Final story board for 'Vanished'

Before starting the filming process for our production, it was vital that as a group we produced a 'storyboard' in order to give direction to our day dedicated to filming. We had to change a few aspects of the film in relation to the storyboard, purely because it was difficult to get the final product exactly the same as the initial planning. However, as the filming progressed, it was clear that the order of our chosen shots could stay relatively similar to the way we envisaged them in planning.
Close to the end of the day of filming, we decided to add in another scene which we label as 'The Police Scene'. This particular scene is not highlighted on the initial storyboard, but as we finished filming we realised that something was missing. In order to set the scene and allow the plot to be as understandable as possible, we incorporated the Police scene so that we could emphasise the flashbacks experienced by the older female character, Phoebe, in the productions. Without this particular scene, the production wouldn't have flowed as well and the plot would have been left almost to ambiguous.

Final Film link - 'Vanished'

Inserted below is the YouTube link for the final cut of our final production: 'Vanished'.

Final film script

Scripting

In our production, our actors didn't have a strict script to follow. However, in order to gain desired effects, they were given a set of guidelines to follow regarding what sorts of dialect they should incorporate.

• For example, due to the given location, it was necessary for our actors to communicate with a typical 'Norfolk' accent. This allowed them to fit into their surroundings well and only made the production more believable.
• It would've been difficult to use a script considering the age of Olivia, seeing as she is only four years old. For this reason her parts in the film were entirely improvised, which again made the film seem very real and even more so relatable.
• Due to Olivia's spontaneity, Phoebe and Ben had to base their responses entirely on what she said. Therefore contributing to the reason why no script was created for our film. Both Phoebe and Ben had to speak in almost infantile tones, in order to act as if they truly were parents and the parents of Olivia.
• In the final scene (the police scene) where Olivia wasn't included, a minor script was created. This was to make the scene seem completely realistic and encourage the audience to believe that our actors were based in a Police Station.

Filming Schedule/Day of Filming

Our trip to The Picture House - 'A Touch of Evil'

Norwich Picture House - Monday 31st October

On Monday the 31st of October, our media class endeavoured on a trip to The Norwich Picture House to view a screening of Welles's classic - 'A Touch of Evil'. We went to view this classic hit thriller, to give us (as a class) an insight first hand into Orson Welles's work, and the way in which he conducts it. It was a helpful trip regarding creating our own productions, as it meant that we were given ideas on methods of filming and the way in which we should conduct our own screening techniques.

Summary of 'A Touch of Evil'

Mexican officer Ramon Miguel 'Mike' Vargas has an interrupted honeymoon when an American is killed after someone places a bomb in his car. He's killed on the US side of the border but it's clear that the bomb was planted on the Mexican side.Vargas then delays his return to Mexico City where he has been working on a case against the Grandi family crime and narcotics syndicate. Police Captain Hank Quinlan is in charge on the US side and he soon has a suspect, a Mexican named Manolo Sanchez. Vargas is soon onto Quinlan and his Sergeant, Pete Menzies, when he catches them planting evidence to convict Sanchez. With his new American wife, Susie, safely tucked away in a hotel on the US side of the border - or so he thinks - he starts to review Quinlan's earlier cases. While concentrating on the corrupt policeman however, the Grandis have their own plans for Vargas and they start with his wife Susie.

Thriller genres/subgenres

Thriller films

A 'Thriller' is a broad spectrum of either literature, film, or television used to describe a production that enables the audience/reader to feel certain emotions, all be it fear, exhilaration, excitement or confusion. Thriller films in particular are known for giving audiences heightened feelings of suspense, seeing as they incorporate qualities of ambiguity and often terror.  

Horror

Horror films possess unsettling qualities, and aim to horrify the reader, which explains the allocated name. They often unlock an audiences deepest fears, and creates self-conflict and paranoia within an individual. Horrors can range from being grotesquely gory, to hauntingly spiritual, all genres of which generally achieve the desired effect amongst the audience.

Sci-fi Thriller

Sci-fi movies are created on a basis of

speculative fiction, based on traditional human depictions of phenomena. The reason these films possess such a successful thrilling quality, is down to the fact that the audience can never really comprehend the content. Due to the fact they're never based on 'true' events, means that no one can really determine whether the content of these fictional films can eventually become non-fictional content.

Crime Thriller

Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalises crimes. Crime Thrillers traditionally include: detection, criminals, and their motives. Crime films are generically ambiguous, leaving the audience questioning motives and which characters are in the right and which are in the wrong. An example of a particularly ambiguous, mind boggling film would be David Hitchcock's - 'The Departed'.

Action Thriller

'Action' is a film genre in which the protagonist or protagonists end up in a series of challenges that typically include violence, extended fighting, physical feats, and frantic chases. These particular films usually consist of heavy machinery, all be it cars or guns, and tends to appeal to male audiences more so than  female audiences. Action films are usually full of suspense, and encourage audiences to lunge to the edge of their seats.

Psychological Thriller

This specific sub-genre, is one that puts an audience under just as much stress as the protagonist characters always seem to be under. It emphasises the unstable psychological states of the characters and enables the audience to connect with them and enables them to understand their stresses... to a certain extent. Although horror films can offer a sense of gore and terror, psychological thrillers can promote a much deeper, psychological, reaction.

Equipment and props for Final Film

For our final film, 'Vanished', few props were necessary. However, in order to make certain scenes more believable, props were required. For example:

Police station

In order to make the police station scene legitimate, we incorporated official posters found in police stations into our set. Seeing as we were unable to shoot in an actual police station, we had to make do and create the scene to be as realistic as possible. Although these posters are relatively insignificant in the grand scheme of the film, subconsciously an audience would notice them, and therefore not feel urged to question the specific location of the scene.