Thursday 19 November 2009

Production Schedule

This is our Production Schedule, where we specify, where we film, when when we film, what we film & who is included in the filming.

1. The first day of filming
Date: Friday 27th November
Time:4pm-5.30pm
Location: Shanice's House
We will be filming the scene of the man at his home. The character will be played by Ishmail. He will have to wear black/dark clothes (Black hoodie, black jeans, big boots) to show loneliness and no personality, it also makes him look suspicious (when wearing a hoodie).
The props we will be using on this date is,
- Big boots
- Black bag (with tools)
- Radio
- Pictures of celebrities
- A piece of black hair
- Clock


2. The second day of filming
Date: Thursday 3rd December
Time: 11.30pm-1.45pm
Location: Shanice House

We will be filming anything we have forgotten to include during our media lesson (As the teacher said we can use her lesson to film).

3. The third day of filming
Date: Tuesday 4th December
Time: 2pm-4.15pm
Location: The Brit schools Make-Up room
We will be filming the scene when the celebrity is backstage in her dressing room waiting for her body guard to come back. The celebrity is played by Meron (as she is the most suitable for the part). The singer (celebrity) in the film is very glamours /wearing sunglasses, high heals, expensive designer clothes. She acts very much like a diva (being bossy & knowing what she wants).
The props used for this scene are:
- Microphone
- Make-Up bag
- Water bottle
- Fruit Bowl
- Documents/papers

- A sign to say 'Mezza' on the dressing room door.

4. The fourth day of filming
Date: Tuesday 8th December

Time: 2pm-3.30pm
Location: The stairs at the Media editing suite & The Brit schools Make-Up Room (corridor).
During this time we will be filming the scene when Mezza comes in from outside and fans are screaming for her. He bodyguard the escorts her through the corridors, to her changing room. She then tell him to go and find out what time she is going on stage.
The prop used for this scene is:
- Fans (screaming out 'Mezza' as she comes in from backstage).


By Meron, Ishmail & Shanice.

Target Audience

Our thriller is based on the serial murders of young female stars, so it should generally appeal to fans of these types of celebrities, who tend to be young men and women, so this our target audience- A young audience ranging from teenagers to young adults (roughly 15- 25 year olds). However it may also appeal to older adults who are interested in this kind of plot. A suitable age rating for this thriller is 15.

It would be a mainstream film because the idea is that the celebrities in this film are international stars; even the singer we see in the opening of the thriller, who is British.

This film would be promoted on magazines, t.v channels and radio stations with a similar target audience, in order to create a buzz about the film particularly amongst the younger generation.

By Meron Addis

Props List

For the filming of our Thriller opening, we will need a multiple of props to help bring the theme across (Thriller) and to bring out the key elements of what we are trying to put across during the opening of the film.

The props we will need to include in our filming will be:
- Big Boots - will be worn by the man in the film
- Black bag (with tools inside) - to show that the man is coming from somewhere where he has used weapons.
- Radio - for when the news report come on, to report about the murder
- Clock - to show the time he reaches in, which then relate to the time the murder took place.
- Posters of celebrities - that he has murdered or tortured, (the will have red 'X' on them, to show they have a victim.
- A piece of black hair
- of he singer (celebrity) he has just been to.
- Microphone - to show that the girl is a singer
- Make-Up bag - which will be all over the dressing table, to show shes going to do something important and to show that she like to look good.
- Water bottle - to go on the dressing table
- Fruit Bowl -to go on the dressing table
- Document papers - for when she want to find out tour dates as the man walks through the door.

By Meron Addis

Character Profile

There are four main characters in our opening thriller:


1. The celebrity in our thriller is called Mezza, she is about 19 years old and is very diva-like. She is a successful singer who is into her looks. She is also very demanding, especially over her bodyguard.

2. Not much is known about the killers personal life. All we know is that he lives by himself in his flat with pictures of his victims faces on the wall. He wears heavy black clothing to keep himself anonymous. Throughout our whole piece, we never see his face.

3. Mezza's bodyguard is a big, kind hearted character who would do literally anything for her, even if they do sound impossible. He is also pushed around a little by Mezza.

