Monday 30 March 2009
problem
On thrusday the 26th whilst i was uploading my evaluation onto the blog an it kept telling me tha there ws an error and my pictures could not be added . So then i tried going to compose to browse and find my pictures but it still weren't working. As a result i decided to go to the room with the apple MACSand do it from there but i couldn' t get the evaluation that i had saved onto my USB to open from there so i decided to just put add the pictures from there and paste my evaluation at home.HOWEVER when i got home the pictures were not showing properly and just looked like little boxes, so i deleted them and just put my evaluation. SORRY FOR NOT ADDING PICTURES I TRIED
Evaluation
Thriller Evaluation
By Can Gizem Arik
My thriller film is called ‘Capture’. It is about a psycho stalker who kidnaps and kills young women. Some thriller films that have influenced my ideas while creating my film opening were ‘Arlington Road’ and ‘Strangers’. They influenced me because they have the basic conventions of a thriller genre film, such as close-ups of faces with shocked/scared expressions, screaming, fast paced soundtracks, empty streets lined with houses, lonely victims and low key lighting.
I had watched a documentary about thriller films and it taught me that the first five minutes of a film are very important because it needs to grab the audience’s attention and interest. I also learned that the audience needs to know the nature of the film and that this can be achieved by establishing things such as plot and character. Another thing I found out was the “trick of Film Noir”, which is basically showing the ending of the film at the beginning to trick the audience to gain their attention and to create suspense.
Most of these conventions can be seen in my opening, for example, the fast paced, instrumental soundtrack which helps create and maintain tension. Close-ups of objects (mobile phone with a ‘withheld’ caller screen) and faces were used to show emotion or to make clear what the props are. We also filmed a scene in an empty street with houses and the lonely victim walking though because it’s an ‘everyday’ place and an ‘everyday’ situation but the audience knows that something will happen because of the typical conventions and because of the non-diegetic sounds of heavy breathing and a camera shutter.
A different location we filmed in was a park. We did this because parks have a connotation of being creepy and dangerous in thriller films. We filmed in the park when it was empty to go back to the convention of a lonely victim in an empty place.
Looking back at the preliminary task, I feel that I have learned a lot in the progression from it to the full product. For example, I have become familiar with the different shots and what they could connote, such as point-of-view shots put the audience in the characters place and it helps them feel involved in the story and it could help emphasise more with the characters. The storyboarding and planning was also very educative because it helped me understand that it’s better to be prepared and to know what stage I’m at than to make it up as I go.
We came up with the idea of our film as a group. We discussed what thriller storylines are popular, e.g. terrorism, murder etc and what other elements thriller films have, e.g. “the final girl”. I think our full product was successful because we followed the basic codes and conventions of a thriller genre. There were some problems while editing because the computer wasn’t working so it had probably lost us some time but we managed to keep up.
The audience for my media product would be men and women, aged 16 – 28. They could range from working-class to upper-class because it is a film about a bad situation, not class difference. The audience can be from any race and we tried to make the audience be able to relate to the film by using actors from different races. People living in the city would probably be able to relate more to the storyline and location in the film. A typical person who fits into my target audience could be: “Elizabeth; Liz, nineteen, lives in London. Works part-time in a retail shop such as ‘Next’ and goes college full-time. Hobbies are going cinema, shopping, hanging out with friends, reading and exercising. She likes listening to RnB and pop songs. She lives in a one bedroom apartment.”
I will attract my target audience by staring famous actors in the film, such as Keira Knightley, Anthony Hopkins and Robert Pattison. I will also attract them with the thriller genre of my film; action/crime thriller. It won’t be boring because there will be stunts and suspense, mystery and excitement. I will market my film via posters, billboards, travel (bus, train stations), internet, trailers and TV. Another good way to market and advertise is via virals on sites such as Facebook or Myspace. This type of advertising will be an advantage because it is free and spreads fast.
My film would be a big Hollywood blockbuster. The institution that might distribute my media product is Universal Studios. It is one of the six worldwide major American film studios. Having a known institute to distribute my film is an advantage because then the people will know it’s worth seeing and the fact that it’s an American institution helps attract more audiences around the world. However, the cast and crew and locations will be mainly British, therefore it will be a British film.
On a practical hands-on level, my experience of filming and using Final Cut Pro was very educational. I learned many different ways to film shots and how to achieve a certain feel with the shots used. I have also learned that technology is very important when constructing media products because without it we wouldn’t be able to do effects or advertise on the internet etc. The internet has widened the potential audience for my film. If we didn’t have technology, we wouldn’t be able to release ‘Capture’ on Vimeo or do the blogging.
Overall, I think we have been successful in creating an opening to a thriller genre film. If I compare ‘Capture’ to a real thriller film like ‘Arlington Road’ I will be able to find many similarities. For example, in ‘Arlington Road’ there was artificial lighting and in ‘Capture’ there was a black and white effect. In both openings, there were long shots, worms-eye-view, point-of-view, panning and more similar shots. There was a street with houses in both thrillers as well. I also think I’ve been effective in creating an opening that attracts my target audience because I had a live audience aged 16- 18 watch my film and this is some of the feedback I received: “Good establishing shots. Camera sound was effective. The use of black and white was effective and original. Good variety in the shots. Effective match-cuts. The ‘withheld’ caller on the phone works very well as it creates suspense.” Im a wasteman call me 07927384758
By Can Gizem Arik
My thriller film is called ‘Capture’. It is about a psycho stalker who kidnaps and kills young women. Some thriller films that have influenced my ideas while creating my film opening were ‘Arlington Road’ and ‘Strangers’. They influenced me because they have the basic conventions of a thriller genre film, such as close-ups of faces with shocked/scared expressions, screaming, fast paced soundtracks, empty streets lined with houses, lonely victims and low key lighting.
I had watched a documentary about thriller films and it taught me that the first five minutes of a film are very important because it needs to grab the audience’s attention and interest. I also learned that the audience needs to know the nature of the film and that this can be achieved by establishing things such as plot and character. Another thing I found out was the “trick of Film Noir”, which is basically showing the ending of the film at the beginning to trick the audience to gain their attention and to create suspense.
Most of these conventions can be seen in my opening, for example, the fast paced, instrumental soundtrack which helps create and maintain tension. Close-ups of objects (mobile phone with a ‘withheld’ caller screen) and faces were used to show emotion or to make clear what the props are. We also filmed a scene in an empty street with houses and the lonely victim walking though because it’s an ‘everyday’ place and an ‘everyday’ situation but the audience knows that something will happen because of the typical conventions and because of the non-diegetic sounds of heavy breathing and a camera shutter.
A different location we filmed in was a park. We did this because parks have a connotation of being creepy and dangerous in thriller films. We filmed in the park when it was empty to go back to the convention of a lonely victim in an empty place.
Looking back at the preliminary task, I feel that I have learned a lot in the progression from it to the full product. For example, I have become familiar with the different shots and what they could connote, such as point-of-view shots put the audience in the characters place and it helps them feel involved in the story and it could help emphasise more with the characters. The storyboarding and planning was also very educative because it helped me understand that it’s better to be prepared and to know what stage I’m at than to make it up as I go.
We came up with the idea of our film as a group. We discussed what thriller storylines are popular, e.g. terrorism, murder etc and what other elements thriller films have, e.g. “the final girl”. I think our full product was successful because we followed the basic codes and conventions of a thriller genre. There were some problems while editing because the computer wasn’t working so it had probably lost us some time but we managed to keep up.
The audience for my media product would be men and women, aged 16 – 28. They could range from working-class to upper-class because it is a film about a bad situation, not class difference. The audience can be from any race and we tried to make the audience be able to relate to the film by using actors from different races. People living in the city would probably be able to relate more to the storyline and location in the film. A typical person who fits into my target audience could be: “Elizabeth; Liz, nineteen, lives in London. Works part-time in a retail shop such as ‘Next’ and goes college full-time. Hobbies are going cinema, shopping, hanging out with friends, reading and exercising. She likes listening to RnB and pop songs. She lives in a one bedroom apartment.”
I will attract my target audience by staring famous actors in the film, such as Keira Knightley, Anthony Hopkins and Robert Pattison. I will also attract them with the thriller genre of my film; action/crime thriller. It won’t be boring because there will be stunts and suspense, mystery and excitement. I will market my film via posters, billboards, travel (bus, train stations), internet, trailers and TV. Another good way to market and advertise is via virals on sites such as Facebook or Myspace. This type of advertising will be an advantage because it is free and spreads fast.
