Showing posts with label Amrita Deb. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Amrita Deb. Show all posts
Friday, 26 June 2009
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Thriller Evaluation: Grove Park
For our own Thriller Opening, the ideas and conventions we used were from studies of the conventions of Thriller movie openings, ‘Watching’ film openings documentary, ‘28 Days later’, ‘What Lies Beneath’, ‘Collateral’ ‘Seven’ and ‘The Shining’. We used the idea of the book from the opening of ‘Seven’ and ‘The Shining’ was just a thriller full of suspense and a film which made me literally sit at the edge of my seat.
Se7en - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEZK7mJoPLY
The Shining - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw23KM3-Ry8
When we were shown these openings, my group and I had instantly decided that we wanted a scene where the audience was shown no faces. This was because the opening of ‘Se7en’ was awesomely done without showing any faces but just by the use of mise-en-scene, the props and hands. We similarly used this convention in our stabbing scene, where the murderer’s face was not shown, also in the beginning the audience can only see a girl researching in the library.
The Shining - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iw23KM3-Ry8
When we were shown these openings, my group and I had instantly decided that we wanted a scene where the audience was shown no faces. This was because the opening of ‘Se7en’ was awesomely done without showing any faces but just by the use of mise-en-scene, the props and hands. We similarly used this convention in our stabbing scene, where the murderer’s face was not shown, also in the beginning the audience can only see a girl researching in the library.
The idea of the titles had also appeared from the film ‘Se7en’. Lipi had come up with his idea, and then we put it into action in our thriller opening. Also the quick effects and transitions were taken from the film ‘Se7en’. The way the film had quick shots had inspired us to keep our film opening short and snappy.
Another convention taken from the film of ‘Psycho’ was the relentless stabbing. We looked into this scene and decided that we were to just film shots, close ups of the knife constantly stabbing the victim, which I found worked effectively in our Thriller Opening. The fact that in the scene where the victim is killed, the face of the murderer is not shown works very effectively. I think this works as this shot and scene gets the audience to keep thinking ‘Who is the killer?’
If our product was to be distributed then it would’ve been for small Independent UK release. This is because the production is small and doesn’t require expensive sets or props or actors. It would’ve been released perhaps on TV and on Internet, Myspace, Youtube, Facebook, etc.
Our film would have been amongst the films such as ‘Hot Fuzz’, ‘Shaun of The Dead’, ‘London to Brighton’. These films have been a hit in the UK and the USA for the reason being that they were appealing to mostly UK, young audiences (12+). ‘London to Brighton’ is a film by Paul Andrew Williams, writer and director. It is a Steel Mill Pictures production. Paul had written the storyboard of this film over one weekend, it had been filmed in three weeks. As this was a small film, Paul got £60, 000 from a private investor. It had been film in Hackney and Brighton, UK. The cast of ‘London to Brighton’ was Johnny Harris, Georgia Groome, and Lorraine Stanley. The film had six wins and six nominations. It was distributed in 3 cinemas, in one week in the US box office and all over the UK. ‘London to Brighton’ was released on the 1st December 2006 and released on DVD on Monday 30th April 2007. Similarly our film would’ve been distributed in the cheapest possible ways and perhaps on DVD too.
Paul Andrew Williams
Our audience for our media product would’ve been for youngsters from the ages of 12+. Mostly mainstream audiences and ‘aspirers’ as I believe small films is a good beginning for film writers and directors. Our thriller may be shown to pupils for example who are studying Psychology and also it would be a good film to show to victims and youngsters who have experienced knife crime. This is because our thriller is based on a possessed girl and also we have the characters of a victim of knife crime and a murderer. These sort of issues relate to our younger generation more often.
To market and promote our film we would most likely advertise our film through firstly the genre, thriller and through billboards, posters, leaflets, magazines, trailers, e.g. T.V, Youtube and social sites e.g. Facebook. This way we would be attracting our audiences as youngsters are more likely to watch it as they are out and about and have their eyes peeled to upcoming films.