4. News reporter (voice)
By Ishmail Salmon

Location Infomation

For our thriller opening we had to decide on a location. Based on our story line we decided that backstage of a theatre venue would be most suitable for the dressing room scene. Theatre's we have in mind is The Fairfield Halls, Battersea Arts Centre, The Warehouse Theatre or the Brit Schools make up room. We chose these venues because they will have the right format of a dressing room (i.e. with the lights around the mirrors and dressing table). To be able to film with permission in these venues, we will have to get into contact with the right people (as some of them may have showcases/events going on at this time).

In the scene where the fans are outside, we decided to film it backstage of the venue we are successful with. If we get into a professional theatre backstage we will use their corridors to film Meron walking. If we end up with the Brit make up room, we will film outside the Media editing suite (with Meron walking down the stairs) and outside of the make up room.

For the scene with the man at his home, the location was at Shanice's house as her house could be transformed to look the part and she had most of the background furniture (e.g. the sofa, white walls and some of the props).

Serial Celeb - Storyboard

This is the Storyboard for our opening thriller - Serial Celeb, where the shots are named and there is a description of each shot.

Storyboard 1:


Storyboard 2:

Storyboard 3:
Storyboard 4:


By Shanice Smith

Wednesday 11 November 2009

Thiller Opening - Shot List

For our Thriller opening we will have specific shots we use (throughout), which are the following:

1. Close up shot - on the big boots of the murderer as the door opens.
2. Mid-shot - As he drops his bag on the floor
3. Close up - washes his hands under the tap
4. Close up - He turns on the radio (a red light comes on, to indicate the radio is on).
5. Long shot (from the back) - He walks across kitchen, to the living room (to the sofa).
6. Mid-Close up - of him sitting, with is head down (His face is not revealed, as there's a shadow)
7. Eye Level/panning shot- focus at his pictures (of his victims, he has killed in the past). He looks along the line, to the next victim.

8. (Flash back) mid-shot/high angle - The celebrity comes in through a backstage door
9. Mid-close up shot - of the man sitting in the same position, looking down
10. (Flash back) High angle/point of view - a view as if he's watching watch her and her body guard walk down the corridor
11. Mid shot - of the man sitting, he then reaches for his pocket
12. Close up of him putting his hand in his pocket
13. (Flash back) 2 shot - celebrity tells the body guard to go an get the running order for her, she then walks into her changing room.
14. Mid shot - He is now holding and looking at piece of someones hair.
15. (Flash back) Personal point of view - he walks towards her door (with her name on it), with his shadow outline on the door.
16. Over the shoulder shot - He stands up and puts the hair on the picture
17. (Flash back) Mid shot - The camera is looking through the mirror (while she looks in the mirror) the door opens (mid way).
18. Mid-close up - she turns around, with dialogue saying ' James, What took you so long? Have you confirmed our tour dates yet?'
19. Black out, and with a black surrounding, the picture drops with her face and hair on it. The title comes up.

Thriller Opening - Overview

For our thriller openings, I am in a group with Meron and Ishmail. Together we planned and put together ideas of what out thriller opening could be about.


We came up with our final idea which is about a mysterious man that murders famous female Singer, Celebrities.
He reaches inside his home (we want to give the impression that he is coming in from doing something suspicious) and put down his bag, washes his hands, and tuns on the radio. When the radio is switched on, the news update is on. The reporter reports that there has been a murder of a well known singer. While the man sits alone in the dark on his sofa, flash backs occur.
The first flash back is of a celebrity with her bodyguard, walking through backstage doors (while her fans are outside, screaming for her). She then tell her bodyguard to go an get something for her. At this point the celebrity is all alone in her dressing room.
A shadow then appears in front of her door, he then enters in. The celebrity then turns and See's him and asks him 'Have you sorted out the Tour dates yet?'.
After, there is then a black out (where her picture drops on the floor, in a black surrounding). The titles then come up.


We had to present our ideas to the rest of our class mates, then receive feedback and ways of improvement. Changes we made to our idea was from having a TV News report to just hearing the news on the radio. This change was suggested because it wasn't going to be easy to make a TV studio. Presenting our idea helped improve our planning , because we received a lot of feedback/new and improved ideas to take into consideration. It also got us thinking about making our ideas possible to do practically.