My film would be a big Hollywood blockbuster. The institution that might distribute my media product is Universal Studios. It is one of the six worldwide major American film studios. Having a known institute to distribute my film is an advantage because then the people will know it’s worth seeing and the fact that it’s an American institution helps attract more audiences around the world. However, the cast and crew and locations will be mainly British, therefore it will be a British film.
On a practical hands-on level, my experience of filming and using Final Cut Pro was very educational. I learned many different ways to film shots and how to achieve a certain feel with the shots used. I have also learned that technology is very important when constructing media products because without it we wouldn’t be able to do effects or advertise on the internet etc. The internet has widened the potential audience for my film. If we didn’t have technology, we wouldn’t be able to release ‘Capture’ on Vimeo or do the blogging.
Overall, I think we have been successful in creating an opening to a thriller genre film. If I compare ‘Capture’ to a real thriller film like ‘Arlington Road’ I will be able to find many similarities. For example, in ‘Arlington Road’ there was artificial lighting and in ‘Capture’ there was a black and white effect. In both openings, there were long shots, worms-eye-view, point-of-view, panning and more similar shots. There was a street with houses in both thrillers as well. I also think I’ve been effective in creating an opening that attracts my target audience because I had a live audience aged 16- 18 watch my film and this is some of the feedback I received: “Good establishing shots. Camera sound was effective. The use of black and white was effective and original. Good variety in the shots. Effective match-cuts. The ‘withheld’ caller on the phone works very well as it creates suspense.” Im a wasteman call me 07927384758
Thursday 26 March 2009
Evaluation
A good thriller would have a good plot with lots of twists and turns with a variety of characters. Some examples of thrillers are ‘Supernatural thrillers’ which focus on ghosts and characters that aren’t real. Also there are ‘Crime thrillers’ and thrillers that play mind games (psychological). The main concept of our thriller is three teenage girls being stalked by an unknown person who photographs them on different occasions and adds the pictures to a collage of images of young girls onto a wall. Although our concept was basic we tried to make it more dramatic and interesting by including a variety of camera angles which would help build up suspense. For example, we used a ‘High angle Shot’ to make one of the girls look inferior and in a vulnerable position. ‘Worms eye view’ was also used to hid the identity of the person and confuse the audience .Another shot used was P.O.V (Point Of View). This was used when the second girl was on the swing in the park and her phone rings and as she looks down and answers her phone we use P.O.V to put the audience in the characters shoes. Also at the end of the thriller opening we built up tension by the ‘Extreme close up’ of the stalkers eyes.
In ‘Capture’ the audience is represented through the characters and are likely to be very similar. The target audience could be teenagers aged from 13 to early 20’s . I think that the characters used in our thriller ‘Capture’ represents the social group that it is targeted towards. We tried not to be gender or race specific and this is shown through the 3 main types of race used in the characters black white and Asian. Also the use of ‘Mise En Scene’ represent a particular social group e.g. The mobile phone used is something easily associated with teenagers as the ‘must have’ ‘can’t live without’ gadget. In ‘Capture’ the three main characters are dressed casually and their costume is not very over the top but something that the target audience may have in their wardrobe. Also the setting is first identified at the beginning as the establishing shot and through this the audience are able to see the geographical backdrop to the film.
A typical person would have a part- time job in retail such as Marks and Spencer’s because the pay is good and enjoy eating fast food for example ‘McDonalds’ because it is already made and fits in with their manic lifestyle. They may also enjoy watching soaps such as ‘Eastenders’ and ‘The Bill’ especially The Bill because that programme involves solving things and putting pieces of the puzzle together. The audience member may also be stylish, have the latest things and enjoy socialising with their family and friends. Also a typical person that fits into my target audience are achievers and try their hardest to be the best that they can and make lots of money in order to live a lavish lifestyle with the latest clothes.
I think that the best way to advertise ‘Capture’ would be through T.V adverts because more people would be likely to view it. However, this method of advertising is likely to be very costly so I might attend a film festival to get help with funding. Another method of advertising could be through the internet. I think that this way would be very effective because the internet is used worldwide especially among teenagers. We would look to use a famous director to direct a film especially if their past projects has been a success because this may mean that a fan base already exists and we would not have to try and build one but just add to an existing one.
I think that a big Hollywood Studio such as ‘Universal’ would be the most suitable media institution to distribute ‘Capture’. Because of the US global domination of the film industry, it would be much better for us to join them rather than compete with them. Also because ‘Universal’ is a conglomerate and owns lots of small subsidiaries the finance that we would need to finance the thriller would be available. At the same time I think because our thriller is mainly aimed at teenagers releasing ‘Capture’ over the internet, may also be a choice to consider because releasing it over the internet via YouTube or MySpace is likely to attract the teenager audience because these sites are what teenagers find appealing.For me using a camera was a very new experience because previously I had not used one before. As a result, I did not feel that confident in using a camera. Luckily, prior to filming our thriller ‘Capture’ we had a tutorial with Mickey. Here we learnt how to use a camera for example how to put in a tape correctly and other features included on it. Also we were taught how to use a tripod and what not to do with the video camera for example lift the tripod and move around with the camera still attached. The internet was also a key feature used during the duration of the thriller task because we had to blog daily on blogspot.com and we had to upload our finished film onto ‘Vimeo’.
Looking back at the preliminary tasks I feel as though I have learnt a lot for example, I learnt that in order for a film to be successful a lot of planning is needed. In addition, I learnt how to work the camera for example the features included on the camera. Whilst doing the match- cut exercise, I was made aware of the 180-degree rule, which is if you are filming someone/something you must stay on the same side and not cross over because it would look like they are going the other way. Knowing this was very beneficial because it allowed me not to make the same mistake when it came down to our thriller opening. After finishing our preliminary film we had to begin editing, however my group began to experience technical problems and we were not able to put the film we had just done from the camera to the computer, so we had to call Mickey over. After switching computers it was now ok to start ‘Log and Capture’ but after experiencing problems with the computer a lot of time had been wasted so we had to literally rush and quickly ‘Log and Capture’ what we could before the time was up.
If I were to compare my final product to the preliminary task I would say that there were a few changes made in the way we went about each task. For example in the preliminary task I think that we lacked in planning and time. This showed in the end product. So as a result, when it came down to the final product we made sure that planning was a major factor. Also from the preliminary task we were able to see which camera shots didn’t work and avoid them in the final product. Compared to the film ‘Se7en’ I think that ‘Capture’ differs for example the opening to seven is more dramatic and uses dark colours to draw the audience in. Also in ‘Se7en’ the credits are more appealing and eye-catching but moreover the credits are shown over a person doing something but makes it suspenseful is we can’t see the person or what they are doing in detail but we see names such as ‘Morgan Freeman’ and ‘Brad Pitt’. ‘Extreme close ups’ are also used.
Some good points about our thriller which is called ‘Capture’ includes the camera shots used for example when the second girl was on the phone whilst on the swing the stalker takes a picture and that camera shot is the same as the image he sticks on the wall. Another positive is the use of band white shots to show the audience when the stalker is there. Also handheld shots also added to the atmosphere. However, some negatives include the sound at the end not being as dramatic as the beginning. Another negative about ‘Capture’ is that the credits were not as eye-catching as I would have liked and the font and style of writing were too basic. From watching Arlington Road I learnt that not all thrillers have to be ‘bloody’ but can actually challenge you mentally and make you put pieces of the puzzle together whilst you watch it. In Arlington Road the dad looks through a year book and the frame/shot is tight but what makes it suspenseful is the way in which the music builds up and we don’t know if someone is going to pop up from behind him because the frame is tight.
To conclude, I think my group has successfully created a thriller opening that appeals to the intended target audience and this is shown through the characters that are featured in the thriller, they are young mostly female and stylish. In addition, I think that through the use of different camera shots for example, the establishing/long shot at the begin and Point Of View shot of the watch we were able to add variety. Soundtrack was also used from ‘Soundtrack Pro’ and varied to build tension and keep the audience interested. The reason why we concentrated on the sound was because from doing the sound tutorial on ‘Casino Royale’ we realised how significant sound is and if done correctly can make the film a success. At first whilst filming me and my group felt as though we were producing a thriller that perhaps was too basic but as time went on and we began to put the finishing touches together we realised that it could in fact be a good thriller. For me I think that the most challenging part of the whole making of the thriller was the editing because if done wrongly the thriller could look rubbish or unrealistic. Also editing the finally piece was time- consuming but the end result was good. Lastly, when our film was shown to the targeted audience at the cinema the overall reaction was quite positive which shows that our film was a success.