Throughout the entire journey of constructing this product from creating our preliminary thriller to our final product, I believe, personally I have learnt a lot. Before creating and performing tasks I hadn’t a clue of what Final Cut Pro and Soundtrack Pro was, neither did I know the proper way of filming and editing professionally. Through filming I have found out things such as using a 5 second gap before starting to act and role camera, also logging and capturing, which was a mission and learning different shots and angles when filming. Using blogger has helped me to see how I have progressed throughout this process. Also, releasing our thriller onto Vimeo (a video-centric social network site) had given us the opportunity to watch our final product along with other thrillers created by the other media students.
Final Cut Pro Soundtrack Pro
Looking back at our preliminary task and comparing it to our final product, there is a major difference. I believe our team skills has become more co-operative and reliable. Our filming and acting has improved, storyboarding has helped as we had planned every shot before filming. And also editing has improved a lot. I now know how to function Final cut and Soundtrack Pro fluently. This has helped me to understand how editing really works and how time consuming it may be but also the fact that the labor is worth it at the end. All our lessons, ‘Match Cut’ lessons and ‘Introduction to Sound’ have been put to test in our final product. Using mise-en-scene helped a lot too, as we used quite a few props in our thriller. Also, we have learnt to use the previous lessons effectively. I had used Windows Movie Maker which included effects and transitions, therefore understanding how to use effects and transitions to make shots sequential was quite straight forward. Credits and titles were new to me as previously I haven’t done any up to date editing on Windows Movie Maker. I enjoyed creating and editing the titles, moving them around the screen but I must say it was hard work!
Over all, after watching our thriller along with everyone else’s thrillers in the Vue cinema made me realise that there are many different ways to convey thriller films, whether it is through actors, props, camera work, editing or sound. I felt a relief after watching our thriller and receiving positive feedback from students, teachers and staff. On the whole, I am delighted that our hard work has paid off positively and that I can use the lessons and editing in the future!
Editing Our Final Thriller Opening
Lipi and Myself sat infront of the screen in the Mac suite for over seven hours editing our thriller. Susan and Elelta arrivied later on. Today we firstly finished cutting and keeping the correct shots needed to put the film in order. Keeping in mind that hte film is only to be two minutes we got down to using effects and transitions to make continuity in each scene.
We hadn't used much effects nor transitions. We thought it looked beeter simple. We used fade in and out transitions to keep continuity throughout. We had also used effects such as blur on the corners of the screen during the scenes when Susan was seeing the dream. Also slow motion towards the end when Susan was scribbling on the articles. This was done to create an effect of maddness of the character and her actions. The most difficult part in the entire editing was the titles. As we have made the titles appear and juggle around the screen the editing of that was very hard. We firstly made a black box then wrote names in the text box, we then cut the box in pieces. We then had to place each cut piece of text in the place within the screen of where it was to move about. Towards the end we realised we hadn't changed the font and size of the titles. This lead to further delay as we had to go back to each and every title which was cut up and had to change the font and font size.
We then created the soundtrack. Lipi had used the Soundtrack Pro software to come up with different background sound and also sound effects to match the titles whilst I had finished editing the titles quickly. We then had finalise the film and add the sound. We dimmed the sound when Mickey's news report came on, the sound later was rised after the news report ended. We had also used an effect which appears with the Title of our film towards the end. The sound effect starts off slow and expands with the exansion of our Title 'Grove Park' The title was also a last minute.com option as I decided on 'Psych' short for psycho, then some of the team members disagreed, we came up with 'Frenetic' and then finally agreed on 'Grove Park' as the killing was in a park. Literally 5-10 minutes towards our deadline time we put together the title, sound and film and blogged it just on time.
We hadn't used much effects nor transitions. We thought it looked beeter simple. We used fade in and out transitions to keep continuity throughout. We had also used effects such as blur on the corners of the screen during the scenes when Susan was seeing the dream. Also slow motion towards the end when Susan was scribbling on the articles. This was done to create an effect of maddness of the character and her actions. The most difficult part in the entire editing was the titles. As we have made the titles appear and juggle around the screen the editing of that was very hard. We firstly made a black box then wrote names in the text box, we then cut the box in pieces. We then had to place each cut piece of text in the place within the screen of where it was to move about. Towards the end we realised we hadn't changed the font and size of the titles. This lead to further delay as we had to go back to each and every title which was cut up and had to change the font and font size.
