Pictures for our evaluation

Final Product- 'The Cure'

Makeup

For our second day of filming we decided that to make our ending more shocking we needed the dead person to be more obviously dead. To do this we had to make more visible fake blood to show up on camera so we used flour, water and red food colouring. We took pictures of the process and the end result:

Evaluation

Thursday 18th of March

Now that our thriller opening is almost complete we have to start on our individual evaluations. The rough draft is due in on Monday 22nd of March. After we hand in our practical work tomorrow our main focus will be on our evaluations.

We have 7 questions to answer for the Thriller Film Opening Sequence Evaluation.

These questions include:

1) In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge conventions of real media products?

2) How does your media product represent particular social groups?

3) What kind of media institution would distribute your media product?

4) Who would be your audience for your media product?

5) How did you attract/address your audience?

6) What have you learnt about the technologies from the process of constructing your product?

7) Looking back at your preliminary task what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to your final product?

We produce this evaluation using powerpoint and it has to be between 1500-2000 words.

Finishing of our opening

Thursday 18th of March

The final deadline for our thriller opening is Friday 19th of March at 10.30. So today we need to have the majority of opening completely finished in order to hand in tomorrow.

This includes: 1) The Ident

2) The Credits

3) The Editing

4) The Music

We have completed the ident, credits and editing, therefore today we are going to focus on finishing off the soundtrack for our thriller. Once the music is done we will have to import it to final cut and add it to our film. Once this is finished we will have completed our thriller opening.

Rough Cut and Feedback

Friday, 12th of March




In today's lesson each group evaluated everyone's work, from this we were able to receive feedback and constructive criticism. Below is the feedback we got, containing what was good about our opening, and also what could be improved:

What was good?

U1-35:
-The credits
-The ident
-Continuity
-The bag bit where it sometimes sped up

U1-34:
-Music ;)
-Sound effects
-Ident

U1-33:
-Good music that goes well with the film

U1-32:
-Love the music
-Close-ups
-Contridiction of blood and violent aspects with cheery music
-Created a good mystery

What could be improved?

U1-35:
-Not quite sure we understood the narrative

U1-34:
-Camera sounds

U1-33:
-Bit longer
-Didn't understand the storyline

U1-32:
- more fixation of dead body
- more like a horror (blood and dead body etc)

After reviewing our feedback we have realised that we need to remove all of the excess camera sounds from our opening. We will do this by lowering the volume of certain areas of the clips. We also want to make the storyline clearer, we can do this by focusing more on the dead body.

Re-shoot.

Friday, 5th of March.

Yesterday, our filming went well. We had to re-do the ending and make Rosie's injury more interesting and noticable. We made some blood out of flour water and red food colouring.
It was disgusting, but really looked like blood :)

We managed to re-shoot everything we needed too. Even though we were pushed for time as one of us had to go early.

So today we are editing, so far, it has gone really well and we are almost finished cutting and putting the scenes in place.

What we've done this lesson.

Tuesday 2nd of March

Today Lauren and Ashleigh got the rough cut for the editing finished before the new footage is done. Mercedes and I finished the music for our ident and continued with the soundtrack for our opening. We have found a lot more things we need to re-shoot and have started writing them all down for the continuity.

Reshooting list

Tuesday 2nd of March

On thursday we plan to reshoot certain parts of our thriller opening, we have decided the scenes that we need to reshoot;

- Putting on jacket from behind -as camera was showing

- Putting on jacket from front - Bag in the shot

- Brushing shoulder and putting on badge and close up- bag in the shot

- Death on stairs- from dead bodies point of view

- Dr carpenter walking out of the door

We also had a discussion with Dave about creating a sense of mystery to the thriller opening from the very beginning. We could do this by adding bloody hand prints throughout the shots to leave the audience wondering what has happened.

Music.

Today we began on the music. We found a really cheery tune to use. We also found a ncie sound for our ident and some effects we can add to actions such as the eye lash flicks and pinning in the badge.

