


silent water: I think that the lighting could have been inproved on, as alot of the scenes are too dark. Also, i think the final shot of the dripping tap doesn't add anything, and they could have just ended on the shot of the girl lying in the bath

The Stepfather: The credits could have been easier to read. Again, there are some points where the lighting could have been brighter, especially in the kitchen. although there is a contrast with the bright outside and the dark inside, which makes a good binary opposite, it is quite hard to see. I think that the dialogue could have been clearer, as it is hard to make out what the characters are saying.

In summary, for my own thriller i will try to make sure i keep as simple as possible, and have some good shots. i also need ot remember to keep my credits as readable as possible, and to make sure that all my scenes are well lit.