We then created the soundtrack. Lipi had used the Soundtrack Pro software to come up with different background sound and also sound effects to match the titles whilst I had finished editing the titles quickly. We then had finalise the film and add the sound. We dimmed the sound when Mickey's news report came on, the sound later was rised after the news report ended. We had also used an effect which appears with the Title of our film towards the end. The sound effect starts off slow and expands with the exansion of our Title 'Grove Park' The title was also a last minute.com option as I decided on 'Psych' short for psycho, then some of the team members disagreed, we came up with 'Frenetic' and then finally agreed on 'Grove Park' as the killing was in a park. Literally 5-10 minutes towards our deadline time we put together the title, sound and film and blogged it just on time.
Stabbing Scene - Last Filming
The last scene was done quickly as we had less time. We decided to shoot in our college park which was the closest place to film this particular scene and also because we had used a real knife and a fake blood as a prop of mise-en-scene we needed Mary to supervise us. This scene was the girl (Susan) seeing the murderer stab the victim (Elelta) in her dream.
The first shot was a medium long shot of the victim walking past the camera and the murderer/possessed girl walking onto the camera from the left hand side of the camera. This was also the establishing shot as we had shown the park in the background while the victim walked past. The shot follows with a low angle shot of Susan killing Elelta, whilst Elelta screams. The shot continues with a match cut as we have a low angle shot of a tree in the back with Susan’s holding the knife still stabbing Elelta, although Elelta is not shown on camera. The shot follows with an over the shoulder shot of again Susan still stabbing Elelta in the stomach. The shot comes to the end as we see Elelta’s hand covered with blood and the bloody knife lying beside her. The shot finishes from the point of view of Elelta, the camera is used as Elelta’s eye, and the camera is tilted with Elelta’s hand in front of the camera whilst Susan walks away. The reason as to why we never showed a glimpse of Susan’s face in this scene is because Susan is seeing herself do all this but is unaware that it is her.
The first shot was a medium long shot of the victim walking past the camera and the murderer/possessed girl walking onto the camera from the left hand side of the camera. This was also the establishing shot as we had shown the park in the background while the victim walked past. The shot follows with a low angle shot of Susan killing Elelta, whilst Elelta screams. The shot continues with a match cut as we have a low angle shot of a tree in the back with Susan’s holding the knife still stabbing Elelta, although Elelta is not shown on camera. The shot follows with an over the shoulder shot of again Susan still stabbing Elelta in the stomach. The shot comes to the end as we see Elelta’s hand covered with blood and the bloody knife lying beside her. The shot finishes from the point of view of Elelta, the camera is used as Elelta’s eye, and the camera is tilted with Elelta’s hand in front of the camera whilst Susan walks away. The reason as to why we never showed a glimpse of Susan’s face in this scene is because Susan is seeing herself do all this but is unaware that it is her.
Filming The Bedroom Scene
Today was the shooting of the most important part of the opening for our film. We took the equipment to Lipi’s house. In this scene the girl (Susan) is in bed having flashbacks of the event taken place last night, which is the possessed girl stabbing another girl (Elelta).
According to the storyboard was shot was filmed. We set up the room and lights and also gathered the props needed for certain shots (mise-en-scene), we used blood, CDs, a CD player, pens, paper and the bed.
The first shot was a pan from Susan’s legs leading to her face in bed, in the background we have Mickey’s news report playing.
We had directed her to turns and toss in bed to show disturbance. The shot continues to a high angle, medium close up of Susan dreaming. The shot flows into a slow zoom out capturing quick close up of Susan awaking looking into the camera. This shot was done to capture the expression of the girl waking up from a nightmare. The next shot is a close up side shot of Susan huffing and puffing taking deep breathes. We then take a shot of the radio to show where the news report is playing. We made use of diegetic sound by using the news report and radio. The shot follows into a medium shot side shot of Susan still in bed looking at her hands. The next shot is a high angle shot taken from above Susan’s head, focusing on only the blood on Susan’s hands. We then took a mid shot of Susan jumping in her bed kicking the duvet off to get out of bed. At this point the news report ends. We then have a high angle, medium long shot from one corner of the room; this shot also establishes the bedroom. The shot continues with Susan jumping out of bed, walking backwards towards her cupboard, whilst Susan leans against the cupboard and drops down the camera also pans down with Susan. We then capture an over the shoulder, close up of Susan pulling out a few articles. We then get a match cut, medium close up from a high angle of Susan still dragging the articles. We then took a close up from opposite Susan scribbling on an article named “Demon Possession is it real or just a mental disorder?” We use match cut again here but from a high angle, close up of her still scribbling out ‘”Mental Disorder?”