Discussion For Filming Ideas

Friday 26th of February

During our filming process our group had a discussion about ideas for the establishing shot. We decided that our film would start on an opening door, whilst walking through the door the camera shows the contents of the room, then finishing on the main character doing her hair.

Credit List.

Fire Fly Productions Presents.
A Black Pearl Film.
Lauren Coffey
Casting by Ashleigh Eccles.
Editing by Lauren Coffey.
Music by Mercedes Rollason.
Produced by Rosie Hargrave.
Directed by Ashleigh Eccles.
Therapy.

Thursday 25th February


We have decided that next thursday (March 4th) we will reshoot parts of the opening that either had bags or cameras in the background or the reflection of the mirror. This time we will be extra careful before setting up every scene.

Editing.

25th of February.

Today, we edited our film by splitting everything into the scenes and deleted the not needed scenes. We've tried to keep a close eye on continuity and so far have not seen anything else that could be a problem. We have also sorted out the sync and linked the sound and video together.

Next lesson we'll be putting them in the right order, so hopefully the lesson after we can sort out where in the scenes we are going to cut, and sort out some match on action shots.

Problems and Decisions.

25th of February 2010

Problem: The scenes that need to be re-shot.
Decision: This scene is possibly the second most important part in the opening. We must re-shoot them.

Problem: Whilst uploading the sound went out of sync.
Decision: All we have to do is move the sound to sync with the video.

Problem: Are the characteristics going to be a voice over or written in the credits.
Decsion: What U1 31 decided is that we are going to do a small test of this. We'll create three. One with a voice over, one with it in credits and one without either.

Target Audience.

25th of February 2010

U1 31 have decided that our target audience in relation to the BBFC Certificate we have rated our Thriller Opening as a 12. At first, we decided a 15 but realized our film did not contain any of the elements.

The reason for choosing a twelve is, the theme is mature and suitable for young teens. There is no language in the film, so this doesn't matter. There is only one scene that emphasis' blood and an injurie. However, this we believe is not a strong image, so will still be suitable. Also there is no drugs in the Opening.

Our Choice of Soundtrack

Music
Our soundtrack is going to be upbeat, happy-sounding music similar to both the American Psycho and the Dexter opening. It gives the opening an ironic twist and gives the audience a false sense of security. We are just starting the music because we need the editing to be finished before we can complete it, a mistake we made with our childrens film opening, but as soon as that's finished we will start creating the music using GarageBand.

Dialogue
Since we have very little diegetic sound and no dialogue, we don't need to worry about the music covering up speech.

Narrator
We are still undecided as to whether or not to narrate our opening with the characteristics of a psychopath as we have mentioned in earlier posts, so we're going to wait until we have finished the editing and have put the soundtrack over the top before deciding whether it's necessary.

Decisions about faults in Filming One.

The three options we have are:

-not use the scenes.
-use the scenes and some how cut them out.
-or re-shoot them.

The problems with not useing the scenes are that they were really important scenes.

The problem with cutting the scenes is that it might corrupt the size and put the entire film out of sink.

The problem with re-shooting the film is that the light might be different and something in Lauren's room might have changed.

Reveiw of Filming.

Friday, 12th of February.

Yesterday, we filmed our Thriller. Our group managed to get it all filmed during a lesson and a lunch time. We got all the scenes and whilst we were filming and even thought of some new interesting ones that we could do.

One we came up with was putting the mascara stick into the pot with very harsh actions.

We also added in the section where she walks to the stairs , we thought that if this was not included it would seem random.

We realized that the shot where we wanted to start off wouldn't work as the first one because she's putting her make up into the bag yet, she has to put it on before. We also decided that it would be a good idea to show her putting on her blazer from her front aswell as her back.

We tried to make the continuity in the filming to perfection. We realized that as we watched over it we saw a bag that was not there in the beginning. Which means we either re-shoot or don't use the scenes....

We struggled to make sure none of use or the camera were scene in the mirror. I think we achieved this.