In ‘Capture’ the audience is represented through the characters and are likely to be very similar. The target audience could be teenagers aged from 13 to early 20’s . I think that the characters used in our thriller ‘Capture’ represents the social group that it is targeted towards. We tried not to be gender or race specific and this is shown through the 3 main types of race used in the characters black white and Asian. Also the use of ‘Mise En Scene’ represent a particular social group e.g. The mobile phone used is something easily associated with teenagers as the ‘must have’ ‘can’t live without’ gadget. In ‘Capture’ the three main characters are dressed casually and their costume is not very over the top but something that the target audience may have in their wardrobe. Also the setting is first identified at the beginning as the establishing shot and through this the audience are able to see the geographical backdrop to the film.
A typical person would have a part- time job in retail such as Marks and Spencer’s because the pay is good and enjoy eating fast food for example ‘McDonalds’ because it is already made and fits in with their manic lifestyle. They may also enjoy watching soaps such as ‘Eastenders’ and ‘The Bill’ especially The Bill because that programme involves solving things and putting pieces of the puzzle together. The audience member may also be stylish, have the latest things and enjoy socialising with their family and friends. Also a typical person that fits into my target audience are achievers and try their hardest to be the best that they can and make lots of money in order to live a lavish lifestyle with the latest clothes.
I think that the best way to advertise ‘Capture’ would be through T.V adverts because more people would be likely to view it. However, this method of advertising is likely to be very costly so I might attend a film festival to get help with funding. Another method of advertising could be through the internet. I think that this way would be very effective because the internet is used worldwide especially among teenagers. We would look to use a famous director to direct a film especially if their past projects has been a success because this may mean that a fan base already exists and we would not have to try and build one but just add to an existing one.
I think that a big Hollywood Studio such as ‘Universal’ would be the most suitable media institution to distribute ‘Capture’. Because of the US global domination of the film industry, it would be much better for us to join them rather than compete with them. Also because ‘Universal’ is a conglomerate and owns lots of small subsidiaries the finance that we would need to finance the thriller would be available. At the same time I think because our thriller is mainly aimed at teenagers releasing ‘Capture’ over the internet, may also be a choice to consider because releasing it over the internet via YouTube or MySpace is likely to attract the teenager audience because these sites are what teenagers find appealing.For me using a camera was a very new experience because previously I had not used one before. As a result, I did not feel that confident in using a camera. Luckily, prior to filming our thriller ‘Capture’ we had a tutorial with Mickey. Here we learnt how to use a camera for example how to put in a tape correctly and other features included on it. Also we were taught how to use a tripod and what not to do with the video camera for example lift the tripod and move around with the camera still attached. The internet was also a key feature used during the duration of the thriller task because we had to blog daily on blogspot.com and we had to upload our finished film onto ‘Vimeo’.
Looking back at the preliminary tasks I feel as though I have learnt a lot for example, I learnt that in order for a film to be successful a lot of planning is needed. In addition, I learnt how to work the camera for example the features included on the camera. Whilst doing the match- cut exercise, I was made aware of the 180-degree rule, which is if you are filming someone/something you must stay on the same side and not cross over because it would look like they are going the other way. Knowing this was very beneficial because it allowed me not to make the same mistake when it came down to our thriller opening. After finishing our preliminary film we had to begin editing, however my group began to experience technical problems and we were not able to put the film we had just done from the camera to the computer, so we had to call Mickey over. After switching computers it was now ok to start ‘Log and Capture’ but after experiencing problems with the computer a lot of time had been wasted so we had to literally rush and quickly ‘Log and Capture’ what we could before the time was up.
If I were to compare my final product to the preliminary task I would say that there were a few changes made in the way we went about each task. For example in the preliminary task I think that we lacked in planning and time. This showed in the end product. So as a result, when it came down to the final product we made sure that planning was a major factor. Also from the preliminary task we were able to see which camera shots didn’t work and avoid them in the final product. Compared to the film ‘Se7en’ I think that ‘Capture’ differs for example the opening to seven is more dramatic and uses dark colours to draw the audience in. Also in ‘Se7en’ the credits are more appealing and eye-catching but moreover the credits are shown over a person doing something but makes it suspenseful is we can’t see the person or what they are doing in detail but we see names such as ‘Morgan Freeman’ and ‘Brad Pitt’. ‘Extreme close ups’ are also used.
Some good points about our thriller which is called ‘Capture’ includes the camera shots used for example when the second girl was on the phone whilst on the swing the stalker takes a picture and that camera shot is the same as the image he sticks on the wall. Another positive is the use of band white shots to show the audience when the stalker is there. Also handheld shots also added to the atmosphere. However, some negatives include the sound at the end not being as dramatic as the beginning. Another negative about ‘Capture’ is that the credits were not as eye-catching as I would have liked and the font and style of writing were too basic. From watching Arlington Road I learnt that not all thrillers have to be ‘bloody’ but can actually challenge you mentally and make you put pieces of the puzzle together whilst you watch it. In Arlington Road the dad looks through a year book and the frame/shot is tight but what makes it suspenseful is the way in which the music builds up and we don’t know if someone is going to pop up from behind him because the frame is tight.
To conclude, I think my group has successfully created a thriller opening that appeals to the intended target audience and this is shown through the characters that are featured in the thriller, they are young mostly female and stylish. In addition, I think that through the use of different camera shots for example, the establishing/long shot at the begin and Point Of View shot of the watch we were able to add variety. Soundtrack was also used from ‘Soundtrack Pro’ and varied to build tension and keep the audience interested. The reason why we concentrated on the sound was because from doing the sound tutorial on ‘Casino Royale’ we realised how significant sound is and if done correctly can make the film a success. At first whilst filming me and my group felt as though we were producing a thriller that perhaps was too basic but as time went on and we began to put the finishing touches together we realised that it could in fact be a good thriller. For me I think that the most challenging part of the whole making of the thriller was the editing because if done wrongly the thriller could look rubbish or unrealistic. Also editing the finally piece was time- consuming but the end result was good. Lastly, when our film was shown to the targeted audience at the cinema the overall reaction was quite positive which shows that our film was a success.
The Evaluation!
As part of my AS Media course I was set a practical assignment, my aim was to ‘construct the opening sequence of a thriller film’ of at least two minutes duration. For the assignment, I was allocated into my own individual group; my group consisted of four people: me, Sanita, Vanessa and Gizem. There were various resources available to us; these included the Tripods, Mini DVD camcorder, and digital video editing software, which consisted of ‘Final cut pro’ for construction.Before we commenced our practical project I had to research into existing thriller films and how suspense and tension is created in these films; this was so I could get a rough idea and understanding of what codes & conventions are needed in order to create a successful thriller opening sequence. I was given the opportunity to do this research during my lessons, as I observed and analysed how narrative is developed and tension is built in various thriller films including ‘Arlington Rd and What lies beneath’. I also observed clips from 5 different thriller films, including films such as ‘Psycho (1960)’, directed by ‘Alfred Hitchcock-the master of suspense.’
As I watched this clips I realised that all thriller films promote intense, excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. Thriller films are virtually synonymous and interchangeable categorizations, with similar characteristics and features. If the genre is to be defined strictly, after watching these films I would say that a genuine thriller is a film that rentlessly pursues a single-minded goal - to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging at the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. The films also used similar conventions in order to build this suspense; this included raising false plateau: when the audience is exposed to a threat and then the threat is illuminated, voyeurism: when the audience is places as the voyeur where they are watching without being seen, Binary opposition: when tension is set up between 2 groups/elements and inter-texuality: when a similar scene is used to that of an existing film.
Via my research I realised that the openings of films are crucial for grabbing the audience’s attention and gaining their interest, they are also important for revealing the genre of the film and introducing the main characters. Openings sequence should engage the audience and make them feel that they want more. The opening of our thriller film will be an exposition in which the main theme and stylistic convention will be presented to the audience, I believe that the opening scene of ‘Arlington Road’ was most effective at grabbing my attention, as the camera angle, sound effect, and distorted look was typical of a thriller film, therefore, this influenced the most when I contributed ideas to the group for our film.
