Cerys Lewis video production. RESEARCH AND PLANNING.

Audience Response

2010-05-14T01:40:00.000-07:00

The response to our film opeing sequence overall was very good. A common point made was the use of red lighting. They said that it connoted danger and was effective. Most people said that the music was dramatic and very effective. Some people also recognized the deliberate canted angle at the start to create uncertainty. However a few people commented about the storyline and said it was a bit confusing. This was the intention as we wanted to keep the audience guessing but maybe we should have made it a little bit clearer. Also we should have made the voiceovers a bit louder.

Mrs Connick (sixth form tutor) said " i am very impressed with the standard of the films, they were brilliant!"

Bullseye

2010-03-31T05:36:00.000-07:00

Continuity exercise

2010-03-31T05:11:00.002-07:00

Evaluation

2010-03-31T05:11:00.001-07:00

Our brief was to create a two minute opening sequence to a thriller. My groups sequence is called Bullseye.
Joanne Andrews (Lauren Halse) is a cold blooded murderer using a game of darts to choose her next victim. Everything changes however when she picks vulnerable Emma Jackson (Natasha John), as her next victim.
After doing some individual research me and my group decided what we wanted our opening sequence to achieve. We decided that our opening sequence had to establish character and narrative context for the audience and set up some degree of enigma. This is so the audience have an insight into the narrative and who is involved without revealing what actually happens. One purpose of an opening sequence may be to establish setting. We have done this in our sequence by using an establishing shot. This is the first shot in our sequence and it is in the “murderers” garage and it is a shot of the dartboard. The dartboard is the main iconography of our film.
At a micro technical level I think we conveyed the typical conventions of continuity very well. This is because we obeyed the 180 degree rule and followed the production tip we were given regarding match on action. This enabled our sequence to flow and not confuse the audience. Although we achieved continuity, some of our original shots did not so we had to change some of our ideas. Our establishing shot was originally a shot of the murderers’ house and the camera slowly tracks down the driveway until it reaches an extreme close up of the garage. It then cross dissolves into a shot of the interior of the garage. To achieve this we strapped the camera to the seat of a bike. This idea did not work as the footage was too bumpy and we realised we did not have the technology so had to simplify our ideas.
One way which we deliberately challenged the typical conventions of a thriller is through the use of character. A typical murderer may be seen or stereotyped as a man, so in our thriller we purposely challenged this and our murderer is a woman. We thought this would be interesting and unique. In our opening sequence however it is quite difficult to know that it is a woman as we have purposely not shown her face in order to create suspense and keep the audience guessing. To keep the identity of the antagonist hidden the audience only sees shots of her feet or a 2 shot from behind both the antagonist and protagonist. The true identity will be revealed in the film making the audience want to watch it. A typical murderer may be stereotyped to wear dark, baggy clothing. We have gone along with this in order to create familiarity and help the audience to relate to other thrillers. This will help the audience immediately identify the murderer. One typical convention in the sequence is the use of binary opposites. We have complied with this convention using character. Opposite of the murderer (antagonist) is the victim (protagonist). The music we have used is typical of a thriller. It provides a sense of eeriness and atmosphere without being too creepy and sounding like a horror. In some film openings there is a lot of dialogue and so we are fully introduced to the main characters. We decided to do the total opposite. We have used no dialogue in our opening. Instead, the characters are shown through body language, lighting, music, costume, camera and other imposing factors. So our themed music plays throughout the opening, only interrupted by two voiceovers which give an underlying message to the audience. It also complies with the conventions as we have used titles which are present in all opening sequences. The titles are placed on top of the action as opposed to on a blank background so as they do not distract from the action but work with it. An important part of creating atmosphere is lighting. Thrillers tend to have more mysterious lighting effects such as blue or red instead of natural lighting. In our sequence we have used low key red lighting. We achieved this by using a bright lamp with a red gel in front of it. We also chose a red effect on imovie 09 when editing our footage. We picked red instead of the more common blue as red has connotations of blood and danger which is a common feature in thrillers. This connotation therefore was a good theme for our thriller. Low key lighting also helps to create a sense of the unknown. Our film on the whole complies with most of the typical conventions of films today. It complies with Todrovs theory which is present in most films and thrillers. He believes that the environment begins with a state of equilibrium (all as it should be, in a state of equal balance between powers of any kind). This is then disrupted in some way (disequilibrium). There is then an attempt to repair the damage of the disruption before a new equilibrium is reached. This theory applies to the whole film and not just the opening sequence alone. If equilibrium was lost and restored in the opening sequence the audience would have no reason or desire to watch the film.