Since, we had to change the opening scene we decided to try two different opening ideas.

Idea one: was to look at her door and it to open, look around the room then stay on lauren in front of the mirror.

Idea two: to start from the floor and go up her body to her hair.

In idea Two, we realized that her shirt was undone, and also it did not give the effect that the first one did. The creaky door added a strange atmosphere before it even began.

Lesson Plan until Rough-Cut Deadline.

Tuesday, 9th of February.

Thursday, 11th of February.
Shooting Footage

Friday, 12th of February.
Loading footage and Separating into Scenes.

Half Term (Blogging)

Tuesday, 23rd of February.
Editing, taking out unimportant scenes.

Thursday, 25th of February
Shorting and correcting length of and ordering scenes

Friday, 26th of February.
Begin Music - Film should be in order
Add Opening Credits.

Tuesday, 2nd of March.
Continue with Music
Opening Credits.

Thursday, 4th of March.
Continue with Music.

Friday, 5th of March.
Put Music and Film Together.

Tuesday, 9th of March.
Make Any Adjustments.

Thursday, 11th of March.
Rough cut Deadline.

Friday, 12th of March
FeedBack.

The 11th of February.

Tuesday, 9th of February.

This is the first day we intend to film.

As it is being filmed at Lauren's house, we all decided to do it during our free. A bonus from this is that before our free we have a Media Lesson. We are going to film at Laurens during the lesson and the free.

We are hoping that this is adiquate time to shoot and get our scenes done in this one session.

Creating a Name Badge.

We took a photo of Lauren and created a name badge on Photoshop.

We based it on our Long Road College ID's.
Originally we decided to use some weighing scales as the background image, but instead we used the health symbol.

It was printed off, laminated and attached to a pin so it could be used in our filming.

Filming Tips.

Tuesday, 9th of February

1. Light Property.
we are filming inside, in the light.

2.Don't "Corpse" (Find motivation)

3.Keep Script simple- do not over write.
we do not have a script.

4.Plan well. Leave for editing.

5."Perform" - put some heart into it.

6.Keep camera close for speaking parts.

7.Don't waste film, prepare each shot.

8.Take more footage then needed.

9.State which shot you are filming.

10.Remember your pre-lim.

Mise-en-scene how will we use it to create a character

The Mis-En-Scene in our opening will help create our character is that Lauren's room is very tidy and neat. Everything in her room has a place to where she a set it out very symmetrical. The costume of our character also helped us, because the audience see's that she is a very high, important women in the job she does. Her badge also helps the audience give her a purpose.

The red lipstick imediatly codes the brain to think Dr. Carpenter is "femme fatale".

What is a Femme Fatale?

is an alluring and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers in bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous, and deadly situations. She is an archetypal character of literature and art. Her ability to entrance and hypnotize her male victim was in the earliest stories seen as being literally supernatural, hence the most prosaic femme fatale today is still described as having a power akin to an enchantress, vampire, female monster or demon.

(www.wikipedia.com)

Dr. Carpenter is not involved in love, how ever, she is created as dangerous.


Contents of the bag being layed out symetrically and we placed each item specifically so the objects would be placed in from where they are used, hands to face.
We purposly put in a planner and a pen to show she will be prepared and has a obsession for timing.The hand gel helps us see her need for cleanliness and that she has an obsession for it.

Sub Genre

As a group we looked at different sub genres for thriller films, some of these sub genres were:

-Psychological: In which (until the often violent resolution) the conflict between the main characters is mental and emotional, rather than physical. External and Internal. 'Fight Club'

Fight Club from Mr. Brightside on Vimeo.

