My contribution to the group

In our group to produce the thriller I was the main cameraman and filmed the party locations choosing the angles & shots which would work best for the lighting we had. With most work it was a decision between the three of us; when it came to choosing sound though, Theo made the main track we all decided on which other sound effects should be included such as the use of diegetic sound on the beach scenes (for example). Editing was split three ways and we all contributed to different parts of the editing process taking it in turns.

My role was mainly graphics animation & design. I created the logo production company as well as the animation of the credits and the creation of our Hightide logo with the 'faded drop in' movement animation though the use of software called Live Type.


For the creation of the production logo I used Adobe Illustrator CS6 as it was more professional software as oppose to alternatives such as Fireworks. 

For more details about how they were designed and made click the icons below.

Click here to see how the Higtide Logo was designed

Click here to see how we designed WaterFront Productions Logo

Design of Hightide movie logo & animation

The use of the black and white title is simple and bold, it is a binary opposite of our production company which is more complex. The colours contrast and stand out on the screen as it is thew only thing that the audience concentrates on. The animation of the logo fits in with the noise in the scene as it appears in a sweeping motion as though it is being washed up on to a beach relating to the story, production company and the most potent scene in the opening title.

Design of our production company logo

Waterfront Productions

These graphics below are initial designs for our production company logo WaterFront Productions. The idea was to fit in with the idea of the movie name Hightide as our thiller is set in a coastal environment, but then we attempted to add connotations of a thriller/ horror theme to the font this includes the colour used as well. We researched and experimented with colours typically used for movies of the thriller/ horror genre. 

This we decided would be the basis of our logo as it connotates the coastal theme, however the colours were too bright and fonts which seemed to formal. Blue connotates health, healing, tranquility, understanding, and softness which would not be appropriate for the material in our story, it would suggest that out film was more children's fantasy than thriller.

This one was an improvement as the colours were darker and high contrast making it stand out. It has a paranormal theme to the logo of the wave however the font still was too fancy/ formal. The ghostly theme was created using the brush tool on  Adobe Illustrator CS6.

With this design we focused mainly on the font where we gave the logo a worn out grunge theme making it more appealing and more noticeable as a thriller/ horror movie production company. It looked as though it was scratched onto a black background making it seem slightly eerie.

This is our final design of WaterFront Productions. As you can see we changed the colours of the  font to a bright red representing blood, power and gives it masculine qualities. The letters are designed to look fractured and scratched. The 'F' is broken off and it is as though the person writing the letter 'S' has been dragged off when it continues almost off of the page. The wave logo denotes water and drowning making people feel uneasy and consumed by the words. The wave could also be represented as a streak of blood across the logo to emphasise the horror sub-genre.

Thriller Rough Cut

HIGHTIDE - Thriller rough cut version (watch in 1080p for best quality). Created by: Russell Dewing, Theo Durban & Jake Craske.

Use of Colour

Screenshot showing the character in the yellow
hoodie foreshadowing the death of the victim.

Use of shadows to this scene more
mysterious, it adds to the enigma of the storyline.

Use of saturated colours to make the shot
more vibrant.

Desaturated camera shot at the beach. The black and
white references the US Thriller Psycho. 

In the production of our thriller we decided to effectively use colour for impact. The use of colour is representative of the main character's life. To begin with the scene at the party we saturated the bright colours in shot to make it vibrant and alive. This gave the idea of strobe lighting as well as making the actors stand out (in contrast) to the pitch black background in that scene. This scene with the bright colours is designed to represent the life of the victim which at this time is complete and radiant. We used colour thorough the costumes of our characters. One of the friends in the party scene are wearing a yellow hoodie-style jumper. We used him to portray future events of the main character. This colour connotates happiness, joy and energy (reflective of the protagonist) however this colour also represents caution and warning which foreshadows her untimely demise later on in the scene. 

The variation shot of this is at the beach scene where we adapted the use of black and white shots from the 1960's thriller Psycho. In this film although it is in black and white it relies on other things to suggest elements of the story to the audience. it was from analysing the famous shower scene that we got the inspiration of referencing this great film. For these angles on the beach we desaturated all colours from the picture making it seem incomplete, vacant as this is where the audience will see the victim being dragged along the beach, the use of colour is representative of the victims life, when it flashes between the two narratives the absence of colour shows that she has gone.

The desaturated shots are unconventional as typically they show events in the past, however, with our thriller it in fact represents the present (the morning after the party).

Along with colour (again taking inspiration from Psycho) we decided to use shadows to add tension to the scene. In the shot where the victim is being taken by the villain we use the shadows to show him creeping up on her keeping the identity a mystery which is an enigma which could be followed throughout the whole film.