According to the storyboard was shot was filmed. We set up the room and lights and also gathered the props needed for certain shots (mise-en-scene), we used blood, CDs, a CD player, pens, paper and the bed.
The first shot was a pan from Susan’s legs leading to her face in bed, in the background we have Mickey’s news report playing.
We had directed her to turns and toss in bed to show disturbance. The shot continues to a high angle, medium close up of Susan dreaming. The shot flows into a slow zoom out capturing quick close up of Susan awaking looking into the camera. This shot was done to capture the expression of the girl waking up from a nightmare. The next shot is a close up side shot of Susan huffing and puffing taking deep breathes. We then take a shot of the radio to show where the news report is playing. We made use of diegetic sound by using the news report and radio. The shot follows into a medium shot side shot of Susan still in bed looking at her hands. The next shot is a high angle shot taken from above Susan’s head, focusing on only the blood on Susan’s hands. We then took a mid shot of Susan jumping in her bed kicking the duvet off to get out of bed. At this point the news report ends. We then have a high angle, medium long shot from one corner of the room; this shot also establishes the bedroom. The shot continues with Susan jumping out of bed, walking backwards towards her cupboard, whilst Susan leans against the cupboard and drops down the camera also pans down with Susan. We then capture an over the shoulder, close up of Susan pulling out a few articles. We then get a match cut, medium close up from a high angle of Susan still dragging the articles. We then took a close up from opposite Susan scribbling on an article named “Demon Possession is it real or just a mental disorder?” We use match cut again here but from a high angle, close up of her still scribbling out ‘”Mental Disorder?”
Shooting the Library Scene
After planning the storyboard of the library scene and getting permission from the librarians to allow us to film, quietly, we started shooting with Dan supervising and helping us too.
We had decided that the possessed girl would go to the library to do research on possession. Our first shot was a mid shot of the girl (Susan) walking towards the books. We then get a match cut from a high angle of her arriving to the book shelf. The shot is followed by an over the shoulder, mid shot of her pulling out a dictionary from the ‘Mental Processes’ shelf. The shot continues with a low angle, mid shot from behind a plant which covers her face of the girl sitting on the floor in a corner. We then capture a zoom in, into her looking up the definition of ‘Possession Trance.’ This helps to give a hint to the audience of what the film may be about.
After two hours of filming we managed to get the right shots and angles with the help of the storyboard, Dan and co-operation from the team members.
We had decided that the possessed girl would go to the library to do research on possession. Our first shot was a mid shot of the girl (Susan) walking towards the books. We then get a match cut from a high angle of her arriving to the book shelf. The shot is followed by an over the shoulder, mid shot of her pulling out a dictionary from the ‘Mental Processes’ shelf. The shot continues with a low angle, mid shot from behind a plant which covers her face of the girl sitting on the floor in a corner. We then capture a zoom in, into her looking up the definition of ‘Possession Trance.’ This helps to give a hint to the audience of what the film may be about.
After two hours of filming we managed to get the right shots and angles with the help of the storyboard, Dan and co-operation from the team members.
Recording of "Breaking News"
In order to give the audience a clue of what the film was about my group and I decided to add a news report during the scene when the possessed girl (Susan) has flashbacks of the victim (Elelta) being murdered and then awakens. The plan was for Dan to record but as he had lessons we got Mickey to be our news reporter. We first scripted what Mickey had to say with the help of Mary. Mickey recorded the news report then burnt it onto a CD for us.
Next lesson we will be recording in the library, this scene will appear with the titles before the opening.