- Action: In which the work often features a race against the clock, contains lots of violence, and an obvious antagonist. These films usually contain large amounts of guns, explosions, and large elaborate set pieces for the action to take place e.g 'Mission Impossible'



- Crime: This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal(s) rather than a policeman.'Reservoir dogs'



- Political: which the hero/heroine must ensure the stability of the government that employs him. 'Seven Days of May'



- Disaster: In which the main conflict is due to some sort of natural or artificial disaster, such as floods, earthquakes, hurricanes, volcanoes, etc., or nuclear disasters as an artificial disaster.'Knowing'



We have decided that for our thriller, it would go under the sub genre of a Psychological thriller. The main character has an internal struggle with everyday life. We chose this sub genre as we thought it would be exciting and convenient.

How is Dr. Carpenter Similar to Existing Character and How are they Different?

Thursday, 4th of Febuary.

Similarities:

TV Thriller Drama.

Existing Character: "Meet Dexter Morgan. By day he's a blood splatter pattern expert for the Miami Metro police department. But by night - he takes on an entirely different persona: serial killer" - imdb.com

Our Character: Dr. Carpenter, by day the chief Physiatrist of Greenview Mental Aslyum. By night - she encounters the persona of a serial killer.

American Pyscho: A man who constantly refers and notices clothing. A man who needs to appear to the world clean shaven and perfect.

Dr. Carpenter: A woman who takes her time perfecting her make up. Placing and ticking off her possesions.


Differences:

Dr. Carpenter, our Thriller's main character is a woman. Stereotypically, because of her job and gender she is less likely to be seen as a psychopath.

Roles of U1-31: Editing.

Tuesday, 9th of February.

Rosie Hargrave. - Music

Lauren Coffey. - Editing

Ashleigh Eccles. - Editing

Mercedes Rollason. - Music

TO NOTICE:
Because we originally wanted to use a pre-created song played by the radio. However we are not sure how this would go with the scenes. So we might have to create a song from scratch.


To consider:
When editing the scenes. make sure there is nothing from the pervious scene included

With the sound, it always makes it better when a bar finishes at the same time as a scene.
or the scenes change with the music.

Roles of U1-31: Filming.

Rosie Hargrave.

Actor: Dead Body.
Production: Producer

Mercedes Rollason.

Production: Camera she filmed our last projects, has a steady hand and a good knowledge of working the cameras.

Lauren Coffey.

Actor: Dr.Carpenter (Greenview Hospital of Mental Health)
Reason: We chose Lauren for the role because she looks professional.
Production: Production Co-Ordinator

Ashleigh Eccles.

Production: Director She is very well organised.

Director: One who directs; the person in charge of managing a department (e.g., director of engineering), project, or production (as in a show or film, e.g., film director)

Camera Man: A camera operator is a person that operates a film or video camera for the purpose of recording motion to film, video, or a computer storage

Producer: A film producer or movie producer is someone who creates the scenes and conditions for making movies.

Production Coordinator: The person responsible for practical matters such as ordering equipment, getting near-location accommodations for the cast and crew, etc.

Final Ident

Thursday, 4th of Febuary

Today we finished creating the ident for our thriller film opening. We used photoshop to make the initial non animated version of our ident. After this we used final cut to animate our work and create a final piece. We added different transitions such as 'Matrix Wipe' and 'Ripple Dissolve' to add movement to the pictures.

Story Board and Shot List.

1. Mid Shot - POV - of Dr Carpenter putting possesions in her bag.
2. Close up of Crossing out final object.
3. Mid Shot - of tieing up hair.
4. Close up -of Eye
5. Close up- of Eye
6. Close up -of Lips.

7. Mid Shot - of blazer (waist to neck)
8. Close up - of name tag.
9. Close Up - of brushing off dust.
10. Change a Depth of Field/ Refocus. We see only a small bit of the body in the corner of the screen. in focus we see Dr. Carpenter in the background putting on her heals. She moves closer to the screen. As she comes closer the camera slowly

Filming Plan

Tuesday 2nd February

Times/dates for filming:
Our group decided to do 2 over-nights instead of a weekend because if any re-shooting is necessary, we have time to redo it. Thursdays will be the most convenient time for all of us, the first day of filming will be the 11th of February, next Thursday. This also gives us half term to decide what we need to re-shoot and give us extra planning time.

