Thursday 27 January 2011

Feedback

From our presentation we got good and bad feedback with questions from our class.
Our good feedback was that we where aware of the thriller conventions with a good use of political thriller however we need to make sure we really think about our location and to make sure we use props to create our scene and make it realistic.

 Questions that were asked:
  • How are we going to use political thriller in the opening two minutes?

Suggestions that where given:
  • Shilloute usage
  • Think about filming locations and props 
  • Health and safety in the forest location
  • To ensure we are clear with digectic sound

From our feedback we can now ensure that our thriller opening sequence fits the conventions of thriller.

Monday 24 January 2011

BBFC - 18

Only persons over the age of 18 may view this film in a cinema or rent/buy a copy of this film legally.


At the age of 18 the viewers are adults and therefore shall choose there own entertainment.
This means the product may contain any of the BBFC breaches mentioned in a 15 rated product.



Sex material genuinely seeks to educate in matters such as sexuality, safe sex and health, explicit images of sexual activity may be permitted.

BBFC - 15

   No one younger than 15 is allowed to view a ‘15’ film in a cinema. Anyone younger than 15 may not rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.
  Discriminatory language or behaviour must not be supported in the context of the film, drug use within the film can be shown however it must not be in anyway encourage the use of drugs.
   Horror or strong threat is permitted in films, it is not permitted if sexuality is involved.
   Hanging, suicide and self-harming are seen as imitable behaviour, they should not be dwelled on with detail to ensure that they not easy to copy. 
   Sexual activity may be showed however without using strong detail, this is the same for nudity, it may be showed in a sexual context but again without strong detail. Verbal references to sexual behaviour are allowed. Most very strong examples are not acceptable unless they are justified by context.
    Pain and injury in violence like the imitable behaviour should not be dwelled on. The strongest images are more then likely to be unacceptable. Strong sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal’s to sexual violence but any that are seen to be sexual violence have to be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.
  For any 15 classified film there is no boundary to theme so long as it follows the classification for 15 year olds.

Planning Our Thriller: Initial ideas..

Sub-Genre:
Political Thriller; conventions of political thriller are that stylistically it is similar to regular thriller films, however, the narrative is based around the government and corruption. The narrative is usually based around the struggle for power or the threat of loss of power or lack of trust being established.


Narrative:
Our story will be based around an illegal, controversial government experiment that has gone wrong and a subject has accidentally been released after being under quarantine due to an unstable mental condition.

The first two minutes will involve a telephone conversation between two highly appointed government officials, discussing the experiment. The conversation will be vague, only dropping small hints to what they  are talking about. The camera shots will be from the rear of he actors so faces are disguised, retaining a sense of mystery and intrigue.
During the conversation the scene will switch occasionally to show the girl wandering through a forested area, head down in a hospital-style cloak. Ideally these parts will be in black and white. This will make the storyline fragmented, another convention of thriller.



Characters:
Female hospital patient: with a mental issue that has developed from illegal testing.
Government Official 1: The higher of the two officials in the sequence, he will have a powerful strong voice
Government Official 2: This will be the official more involved with the experimental side of things. THis character will also be male.

Suggested Locations:
Office style rooms for the filming of the telephone conversation
Forested area in college for the escaped patient parts.

Thursday 20 January 2011

Conventions of Thriller: Something to Consider..

For our product to be effective and appeal to thriller audiences, we need to abide by a few conventions to maintain a fludity of genre.

Narrative:

Thrillers usually involve a narrative that is based around a crime. This crime is, in most cases, serious such as murder. The narrative structure can be eliptical and fragmented containing false paths, clues and resolutions. Thrillers commonly introduce enigmas which the audience will expect to be resolved throughout the course of the film. THe plot will usually contain an underlying enigma which is clouded by other issues in the film and is eventually resolved at the end. The protagonist of the film is draw into a web of intrigue by the antagonist, systematically disempowered. The end of the movie usually contains a scene where we are forced to the edges of our seats as we view the protagonist in peril. Thrillers commonly contain extraordinary events occuring in ordinary situations.

Themes:
Thrillers usually contain a number of themes. These themes include mirroring, voyerism and identity. The themes often reflect an aspect of the pro/antagonist's psychological state. A classic example of a couple of these themes is Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, or Se7en starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt.