After gathering a considerable amount of research my group started contributing ideas into our thriller production, we decided upon an identifiable target audience, we chose a mainstream audience, males and females, aged between 15-21 year olds, we set a classification for our film as a certificate 15, we realised that this impacted on the narrative, the mise-en-scene, soundtrack and every other aspect of our film and when deciding upon the narrative of the film we took into account that we will be unable to include some language or explicit scenes. E.g. violence, sex
We decided to name our thirller 'Capture.' This was mainly because the villain takes pictures of his victims using a camera hence. Also, it can foreshadow what might happen later on in the film. So already we are giving away information to our audience but not too much.
We selected a particular generic convention; we decided to go for enigma, creating an air of mystery with an anonymous hooded person taking pictures, we also wanted to have a sense of atmosphere and ambience rather than action during our narrative, therefore no action took place during the narrative of the film.
As we all know, all openings must attract the audience into watching the film and set up questions which will be answered later in the film. So to help set up questions, we used conventions of thriller films and by comparing to those used in Arlington Road. We used a variety of camera angles which had different affects. There was a Point of View shot when our second victim looks at her phone, this is effective as it puts the audience in the victims position. We also was aware that including a close up is vital when making a thriller film, so we included one of the villian. This was also effective, as the close up shows the expressions and helps create an edgy and nervy atmosphere. A high angle shot of our third victim to emphasis the innocence and vulnerablilty. A low angle shot of our villan, this is effective as it shows that he is in power and superior. We tried using various of different camera distances to create dramatic effects, so for example shooting a scene from different angles. We also included an establishing shot to show our locations.
When editing we had had various shots to choose from, however, when watching the scene of the two victims we realised that we had broken the 180 degrees rule, as we shot from two different sides; this made the shot seem confusing. We tried resolving this problem by reversing the shot in Final Cut Pro, but it just didn't work out. The main transition we used were fade in fade out as we thought it showed continuity and meaning. We changed the colour of the scene, when it was from the villians prospective, this was so the audience got a clear understanding. When choosing the soundtrack, I took into account that we needed a slow pace soundtrack, as no dramatic action took place in our film, I chose 3 favourites and together we chose the soundtrack for our film. We included the soundtrack in and muted the background noises that were included whilst filming.
The title of the film came in with the soundtrack I believe that this was a good effect, we added the production company and the title using the fade in fade out transition; this emphasised it more as they were shown in different shots. The fonts of the credits were in white colour this fitted in well with the eerie mise-en-scene.
Whilst looking at the final product I realised that the soundtrack very much suited the film also the effects of the transition worked well. The film gave a clear understanding, of what was going; showing that their was a victim and a person who was obsessed with this person this was helped along with the different colour tones.
Tension was built throughout the movie as there was an uncertainty on what will happen next, there was also a high-level of anticipation when the killer was caressing the picture of the girl, this was helped along with the change in music and the shots of close-ups and panning shots across the wall. .
The title of the film came in with the soundtrack I believe that this was a good effect, we added the production company and the title using the fade in fade out transition; this emphasised it more as they were shown in different shots. The fonts of the credits were in white colour this fitted in well with the eerie mise-en-scene.
Whilst looking at the final product I realised that the soundtrack very much suited the film also the effects of the transition worked well. The film gave a clear understanding, of what was going; showing that their was a victim and a person who was obsessed with this person this was helped along with the different colour tones.
Tension was built throughout the movie as there was an uncertainty on what will happen next, there was also a high-level of anticipation when the killer was caressing the picture of the girl, this was helped along with the change in music and the shots of close-ups and panning shots across the wall. .
a close up clip from The Ring, revealing facial expressions:
Mise en scene is everything that appears before the camera, this includes the characters, the use of lighting and locations. We decided the person playing our villan, should be a male.This was because in majority films males are mostly the villians, and men are stereo-typically seen as strong and agressive whereas woman are seen as vulnerable hence the reason why our victims are all female. This connoted to the audience that the film was from a prejudiced point of view, as the victim was girl however, I wanted to subvert genre expectations by suggesting to the group that we should use a female as a killer rather than a male, they disagreed. We decided to have a mystery man where you do not see the villians face, which gives the audience a sense of insecurity. Music also helps create tension and suspense. Our non-diegtic sound was the music. At the beginning is a simple piano playing in the background to set the mood within the scene, sound effects, like the violin then emerged in which added the dramatic effect. As it continues playing, the music gains base and helps create a vibe. Altogether, we made sure our music was eerie to make the audience feel on edge. Our only diegtic sound, was the heavy breathing, which was effective at it helped to spook out the audience.
'Capture' consists of three female victims. So i suppose you can say we are being gender specific, as all the victims are female. But as for races we tried including different backgrounds, this is shown through our victims, black, white and asian. So all different races can relate to it. The locations used, such as the park, bus-stop and the streets to elaborate the fact that it could take place anywhere. The characters are dressed in everyday wear, nothing too fancy. All these things help the audience relate to the characters.
I would say 'Capture' is aimed at those who like to be thrilled! And aimed mostly at teenagers. They could range in ages and class, that is why we thought it was important to include different races amongst our victims, so the audience can relate to them. All teenagers are different - as in taste in music, fashion and upbringing. So our audience could be either aspirers or achievers, or maybe a bit of both! A typical person who fits into our target audience would be: 'Gemma, 17, live in London, works part time and also goes to college/school. She loves socialising with friends and loves hanging out. Hobbies are reading, swimming and exersicing.'
To help attract my audience, i will conduct a research and see who is the most popular celebrity amongst teenagers at the moment and get that person to play the lead role. I would also attend Film Festivals and promote the film. Trailers can be viewed on TV and on YouT
ube. We also would advertise our thriller on all sorts of leaflets, magazines and newspapers, to help attract a wider audience. We would also produce a profile on MySpace and Facebook, these are the two most common websites amongst teens, therefore it will help us tagert our specific audience.
ube. We also would advertise our thriller on all sorts of leaflets, magazines and newspapers, to help attract a wider audience. We would also produce a profile on MySpace and Facebook, these are the two most common websites amongst teens, therefore it will help us tagert our specific audience.
Obviously our dream would be for 'Capture' to become a Hollywood Blockbuster movie! If this was the case, i think Columbia Pictures would be the best media instituition to
distribute 'Capture' simply because it one of the so-called Little Three among the eight major film studios of Hollywoods Golden Age, and it is one of the leading film companies in the world! So using this partulcar one could help attract our audience and make 'Capture' a huge success. But to be realistic, at first 'Capture' should be release in the UK first. So it should be distributed around several cinemas all over to attract wider audiences. We can then wait to see how successful it is and then release it on DVD. A couple of months, after the DVD release, 'Capture' should be available for download on the internet.The process of constructing my thriller took several weeks, during this time i have gained knowledge about different technologies, and how to use them. At first, i knew absolutely nothing about how to work a camera never mind how to set it up! But thanks to our camera tutorial demonstated by Mickey, i gained vital information on how to w
ork my way around the camera. Whenever we shot something, i always tried avoding using the Final Cut Pro to log and capture! I didn't know my way around the programme and had difficulty managing it. I think this took up most of our time and effort, as no one in our group had experience using this programme. To this day, i would not say i'm entirely confident using the programme! But because we had no choice but to use Final Cut Pro, gradu
ally we got better at it. Also another programme that bugged me was the Soundtrack Pro. There were so many buttons, and i was just completely lost. But because we had our sound exercise previously it did help me slightly but soon later i forgot completely how to use it. This was also very time consuming, because at first we had to work our way around the programme and then explore different sounds we could use that was appropiate for our thriller. Internet was very useful to, not only did we manage to blog our progress we also managed to gather alot of research to help us construct our thriller.
ork my way around the camera. Whenever we shot something, i always tried avoding using the Final Cut Pro to log and capture! I didn't know my way around the programme and had difficulty managing it. I think this took up most of our time and effort, as no one in our group had experience using this programme. To this day, i would not say i'm entirely confident using the programme! But because we had no choice but to use Final Cut Pro, gradu
ally we got better at it. Also another programme that bugged me was the Soundtrack Pro. There were so many buttons, and i was just completely lost. But because we had our sound exercise previously it did help me slightly but soon later i forgot completely how to use it. This was also very time consuming, because at first we had to work our way around the programme and then explore different sounds we could use that was appropiate for our thriller. Internet was very useful to, not only did we manage to blog our progress we also managed to gather alot of research to help us construct our thriller.Looking back at the previous tasks we were given, i believe we have improved alot. I have learnt new shots, and how to make the shots look proffessional and not tacky. I have learnt that detailed planning and organisation is the key to success! The shots in our Match-cut exercise and preliminary task were poor, but in the process of constructing our thriller i have learnt on how to improve on them.
