Breath Filming Preparation - Tracking Shot

In preparation for my thriller 'Breath', I tested out ways in which I could achieve a smooth, professional looking tracking shot on a budget. As a professional camera dolly went into the thousands of pounds, I thought of another, far cheaper method of achieving the high standard tracking shot I am aiming for. I used and old skateboard and a 3 meter by 20cm plank of wood. The wood is long enough and wide enough for the skateboard to glide across it, to give a smooth and fluid movement. I first tried testing this method with corrugated cardboard, but this made the camera shaky as it ran over small lumps on the material. With the woods smooth finish, I was able to place my camera onto the skateboard an achieve a smooth sideward glide. The video below shows the difference in footage when shooting gliding over corrugated cardboard and wood.



Looking back at the footage, I chose to run on wood. The equipment cost me £5 altogether, the skateboard being £3 from a car boot sale and wood being £2 at a wood off cut shop. This made the set up a worthwhile investment and far from the £1,000 to £2,000 price bracket of professional grade camera dolly's. Below are pictures of my homemade tracking set up.

Breath Filming Preperation - Underwater Footage

The final scenes of my thriller opening incorporates some underwater footage. This is meant to show a body being thrown into a lake. To do this, I got my hands on a waterproof case for my action camera. Unfortunately, finding a nearby lake was not as easy. This got me thinking, Instead of going to a lake, why not take the lake to us. And thats what I did. To simulate a river, I filled a large paddling pool full of water.

You may be thinking, that water looks dirty. In fact this was done on purpose. When initially filling up the pool, I figured that rivers are generally quite murky. At that point, the water was crystal clear. The solution? Gravy!

By dissolving 4 buckets full of gravy in the water, I was able to make the water have the brown tinge, common in rivers. Despite the hurdles I had to overcome my ambitious idea made the water a rather accurate simulation of a river. To test the underwater footage, I dropped my waterproof camera into the pool. This was the result.

Breath Filming Preparation - Bike Camera Angles

My thriller opening is very much focussed on a young boy riding on his bike. As I need multiple shots og him riding his bike from various interesting angles and perspectives, I attached my camera to different places on the bike to see what shots look good, and worthy of being incorporated into my final cut. Here is a video of my favourite camera angles that were taken and are likely to be found in my thriller opening.

 



Breath Filming Preparation - Camera Equipment

To film my opening, there are three essential pieces of equipment; A DSLR, a waterproof camera and a Tripod. As filming approaches, I needed to make sure i met these requirements if nothing else. My DSLR camera, the Sony A37 I will be using to film the bulk of my opening. It is just over 16 megapixels and should provide plenty of depth and clarity to make my open in have the cinematic feel. Partnered up with a 18mm-55mm standard lens, I may also be using a 75mm-300mm lens for shots further away or ones which require a more eventuated depth of field. With this camera I will be shooting in 1080p full HD 30fps, in MP4 format rather than AVHD for editing convenience. 

                                     

For the action shots I will be using the Mobius action-cam. This camera is about the size of a Tic-Tac box and weighs at very little too. Despite its small stature, it too will shoot in 1080p 30fps. It can be attached via various mounts, including bike mounts, head mounts and various other ways to attach it to pretty much anything. I will be using some of these mounts to achieve some particularly challenging shots in my thriller, as it is capable of what DSLR's are not. In the picture below it is also wearing its waterproof case, which makes it withstand up to 30 meters of water. This is perfect for my thrillers finale, where it will get thrown into a pool of water.

Finally, I will be using my own tripod. Like the DSLR itself, it is also Sony, and will come in very handy when keeping the camera stable. The tripod incorporates a built-in remote on the handle, which allows me to stop and start recording or adjust the zoom without touching and potentially jogging the camera. It uses a universal tripod mount compatible with both my Sony and Mobius cameras.

Breath - Shot List

Film Ratings

To prevent the display of inappropriate content to younger audiences, all film are rated. This rating system is generally divided into 6 categories; U, PG, 12A, 12, 15 and 18. I believe my thriller, Breath, will be rated a 12, due to its mild violence and threat. Despite it being a kidnapping, carefully selected material will mean there will be no excessive violence and gore, making it suitable for children aged 12 or over. I did this to broaden my target audience in an attempt to make it more widely available and successful. Below are the guidelines on which I based my decision, found on www.bbfc.co.uk.

For more information on movie rating guidelines, refer to the PDF in the link below:

http://www.bbfc.co.uk/sites/default/files/attachments/BBFC%20Classification%20Guidelines%202014_0.pdf

Locations, Props and Costumes

Locations
Centenary Park - Centenary park is located in the North West London borough of Harrow. This is a convenient place to shoot as not only does it meet all of my requirements for filming and scenery, but its is just 0.3 miles from my house. This makes it the perfect choice for my thriller opening.

Inside of a Car - I have no preferences as to what type of car the opening is filmed in as it is rather irrelevant. Thankfully I know a relative willing to let me use their car for filming. This is to film the kidnapper whilst driving toward the park and throwing the kidnapped boy in the car boot.

Lakeside - The location of a lakeside is yet to be found, as it seems I may have to go out of my way in order to film the particular scene. As there is no real options within a reasonable radius, I will have to look further afield.

Props
Bike - The bicycle is one of the main focal points of the opening. The boy will be riding this around his local park before being kidnapped by the mysterious man. I will attach the camera onto the bike for many different angles of the boys journey, and could even use the bike for tracking shots, as it will provide a smoother movement of the camera.