Next lesson we will be recording in the library, this scene will appear with the titles before the opening.
Friday, 27 February 2009
Monday, 26 January 2009
Making a Pitch of Our Final Thriller Idea
In this lesson we were to present our final ideas for our thriller opening. Our first idea for the thriller opening was about a psychotic man who kidnaps and kills children. We were then told by Dan and Mickey that this idea had been used many times before and examiners prefer films that does not include children getting harassed or abused or paedophilia.
From help by Dan and Mickey, we decided that our thriller should be about a possessed girl. The synopsis of the thriller is 'A possessed girl who has a dream of someones murder. She does not know who committed the murder but awakes to find herself in her casual clothes, not in her night dress. As she is woken up by the morning breaking news on her radio, she finds blood on her hands.'
After presenting our idea to Dan, Mikey, Mareesa and the class, we recieved their approval to start filming. Everyone got the teachers approval to film their thrillers. We then finished by planning what we will be doing every media lesson starting from next lesson. In our next lesson we will get Dan to read the script we have written. Dan will be our news reader.
From help by Dan and Mickey, we decided that our thriller should be about a possessed girl. The synopsis of the thriller is 'A possessed girl who has a dream of someones murder. She does not know who committed the murder but awakes to find herself in her casual clothes, not in her night dress. As she is woken up by the morning breaking news on her radio, she finds blood on her hands.'
After presenting our idea to Dan, Mikey, Mareesa and the class, we recieved their approval to start filming. Everyone got the teachers approval to film their thrillers. We then finished by planning what we will be doing every media lesson starting from next lesson. In our next lesson we will get Dan to read the script we have written. Dan will be our news reader.
Filming Our Match Cut
This lesson started off straight away with filming, as we planned the shots in the previous lesson. Susan and Elelta were acting as the two characters while me and Lipi were directing and filming.
We decided to film in the canteen as we had planned that the setting where both characters meet would've been the canteen. Due to not having a door, which was our first shot of Susan entering, high angle shot from the corner as Susan entered This was not possible without a door, we then went back upstairs and shot the scene in the end of the corridor. The props used was a table, two chairs, a door and a contract paper and pen. This setting was perfect as we were able to get an establishing shot of London through the wide window.
We were told to use 180° shot, match cut shot and reverse shot. Our first shot was a high angle shot of Susan's feet then an over the shoulder shot from Elelta's shoulder while Susan takes her seat opposite Elelta. Here we use our first match cut shot. We then got a close up of Susan's face which then went into a mid shot of both Susan and Elelta. This shot also is an establishing shot as we see an outline of London. The reason we chose to get a couple of shots of Susan was because she is the main character with much more power. The next shot was a close up of Susan which went into an extreme close up of Susan's eyes. We then got a close up shot of Elelta following into an extreme shot of Elelta's eyes. Here we make use of 180° shot as the camera follows from Susan to Elelta.
To keep the scene flowing we then had a mid shot of both characters. Here Elelta passes contract papers to Susan to sign. As Elelta passes the papers, we took a mid shot from an angle of Susan's side. Elelta says her dialogue here 'Here's your contract sign it'. This dialogue was written this way as both the characters have met for pure business, nothing else. The scene followed with a mid shot of Susan taking the papers, then a close up of Susan signing the papers. The scene continues with an over the shoulder shot from a high angle from Susan's side. In this shot as Susan returns the papers to Elelta with force Susan shares her dialogue 'You'll get your money when the job's done'. This dialogue was written for Susan to say with force as she is the character with power. The Scene follows with a mid shot, over the shoulder from Elelta of Susan standing up ready to leave. We then include a match cut shot of Susan from Elelta's side, as Susan pushes in her chair we take a shot of her continuing to push her chair in and leaves from the set, off the camera.
We decided to film in the canteen as we had planned that the setting where both characters meet would've been the canteen. Due to not having a door, which was our first shot of Susan entering, high angle shot from the corner as Susan entered This was not possible without a door, we then went back upstairs and shot the scene in the end of the corridor. The props used was a table, two chairs, a door and a contract paper and pen. This setting was perfect as we were able to get an establishing shot of London through the wide window.