Whilst testing the final product on the target audience they seemed satisfied as to what they expected a thriller movie to offer, there were various comments ranging from likes and dislikes of the film.
Overall I believe that we met the requirements of the expectations of a thriller movie as we gained the audiences satisfaction using the typical conventions of a thriller movie e.g. raising false plateau, when our first victim looks into the camera, at that point the audience thinks that she realises someone is watching her, but instead she carries on walking. We were successful in promoting tension and anxiety and leaving the audience cliffhanging on the edge of their seats,
However, if I were to improve the film I would change the way we shot some of the scenes. And watching other thriller opening in Vue cinema, i realised our idea was not very challenging and was in fact common, everyone else came up with unique storyline and managed to pull it off. So if i was assigned this task again, i would spend more time in coming up with a fantastic storyline.
Wednesday 25 March 2009
Final Lesson
In this lesson the finally piece of the thriller is put together for the thriller. Credits , soundtrack and the title 'Capture' is added. The credits are show after each of us have acted for example after i walk my name 'Vanessa Okang' comes up. Throughout the thriller a dramatic soundtrack was added and the title 'Capture' in basic writing.
WE FINISHED the film was then uploaded onto the blog.
WE FINISHED the film was then uploaded onto the blog.
Nearly finished
Finally the end of the making of the thriller is coming to an end. I n this lesson we showMarisa what we have done so far and she says its good but the way in which our thriller started was not the way most thrillers start and that we should include an estahblishing shot. So me and khaleda go and film an estahblishing shot first at the small shopping centre near the college because it is usually packed with people. Then we decide to also film the residential area. Whilst filming the estahblishing shot we used a long shot. After filming this we went back and quick used 'log and capture' to get the scenes we wanted and added them to the beginning of the thriller.
editing 2
In this lesson we continued editing and began to add the black and white shots to the places where the handheld cameras were used to show that it was the stalker. At first i didn't know what to do but afterwards with help from the teacher i was able to do the rest of them. Also we added the sound of breathing which we got from the sound place to add to the atmosphere.
'log and capture'
After we finished filming it was time for us to begin editing our thriller. in this lesson we began by using 'Log and Capture' to select the scenes we wanted then we put them in order. This was quite time consuming and took us very long to do due to a number of reasons whether it was technical difficulties to just not knowing which scene to use .Also we wanted to do it properly and use good scenes so that it looks good. After this we began to add a flash with the guidance of Marisa we were able to add a flash (to imply a camera flash from the stalker)only to my picture.
filming 3
On this day we filmed the stalker in the red room. First we had to organise the room for example move the tables out of the way. Then we got pictures of girls off the internet to stick them on the collage of photos. We also got images off the newspapers and printed off the still images of the three girls and stuck them onto the wall. After setting out the room we began filming the stalker( Sanita's boyfriend)and got him to circle images on the wall and cross out faces implying that he is going to or has done something to the girls. We got the stalker to do the same action again and again so that we could get it from different angles. At the end we got an extreme close up of his eyes which we are going to use at the end of the thriller to build up tension.
Filming 2
In this lesson we began filming Sanita (the third girl) because the bus location was closer. At first i positioned the camera behind her to get a shot of her walking across the road but i didn't use a tripod instead i handheld it so that it looks like it was from the prospective of the stalker and we it came to editing we would add heavy breathing as well as a black and white shot. After recording from behind her we done the same action but with Sanita crossing the road coming towards the camera to the action from the front. Lastly to add variety to the shot we included a high angle sot to make Sanita look inferior and in a vulnerable postion. After filming Sanita we went to the park and began filming Gizem one of the main three girls.In this scene we used a lot of camera angles. For example when Gizem walks through the park there is a long shot of her looking at her watch then a next shot of a close up of the watch. Another example of a camera angle used was a match cut when Gizem is on the swings. Whilst there we filmed Gizem walk into the park and sit on the swings , whilst on the swing she recieves a phone call and chats away whilst walking out of the park .For the duration of this action the girl is unaware that she is being stalked. So we tried to record all the camera shots that we had planned previously.
filming 1
We start filming our first shot of me walking down a residenstial road in a casual attire and bag to give the idea that i was coming home from college. At first whilst filming everyone was quite wary and was just getting use to the camera and making sure that the camera position was perfect. So we begin filming with me walking out from a bend , then i look behind me before i cross the road the reason why i look back is so that when we edit it we include a camera shutter to make it look like someone (the stalker) has taken a picture. After this because we only get to use one camera at a time i had to continuously walk up and down making sure we got the same shot but just from a variety of angles.Because this was our first filming lesson we were a bit slow and just getting use to working the camera and filming the shots so that was all we managed to accomplish.
Pitch
When we walked into the room this lesson we were told that we had to pitch or thriller opening idea to Mickey,Marisa and Louisa, although we had previously done a storyboard and knew it we still thought it was a bit too soon to pitch,but we still done it .We began by describing the main concept of our thriller which is three teenage girls being stalked by an unknown person who photographs them on different occasions and adds the pictures to a collage of images of young girls onto a wall. Although our concept was basic we tried to make it more dramatic and interesting by including a variety of camera angles which would help build up suspense. For example we used a ‘High angle Shot’ to make one of the girls look inferior and in a vulnerable position. Also for one of the shots we wanted to show a picture of one of the girls sitting on the swing but when the camera turns on it it turns into real life. At first Mickey didnt understand that and though making the picture into real life may be too hard so we changed it into a camera shot of a girl on the swing then the ssound of camera shutters are heard to make it like a picture was taken then the next shot the picture was on the wall.After pitching my group was given the all clear and we could start filming.
Storyboard
We were given a sheet and as a group we had to come up with ideas for our thriller using the storyboard. At first we weren't coming up with any ideas but with a little propmt from the teacher we began to brainstorm some good ideas but the disadvantage was that not all these ideas were practical and could be realistically accomplished. After we continued to brainstorm we began putting the ideas on paper. So at first we had to drawn our first shot which was a picture of the first girl walking (however later on this shot was made second and an establishing shot was used) then we had to include the camera shots we were going to use for example mid-shot,long shot etc. After this we had to decide how the shot will go into the next shot for example cross dissolve. We continued this throughout the whole planning of the thriller and although the storyboard was very long and tiring we knew that the end result would be good.
sound practice exercise.
During this lesson we had the pleasure to watch the James Bond trailer, ' Casino Royale' We were asked to take note on how they use the non - diagetic and diagetic sounds. We were then given a task, we had to edit sound into an edited video. It was quite hard handling the programme, and i never knew such thing existed! But i knew i had to get used to it, as i knew for a fact i would have to use it for my acutal thriller, so i found myself exploring the different sounds we could use. The task overall was very helpful and insgihtful. I learnt that soundtracks are importing in creating tension and suspense in a scene, and would come in handy for my thriller opening!
The final editing.
So we had our establishing shot, and our black and white clips. Now we had to add in our soundtrack and movie titles. We had alot of work to do. Unfortunately our idea of the pictures coming to life had failed, we were told it was quite difficult to do and we jus didn't have much time in our hands. So we decided when we see the stalkers point of view, it is is going to be through camera lens, and in black and wight, he will then take a picuture and there will be a still image and the sound of camera shutters. We decided the stalker would take two pictures of his first two victims. So one of the non-diegetic sounds we had was the sound of camera shutters. Another one we were going to use is the heavy breathing in the background. This would be used when the clip is in black and white, from the stalkers point of view. The opening credits were simple, a white font against a black background, this made a contrast and made the text stand out. The soundtrack was upbeat, and the tempo increased as the clip was showing, this help create tension. We then had a large explosion at the end, with the word 'Capture' the title of our film. We played it over and over again, and once we were happy with what we managed to produce to blogged it online and our task was done! (finally)
Filiming the establishing shot. (GRRR.)