Our media opening sequence presents a stereotypical view of teenage girls. All of the victims shown in our sequence are teenage girls. We have represented the girls as being vulnerable. In all of the shots of the girls they are alone which helps to give the impression of vulnerability. The victim, whom the sequence concentrates on, Emma Jackson, is wearing high heels which make her seem extra susceptible to danger. I think this representation is quite accurate of teenage girls today. We wanted this accurate representation to help give a sense of realism and help the audience get involved. We present a negative view of the murderer. The murderer’s appearance is somewhat similar to the stereotyped view of a young teenager/yob. She is dressed in black and has baggy clothing. She also has her hood up obstructing the view of her face. This helps to keep the audience intrigued as they will want to establish the identity of the murderer.

I think the main way in which we have created audience attraction is through realism. We have created realistic representations of the characters and therefore the audience will be able to connect and empathise with them. The other way we have attracted our audience is through narrative. I believe that our narrative fits in well with the typical storylines of thrillers. This will help the audience to relate and compare it with other films.

After our opening sequence was complete I did some research into media institutions and distributing our film. I found a film distribution company called Film London Microwave. This distribution company specialises in micro budget feature film making and marketing. As we would be working with a small budget this company seems like a realistic and good option. This would be a good way to distribute our film and show it to our target audience. The company also offers help with marketing, available funding, and knowledge from experts. To promote our low budget film further we could look into merchandising and promotional items to generate more interest in the film and get more people to watch it. Another option for us to distribute our film would be to distribute it online using Youtube. It is free, quick and easy and would be seen by a wide market. This is a great way for a low budget film to get audience feedback and it can be further distributed via facebook, email and twitter.

We decided that our film would be certified as a 15. The title sequence itself does not contain any unsuitable clips or language but the film itself would, and therefore a rating of 15 is appropriate. I believe that the film would appeal to an audience between 15 to early 20’s, particularly students. This is an obvious audience for us to target as we are more familiar with what appeals to them as we fit into the age group. The typical conventions including music and narrative would help them to relate the film to other thrillers, and hopefully make it more appealing. A typical viewer may be a student around 20 in their second or third year at University. They will be more mature that the younger students, maybe looking for a quiet night in. They will be looking for a well priced piece of entertainment and will not want to spend too much money. Also they will be in an ideal location to get hold of the film as it will be located in highly populated areas. A totally different viewer may be someone in their late 20’s who has finished University, has a steady job and a disposable income. They will have money to spend and will be looking for inside entertainment. The third potential viewer may be a 16 or 17 year old who has a full time/part time job so have a little money to spend. They are not old enough to “go out” and may get bored of going bowling etc. So they have a DVD night in with family or friends.

From my preliminary task to my final product I have learned a huge amount. The preliminary task was the first bit of filming that I had ever done so the whole process has been a combination of trial and error. The preliminary task helped me to create continuity and taught me that I needed to take more than one of each shot or clip in order to make sure that we have enough footage to work with in order to achieve continuity. Since the preliminary task I have learnt that being organised and time management is the key to a successful product. We had to film our opening sequence 3 or 4 times to ensure we had all of the clips that we needed. We realised that things do go wrong so leaving time to re-film is vital. I have also learned that there is a lot more to think about than just camera shots. Music, lighting, costume, characters, location and props all play a big part in the film. Some of the basic rules such as the 180 degree rule were very useful. They taught me that filming has to be done in such a way so as not to confuse the audience. I have learned that using a wide variety of shots helps to keep the product more interesting and can help to suggest or pronounce certain things.
In order to film our opening sequence we came across lots of technology that we had to use. Our group used cameras, lighting and imovie 09 on the apple Mac computers. Whilst filming our sequence we came across many problems with the cameras. The first time we filmed there was a problem with the tape so the whole day got cancelled as we did not have a spare. Our initial idea of zooming down the driveway of the house did not work as our technology was not advanced enough. Instead we took still shots using the tripod. It was very important that the tripod was secure and level so that our shots were steady and not crooked. One problem we had was with the memory on the apple Mac computers. This memory shortage meant we could not upload our footage and delayed the process greatly. When we finally got our footage uploaded and were editing our footage the editing tools came in very useful. It enabled us to change the brightness of shots, add music, titles and voiceovers. We also had to use blogging. I had never used blogger before and the experience was great! I love working on the computer and found it very different to work this way. We had some problems however using the blogging site in school but we overcame these problems and I am now a great fan of the process.