We were told to use 180° shot, match cut shot and reverse shot. Our first shot was a high angle shot of Susan's feet then an over the shoulder shot from Elelta's shoulder while Susan takes her seat opposite Elelta. Here we use our first match cut shot. We then got a close up of Susan's face which then went into a mid shot of both Susan and Elelta. This shot also is an establishing shot as we see an outline of London. The reason we chose to get a couple of shots of Susan was because she is the main character with much more power. The next shot was a close up of Susan which went into an extreme close up of Susan's eyes. We then got a close up shot of Elelta following into an extreme shot of Elelta's eyes. Here we make use of 180° shot as the camera follows from Susan to Elelta.
To keep the scene flowing we then had a mid shot of both characters. Here Elelta passes contract papers to Susan to sign. As Elelta passes the papers, we took a mid shot from an angle of Susan's side. Elelta says her dialogue here 'Here's your contract sign it'. This dialogue was written this way as both the characters have met for pure business, nothing else. The scene followed with a mid shot of Susan taking the papers, then a close up of Susan signing the papers. The scene continues with an over the shoulder shot from a high angle from Susan's side. In this shot as Susan returns the papers to Elelta with force Susan shares her dialogue 'You'll get your money when the job's done'. This dialogue was written for Susan to say with force as she is the character with power. The Scene follows with a mid shot, over the shoulder from Elelta of Susan standing up ready to leave. We then include a match cut shot of Susan from Elelta's side, as Susan pushes in her chair we take a shot of her continuing to push her chair in and leaves from the set, off the camera.
Match Cut Introduction and Plan
In this lesson we were introduced to match cuts. As Mary, our teacher was not in, the lesson was taken over by the media technicians Mickey and Mareesa. We were given a task which included a scenario and we were to then write shots for example, camera angles, length of each shot and dialogues. The synopsis was 'Eastlondon, 3pm. A man chain smokes as he sits at his home PC. He copies confidential computer files and plans to a CD. He packages them and is seen posting them.' After planning 20 shots, we were put into our group. We then planned our own version and how we were to shoot the given scenario.
After planning our own shots Mickey had shown the class the video he had made from the given scenario. We were to compare our storyboard of the scenario with Mickeys video. There were only a few similarities such as over the shoulder shots and match cuts in a certain shot along with long shots.
Our next task was to plan with our group our own match cut clip. We had decided that there would be two characters, Susan and Elelta. The synopsis was 'A character opens a door, walks into a room, sits down opposite another character and they share a few lines of dialogue'.
We then planned with our group what our clip was to include and who would say what. We were finally ready to film for next lesson!
After planning our own shots Mickey had shown the class the video he had made from the given scenario. We were to compare our storyboard of the scenario with Mickeys video. There were only a few similarities such as over the shoulder shots and match cuts in a certain shot along with long shots.
Our next task was to plan with our group our own match cut clip. We had decided that there would be two characters, Susan and Elelta. The synopsis was 'A character opens a door, walks into a room, sits down opposite another character and they share a few lines of dialogue'.
We then planned with our group what our clip was to include and who would say what. We were finally ready to film for next lesson!
Thursday, 22 January 2009
Previous AS Students Thriller Openings
We were shown a documentary about film openings in this lesson. Directors and film critics had commented and spoke about thriller openings.
Thomas Sutcliffe said “Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible.” By this, Thomas meant that the film and audience need to have a relationship in order to enjoy the film. “Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment.” This means the audience should want to watch the entire film. There are many types of temptations and seduction which is to take the audience straight into the action.
On the other hand, according to the director Jean Jacques Beineix the risk of instant arousal is not being to sustain the audience’s attention.
A quote in the documentary was “A good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn’t know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure that it doesn’t know too little.” The implication in this quote is that there should be enough information to interest the audience, but not so much that the story is predictable or given away. The audience should remain curious.
The classic opening is described by the critic Stanley Kauffmann as establishing shots of New York, zooming into a sky scraper. This works as the audience is notified of where the film is shot and set.
Kyle Cooper’s title sequence to the film Seven is effective because it shows the audience the obsession and fanatical mad nature of the villain.
