MATTHEW HEYNS 

CANDIDATE NUMBER 1828

CLAREMONT FAN COURT SCHOOL 64680

My production team: Finn Hanley 1824 , Ben Richardson 1853, Samuel De Bruin 1815

My brief was to produce a film opening that lasted a maximum of two minutes. The title of our film was called Suspect. Our murder mystery places three random suspects who have never met before as the three masterminds behind the murder of Lottie Wilson. Although the genre of our opening sequence is a murder mystery, there are elements of humour within the opening sequence, this humour is generated through the direct contrast in our suspects personalities.

Editing

My main responsibility was the editing. I edited both the poster and our final production. The software I used to edit the poster was Adobe’s Photoshop. Whereas when editing our opening sequence, I opted to use Final Cut Pro X. My role was to piece together the storyline by selecting the right camera angles I believe we needed to make the result look good.

Directing

There was a good balance of ideas between the four of us in the production team. I started with the initial idea of a murder mystery, however, as a team we were able to develop that idea into our final production. When filming scenes if someone didn’t think something look right, they would often say something, this made it easy to come out with our best product.

Camerawork

Just like directing the job of who controlled the camera was also fairly distributed. As we were all in at least one scene, it meant that everyone got a chance to film when they were not busy acting.

 

 

 

HOT SEATING

Hot seating is a very good way for our actors to really get into the mind of the character role they are playing. This allows each actor to really understand how their character thinks, talks and acts. Hot seating also gives the audience an insight of how each characters acts on a day to day basis as if they were real people. Therefore, each character in our opening sequence will be interviewed by answering a few simple questions. 

Questions:

1. What is your name?

2. What do you do?

3. Do you know Lottie Wilson?

4. Have you heard of Munns Park?

Although these questions seem fairly basic, it is the way in which each character responds to the questions, which gives us a good insight on their personality traits.

Script:

Finn:

1. Kieran Tucker but the ladies call me KT.

2. What don’t I do? Some say I’m a man of many talents, but I say I’m a man that is a master of all. 

3. Eh I know the name but she ain’t playing the game you know what I mean ay.

4. Yeah, Munns park just down my road init, two lefts, one right and when you see the green bin another right ay.

Ben:

1. Alan Cork

2. Spend most of the day on the banks of the river Nile with my mate Benji, we do fishing.

3. Nah but I’m sure Benji does he knows everyone.

4. Yeah, Munns park where me and my good mate Benji go fishing, lovely spot, you can find me there all day.

Sam: 

1. Herbert Crafts 

2. I am the largest shoelace distributor in the south east county of England known as surrey. Yes, I know what you were thinking, my suit is Italian crafted, one day you could get yourself a nice suit mate even if you must rent it.

3. Look I’d love to stay and chat I really would, but Mark just called in saying he wants to try out one of my jet skis, yes Mark Wahlberg. I’ll get my receptionist to send you a postcard of me and mark down in the Maldives shredding the waves on my Kawasaki 3000.

Matt:

1. Detective Superintendent Thorne

2. I am the leading inspector for the Met police. I’ve done over 15 years in the force which has led to great success of over 500 cases solved by no other than yours truly.

3. Information regarding Lottie Wilson would be much appreciated; however, I cannot discuss any other information regarding this person.

4. Again, anything that is related to the crime scene is left for disclosure.

Barman:

1. Roger Pratters

2. I run the spoons down the road, don’t listen to what any no chap tells you none of our pints are watered down. You hear me?

3. Heard about her on the news, I think she was never dead, maybe playing dead who knows. has anyone checked maybe she’s just sleeping?

4. Yeah good old Munns park, back in the day me and Wayne Rooney used to have a kick about there, think it was him at least.

CONSTRUCTION: ALAN CORK SCENE

On the 19th of March, we filmed a scene which showed Alan Cork fishing on the side of the river in West End Recreational ground (Munns Park). My role was to film using my phone and the drone. I experimented with a variety of different shot types that ranged from a drone shot, tracking shot, pan shot, close up, over the shoulder and long shot. Using the drone allowed us to take shots of Alan Cork from various angles from far away and high up. The drone was also used to give us an establishing shot of the park, where the murder of Lottie Wilson is set.