I am very pleased with the final product and think that our hard work finally paid off. If I were to do it again I would try and plan more efficiently and leave time to re film if needed to.

Planning- dvd cover, film image front and back

2010-02-20T16:53:00.001-08:00

Research- Film production

2010-02-20T15:11:00.000-08:00

Phonebooth. I have decided to look at this film as the production of it is very unique. The 120 page script film which would usually take around 40 days to film, was shot in an amazing 10 days! The cast and crew got through 12 pages a day!
Another unusual twist is that even though the film is set in New York City it was actually shot in Los Angeles where an Avenue was transformed to look like New York.
The writer Larry Cohen originally pitched the idea of shooting a film in a phonebooth to Alfred Hitchcock in the 1960s (mentioned previously in my blog). Although Alfred liked the idea they could not come up with a reason for the film to take place in the phonebooth i.e the sniper situation.
Here are some facts about the production:
*They had a 38 man crew
*They had 4 cameras on every shot instead of the usual 1
*They carried out detailed character profiling (even on the many extras)
*It was shot in sequence

The last point is very important in the production of this film. Unlike in most films where they film whatever piece of action is most convenient for example the exterior of a scene may be shot at a totally different time to the interior, Phonebooth was shot in order of the script. This was very important time wise as it helped them to keep continuity. They did not have to worry about if someone was standing in exactly the same place as it is all shot in sequence and it "evolves as you go along". Another interesting feature of the production of this film is that all of the extras had not read the script so did not know what was going to happen next. This meant that the film crew were able to capture pure reactions and benefited the film greatly.

Planning- target audience profiling

2010-02-20T13:52:00.000-08:00

As a group we have decided that our film will be certified as a 15. Although in the title sequence that we are creating there aren't any unsuitable images or clips, we believe that if we were to create the thriller there would be unsuitable clips in the film itself. So the thriller itself is going to be rated as a 15. We would like the title sequence to be rated individually as 12+ as we would like to show this to a wider variety of audience in order to get a wider response.I believe that the thriller itself would appeal to an audience between 15 to late 20's Particularly concentrating on students and younger, middle class adults. The typical conventions in thriller including music and storyline would help them to relate the film to other thrillers. A typicall viewer may be a student around 20 in their second or third year at university. They will be more mature than the younger students, maybe looking for a quiet night in. They will be looking for a well priced piece of entertainment and will not want to spend too much. Also they will be in a good location to pick up the film as it will be located in highly populated areas. A totally different viewer may be someone in their late 20's who has finished university, has a steady job and a disposable income. They will have money to spend and will be looking for inside entertainment. The third likely viewer may be a 16 or 17 year old who have a ful time or part time job so have a little money to spend. They are not old enough to go out and may get bored of going bowling ect so have a dvd night in with family or friends.

Research into voiceover and titles -The holiday

2010-02-20T12:36:00.000-08:00

I particularly like the titles and the voice over in this trailer. The titles appear over half of the screen on a white background which makes them stand out. Also when the appear the clip freezes and helps us to relate the titles to the film still. This is really effective and i would like to use this in our film if we can. I also like the voice over. This is used throughout the trailer to give us an idea of the storyline. This makes the trailer unique yet very effective.

Planning-Editing- voiceover

2010-02-20T12:18:00.000-08:00

In the phonebooth where the voiceover worked successfully, the voice was of a middle-aged man with a deep voice. It worked well and created a creepy atmosphere. As a group we think we are going to challenge this and have the voiceover of a woman. We hope we can get a creepy effect from this difference.

We are trying to decide where to put the voiceover and what to say. Here are some of our ideas that we wrote down:

Life is one big game
you have to lie, cheat and steal to win
how would you play the game
its how you play the game that counts
one life, one game, one winner
there are no rules

We think at the start we might have a voiceover saying "life is just a game", and then at the end of the title sequence, "it's how you play the game that counts!" We think that this help suggest what the film is about and also leave it on a bit of a cliffhanger.

Planning- dvd cover, film image

2010-02-20T11:58:00.000-08:00

I have been experimenting with ideas of imagery for the dvd case of our thriller. I have created this picture on my computer to help give our thriller an identity.

Editing our title sequence

2010-02-20T10:41:00.000-08:00

After uploading our shots on to the apple macs we were ready to put everything together.
We watched all of the shots and picked the best of each to go together. We also added stills of photographs we took into the sequence so that they looked like flashbacks. These flashbacks are in the red lighting to fit in with our colouscheme. One thing that we are playing around with are the transition effects. These are how we are getting from one part of the sequence to another. We particularly like the cross dissolve transition as it enables us to merge to images together withuout there being an obvious jump.