Location:
The filming will be done at Lauren's house because she lives closest and her house is the most suitable for our film.

Shot list:
1. A table covered in every day objects and a handbag. A pair of hands put things in the bag, violently crossing them off a list.
2. The radio is slammed on.
3. A shot behind Lauren's head showing her putting her hair into a very tight ponytail.
4. A close up showing only Lauren's eyes as she curls her eyelashes and applies mascara.
5. A close up showing only Lauren's lips as she applies lipstick.
6. A mid-shot of Lauren putting on a smart blazer over a shirt.
7. Lauren clipping the name-tag to her pocket and dusting herself off.
8. Lauren's feet putting on heels with the dead body out of focus in the background.
9. The camera at ground level with the dead body facing it, Lauren's feet stepping over it.

Sound:
We want to use a happy, upbeat song to make the scene ironic and more startling and are still going to have Lauren narrate the characteristics of a psychopath over the relevant scenes.

Editing:
We plan to make the editing short so that the scenes cut quickly and bluntly to reflect the nature of the plot.

Costume and Props - Detail

Our main character is supposed to be dressed very smartly in:

Pencil Skirt, Shirt, Blazer, Heels.




Props:

Red Lipstick, Mascara, Name Badge.



Dead body costume:
She will have the same make-up as main character as we feel this would make the opening more sinister and creepy. Her outfit will be simple, jeans and a white t-shirt as this will not draw attention away from the main character, and will bring her across as any average person.

Final Idea.

Thursday, 28th of January

Plot Possibilty:

A woman get's dressed for work. Close up's on her face, putting on lipstick, mascara. Puts on a blazer, pencil skirt and name badge. The name badge says "Dr. ? ?" and underneath "Mental Asylum" at this point we've only seen close up's of areas. once she's completely dressed and adequate to go out. She walks over to the door and steps over a body lying in a pool of blood.

We're debating to get her to say the features of a psychopath as she gets ready or whether we list them on the credits.

The idea we want to present is that she is a psychopath running a mental asylum.

Cast:

Dr- Lauren Coffey.

Dead Body-

Location: House/room.

Sounds:
A happy song in the back ground. Creating a twisted atmosphere to the opening and adding to the irony. Like the scene from Reservoir Dogs where he chops off a mans ear.

Credits: Red words, formal text.

Costume:
Pencil Skirt,
Shirt,
Blazer,
Heels.

Props:
Red Lipstick,
Mascara,
Name Badge.

Script:
We decided to do a voice over with a female voice reading out the characteristics of a psychopath as she does her make-up etc.
For example, while there's a close-up shot of Lauren's lips as she applies lipstick the voice over will say "Aggressive narcissism...superficial charm...grandiose sense of self worth".

Certification:
We think our film would be classified as an 18 because of the disturbing imagery.

Idea Four.

Based on a Flashback because it is quite alot to fill in.
We open on one girl going through a set of books. circling things that the audience believe are answers to what she's searching for.
As she goes through the books it flash backs to two girls are out shopping. One gets killed by a robber.
Back to more circuliing and focus on the eyes.
Looks at robbers profile.
Close up on writing saying no comment about other robber.
One more cirlce of a picture.
Slam of book.

Idea Three.

My idea for our thriller project was to film from a handheld camera used by one of the characters, like films such as 'REC', 'The Blair Witch Project' and 'Cloverfield'.

We first decided to do the filming in a woods, also similar to 'The Blair Witch Project'. I thought it would be realistic to film us camping in the woods like a group of friends would, setting up tents, lighting a fire and joking around, but using the script to show some friction between a couple of characters. The tension would begin with flashes of the handheld camera running through the woods later at night and looking behind as though the character with the camera is running from something. Then cutting to the girl with the camera waking up to hear someone singing "If you go down to the woods tonight, you're in for a big surprise.." and seeing a shadow move. At first she'd laugh, thinking it was one of the others joking around until she went to their tents and realised they were all asleep. She would wake them up and the characters that showed tension earlier would disagree about whether to stay or leave, before they hear someone walking around them and they scatter. The film would end with the camera being dropped on the ground.