“A favourite trick of Film Noir” the term trick is meant that the ending is shown at the beginning, for example the film ‘Casino’ the character is killed in the beginning and the audience are impatient and curious to know why the character was killed.
The opening of The Shining creates suspense as the camera is used like a predator hunting the car from a far.
Thomas Sutcliffe said “Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment. While there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible.” By this, Thomas meant that the film and audience need to have a relationship in order to enjoy the film. “Films need to seduce their audience into long term commitment.” This means the audience should want to watch the entire film. There are many types of temptations and seduction which is to take the audience straight into the action.
On the other hand, according to the director Jean Jacques Beineix the risk of instant arousal is not being to sustain the audience’s attention.
A quote in the documentary was “A good beginning must make the audience feel that it doesn’t know nearly enough yet, and at the same time make sure that it doesn’t know too little.” The implication in this quote is that there should be enough information to interest the audience, but not so much that the story is predictable or given away. The audience should remain curious.
The classic opening is described by the critic Stanley Kauffmann as establishing shots of New York, zooming into a sky scraper. This works as the audience is notified of where the film is shot and set.
Kyle Cooper’s title sequence to the film Seven is effective because it shows the audience the obsession and fanatical mad nature of the villain.
“A favourite trick of Film Noir” the term trick is meant that the ending is shown at the beginning, for example the film ‘Casino’ the character is killed in the beginning and the audience are impatient and curious to know why the character was killed.
The opening of The Shining creates suspense as the camera is used like a predator hunting the car from a far.
Wednesday, 21 January 2009
Introduction To Sound
This lesson we were introduced to how producers and editors make use of sound in thriller films. I enjoyed this lesson as we got to fiddle with different sounds. We sequenced sound in scenes from the 'Quantum of Solace'. We were given the sounds used in each clip and had to place the correct sound in the correct place, for example a car rushing towards the right side of the screen, the sound would then need to be placed on the right hand side of the screen. We then had to edit our final piece again and add our own sound effects. I had used a different background sound along with other sound effects.
Monday, 19 January 2009
Thriller Practical - Editing First Lesson
After learning how to use the software Final Cut Pro from the previous lesson, we were now ready to edit our own footage. Once we had loaded our video footage into the mac computers we then had to store it in a storage hard drive. We then had to capture the shots we needed for our final product using Final Cut Pro. This is done to help sequence the film and easier to find each shot.
To make the shots continuous we used transitions and effects. Not much transitions or effects were needed as our footage had many different angle shots that did not need effects added on, for example low angle into a tilt, point of view shots and high angle shots.
To finalise the video we needed a touch of sound. We then used a software called SoundTrack. We decided to add sound effects, for example we used a screeching sound for when the door opens and the sound of shuffling cards. We had also used the sound of a trigger being pulled and finally a gunshot. We had also used a background sound/music.
We then got our class and teachers to watch out final piece. Although it was a thriller the entire class seemed to have enjoyed it and thought it was funny. We had recieved a positive feedback from the class and teachers.
What Scares Us
What scares us?
• Blood
• The dark
• The colour red
• Knives
• Silence
• Scary voices
• Bathroom scenes
• The hallway scenes
• Sudden shock
• Sudden loud sounds
• Creatures
• Psychos
• Blood
• The dark
• The colour red
• Knives
• Silence
• Scary voices
• Bathroom scenes
• The hallway scenes
• Sudden shock
• Sudden loud sounds
• Creatures
• Psychos
Wednesday, 17 December 2008
Let 'Em Play God
"Let 'Em Play God"
- Every maker of mystery movies aims at getting the audience on the edge of their seats. The ingredient to keep them there is called “suspense”.
- You have suspense when you let the audience play God.
- If the audience does know, if they have been told all the secrets that the characters do not know they’ll work like the devil for you because they know what fate is facing the poor actors. That is what is known as “playing God”. That is suspense.
- One of the necessary ingredients of the formula is a series of plausible situations with people that are real. When characters are unbelievable you never get real suspense, only surprise.
- It is important in a story with sinister implications to use counterpoint, great contrast between situation and background.