Planning- music for our thriller

2010-02-20T10:07:00.000-08:00

Music in an open sequence plays a very important part in tht success of it.
The main problem that we face is finding music that is copyright free. Our teacher got hold of about 30 copyright free tracks for us to choose from if we wish. After listnening to the tracks me and my group members shortlisted about 4 or 5 that we liked. We then played the tracks alongside our title sequence to see which fitted best. The track that we all agreed we liked is called serial killer. However the middle bit of the track consists of choir like voices and is a bit odd, but we decided that it helps create an arkward atmosphere.

Filming!-Complete!

2010-02-20T09:52:00.000-08:00

When we got back from our last filming session we took the camera into the apple mac room and uploaded what we had filmed onto the apple mac computers. Some of the shots were very successfull and the red lighting worked particularly well. However we were over ambitious with the first few shots where we had tried to create a moving shot by strapping the camera to a bike! Although we tried our best, the shots were too shaky and did not look good enough for us to use. We then discussed how we could change the start and came up with the idea of cutting out the first few shots and starting the sequence in the garage! This worked much better and challenged the typical codes and conventions as we do not have an obvious establashing shot. However it is better as we go straight in to our red colour scheme. After deciding to loose the first shots we went out to film the rest of the sequence knowing exactly what we wanted to achieve! We went out when it was dark to film the "following" part of the sequence. We managed to get all of the shots that we wanted and uploaded them when we got back

Planning- development of style

2010-02-20T09:45:00.000-08:00

After watching the three title sequences that i mentioned, Batman, Phonebooth, and the terminator (also one called Pay it Forward) i have decided with my group on two characteristics i want our thriller to contain.

The first is the colour scheme. Unlike Batman and The Terminator we have opted for red. As red can connote blood and suggest death and fear i think it will be different to blue but still give the atmosphere that the others do. I would like the lighting to be quite dark and even difficult to see as it will help to add confusion. Confusion will hopefully result in our audience to see more in order to find out what happens.

The second characteristic is a voiceover. We have decided that a voicover will be unique and different but help to create tension. We want this effect to be creepy and help outline the message of our film.

Research- The terminator

2010-02-20T09:41:00.000-08:00

The terminator is also very similar to the title sequence of Batman. They have used blues and blacks with white writing. The main difference in the two however is that the music in the title sequences of the terminator seems much more prominent. I noticed it more and it dragged me in to the genre of the film, with the use of low pitched, army like music.

Research- Batman title sequence

2010-02-20T09:35:00.001-08:00

I watched the title sequence for the action/thriller Batman. It was very interesting and i particularly liked the way they used the camera and the colour scheme. The camera panned and zoomed all around the screen but in a way that did not really make sense. It seems to me that the main focus of the title sequence for this film is the titles and the music. The colour scheme is what i found most interesting. I really like how they have only used dark blues, to black and greys. This gives the impression of darkness and gives a scary atmosphere without revealing anything about the actual plot of the film. It is very simple in the way that they have stuck to a limited colour pallet and i would definatley consider doing this in our own sequence.

Research- Phonebooth trailer

2010-02-20T09:19:00.000-08:00

I have the film phonebooth on dvd. I particularly remember a voice over in the trailer which was very effective. As i watched the trailer on you tube i was hooked to the trailer. This was mainly due to the effective use of voiceover. The voiceover was used alongside the music and created a sense of atmosphere and uncertainty. It also helped to tell the stroy and help to give an insight into the message of the film. As a group we will look at putting this effect into our title sequence as I think it would work well and give an extra dimension.

The other thing that was particularly attractive about the trailer is the use of graphics. They text appears on a plain black backround and appear in fire like rings. This creates an impression of danger. The words are also the words of the voiceover so everthing links together.

Filming- Attempt 2!

2010-01-21T01:23:00.000-08:00

Today we are going to film our thriller. We have a different camera and we have made sure we have a spare tape with us this time! My group and i have found it difficult to find the time to film as we are all busy at different times. I hope today goes well so that we can get it filmed ready to edit! We have our shotlist, storyboard, props and costumes ready so lets get filming!

Filming - attempt 1!

2010-01-21T01:22:00.001-08:00

In december we attempted to film our thriller for the first time. We were all set up and ready to film but there was a problem with the tape which meant we did not have a camera that we could use and therefore the day was cancelled.

Planning- Preparation for filming!