I've always thought that the more understated, realistic thrillers can be the most effective. 'Scream' is one of the best thriller openings ever in my opinion, it raises the tension and keeps you gripping your seat and asks so many questions that you HAVE to keep watching; terrified or not. Terrified in my case.

Idea One.

A group of three girls walk out of a restaraunt together, you see them all laughing and joking around. The girls walk arm in arm down a dark road lit by street lights. The camera then moves to a different view. This is of a picture of one of the girls in a pair of mysterious hands. The camera then shows this 'stalkers' point of view, and looks at the girls from behind a bush or a hidden place. There is a some sort of snigger from the stalker, and the girls all turn around in a frightened manner, to find nothing there. The girls are all scared, but think they are hearing things and think nothing of it and carrying walking. The camera then goes back to where the stalker was to show that he is no longer there, but he has dropped the girls picture which now has a large red cross over her face.

Certificate Guidlines PG.

PG Parental Guidance –General viewing, but somescenes may be unsuitablefor young childrenUnaccompanied children ofany age may watch. A ‘PG’film should not disturb a childaged around eight or older.However, parents are advisedto consider whether the contentmay upset younger or moresensitive children.

Discrimination
Discriminatory language or behaviour is unlikely to be acceptable unless clearly disapproved of or in an educational or historical context. Discrimination by a character with which children can readily identify is unlikely to be acceptable.

Drugs
References to illegal drugs or drug misuse must be innocuous or carry a suitable anti-drug message.

Horror
Frightening sequences should not be prolonged or intense. Fantasy settings may be a mitigating factor.

Imitable behaviour
No detail of potentially dangerous behaviour which young children are likely to copy. No glamorisation of realistic or easily accessible weapons.

Language
Mild bad language only.

Nudity
Natural nudity, with no sexual context.

Sex
Sexual activity may be implied, but should be discreet and infrequent. Mild sex references and
innuendo only.

Theme
Where more serious issues are featured (for example, domestic violence) nothing in their treatment should condone unacceptable behaviour.

Violence
Moderate violence, without detail, may be allowed, if justified by its context (for example, history, comedy or fantasy).

Certificate Guidlines 18.

A film or video game with an '18' certificate means only people aged 18 or over may view/play it.



This means the film/game concerned may contain:



-very strong violence, blood or gore

-frequent or very strong language

-strong sexual activity

-scene/s of sexual violence

-strong horror

-discriminatory laguage/behaviour

-drug use (if it does not promote or encourage)



However, if the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) feel that some of the material is inappropriate, they can make cuts. They say:



Intervention is most likely in the following areas:


• where the material is in breach of the criminal law, or has been created through the commission of a criminal offence



• where material or treatment appears to the BBFC to risk harm to individuals or, through their behaviour, to society – for example, any detailed portrayal of violent or dangerous acts, or of illegal drug use, which may cause harm to public health or morals. This may include portrayals of sexual or sexualised violence which might, for example, eroticise or endorse sexual assault



• where there are more explicit images of sexual activity which cannot be justified by context. Such images may be appropriate in ‘R18’ works and, in “sex works” (see below), would normally be confined to that category.

Certificate Guidlines 15.

http://www.pbbfc.co.uk/guides_15.asp

Suitable only for those aged 15 and over.
Nobody younger than 15 can see a 15 film in a cinema. No-one younger than 15 can rent or buy a 15 rated VHS, DVD, Blu-ray Disc, UMD or game.

The BBFC believe that what makes a 15 a 15 is below:

• strong violence
• frequent strong language (eg 'f***').
• portrayals of sexual activity
• strong verbal references to sex
• sexual nudity
• brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
• discriminatory language or behaviour
• drug taking

Certificate Guidlines 12.