Car - The kidnapper will be driving the car to and from the park in his car. I have already found someone willing to let us film in their car. The car also plays a big part in the opening scene and again I will mount my camera in various places to achieve my desired effect.

Costumes
Black suit and tie - The kidnapper will be wearing a black suit and tie to give him the professional hit man look that I am after. I believe that it is essential that he wears this costume as it adds to his mysterious image.

Casual teenage clothing - I would like the boy riding the bike to come across as your everyday teenager. Despite the kidnapping he gets caught up in, its important to emphasise he leads are regular and ordinary teenage life. This will emphasise the enigma. To achieve this, I would like the boy to wear ordinary clothing to show the viewers that he is no different to them, just normal people.

Breath - Filming Schedule

This is my planned timeline for filming my thriller:
by skmattwell

Breath - Updated Treatment

About the Film
Breath is a Action/Crime Thriller involving a teenage boy, and a professional hit man we know nothing about. The opening involves the abduction of a young boy along with plenty of action, sure to keep the audiences attention. Through the events of the opening. We create a sense of enigma, as many unanswered questions are raised about the man kidnapping the boy.. Who is he? What is he doing? Why is he doing it? and Will he be successful?

The Action
The opening is a very eventful scene. We cut back and forth between the mysterious man and the teenage boy. As the boy prepares to enjoy a bike ride, the man is behind the wheel of a car. We closely follow the two characters as they both make their way to the park, with seemingly innocent intentions. As we get various angles of the bicycle riding through the park, we see a man also in a suit sitting on a bench. We later find out that this is just to throw the audience. We then track the actions of the hit man, as he pulls the boy from the bike, ties him up, to the horror of the witnesses. We then with a low angle shot of the body being dragged up to and thrown into a car boot. The scene finishes with the abducted boy thrown into a nearby lake, followed by the film title 'Breath'.

Themes
During the film opening, I want the audience to travel a roller coaster of feelings. Although from the beginning it seems like an every day bike ride, it ends in a chilling and unexplained kidnapping. During this transformation, the audience will be experiencing fear and sympathy for the vulnerable young boy. This feeling is amplified by the fact that the boy seems to originate from a loving, caring family of which he lives a happy and successful life.

The Narrative
The opening follows events that all happen simultaneously. Although time frame between events are the same, a time lapse, slow-motion and rewind footage will be included to add to the drama. There will be no dialogue whatsoever but both diegetic and non-diegetic sound is used. Non diegetic sound will include intense background music and sound effects, and diegetic sounds will be footsteps, bike sounds and the body being thrown into the lake.

The Characters
There are two main characters in my thriller opening. One of them is a your average 13-15 year old white, male teenage boy. He we need the ability to ride a bike. The second main actor will a white 30-40 year old man, who will be the kidnapper. He will need to wear sunglasses, a suit and tie to give him the professional and mysterious look I am after. He needs to have the ability to drive a car. There also needs to be another almost identical man in the opening to mislead the audience into thinking they are in fact the culprit of the kidnapping. Other than the two main protagonists there will be few actors required to film.

Setting
The opening will be filmed mostly in centenary park, as this is an ideal and convenient location for filming as It provides and meets all the requirements of what I need. I also need a car and a lakeside setting. These locations are yet to announced. 

Mise en Scene
At the start of the opening, the cyclist begins his journey at home. Here he will be surrounded by family pictures and other sentimental props relating to family life. As previously stated, the kidnapper must be wearing a black suit, white shirt, a tie and sunglasses, giving his his villainous look. Other than this, there is little significant mise en scene, due to a large part of the opening taking place in the park. Despite still being important in making the viewers imply and feel certain ways during the scene, mise en scene takes little part in this particular thriller.

Camerawork
I would like to add a variety of unique and interesting camera angles, and utilize the filming equipment I have to their full potential. A time lapse, helmet cam, underwater shot, tracking shot, slow motion, low, high and long shot are some of the few camera angles and shots I will be using in my thriller opening to create the best viewing experience possible. By including such a variety of shots, I can create the desired effects. To film I will be using the Sony A37 SLR/SLT camera and a more portable Mobius Action camera, both shooting in full 1080p HD. I will also be using a tripod for maximum stability and various mont to create extreme and POV shots.

Editing
In my thriller, the editing will be key to its success. As I want the opening to be high tempo and build up the tension, it will include a series of cross-cuts, crossing between the murderer and victim. This fast paced editing will build that fear factor I look to capture, and show multiple events in the same time frame. Little or no animated transition will be used between each shot to give the opening a more intense and frantic feel. Despite the lack of transitions, I will be using screen splitting to shot different events simultaneously with the obvious addition of text for credits and the film title. Doing all this effectively will be a crucial part in making my opening have the desired effect on my audience.

Audience
My target audience is anyone between 12 to 35 years old who have an interest in action packed crime thrillers. The film is unisex and not aimed at a specific gender, but is not suitable for viewers below the age of 12 due to violence present in some scenes. There is currently a big market for thrillers of this genre, and recent action thriller like Skyfall have become hugely successful critically and financially. This proves there is a keen interest within the genre, of which I can specifically target.

Storyboard

 

Title

 

Storyboard Animatic

Here is my thriller opening Breath in an animatic. This will loosely reflect my final product.

 

Thriller Pitch Feedback

Here is me presenting my thriller pitch to the class, along with the constructive feedback I got from them.

Breath - My Thriller Pitch

My pitch for my proposed Action/Crime Thriller, Breath.