2010-01-21T01:12:00.000-08:00

We have now completed our storyboard and shot list so we have thought about what we will actually need when we are filming. As part of our storyline there are pictures of girls pinned onto a dartboard as if they are being stalked!

Me and my group went round school with a digital camera to take these photos. We took the photos of ourselves and friends and edited them on the apple mac computers using the editing tools. We changed the photos into black and white and added black around the edges to make it look like a lense of a camera to suggest that they are being followed. I think the pictures are very realistic and pleased with the result.

Planning- Final Storyboard

2009-11-23T13:55:00.000-08:00

I have finally finished the storboard! I had to go over my pencil with a black fine line pen because when i first scanned it in you could not see the pictures clearly. I also discovered that it was better to take a photos of the storyboard and upload them than to scan it into the computer as it gives a much clearer picture. The storyboard is a guidline of the shots that we will be taking and what will happen in the sequence. We are now nearly ready to start filming!

Research- Audience

2009-11-23T11:12:00.000-08:00

I have been doing some audience research and feel that the thriller itself should be targeted at 15+. Most of the thrillers that i have looked at have a similar rating if not higher. However the opening sequence that we are creating will be certified as a pg as we want it to be available to a wider audience.

I created a questionaire which i gave to friends, family and neighbours in order to get a wide range of results.

1)Do you enjoy watching the title sequences of films?
20/20 answered yes

1 part 2) If yes, why?
the most common response to this talked about how they give a good insight into the film and give a good impression of what the film will be like. Some people said that they like to see what actors and actresses are in the film to help to give them the feeling of familiarity that they can relate to.

2) What do you want to get out of a title sequence?
Most people said that they like the sequence to give a good insight into the film without revealing too much about the plot.

3)Of any thrillers that you have watched, which aspects do you feel are particularly important in the title sequences for this style of film? circle more than one answer if neccessary.

a)music
b)titles /writing/font
c)graphics
d)lighting
e)colour schemes

In the results to this questions i have come to the conclusion that the music is particularly important as it helps to set the mood for the film. Another aspect which the audience subconciously find important is lighting. After looking at these results lighting seems to be a big part in setting the mood. Dark colours can make it seem spooky and vulnerable where bright colours are the binary opposite.

From these results i have decided that i will need to pay particular attention on music and lighting. I think having a colour scheme for our title would be particularly effective and hopefully add to the continuity of the sequence. I will disscuss these results and ideas with my team members.

Planning- Characters

2009-11-23T10:56:00.000-08:00

I have been thinking about the characters in our title sequence as it is important that they are portrayed correctly as they will be setting the mood for the rest of the film.

There are two characters in our opening sequence. One of which is the main character in the actual film.

The first character is the so called "murderer".
We have decided that in the opening sequence we will never see this characters face. This will help to create suspense and build up atmosphere for the audience. We have also decided for this character to be a woman. This is a conscious choice that we have made as we want our sequence to be different and do not want our "murderer" to be the typical stereotype (a man). We want to challenge the typical conventions of a thriller.
This character will be dressed in dark clothing which is typical of this character (the villain); maybe a long coat and clumpy boots..

The second character is the victim.
This character will be stereotyped. A young woman walking home. She is vulnerable as she is alone. She would be wearing casual clothing, cardigan, jeans, and heels (hard to run in).

Research- Narrative Theory

2009-11-23T09:42:00.000-08:00

The first theory I looked at is that of Tvzetan Todorov. He believed that the fictional enviroment begins with a state of equillibrium (All as it should be, in a state of equal balance between powers of any kind). This is then disrupted in some way (disequillibrium). There is then an attempt to repair the damage of the disruption before a new equillibrium is reached.

Vladimir Propp's theory indicates that there are a number of set characters with specific narrative functions that appear in all stories. These were:

The villain (struggles against the hero)
The donor (prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object)
The magical helper (helps the hero in the quest)
The princess ( person the hero marries, often sought for during the narrative)
Her father
The dispatcher
The hero or victim

Levi Strauss' narrative thory claims that all narrative stuctures can be shown as a series of binary opposites. e.g good v evil, hero vs villain.

For example , in the film Die Hard some of the binary opposties are :

Wide shot vs Extreme close up
Technology vs Old fashioned
Crowd vs Lone person
Airport vs Party

Research- Opening Sequence Analysis of the film Seven.

2009-11-23T09:12:00.000-08:00

Seven is a thriller directed by David Fincher. The film is about a murderer who connects his murders to the seven deadly sins, from gluttony and sloth to lust and pride.