The certificate 12 is the same criteria that used to classify 12A and 12. These categories are awarded where the material is suitable, in general, only for those who are 12 years and older. Works classified at these categories may upset children under the age of 12 and may contain material that many parents may feel unsuitable for their children.

Some examples of these would be;

Theme: mature themes are acceptable but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers

Language: the use of strong language should be rare and must be justified by context

Violence: must not dwell on detail, there should be no emphasis on injuries or blood.

Horror: sustained threat and menace is permitted, occasional gory moments only

Drugs: brief and occasional referances to, and sigh of, 'soft' drug taking eg cannabis are allowed, but must be justified by context and should indicate the dangers

Film Opening: No Country for Old Men

Wednesday, 27th of January.

The director wants to set the scene in the different times of the day.(mis-en-scene) with a voice over, explaining about his job and a story. This creates a plesaent picture to the beginning to the film.

We then see a man get into a car and do not see his face. A tank is put into the front of the car and this few second close up makes the veiwer ask "why does the criminal have that?" They drive off and the gap before them as they drive along the long deserted road represents a journey or a path.

We then are brought to the prison and the sheriff on the phone says "i have it all under control" in the background we see the blurred arested brings his hands to his front and walk quiestly towards the sheriff.

We agreed that this would be a good cut off point because it creates a moment of susppense. However, the director decided to continue with a scene of violencee. At this point, we see the convicts face up close. When we see him draw blood from the sheriffs neck, the close up shows he gets some sort of fasination with it. The character does not look directly into the camera. This shows a sense of distance and distuirbance.

It's a beautiful opening. This film opening really makes the audience ask quesitons.

Who is the man?What has he done? What does he have to do with the Narrator?

Looking at different styles of Thriller openings

Today we watched a range of thriller openings that had different styles. For example 'City of God' this film was more humorous as it involved a gang of young adults chasing a chicken. Obviously this is not stereotypical of a thriller film.



Another opening that we watched was 'Reservoir Dogs' this also had an element of humor as the mise en scene is not typical of that in a thriller film, for example it is very bright and sunny, and the men are all joking and talking in a American diner. This is completely opposite to the 'dark' opening to 'Taking Lives.'

Creating an Ident.

Friday, 22nd of January

An Ident is a short ad to identify the programme’s sponsor at the beginning and end of a TV programme section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lypqzV2YFfs - exmaple from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Our group struggle to create names, so usually we use www.bandnamemaker.com We all agreed on "FireFly Productions". Our Ident can be made on either iStopmotion or Photoshop. So what we're looking to do is have bright light, fire, and orange.

U1-31 decided to use Photoshop. We were shown a website (www.hongkiat.com/blog/22-best-photoshop-text-effect-tutorials/) with tips on using photoshop and saw something we all liked.

Film Opening: Harry Brown

Thursday, 21st of January


In the Opening scene to Harry Brown, we see the beginning credits appear on a black screne with white slightly distorted writing. The effect of this fonts are a good way of showing emotion. The white writing against the black shows a high contrast in colour. A code to let us think up different scenarios such as, race, personality or emotion. The distortion of the writing can help represent fear or dis-comfort.

(Think about writing when you are scared or in a rush.)

We're then brought to Teenagers smoking and swearing. The camera is made to look like its being recorded off a mobile phone. This helps the mis-en-scene element and helps us create a "stereotypical" image of the youth today.

The mobile phone aspect also lets us see from a point of veiw. The characters then look at the camera and react, this allows the audience to attempt to connect with the characters even though they have not been given any real plot or reason to why they've been shown this.

Before this scene continues, we're taken back to the black screne and continue with the creadits. Here, the veiwer is cut from knwoing more about the characters or the story line. Creating Atmosphere, suspense and tension.

After we are then brought to another video footage from a mobile phone. Here we gather through sound they are on a bike, riding like maniacs. The mobile phone and the veiwers unabilty to see everything show's distance, confusion and no real control of anything. They're still left with the question.

What is happening?

