Low Key Lighting test

*Sofia Here*
Greg and Callum took some test shots of lighting techniques, there is a video on another blog post which shows them in more detail. However, I believe that this shot is very effective as the low key lighting really establishes the concept of thriller as it creates an eerie atmosphere. In addition, we can use this technique in our short film to show the divide in personality or characters because it is an effective way of hiding someones identity which creates enigma around the character. This technique will be especially useful when we film the murderer called "J" because he has a hidden identity and we need to ensure that the audience fear the character which can be created by lighting and many other techniques. Also, the black background surrounding Callum, really draws the attention to his face and his facial expression which is a vital part of a scene. We can tell a lot from a persons facial expressions and eye contact.

Talking About Characters 2

To make our film as realistic as can be, we need to look at our characters in depth to prevent them from becoming cardboard characters, or Mary Sues.
To help make this even more realistic, I have created back-stories for the characters to be implemented into the sub-text to help with the actors to bond with the characters.

Jack The Ripper
The Ripper, while he is unknown and cannot be understood to an extent, it is still very clear and evident that he is immoral, and has no sympathy for his victims, nor their families.
From this small piece of information, there can be suggestions behind The Ripper's reasons for these killings; perhaps an abusive childhood that led him to become mentally unstable? Or maybe his mother was a prostitute who was murdered, and he went on to kill prostitutes out of in-direct revenge?
The possibilities are endless, but still interesting to look at with depth.

Detective James Neeson
James Neeson is an outstanding detective, and is the head of his string of detectives; he is very similar to Sherlock Holmes in regards to his passion for being a detective. From a young age he was always passionate about detectives and their styles in solving mysteries. Being a middle child he was neglected in his family, leaving him to become rather anti-social, the time he had to himself was spent reading books and solving online riddles. Regardless of his anti-social nature, he was a kind boy and found love early at his high school, he was a passionate lover, and a lovable character.
After fulfilling his dream of becoming a detective, he became fixated on his job and quickly became the best detective the Metropolitan Police Force had ever seen.
However, his passion for his job had left his fiancee alone most days and nights, and she soon left him.
Since then, detective Neeson has been left with nothing but his job.
While unhappy, he has become even more passionate about his detective duties, as it is now all he has.

Casting

We want our film to be the absolute best it can be, which can only be done with good actors.
Thankfully we have a wide range of talented theatre students with a passion for acting that we will choose for our characters.

Jack the Ripper - Kyle West

Detective Neeson - Callum Horncastle

Detective #2 - Greg Ivan Bicknell

Forensic Scientist - TBA

Police officers - TBA

Animatic 1

Music Ideas For "The Ripper."

Music

For our short film I believe that we should include slow, orchestral music which builds up to create the disruption to the equilibrium. Instruments such as violins, piano and other string instruments as they are synonymous of the thriller genre. Firstly, the dark scenes with Jack The Ripper walking through several alleyways we will include tension building music to create enigma around the character and to cause the audience to fear Jack. However, during the scenes in the police office we will not be including music as we will focus on the dialogue from the characters which will be essential for the short film. Most of the murder scenes will include music as using music is a great way to build suspense and to create emotions within the audience. In addition, the chase scene towards the end will need a soundtrack with a good beat as it needs to create an unnerving atmosphere.  I have looked at various royalty free website such as Incomptech, ccMixter, PacDV, Public Domain 4U, SoundCloud and Moby Gratis. 

INCOMPTECH

BLACK VORTEX

CONTROLLED CHAOS

SATIATE STRINGS

MEDUSA
Moby Gratis

RADIO STATION

STOCK RADIO
Bensound

SAD DAY

OFELIAS DREAM

NEW DAWN

Ideas for Foleys

Female Scream

Footsteps (beach)

Creaking door

Stabbing

Door shut

Camera flash

We can also use the loops on Garageband to find anymore foleys we may need.

These are some basic ideas. We will have a better idea of what foleys we will need after filming.

Location idea in Burgess Hill

I went for a walk through Burgess Hill town at night and saw a great chance to take a photo of this shot. As you can see, the church is lit up while the surroundings are dark and mysterious. Also, grave stones can be seen which add enigma to the scene and it creates a sense of immortality. When taking this photo, I thought it could be a possible location for "The Ripper" as it included conventions of the thriller genre such as the location, lighting, symbols and colouring. We were thinking of using a church as a location. Even if we do not use this we can learn a lot from this shot as the lighting really captures the mood.