Micro-Elements:
The mise-en-scene of the film usually echoes the protagonist's plight. Dark and shadowy scenes are used to represent the constricted and shadowed path that the protagonist faces. Sound is usually eerie and digetic to add realistic tension, along with a non-digetic soundtrack that is intense yet sparse to add tension in pivitol and key scenes. Framing is usually restricted to add a sense of claustrophobia and need to escape. Quick cuts are commonly used to add pace and tension.

Thriller Soundtrack Evaluation

we created our thriller sound track on garage band, to create a sound to go with the thriller genre we decided to use a deep base sound as the background noise. We added some sound effects to add to the tension of the track. The scratchy noises are a back chillers, they bring fear to the viewers. We decided to start are sound track with a very sudden busy start, this brings the attention to the audience and puts them on the edge of their seats. Things that went well when creating our sound track were the fading of the music and knowing what part of the track needed to be dimmed down and others that needed to be heard more. Things that could have gone better, we could have made the sound track longer then it is, this would need to be extended of an opening sequence.

Evaluation of Production Co. Logo

For our production logo we wanted to create something iconic, and simple so that it was recognisable and memorable, relating to the thriller genre to add relevance.

Having taken a short while to think of an appropriate name for our group to adopt, i set about finding an appropriate font. I used website "Da Font" for inspiration and selected the one that we have used, named "Bullet In The Head" as this font gives a significantly distorted look which relates to the Thriller genre.

Having applied my choice to photoshop, i thought about some effects that i could add to enhance the look. After playing with several ideas i settled on create a blood-red highlight, again to add relevance and keeping our design distinguishable. I felt that this simplicity added a certain class to our logo, after all, less is more.

Thriller Soundtrack

At Your Door Production Logo

at your dor

Wednesday 19 January 2011

Analysis of sound in thriller

'Catch me if you can'



The sound during the opening sequence of 'catch me if you can' is quite upbeat and repetitive, the jazzy blues style doesn't fit the genre of a thriller which make it sound mysterious but not too ominous.
The sound in the opening sequence is non diagetic because there are no present characters to hear sound.
The visuals go well with the music because it music sounds like a chase sequence and the visuals portray a figure chasing another. The visuals also add to the mysterious feel of the soundtrack because the figures have no specific facial details and are just full black.
Therefore the soundtrack doesn't really fit the thriller genre because it is too upbeat and relaxed in both visual and sound and is not near the intensity you would normally find in a thriller film.

'Surface'




The sound in the opening sequence of 'Surface' is intense and eerie with a dark twist. The use of the diagetic sound of gasping, light breathing and yelping adds to the effect of the non-diagetic sound, this makes the sound track fit well into the genre and works well with the visuals involved in the opening sequence, you see a various parts of skin and facial expressions of a woman in a state of trauma and distress. The almost fuzzy sound and the unclear images suggest confusion and sets the mood. The use of white noise as a sound is used at various times in the opening sequence, this is used a lot in thriller/horror genres because of previous films use of the white noise leaving an impact on viewers and now audiences think of white noise as horrific and ominous.  Therefore the sound in the opening sequence conforms to the thriller genre.

'Se7en'



The sound in 'Se7en' is very repetitive, intense and builds up tension.  The diegetic sound we hear is rattling and whispers - this conforms to the typical thriller genre. The added non-diagetic is a drum beat which dramatically increased, this makes the viewers more involved as it makes tension and something is expected to happen.  The almost constructive sound track with a mechanical sound effects gives the feeling that something is being planned or made, the visual clip fits this, you can see that a book of incident records is being made, within this includes dead people. This links to a typical thriller genre because of the relation to death.

Monday 17 January 2011

Analysis of Past Students Blog and Marking Criteria

We have analysed the work of the group S1-23. We have concluded that this work is of a very high standard. This work, we believe, is a Level 4, which conforms to the following standards:

Level 4 - 48-60 (Video)


  • Holding a shot steady shot, where appropriate;
  • Framing a shot, including and excluding elements where appropriate
  • Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate
  • shooting material appropriate to the task set
  • selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting
  • editing so that meaning is appropriate to the viewer
  • using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set
  • using sound with images and editing appropriately for task set
  • using titles appropriately
Level 4 - 16-20 marks (Research and Planning)

  • There is excellent research into similar products and a potential target audience.
  • There is excellent organisation of actors; locations, costumes or props.
  • There is excellent work on shotlists, layouts, costumes or props.
  • There is excellent level of care in the presentation of the research and planning.
  • Time management is excellent.  