Because it was a last minute thing, we had no choice but to stick to somewhere local, although i would have personally gone to a new location. So we went to the Angel center, and shot a pan of the shops including Sainsburys and the chapel market. This establishing shot revealed the location of our three victims and the stalker. We started by filming the a couple of shops and then filmed a street and then houses. We then rushed back to college and managed to log and capture our shot on to the harddrive!
more editing and more problems!
Last lesson we managed to the clips in black and white. So we got Marissa to look over what we have achieved so far. And yet she managed to spot another problem! She told us that we did not have a smooth opening, and it shouldn't go straight into point. We were told we should film an establishing shot to establish the scene this will help the audience understand where the film is shot and it will create a smoother opening into the triller film. This was very disappointing to hear, as were did not have much time in our hands to film and on top of that there was the soundtrack and movie titles to edit too! We had to get a move on.
some more editing and problems occur!
We had captured all the specific parts that we wanted, so the clip was running smoothly. We had shown our teacher, Mary what we had so far, she was pleased but managed to spot something that could knock down a few points. She had only gone and discovered that we had broken the 180 degree rule! It was the scene where the last two victims crossed paths, but instead of having a shot of following the 3rd victim, we immediately had a shot of her walking up the street, this definately broke the 180 film. We decided what we should get rid of it, but the fact that our opening was already shorter we had no choice but too keep it. So we just carried on editing. By the end of the lesson we managed to get some clips in black and white - this was when it was from the stalkers point of view.
Editing. (the boring bit)
When we finished our film we had to log and capture it. This was the bit i hated, because i never knew my way around the programme and on top of that our camera kept playing up! After several attempts, we eventually had to move computers as the one we were using was not recognising our hardrive. Finally we logged and captured our film. We played it over and over again and decided on what bits we wanted, we then had to log and capture it, this was the difficult bit, as you had to be right on time or otherwise you had to start again. This took up the whole lesson really. So during this lesson, we managed to get all the specific parts we wanted, ready for it to be edited for next lesson!
and more filming...
Today was the day when we filmed indoors. This scene consisted of the stalker pinning up the pictures he had taken of his victims. We found a room where we can filter in red light. We shone the red light towards the board,this created an effect as though the stalker was acutally in a photo developing room, devoloping his photos. And there we had disturbing pictures of girls, and besides them were little descriptions written on post-its. We included a pan of the board, so the audience can see how mental disturbed the stalker is through the photos and descriptions he had pinned up, and also to show that the three victims were not the only victims he was stalking. We included low angle shot of the stalker, to elaborate the fact that he is superior and in control. We also included different scenes: where he was marking a large 'X' on a picture, another one where he was caressing a picture, these were all effective as it explores the creepy thoughts of the stalker and make him seem dangerous. I think the mise-en-scene for these scenes were actually quite effective. The fact that he was in a red room, the red light connotates danger, therefore it will be creating suspense and danger. The clothing of the stalker was also very effective, the stalker wore dark clothing, so it was almost as if he had something to hide, he looks mysterious and does not want to be noticed. We included a close up of the stalkers eyes, this shows the anger and emotions he possessed. So finally the filming was finishedddddddddd! at last!
more filming ...
On this day we decided to get both of the victims shots done as we were told we did not have much time to film and we were already a lesson behind. So off we set with our equipment to the park where our second victim was going to be stalked. So we set up. Our second victim was to walk into the park, swing on the swing for a while, recieve a phone call and finally leave the park. This was a long scene to shot but gave us quite an advantage as we could capture various types of shots using this scenario. We included a point of view shot, when the victim looked at her phone to see who was calling, a worms-eye view shot when the victim was swinging on the swing, a higher angle shot, which was from the point of view of the stalker, again, the camera was hand held, to make the shot shaky therefore making it obvious to the audience that the victim is being watched. We also took pictures whilst filming to use when the stalker starts pinning photos up on the board. So the second victim was done, now we had to shoot the other scenes. To make our thriller opening create tension we decided that we should include a scene when the 2nd victim leaves the park, she crosses path with 3rd victim. This would all be from the point of view of the stalker and as the second victim crosses path with the third victim, the camera would then follow the third victim to show the audience that the stalker has found his next victim. For the third victim, the location we decided to use was the bus stop. This scene consisted of a long shot of the third victim crossing the road, this was from the point of view from the stalker, we also took pictures whilst doing this. We also used various different shots : when she was running towards the camera and a high angle shot to emphasis the fact that she is vulnerable. Once again our work was done for the day.
Our first day filming ..
On this day we were expected to start filiming, but because we did not figure out what locations we were going to use we had to sit and plan. After several minutes we all decided we wanted to stay local, as it will be more convenient for us - so if the battery was to die we could run back to college! Although Louisa had told us using a whole new different location could help boost marks, we thought we should use a street in Angel. So today our main aim was to capture all the shots of our first victim. We got all the equipment that was needed and off we set! We used a normal house street, to make it seem realistic. When we were filming our victim we decided that some shots would be from the point of view of the stalker. So to make that obvious to our audience, the camera was hand held therefore the image was shaky, and the camera was held behind a bush to make it look like it was from the stalkers point of view. One of our ideas was the pictures coming to life, to motion. So whislt filming our first victim crossing the street, we took a picture of her at the same time. So when the camera zoomed into the picture being pinned up by the stalker it then slowly comes to life. We then shot different angles of the first victim walking down the street, but this was not from the stalkers point of view. Our thriller was going to consist of two different poitns of view : the stalkers and a normal point of view. So our job was done, we filmed all the crucial shots that was needed for that day.
The pitching!
At first when we were told we had to pitch our ideas today, we all felt wary. No one in the group had a definate idea or plan as to what our thriller opening is going to be. We were expected to pitch in front of the class - including Marissa, Mickey and Louisa! So we began ... To help us get an idea of what we wanted, we all thought about previous thriller films we watched. Finally we began to pitch. We initially came up with two ideas. The first one was a person running away from someone or something, and in the background we thought we could add heavy breathing to add some tension and make it realistic, we thought we could use this scenario to our advantage as it will allow us to get various shots and at the same time establish the scene. Our second idea was the one we decided to keep. This was based on a stalker theme. We were told that this particular theme was common amongst all students, and Louisa told us were if we were to keep the theme, our opening had to be different to all the others and had to be great, but that was the risk our group was willing to take. We were so confident that our thriller opening would turn out great. This was our storyline : a stalker stalks three victims all of which are girls. The stalker secretly watches them using a camera, he stalks them individually and at some point takes pictures of them. The stalker is later shown in a dark room, pinning up all the pictures he took, along with descriptions. The stalker stalks these girls individually - we thought this would be effecttive because when it shows the first victim, which is our lovely Vanessa at the moment the stalker takes the picture, we wanted a still image of the photo, and then we could introduce Vanessa in our titles. We wanted this for all three of our victims. Another idea we came up was when the stalker was pinning up the pictures on the board, we wanted a slow zoom in on one of the pictures and then the picture come into life, into motion. Mickey told us that is was do-able, but might be hard work. Overall they liked out idea and gave us the thumbs up! I was over the moon as to what we achieved - at first when we entered the classroom and were told we had to pitch forward our ideas today we were all clueless, so to come up with a great idea within half and hour was a great achievement. I could not wait to film our thriller! We then roughly planned what shots we could include, we wrote down a list of various shots and thought maybe we could use it as a checklist as we were told the more various shots we could include in our thriller the more marks you get. So we were hoping to capture nearly all shots, from different types of angles to help boost our marks. We also roughly came up with a storyboard consisting of the different scenes, we were unsure about the location we would use, but decided it should be somehwere local and less bait, so a place harldy anyone knows - this is because we were also told using different locations could help boost our marks. So we decided we would discuss the loactions we were goin to use next lesson.
Monday 23 March 2009
Preliminary Film.
In this lesson we were given another task. The task was to produce a short clip that includes match-cuts, shot reverse shot and obeys the 180 degree rule. We started producing our storyboard. To make things easier we took one camera shot at a time. So for shot reverse shot, we thought the scene should be two persons involved in a conversation, that way we can capture the shot reverse shot, when the camera moves from one person to the other, as they talk. And as for the match-cuts we thought we should include several of those as they were easy to shot. One of the match-cut shot in our clip was the person opening the door. We also made a list of different angels we wanted to include in our clip. e.g worms eye view. So when everyone was happy with the storyboard we set off to start filming!