Opening sequences of thrillers are typically used to create tension and atmosphere while dropping hints and clues to the audience indicating what the film is about. In the opening sequence of Se7en there was a lot of tension and atmosphere created mainly by the music.

The soundtrack immediately puts us on edge. Everything we see and hear is very discordant, and the soundtrack is made up of scratches and screeches to create an uneasy sound. The non-diegetic screeches suggest screams which helps to create fear and tension. It starts with an almost explosive sound like thunder which immediately gets our attention. The main beat of the soundtrack almost suggests a heartbeat which pounds and races to connote fear and death. This happens as the sequence progresses and the pace of the music increases. The sinister sounds fit well with the dark and disturbing imagery shown.

We see images of cuttings, writing, and disfigured pictures of people. Some of the images resemble the ‘killer’ cutting off a layer of skin, discarding ‘his’ identity. The ‘killers’ fingernails are dirty and suggest they are well worn. Most of the images we see are monochromatic and the only colour we see are splashes of red here and there. This connotes blood, anger, danger and death. All of the shots we see are close ups which help to involve us and pull the audience into the film. The close ups are point of view shots which lets us see things through the ‘killers’ eyes to create an impression of realism.

The editing used in the sequence is called montage editing which is a series of short cuts spliced together. This works well and is very disjointed and confusing which could represents a killers mind. I like this idea and think it would be a good technique to use in my opening sequence as it works well in a thriller with creepy music and typical thriller conventions. The shots are not continuous as they are shots of many different things all thrown together. This could suggest the different aspects of the film such as the seven sins. Also some effects have been used including a dissolve effect. We see this when the ‘killer’ seems to be turning a page in a book and one page dissolves to reveal the next page.

The typography is awkward and unclear. It becomes distorted and almost unrecognisable due to its movement and the effect of it being ‘electrocuted’. It is placed at a variety of angles and in a variety of uneasy ways and moves around the screen in all directions. The white typography shakes and flashes violently around its often black background. This contrast makes the writing more prominent and distinctive. The typography resembles messy handwriting which enhances the disturbing image of the sequence.

This is a brilliant example of a thrillers opening title sequence and it has given me many ideas for my own. A few of these ideas include: the pace increasing or racing to give the sequence energy and help it come to life: the short, fast cuts to keep the audience intrigued and wondering about the storyline and the discordant soundtrack to give atmosphere and tension.

Research- Narrative functions

2009-11-23T08:52:00.000-08:00

I have been considering the purpose of an opening sequence in order to establish what I want to achieve for ours.
I want the opening sequence to do a number of things :

Introduce the main character/s of the thriller
Captivate the audience's interest
Establish core theme and genre (thriller)
Establish the audiences expectations by showing use of the typical conventions of a thriller
Give a good insight into the film

Research- Conventions of a thriller

2009-11-23T08:20:00.001-08:00

Before we carried on developing our idea i wanted to find out a bit more about the typical conventions of a thriller.

After doing some research i have found that the main conventions of a thriller are to do with sound, lighting and editing. The editing consists of quick cuts and varied camera angles to create atmosphere and a distorted feeling. The music is usually very creepy and discordant and the lighting is usually used to create shadows and darkness.

I am considering how we can use these conventions in our sequence and I think that the uneasy camera angles are particularly important.

Another typical convention of a thriller is the use of flashbacks and point of view shots. I like the idea of point of view shots as they help the audience to feel for the character but i think for our 2 minute sequence flashbacks will be to difficult to do successfully and without confusing our audience!

Planning- Roles.

2009-11-23T02:47:00.000-08:00

For the planning of our sequence we have all helped each other but have taken on a main task each.

I am in charge of creating the storyboard. This will help us to visualise our sequence.

As Natasha took music she is creating the soundtrack for our thriller. This is because we cant use existant music because of copyright.

Samantha is creating the shot list so we know exactly what we are doing when it comes to filming.

We are not using a script as we believe that having no dialogue will be effective. So Lauren is In charge of organising when we will be shooting the sequence and producing a time chart and sorting out locations for the shoot.

Planning- Development of our idea.

2009-11-23T02:33:00.000-08:00

Over the last few media lessons my group members and I have been developing our ideas for our title sequence. Developing the plot and story line has enabled us to create a storyboard and shot list.