Unlike our first filming session where we found little success, in this filming session we got exactly what we wanted: The location was exactly what we required, and we were very fortunate that there was no wind and not many people in the park which meant it was very quiet. To make sure we didn’t leave empty handed we ensured we had a variety of camera shots and angles, even though we weren’t going to use them all. Although it took some time to set up and get the right shots we wanted, eventually we achieved the shot we desired that helps tie our whole opening sequence together.

REFLECTION: INTERROGATION SCENE

We started filming on 10/12/2020 in the school drama department. For context this scene was the interrogation of Herbert, Alan and Kieran. The scene was set in an underground chamber with limited lighting. The three suspects were being interrogated by a hologram of Inspector Thorne. As this was our first time filming a scene for our opening sequence as expected not everything went to plan. With limited space in the drama room, we found it difficult to get a variety of camera shots and angle. Therefore, we felt this might hinder the look of our final production. As well as limited space we found that the lighting was also beginning to be a problem as we couldn’t achieve the level of lighting we wanted initially. Although we could have made the room very dark, the camera would not have picked up everyone very clearly.

Although none of the clips from this filming session will be used in our opening sequence, it does not mean that this session was a waste. This filming session allowed us to work with lighting and gain a better understanding of how to use lighting to good effect. We decided we want to use natural lighting to create a more realistic appeal to our film opening. Another positive that came from this session was the construction of our characters. Whilst filming we were able to critique and adjust how we want to represent each one of our characters. As a result, we are all far more confident in how we can portray a realistic representation of our roles.

After consideration as a group, we decided it would be best to no longer have an interrogation scene in our production.

PLANNING: CHARACTERS

CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CHAV

We set out to create a representation of Kieran Tucker as a chav. To accurately create this representation, we had to complete research of what stereotypes are associated with being a chav. A very strong stereotype associated with being a chav is the cockney accent. The cockney accent is traditionally spoken by working class Londoners, which is the accent that suited this character best. We decided to dress Kieran Tucker in jeans, polo, and white trainers. This is a very stereotypical clothing style associated with chav Londoners. Therefore, his clothes connote these qualities. Another stereotype which defines this character is the haircut. Kieran Tucker is also a football fan who spends a lot of time in the pub. To represent this stereotype, we decided Kieran would need to have very short hair.

DEPICTION OF THE BUSINESSMAN

To accurately create a representation of an upper-class businessman, Herbert Crafts is a direct contrast to Kieran Tucker. In many ways Herbert is a stereotypical businessman as we decided to dress him in a suit. Therefore, his clothes connote that he is very aware and proud of his appearance. Just like Kieran, Herbert has an accent that plays an important role when trying to represent this stereotype. Herbert speaks in a very posh well spoken English accent. To further drive a contrast between Herbert and Kieran, we decided it would be best if the haircuts were different as well. This is to represent both characters as opposites.

STEREOTYPING THE FISHERMAN

After some research I found that the qualities associated with a stereotypical fisherman was that a fisherman is very unaware of their surroundings because they keep their focus on their fishing lines. To create this representation, we dressed Alan Cork in fishing overalls and a bucket hat. 

REPRESENTING THE INSPECTOR

Inspector Thorne has many aspects that make him a stereotypical inspector. Just like Herbert, Inspector Thorne is dressed in a suit. However, to represent a difference in the two characters I conducted research on what stereotypes are associated with an inspector. Although clothing plays a big part in the role of an inspector, so does props. Stereotypical inspectors often have a smoking habit due to the stress endured in solving their cases. 