Monday, 15 December 2008
Thriller Practical - Editing Tutorial
In our second lesson, we went to the editing suite. Here we used the mac computers to edit our thriller practical recorded from last lesson. Mikey, our media studies technician came to show us how to operate Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro is the editing software we used to edit our video.
We were taught how to input our recorded film into the computer using a big memory disk, this is also where all our ork was to be saved. We were shown how to cut each shot and save it as we were to use the video clips later on. We were also shown how to put our selcted clips in the right order on the timeline. And finally we were shown how to include sound, effects and transitions.
In our next lesson we will edit our own clip.
We were taught how to input our recorded film into the computer using a big memory disk, this is also where all our ork was to be saved. We were shown how to cut each shot and save it as we were to use the video clips later on. We were also shown how to put our selcted clips in the right order on the timeline. And finally we were shown how to include sound, effects and transitions.
In our next lesson we will edit our own clip.
Thriller Practical - 1st Lesson
Our first lesson was an indroduction of how to use cameras. The media department technician - Mikey had shown my class a video clip of how to operate cameras. After each demonstration we were to practice using the cameras, for example: how to turn on and off the camera, replay what we had recorded, using the tripod at high, medium and low angles, how to insert the battery and tape.
After the demonstration we were given a task to create our own thriller using a pack of cards and a gun. From watching the thriller film - The Shiney, we had some sort idea of what we wanted. In my group - Lipi, Susan and Elelta, we had to first plan each shot, describe the scene, what angle it would be shot and the length of each shot. After we finished planning we head off to shoot.
As this was a practical we were given the mac computer room to shoot our thriller. Our thriller was based on two gamblers. Our first shot was of Elelta walking into the room, we had recorded her feet as she was walking into the room, but due to character change we had to change Elelta to Susan. Therefore we had to cut out the tracking shot of her feet. We then started from Susan walking into the room. This started from a low angle shot tilting up to show Susan's body. The next shot was a high angle shot from above Susan's shoulder. As she takes her seat opposite Elelta, the camera is then focused on Susan and Elelta, here we have a sideways close up of both.
The next shot is a medium shot of Susan and Elelta palying cards. The following shot is a close up of Susan and Elelta's hands laying cards on the table. The next shot zooms out into a midium shot of Susan throwing the cards off the table the taking out a gun from within her jacket. The camera then zooms into Susan who holds the camera infornt of the camera. The camera was from Elelta's point of view in this shot, therfore Susan was pointing the gun to the camera. The next shot was a midium shot of Elelta shocked to have seen the gun held at her. This shot was taken from Susan's point of view. In the last shot which was taken from a medium - low angle. Here Susan drops the gun while Elelta lays on the floor, to show that Susan has finished her job of killing Elelta.
After the demonstration we were given a task to create our own thriller using a pack of cards and a gun. From watching the thriller film - The Shiney, we had some sort idea of what we wanted. In my group - Lipi, Susan and Elelta, we had to first plan each shot, describe the scene, what angle it would be shot and the length of each shot. After we finished planning we head off to shoot.
As this was a practical we were given the mac computer room to shoot our thriller. Our thriller was based on two gamblers. Our first shot was of Elelta walking into the room, we had recorded her feet as she was walking into the room, but due to character change we had to change Elelta to Susan. Therefore we had to cut out the tracking shot of her feet. We then started from Susan walking into the room. This started from a low angle shot tilting up to show Susan's body. The next shot was a high angle shot from above Susan's shoulder. As she takes her seat opposite Elelta, the camera is then focused on Susan and Elelta, here we have a sideways close up of both.
The next shot is a medium shot of Susan and Elelta palying cards. The following shot is a close up of Susan and Elelta's hands laying cards on the table. The next shot zooms out into a midium shot of Susan throwing the cards off the table the taking out a gun from within her jacket. The camera then zooms into Susan who holds the camera infornt of the camera. The camera was from Elelta's point of view in this shot, therfore Susan was pointing the gun to the camera. The next shot was a midium shot of Elelta shocked to have seen the gun held at her. This shot was taken from Susan's point of view. In the last shot which was taken from a medium - low angle. Here Susan drops the gun while Elelta lays on the floor, to show that Susan has finished her job of killing Elelta.
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