Outline:

First of all we would see a man in a garage looking at a dartboard on a wall. The dartboard has 5 Polaroid pictures of girls stuck to it. Four of the pictures have darts through them and there is one remaining picture in the middle with no dart. We see the man picking up a dart but then it cuts to a shot of a girl walking home. This girl is the same girl as in the picture in the middle of the dartboard. She is alone and it is getting dark out. This will create tension and atmosphere. We then see the man that we saw in the garage walking past the girl and the girl keeps on walking. The man then stops and turns round and starts walking up behind the girl. He gets closer and closer to her until he is almost jogging. He then puts his hand on her shoulder. She screams and it immediately cuts to a shot of a dart hitting the dartboard on the "bullseye" right in the middle of the picture. This could suggest many things and will leave it on a cliffhanger ready for the film to explain.

Planning- BULLSEYE!

2009-11-19T01:45:00.000-08:00

My group members and I have discussed ideas for our thriller. We all put our ideas forward and came up with 3 ideas that we all liked.

Idea 1!

This involved a man who stalked his ex-wife. The sequence would be distorted and creepy. It would be told from the point of view of the stalker, and we would never see his face. The man has photos of his ex all over his bedroom wall. We get the impression that the man is disturbed and we see him following the woman in her day to day life. We would use non diegetic creepy music to help to create atmosphere and tension.

Idea 2

This idea is based on a murderer who has pinned his 5 victims onto a dartboard. Once he has killed his victim he throws a dart at the picture. We would see the murderer following his victims but we would never see his/her face.

Idea 3

This last idea is a kidnap. The kidnap would take place after school and the victim would be a typical schoolgirl. This sequence would be quite disturbing and we could leave the sequence on a cliffhanger.

After discussing our 3 ideas and weighing up the strengths and weaknesses of each idea we decided that idea number 2 was the best. As a group we have lots of ideas and effects we could put into our sequence to make it interesting and build up tension. As our idea is based around a dartboard we thought that BULLSEYE is the perfect name for our opening sequence.

Update- missed media lessons

2009-11-19T01:37:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately i have been absent from my media lessons over the last two weeks. This is because i have been involved in our school production and have been very busy. The show was a success and since it has finished i have been working my hardest to catch up on the work that i have missed.

We have been working towards creating an opening title sequence for a thriller. In lessons we have got ourselves in to groups. I am in a group with Samantha Coutanche, Natasha John and Lauren Halse.

Research- The Secret Window

2009-10-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

In class we watched the opening sequence to the thriller 'The Secret Window'.

This opening sequence was very interesting. The diegetic sounds started before the film even began. This was the sound of windscreen wipers back and forth back and forth. When the sequence than started there was a close up of a man in a car behind the steering wheel. We then heard a non diegetic voicover which at first seemed like it was coming from a person maybe in the back of the car, but we discover that it is the man thinking, and that we are hearing his thoughts. Throughout the sequence there are a variety of shots to make the it interesting. The shots that stand out the most are the close up, point of view shots and the follow shot. I also like how the colours are quite monocrome and the only hint of colour is the sign 'motel' which is in bright red writing which suggests danger or blood. Overall i liked this sequence and has halped me to get some ideas for my own opening sequence.

Planning- Logline

2009-10-19T04:16:00.000-07:00

A game of darts with a twist! Murderer/stalker plays darts and kills which ever victim his dart lands on!

Research- Media Workshop

2009-10-08T02:45:00.000-07:00

On Friday, we had our re-scheduled media workshop day. The day was very enjoyable aswell as being usefull. By the end of the day me and my group had completed our continuity exercise. The sequence we had to film was a person walking up to a room, opening a door, walking through a door and sitting with someone at the other side. The two people then had to have a conversation and maybe exchange something. Before we started the excercise we made sure we had completed our planning. Me and my team thought about the shots that we wanted to include and created a storyboard of these shots. We included things like camera shot, sound and the shot duration. We included a variety of shots as we thought it would make the sequence more interesting. When filming our sequence we had to film each shot for longer than we atually needed it. This was so we could choose the piece of the clip that we wanted and had room either side of the clip to cut. After we filmed all of our shots we went onto the apple macs and started to edit our work using a program called imovie. We put all of the pieces together so as it made sense. For example we put our establishing shot first followed by our medium shot and our close up. Finally we added some dissolve effects, credits and music to complete our sequence.

Cerys xoxo

Research- Storyboards

2009-09-30T02:28:00.000-07:00

In yesterdays lesson we looked at storyboarding. A storyboard is a graphical representation of camera shots for a film sequence. It visually tells the story of an animationn panell by panell. The storyboard will outline things like characters, sound, time and camera shot. We were asked to look at two websites for homework.