We hadn't handled the camera for a while, so it was quite difficult setting it up, as most of us forgot what went where! Finally we had the camera working. The firt shot we filmed was the worms eye view of the person walking - this took ages! It was quite difficult handling the camera whilst it was on the floor. And another problem was capturing the person walking, the person was walking to fast, and because we were moving the camera along with the person walking the camera shot came out all blury and it looked unproffessional. After several attemtps, we decided that the actor should walk at a very slow pace - this was effective as it added suspense to our clip and plus it was easier to capture the worms eyes view. We soon realise we did not have much time left, so we captured all our vital shots.
After all our filming we then had to log and capture. To make things easier we filmed alot of shots whether or not they were on our storyboard. This was effective as we included alot of shots that we didn't initially plan to include.
Overall i would say this task was successful, because of the fact we handled the camera beforehand in our matchcut exercise, so therefore we knew how to capture particular shots. Unfortunately we did run out of time, we didn't capture all of the shots we wanted like the still shot of Vanessa looking out of the window. But i would say the two tasks that we were set, gave me knowledge on how to use various shots and i know this is going to help me a great deal when we begin our thriller filming!
We hadn't handled the camera for a while, so it was quite difficult setting it up, as most of us forgot what went where! Finally we had the camera working. The firt shot we filmed was the worms eye view of the person walking - this took ages! It was quite difficult handling the camera whilst it was on the floor. And another problem was capturing the person walking, the person was walking to fast, and because we were moving the camera along with the person walking the camera shot came out all blury and it looked unproffessional. After several attemtps, we decided that the actor should walk at a very slow pace - this was effective as it added suspense to our clip and plus it was easier to capture the worms eyes view. We soon realise we did not have much time left, so we captured all our vital shots.
After all our filming we then had to log and capture. To make things easier we filmed alot of shots whether or not they were on our storyboard. This was effective as we included alot of shots that we didn't initially plan to include.
Overall i would say this task was successful, because of the fact we handled the camera beforehand in our matchcut exercise, so therefore we knew how to capture particular shots. Unfortunately we did run out of time, we didn't capture all of the shots we wanted like the still shot of Vanessa looking out of the window. But i would say the two tasks that we were set, gave me knowledge on how to use various shots and i know this is going to help me a great deal when we begin our thriller filming!
Monday 16 March 2009
30 minute documentary
In this lesson we watched a 30 minute documentary which was like an introduction to thriller films we piked up loads of information and were asked questions like What makes a opening effective? and How could you make your opening create tension and suspense? This made us think about what we wanted to do for out thriller opening and how we could use particular codes and conventions of a real thriller film.
There are 4 main types of openings, these are:
- Classic: this opening contains a lot of action and temptation which can help to grab the audiences attention, which is also known as 'Instant Arousal.' This opening should tempt the audience to continue watching the film.
- Classic (2): sets questions as it starts of with something small and then gradually builds up.
- Title Sequence: sets tone through titles and/or credits.
- Flashback: the opening scene starts at end of the movie, then slowly works back to the beginning. This is often affective, as audiences are trying to put together clues
Quotes were given to describe what different directors thought that good opening needed.
1.Thomas Sutcliffe
'Films meed to seduce their audience into long term commitment. Whilst there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible'
This means that with the opening of any thriller film it must be made in the best way possible to "seduce" his audience in order for them to watch the entire film
To achieve this directors use the 'instant arousal' technique. This is when they use a shocking scene in the beginning of the film.
Risks of instant arousal:
- high expectations
- you have to answer questions that the audience may ask at the beginning.
'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'
Kyle Cooper's title sequence to the film 'Seven' is so effective. It tunes the pitch, sets the tone, sets an idea. We are given information that someone is investigating some sort of crime and putting together an investigation. This was good as it didn't reveal main characters but kept the audience on the edge of their seat.
This lesson was very useful to me and i think it will help me to make my thriller film very effective in creating tension as all of the advice and techniques were very useful and helped me to think about conventions that could be used.
There are 4 main types of openings, these are:
- Classic: this opening contains a lot of action and temptation which can help to grab the audiences attention, which is also known as 'Instant Arousal.' This opening should tempt the audience to continue watching the film.
- Classic (2): sets questions as it starts of with something small and then gradually builds up.
- Title Sequence: sets tone through titles and/or credits.
- Flashback: the opening scene starts at end of the movie, then slowly works back to the beginning. This is often affective, as audiences are trying to put together clues
Quotes were given to describe what different directors thought that good opening needed.
1.Thomas Sutcliffe
'Films meed to seduce their audience into long term commitment. Whilst there are many types of seduction, the temptation to go for instant arousal is almost irresistible'
This means that with the opening of any thriller film it must be made in the best way possible to "seduce" his audience in order for them to watch the entire film
To achieve this directors use the 'instant arousal' technique. This is when they use a shocking scene in the beginning of the film.
Risks of instant arousal:
- high expectations
- you have to answer questions that the audience may ask at the beginning.
'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'
Kyle Cooper's title sequence to the film 'Seven' is so effective. It tunes the pitch, sets the tone, sets an idea. We are given information that someone is investigating some sort of crime and putting together an investigation. This was good as it didn't reveal main characters but kept the audience on the edge of their seat.
This lesson was very useful to me and i think it will help me to make my thriller film very effective in creating tension as all of the advice and techniques were very useful and helped me to think about conventions that could be used.
Thriller introdution, 18 december
In this lesson we were being introduced to thriller movies which we watched and then talked about. we discussed the codes and conventions of a thriller movie such as young teenagers being the usual victims, the feeling of tension and suspense and the murderer usually bing a male figure.we watched many thriller openings in this lesson such as "Arlington Road", "The Shining", "28 days later" and "The Collateral" this was very interesting because we got tips on how to make our opening very successful but not reveal to much information so that this would create tension and suspense.
I particularly enjoyed watching "Arlington Road" as i think it made a really good opening as it made me the audience want to ask so many questions why, how, when and What happened and i think that this created tension and suspense and this forced me to want to watch the rest of the film. The lighting was very bright and was used as a point of view of opening and closing eyes of a little boy who was in the middle of Arlington Road with his arm full of blood. The shots were used so that the boys face and arm full of blood wasn't revealed to the end of the clip which built up the suspense and shocked the audience. He was then discovered by the main character who was a middle aged man coming back from work, when he found the boy he was shouting and screaming and rushed the boy to hospital. The man was deliberately made to be middle-aged and to rescue the boy so that he appeared to be the hero of the film and so that the audience could relate to him as he was very ordinary.
I particularly enjoyed watching "Arlington Road" as i think it made a really good opening as it made me the audience want to ask so many questions why, how, when and What happened and i think that this created tension and suspense and this forced me to want to watch the rest of the film. The lighting was very bright and was used as a point of view of opening and closing eyes of a little boy who was in the middle of Arlington Road with his arm full of blood. The shots were used so that the boys face and arm full of blood wasn't revealed to the end of the clip which built up the suspense and shocked the audience. He was then discovered by the main character who was a middle aged man coming back from work, when he found the boy he was shouting and screaming and rushed the boy to hospital. The man was deliberately made to be middle-aged and to rescue the boy so that he appeared to be the hero of the film and so that the audience could relate to him as he was very ordinary.
Sunday 15 March 2009
Thriller planing
In this lesson we wer eplanning our thriller opening and decedig what storylie to use. we then decieded that we wanted there to be a stalker who would stalk three victims who would all be girls. the stalker would take pictures of the girls and there would also be flashbacks of these photo's throughout th sequence, we would make these appear in black and white so that this would be more obvoius to the audience and would be an effective way to catch their attention. he would secreatly watch each girl and take snapshots of them.
We decieded to keep the stalker a mystery as this would crate tension and suspense throughout the opening, we also wanted him to wear dark clothing so that he would seem like a dark character and this wouls add more mystery.for the victims we wanted them to wear everyday clothes so that the audience could relate to them more.
The locations we chose were different for every victim so the first victim we chose was the street . the second was a park and the third was a bus-stop. we decieded that these would be nearby and had a few ideas in mind.theses girs would be around the age of 15+ so that it would have a convension of an actual thriller movie andso that audience could be related to very easily.