Next we see them shoot down a women with a baby. We watch through their eyes creating suspense. We then see them hit a lorry, the phone fly out their hands to see them both just lying there. For anyone clever enough, they'd say "young boys in no control die" is the plot to the film. However, the clever way to which this is filmed, the brain doesn't allow its self to think that.

This simple opening has created a path to expand the 5 elements that make a good Thriller.

What makes a Good Thriller?

Thursday, 21st of January

http://www.familyvideos.co.uk/what-makes-good-thriller.html

This Website explains that there are five things that are nessacary to really create a good Thriller Movie.

1.Creating the sense of Danger
This creates the storyline.

2.Importance of Pace
Fast pace all the way through, show the audience the problem right at the beginning so they can relate to it.

3.Ballance of Power
The Vilian must always be one step ahead, until the climax this makes the veiwer want to watch.

4.Twists and Turns
Lure the audience into false sense of security, continuing their need to watch.

5.Character Growth
The audience need to know about the character's weakness' and fears. We need to see them over come them and the balance of good and evil.

Replicating the Credit Music too Taking Lives.

Thursday, 21st of January

Taken Lives - A Thriller about a Teenage Boy who takes peoples lives and identies.

During this lesson, our task was to create the music to a Thriller Opening.It was to be created on Garage Band. Our group found this difficult because some of the sounds we wanted we expected there to be pre-recorded were not there.

We decided that the best sounds to use, was Edgy Synth's and Rock Bass'. Synth's we found created an eery effect. High pitch noises that contrasted with very low bass sounds and small sound effects like camera shutter sounds really added impact to the suspense and tension.

What is a Thriller?

Friday, 15th of January.

What is a Thriller?

A Thriller thrills, mostly through skillful plotting. It contains action scenes, character development with limits. The Thriller plot, is usually triggered by the knowing what shouldn't be or not knowing something about themselves.

Types of Thriller:

-Political - Ordinary man pulling innocent thread which leads political corruption.

-Phycolocial -(Internal and External) Character has a physical disability to over come or the people around them messing with their heads.

- Sci-fi - usually about the future.

- Crime - usually about a murder or a crime.

- Erotic - involves sex

Preliminary Task Two.

Preliminary Task Evaluation.

Friday 8th January

Definitions

Continuity Editing: is the predominant style of editing in narrative cinema and television. The purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots.

180 Rule: basic guideline in film making that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line.

Match on Action: occurs when an action that begins in one shot is continued or completed in the next. In an exterior shot Julia Roberts opens the front door to a house. In the next shot the camera, now indoors, photographs her entering the foyer and closing the door.

Shot Counter- Shot: film technique wherein one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking "back" at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

Evaluation:
We wanted to keep our second preliminary task simple, and decided to do something similar to our first piece. Some of the continuity in the prelim was not kept, however, more importantly we had every shot there.

Preliminary Task : Filming.

Thursday, 7th of January

Today we filmed and edited our Prelim. We made it more simple then the first one we did for our children's film.


We used every shot needed.
-Establishing,
-Long,
-Close Up,
-Match on Action,
-Conversation (180 degree rule)
and Reaction.

180 Degree Rule

The 180 degree rule is a rule used in filming. Two characters being filmed should always have the same left/right relationship. The Camera creates a line between the two and stays on the one side. Crossing this line makes the conversation look messy and more importantly confuses the veiwer.

Preliminary Task : Planning

Tuesday, 5th of January.

Location: Quad/Benches.

Characters: Two girls- Best Friends. (Darren)

Plot: One tells the other she's pregnant and Darren is the Father.



(Establishing Shot) Girl One walking down a corridor.
(Close-Up Shot) Opening a door.
(Match On Action Shot) Walking into a room where girl two is.
(Long Shot) Both people in the room.
(Filming a Conversation)
Girl One- I've got something to tell you.
Girl Two- Me too.
Girl One- Wait let me go first...
Both- I'm pregnant. Darren's the father!
(Reaction Shot)