These were:

longroadmedia.com and

6thformnoodle.blogspot.com

Update- Media for schools day at the Vale

2009-09-28T15:23:00.000-07:00

I cant believe that i forgot to tell you, last friday i attended a media filming day at a charity golf event which was organised by Sony and held at the Vale! We were there with media for schools and our job was to film the golfers taking their first shots! We also filmed ourselves interviewing some famous people incluing Neil Jenkins and Nicky Piper! Throughout the day we learned how to use and set up a camera and tri-pod. We learned about different camera shots and angles and the overall day gave me a much better understanding of filming and how it is done. I really enjoyed the day and would love to do something similar again in the future.

Cerys xoxo

Update- Media Workshop cancelled

2009-09-24T14:22:00.000-07:00

Today was a bit of a disaster! The fire alarm went off and we missed about an hour of our media workshop! Its ok as it has been moved to next week now, and i cant wait!

Cerys xoxo

Research- classwork

2009-09-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

In our media lesson today we watched a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock film Psycho. We watched the famous shower scene. We analysed the scene and commented on the use of music, creation of suspense, camera work, and most importantly the editing. We learnt about continuity editing which is basically how lots of shots are played in a certain way and using certain camera shots to insure that it flows. If a film did not have continuity editing it would look messy and wouldn't really make sense!
We were also given a second handout. The handout outlines production tips for camera work and camera operation. Tomorrow we are spending a whole day attending a media workshop which i am really excited about! I will tell you all about it tomorrow!

Cerys xoxo

Research- The man with the golden arm!

2009-09-22T09:26:00.000-07:00

Saul Bass is often referred to as "the master of film title design". I have analized one of his famous title sequences called "the man with the golden arm". The film was about the struggle of Frank Sinatra who played the hero, - a Jazz musician overcoming a heroin addiction.

The title sequence featured a cut-out of a heroin addicts arm. Saul Bass chose this as the main feature of the titles instead of the famous face of Frank Sinatra. He chose it knowing that the arm was a powerful image of addiction.

I chose this title sequence because it is one of Saul Bass' most famous pieces of work. He has used his style to create the titles. They are simple but very effective. The title sequence is quite simular to one of his other sequences for the film psycho. This shows that he had his own particular style, and it was very successfull.

The titles feature arkward white lines which jab at arkward and unsettling angles. The white lines are very effective on the plain black backround and jump out to the eye. The white lines fit in well with the plot of the story as they almost "inject" into the title credits, and at one point the films title is seemingly penned in by four of these uneasy lines. The music fits in perfectly with the Jazz theme in the film. It is an upbeat, exciting orchestral piece with trumpets and other brass instruments.

Cerys xoxo

Research- Saul Bass (1920-1996)

2009-09-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

At home I have been researching the famous American graphic designer, Saul Bass. He is best known for his film-making and design on animated motion picture title sequences. Saul Bass entered the film industry in 1954 when he developed the advertising campaign for Carmen Jones, an Otto Preminger production. He was then asked by Preminger to create the promotion motif for a 1995 Frank Sinatra film called "Man with the Golden Arm". Bass designed a graphic logo for the film. While Bass argued that the sequance fell flat without animation, Preminger stubbornly disagreed. The final compromise of staccato - like movements quickly earned a spot as one of the classic moments in American film.

Bass also worked for Alfred Hitchcock and was responsible for the electric, eye popping segments before Vertigo (1958) and Psycho (1960).

Research- classwork

2009-09-16T02:40:00.000-07:00

Last lesson we looked at blogs made by another school and watched some of the videos that they made for their continuity exercise.We were also given a handout telling us about three important principles when filming:

Match on action. Match on action is an editing technique where you cut from one shot to another view that matches the action and pace of the first shot. This is done to create an impression of continuity despite the fact you might have filmed the shots two weeks apart!

Shot-reverse shot. This is a very common effect used in making film an TV. When two characters are in conversation, film one character looking off screen to where the other character is imagined to be, and vice versa. You edit between a character talking and a character listening.

180 degree rule. This rule tells us that when filming the brief sequence of action in the room, you need to storyboard the scene so that an imaginary line is drawn across the room, cutting it in half. If you cross the line when filming, the characters will appear to exchange places and continuity will be lost.

Cerys xoxo

First post!

2009-09-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

This is my first ever blog! I am not really sure what i am doing or how to use this website but i am excited none the less! I look forward to sharing my thoughts and videos ect with you soon! The media course sounds very interesting and i can't wait to get started!

Cerys xoxo