CHANGES: STORYLINE

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PLANNING: CASTING

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 PLANNING: RISK ASSESSMENT

Risk Assessment	Hazard to health and safety	Risk posed to whom	Risk level	Control measure to reduce risk
Method of Transport to Location of Filming	Walking out of Claremont into Esher.  Walking from Esher back to Claremont. Travel via SW Trains to Surbiton Railway Station to go to Ben Richardson’s house for filming. Walking through Surbiton to get from Surbiton station to Ben’s house and to film on High Street	All four of us (Finn Hanley, Matt Heyns, Ben Richardson, Sam de Bruin) walking to Esher; at risk of being hit by a car. All four of us (Finn Hanley, Matt Heyns, Ben Richardson, Sam de Bruin) walking back from Esher and to Claremont; at risk of being hit by a car. All four of us (Finn Hanley, Matt Heyns, Ben Richardson, Sam de Bruin) at risk of falling through the gap between the train and the platform edge. All four of us (Finn Hanley, Matt Heyns, Ben Richardson, Sam de Bruin) walking to Ben’s house from Surbiton Railway Station; at risk of being hit by a car.	M M M M	We will be looking both ways before we cross the road, at every road we aim to cross. I believe this will minimise the risk to a large extent as it will allow us to see if any cars are driving towards us. We will be looking both ways before we cross the road, at every road we aim to cross. I believe this will minimise the risk to a large extent as it will allow us to see if any cars are driving towards us. We will make sure to take a large step when coming onto the train, whilst also looking at how big the gap is, making sure we are completely out of risk of getting stuck. We will be looking both ways before we cross the road, at every road we aim to cross. I believe this will minimise the risk to a large extent as it will allow us to see if any cars are driving towards us.
First aid issues	Trips/falls when walking during filming or getting to the filming location	All four of us.	L	We will keep a first aid kit including plasters and anti bacterial spray With us at all times.
General public theft/assualt	Theft Assault Major external incident (terrorism, natural disaster etc)	All four of us, as we are all carrying valuables; phones, AirPods, cameras, schoolwork, laptops. All actors involved in filming All actors involved in filming	H H H	All members of the group will carry a backpack with a zip securing the items inside the bag, reducing the risk of a member of the public attempting to steal from one of us. We will also be checking we have all of our valuables every 20 minutes when in a populated environment. We will walk in groups when on the High Street and will not approach other members of the public or respond to any comments intended to provoke one of us We will follow the guidelines given to us extensively and make sure we do everything we are told, reducing the risk of us being in danger in a scenario of this sort.
Accommodation eg risk assessment from centre	N/A (no overnight accommodation necessary for filming)	N/A (no overnight accommodation necessary for filming)	N/A (no overnight accommodation necessary for filming)	N/A (no overnight accommodation necessary for filming)
Major public incident	Act of terrorism given national threat level	Group could become caught up in a terrorist incident, possibly leading to them being injured of the group being separated	H	When entering an area, making sure every member of the group knows exactly where to exit if something of this levity did occur and we were forced to take an emergency exit. Make sure group members know what the national advice is for a terrorist attack First aid kit carried at all times, allowing recovery for injured student due to this major public incident

SEMIOTICS

To gain a better understanding of how signs are used and what they mean, I watched a video called Roland Barthes Media Theory Semiotics Analysis. This page is a brief summary of what I have learnt in this video.

Semiotics is the study of signs and how they are interpreted and incorporated in our everyday lives. A sign is something that we can establish a meaning from, this meaning can be created by using a variety of different things like symbols, colours and logos.

Although there are lots of different signs, there are only two types of meanings that come from signs. One meaning that can come from a sign is denotation. Denotation refers to the literal understanding gained from a sign. For example, if someone was to see a white dove, they might just think it’s a bird and has no other meaning, that would be a denotation. 

However, the other meaning that can come from a sign is connotation. Connotation refers to all the other aspects that can be linked to the sign. Using the white dove as an example, people might see a white dove and see more than just a bird, they might see an animal that represents peace and love. This is an example of a connotation.

In film there are four categories by which signs are classified into:

• Mise en Scene - All the contributing elements that drive a narrative through the organisation of the set.
• Sound – Diegetic or non-diegetic sounds. Sometimes the lack of sound can create meaning.
• Camerawork – Camera angles, shots, composition and movement.
• Editing – The sequence of all the clips ordered together.


Media producers carefully select specific signs to create meaning and construct representation. Carefully selecting the right sign is important because it can hugely influence the way audiences interpret the film.

Roland Barthe’s theory suggests that the frequent use of a sign can result in the sign becoming a myth. 

Myth – An idea that is considered common knowledge, however the idea or belief is false.