We decieded to keep the stalker a mystery as this would crate tension and suspense throughout the opening, we also wanted him to wear dark clothing so that he would seem like a dark character and this wouls add more mystery.for the victims we wanted them to wear everyday clothes so that the audience could relate to them more.
The locations we chose were different for every victim so the first victim we chose was the street . the second was a park and the third was a bus-stop. we decieded that these would be nearby and had a few ideas in mind.theses girs would be around the age of 15+ so that it would have a convension of an actual thriller movie andso that audience could be related to very easily.
Editing
Today we encountered so many problems wit our computer and video camera it neary took the whole lesson to sort it out and we only got a little bit of work done.This wasnt good as we lost on a lot of time.
Editing
when we started edting we had many problems with ur camera it was refusing to log and capture are footage and we had to wait for ages till it captued our work and then finally it worked. we had to sort out all of our scenes and shots and put them together so that the story made sense. We had to log and capture certain parts of the fim and this was the haredst part as we had to do it right on time otherwise we would have to do it again. This eventually got easier. We also had to keep on rewinding the film to find spacefic parts that we wanted this took alot of time.
more filming
Today we had to do more filming for are opening thriller where we were filming our stalker. We included loads of low angle shot as this would give the effect that the stalker looked inferioir and more dominant in the video. We panned around the setup that we made which consisted of disturbing photos of the victims and little scribbles everywhere saying what he most interested in for example "curly hair". We alos had a special red light effect so that the stalker appeared as though he was in a red room developing photo's. the clothing of the stalker were dark colours such as black and blue to show he was a mysterious character. We also had ea close up of the stalkers eyes to show the emotion and anger that he possesed.
Friday 13 March 2009
sound editing practice
In todays lesson we had to edit a clip that was given to us. It was from a James bond film and we had to edit the sound, we added in a plane crash. i think that this lesson was very useful as it gave me some sort of experience of how to edit sound. we learnt about diogetic and non diogetic sounds. this helped me to upgrade my skills of using sound and will come in handy when doing my final editing for my thriller opening.
The main scenes of filming
The storyline included three main locations where we had to film such as a bus stop, the local park and on a street. For the filming we had already knew what street we were going to use and so we started to film our 1st victim we included a match cut and a point of view shot from the stalker we decieded that we would include heavy breathing when editing as this would make it clear to the audience that this was from the point of view from the stalker.
The next location was the park where we added a worms eye view show, match cut and long shot of Gizem walking in to the park and sitting on the swing. She was being followed by the stalker and again we would include heavy breathing to keep this technique running throughout the opening. The park was close to angel so this was quite helpful as didn't take much time to get there and it was empty when we filmed.
The next location was a bus stop as i acted as the 3rd victim i was being followed by the stalker and for this scene we used match cuts and also used a high angle shot to show that the victim was vulnerable and had no idea they were being followed. This shot was very effective as it showed that the girl had no power or control of the situation and this was made clear to the audience so that they could relate to the problem.
The next location was the park where we added a worms eye view show, match cut and long shot of Gizem walking in to the park and sitting on the swing. She was being followed by the stalker and again we would include heavy breathing to keep this technique running throughout the opening. The park was close to angel so this was quite helpful as didn't take much time to get there and it was empty when we filmed.
The next location was a bus stop as i acted as the 3rd victim i was being followed by the stalker and for this scene we used match cuts and also used a high angle shot to show that the victim was vulnerable and had no idea they were being followed. This shot was very effective as it showed that the girl had no power or control of the situation and this was made clear to the audience so that they could relate to the problem.
The establishing shot
We went down to the angel center where we wanted to pan around the shops such as Sainsburys and chapel market so that it would be familiar scenery to the audience and show them a place that was familiar to them and so that could relate to the situation.
this was our establishing shot as it revealed the location and setting of the three victims and the stalker. We started by filming the shops and then filmed a street and then houses this was done to create an effect as though we were getting closer and more to the point with the situation and characters. This made the story more personal and made the audience want to know about the story and where it was taking them.
this was our establishing shot as it revealed the location and setting of the three victims and the stalker. We started by filming the shops and then filmed a street and then houses this was done to create an effect as though we were getting closer and more to the point with the situation and characters. This made the story more personal and made the audience want to know about the story and where it was taking them.
Thursday 5 March 2009
Filming The Establishing Shot and Editing
Monday 23rd + Thursday 26th February:
In these lessons we had to film the establishing shot to edit in into our film. This will help the audience understand where the film is shot and it will create a smoother opening into the triller film. We had to finish off the soundtrack an other non-diegetic sounds such as camera shutters and heavy breathing. We put in the opening credits and decided to make the background black and the writing white because the black and white theme fitted in with the black and white effect we put into some scenes (the stalkers point-of-view) of the film. We finished our thriller opening and uploaded it onto our blog.
prelimanry short clip
To prepare us for the real thriller opening we had to do a prelimary exercise so that this made it easier for us to the the real film. We had to include a match cut, shot reverse shot and follow the 180 degree rule. We decided not to reveal the identities of the two actors we had in our film to make it more mysterious and emphasise the fact that this was a thriller opening. We started of with a long shot and then it turned in to a worms eye view as the camera was panning with the feet along the ground and down the steps. We used various shots such as close-ups, exstreme long shots, exstreme close ups and mid shots. We also added loads of match cuts for example when one of the characters opened the door we showed this shot from loads f angles and this helped us to create suspense. When filming we also didn't break the 180 degree rule which helped this film to be a success.
Sunday 1 March 2009
Editing Preliminary
After we finished filming the preliminary in the first half of the lesson the next thing to do was to begin editing. However me and my group had encountered numerous problems with the camera we were using so we had to switch computers. Even though we switched computers we still had a few problems. So then we called mickey over to fix the problem .After he had solved the problem we only had a few minutes to quickly log and caputure the scenes that we wanted to use. As a result of the technical problems we had encountered we could not add any sound
Preliminary
In this lesson we had to start filiming for our preliminary film which we had planned in the last lesson. Scenario Film a short clip that includes match-cuts ,shot-reverse shot and obeys 180 degree rule.
So at first the persons identity is hidden and this is shown by the camera angles which were used, the unknown person is filmed walking down the stairs with just their feet insight , whilst going down the stairs we also included match cuts and a shot of the persons hand as it slids down the rail. The person then walks past the camera and the camera tilts from behind from their feet to their head. Then the peron walks into the room where the other person is and a short piece of diaglogue is filmed but once again their identites are still hidden and only a close up of their mouths is filmed.
Overall all the filiming of the preliminary was good perhaps a little more planning would have
helped. It was fun to film and it was not to hard. We also manged to include all the key things that we needed to and managed not to break the 180 degree rule.
So at first the persons identity is hidden and this is shown by the camera angles which were used, the unknown person is filmed walking down the stairs with just their feet insight , whilst going down the stairs we also included match cuts and a shot of the persons hand as it slids down the rail. The person then walks past the camera and the camera tilts from behind from their feet to their head. Then the peron walks into the room where the other person is and a short piece of diaglogue is filmed but once again their identites are still hidden and only a close up of their mouths is filmed.
Overall all the filiming of the preliminary was good perhaps a little more planning would have
helped. It was fun to film and it was not to hard. We also manged to include all the key things that we needed to and managed not to break the 180 degree rule.
Match Cut Exercise
In this lesson we were taught how to make match cuts look smooth and invisible. A match cut is when for example someone picks up a pencil and that action is filmed from different angles. Mickey then set us a challenge 'East London. 3pm. A man chain- smokes as he sits at his home PC. He copies confidential files to a CD. He packages them and is seen posting them'. We had to make a short sequence including a variety of shots to make it look interesting. After we had done this in our groups Mickey had showed us one that he had done earlier.We had to see if any shots we had included were smiliar to his. Then after this we had to spot match cuts and were told
that very good match- cuts were hard to spot. At the end we had to plan for our preliminary film the scenario A person walking then sitting down in front of another person, then a short dialogue. Good informative lesson overall and learnt more about match cuts than i originally knew. Also it was very benefical because what we learnt could be put into practice when we film for our thriller opening
that very good match- cuts were hard to spot. At the end we had to plan for our preliminary film the scenario A person walking then sitting down in front of another person, then a short dialogue. Good informative lesson overall and learnt more about match cuts than i originally knew. Also it was very benefical because what we learnt could be put into practice when we film for our thriller opening
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