In regards to the video aspect of the project the clarity and precision of camerawork is fantastic. The shots are held steady where required which applies to the first bullet point. The framing is also very good, selection of character positing and in relation to the natural environment has clearly been carefully selected, which applies to multiple points in the marking criteria. However, a lack of transitions was evident and just a basic cut was used. Although the lack of transitions was made up for by the effective use of colour correction and sound/image editing and the highly effective use of titles. The video can be found here:


The groups organisation skills are relatively good as well. There is an excellent amount of research into similar products and the target audience that they will target. The research is extensive, covering a vast amount of hybrid thrillers and conventions. However, there is a slight lack of planning in the way there is a lack of shot list. However, this i rectified through a rough draft cut that they have constructed and amended for their final piece.

Thursday 13 January 2011

Psychological Thriller Conventions



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Textual Analysis (Film - Memento - 2000)



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Conventions Of Political Thriller

Polital thriller is one of the many sub-genre's of thriller.
Political thrillers involve storylines based around the mindset of major governement officials and the corruption that surrounds their decisions. Political thrillers, are conventionally like thrillers, just with the involvement of politics. The storyline ivolves the main character, usually the protagonist, unraveling a web of lies and corruption and the path it that this person is led on. This path is usually psychologically challenging can involve elements of action.
A classic example of a political thriller is the film "The Interpreter". A more fast paced political thriller would be The Bourne Identity/Supremacy/Ultimatum.

Tuesday 11 January 2011

Comparing Two Thriller Opening Sequences - Se7en & Panic Room

In Se7en and Panic Room, they both have spooky/creepy music at the beginning, however in Panic Room there is a change in music, which gives a dramatic effect on the viewer.  In Panic Room, the opening scene mainly focuses on buildings and skyscrapers (in America) whereas in Se7en the opening sequence is actually of a person doing something.  In Se7en there is lots of shadowing, and the lighting is very dark which makes us think that someone is planning a crime like a murder or something else.  In Panic Room because the opening scene is just different shot angles of buildings and skyscrapers it makes us think that there is going to be an extraordinary event in an ordinary place.  Both of the opening sequences are very different, but overall I prefer Se7en because there is more going on and this is what keeps me focused on the film, whereas in Panic Room the opening sequence looks boring and it doesn't intrigue me very much so I prefer Se7en.

Thursday 6 January 2011

Preliminary Evaluation

    We learnt how to position the camera in a particular ways from this we learnt what shots were most effective. when editing we found that there was another way of cuttimg in and out so that we ould get the clips we wanted. This turned out to be easier and we could get the cuts more accurate.

   We found that finding the correct location to film our preliminary task was a little difficult, this was because we needed a corridor with doors but a corridor that was long enough to get our long shot that was wanted. Whilst trying to upload our film to youtube we had some difficulties the whole film uploading as the first couple of tries only a half the film went on, we resolved this by rendering the whole video again to ensure it was all smooth. After doing this we managed to upload the video first time with no problem.

Having given some of the conventions of thriller a thought, we decided to use an effective mise-en-scene that made our first character seem mysterious and dark with his hood up while his body was positioned in a way that the camera did not expose his face until the climax of the scene. Our camera angles were basic. Most angles used were long shots and close-ups, including over-shoulder shots for the conversation. these added mystery to our storyline. although we wanted to, we didn't use any non-digetic sound due to timr ristrictions. we included a conversation as this was part of what we were tasked to do. In the editing phase we only used one simple fade in/out transition to add a smooth transition into our main sequence. In the editing process we made sure we stuck to the 180 degree rule to add continuity.

Preliminary Task



This is our Preliminary Task, in which we just got used to using the camera and using different shots.

Preliminary Task Storyboard


These are our storyboards we followed when filming our preliminary work, though brief these were essential in remembering what we had to capture.