Here is our final cut. Our finished piece. I am happy with the quality of work we have achieved. We met challenges head on and this is the product of our hard work.
Thursday, 22 April 2010
Friday, 16 April 2010
Evaluation
Evaluation
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In order for our to create a two minute opening sequence of a thriller, which is both effective and professional, we began by researching and comparing professional thriller openings; The use of mise-en-scene in thrillers to create suspense and enigma is approached in many different ways. In Fargo (1996) the first minute is the camera panning and following a car through the snow. The white back ground contrasted with the dark colour of the car, forcing the audience to focus on the car. The long take draws in the audience, by creating a sense of enigma, making them question who is in the car. What are they doing? Why are they there? Our idea was to copy the sense of enigma and to get the audience thinking the same questions about our product. We did this by using long shots of our main female character walking along an open field in the early morning, which mimics the environment of the setting in Fargo. We added the flashbacks to break up the walk home, and to introduce her present situation. It also creates more character enigma as the audience never sees the rapist’s face. We used a convention format for our titles as we didn’t want to take anything away from the main action on screen, we used white as it’s easy to see, which is quite uncommon of thrillers as normally they have everything in dark colours to create a more sinister atmosphere. We used different angles of the female walking through the field to make it more interesting for the audience. We used different fade speeds to show the passing of time to shorten down the length of some of the clips. We went with the convention female victim as it was easier to show a female victim in this case, that in would have been to have shot a male in the same situation, as stereotypically, a man being raped is a slight taboo subject which usually upsets audiences. We did several close up shots and tried to create graphic matches, for example it fades from the victims shoes, joined by the rapists feet, we tried to match this by having a close up of her shoes in the puddle. We added a piece of music that Robert produced himself, to avoid any copyright discrepancies, we added this over the flashbacks, as it is set at a house party, stereotypically house parties have loud drum and bass music, we wanted the track to sound slightly muffled so it gave the audience the effect that it was coming from downstairs.
We used the name of the film in the opening sequence, near the end, like in The Matrix (1999) which I studied earlier; the title appears in the middle of the opening sequence. However, to make the title seem more important, as it is telling you primarily what the film is about, we used it at the end in a fade to black which makes it stand out and seem more dramatic, which is what we aimed for.
Conventionally the title sequence has some sort of reflection on the protagonist’s psychological state; in this sequence it shows our protagonist, as the victim and her mind state reflects in the title sequence as her mind is confused and keeps jumping back in time, thinking about the series of events that lead her to “The Morning After”. There is no dialogue in the opening scene, we used this technique to extenuate the music as there no need for dialogue. The scene becomes more shocking as it is the actresses reaction and the surroundings that she goes through walking home that explains the physical and emotional turmoil she is experiencing.
Straw Dogs (1971), caused controversy when released, because of the rape scene that was at the centre of the film. The controversial scene shows the female lead enjoying being sexually assaulted. “Feminist cinema critics accused director Peckinpah of glamorizing rape and of engaging in misogynistic sadism” (Extract from Wikipedia) Our film shows the horrifying experience to have a mental effect on the victim, who does not enjoy the experience and instead is haunted by the traumatic incident. It doe not glorify the act of rape, and is an exploration that challenges societies view the taboo subject.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
It represents teenagers as party goers which to a certain extent is a mediated reflection on that sort of social group’s age. Our piece shows a college student who’s drunk too much, which is stereotypical of college students and teenagers of that age. The use of stereotypes means that it is easier to get the message across to the audience, as most people in the modern society has heard through different mediums about the drunken teenaged stereotype.
As most mediums create stereotypes it was easier to pursue stereotypes that had already been created by society.
The series of events leading up to her heavy drinking is unknown to the audience from the opening scenes. She suffers the consequences of her actions as an unknown male takes advantage of her drunken state, which is a sad reality for many college house parties. Which therefore represents and also reflects on the dangerous life style this social group leads.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I would hope that a small group like EM Media or some other same UK company to take my media product on for distribution. EM Media uses actor and actresses that are from the East Midlands area, who have not had an opportunity to star in film roles. The company concentrates more on artistic opportunity than making profit. They take on projects with messages behind them, instead of generic storylines that most Hollywood blockbusters’ production companies mindlessly churn out solely for profit. EM Media was the media institution behind ‘This is England’ (2007) this film reflected on the 1980’s in the eyes of a child who used the local teenagers as role models. This was a ground breaking film which shown the 1980’s as a gritty violent time. My film would be a boundary pushing thriller which it would be realistic enough to get the message of the harsh realities of drinking. The point at the end would be is to get the audience thinking about situations they could find themselves in when drinking too much.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience would have to be older than 16, for them to be able to sympathise with the horror that our female victim has gone through and to understand the situation. However the age people watch thrillers are 18 – 36, so this would be the main audience. It is a product that is accessible by both genders. However, they must be mature teenagers or older, as most people will have to have experienced or have an idea of the madness of house parties for them to understand. It would be for people who enjoy the thriller genre as the end product should end up being quite spine chilling and memorable. There is a message there for parents of teenagers, slightly dramatized but still a clear message which parents should be aware of by watching this film.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We attracted the audience by opening with a girl, in a field. It gives nothing of the plotline away to the audience, until the first flashback. In which, shows feet, that engrosses the audience even more by keeping the mystery up. The only piece of dialogue in the piece is 1.30 minutes in, leaving the audience hanging as the film title fades in. The flashbacks attract them by encouraging the characters enigma. The lack of dialogue is effective as the opening sequence is presented with a kick, the lack of words are a mediated reflection on her mental state, as she would be completely blank. Therefore it gives the audience a chance to dip into her psyche and sympathise with her. Engrossing them into wanting to watch the rest of her story. At the end of the opening sequence there is a fade to black as the heavy breathing changes from diegetic to non-diegetic, we did this to attract the audiences attention creating more of a situation enigma.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt about how to use a camera and tripod to great effect. I learnt how to use natural lighting in my work instead of using the harsh light which the artificial lighting gives off. I used how to use the tripod to get steady shots and pans, and how to adjust the tripod for the perfect shot. We used Adobe Premiere for the editing, I use editing software myself. However Robert had better skills and talent than myself, therefore he took the editing role. However he taught us all how to use fades to black and into other clips. I now know the basics of the technology we used to construct this product. I got the chance to edit some of the music into the background of the sequence this was a new experience for me and I learnt that it isn’t always easy to balance to music tracks out so that there are no silent gaps where the audience only hears ambient sound.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
My organisation skills have improved from the preliminary tasks as I planned the storyboard and shots for the project. The planning and research was organised by me therefore all aspects got completed. I carried the creative flare through from my preliminary task through to this project as the story line was based on multiple ideas of my own. I have learnt that if I was to do this again I would go in a smaller group as it would be easier to organise and have full group co-operation all of the time. The ‘180 degree rule’ was well executed in my preliminary task, however I believe we kept to it with this project.
We used more tracking and panning shots in the final piece compared to the preliminary task which was more effective. We used different angles for example the feet in the puddle – which makes the piece more exciting for the audience.
We used more fades to black, which creates a sense of mystery and suspense. Which, made the final piece seem more suspenseful than the preliminary task.
We used colour in the final piece with a mix of black and white, I used black and white in the preliminary task to make the piece seem more dramatic, however in my final piece there was no need for the sinister look as the film itself did that in the field shots. However in the flashbacks, the black and white effect helped create the dark effect which the rape flashbacks needed.
In our preliminary task we never made sure of the camera being set to widescreen. Therefore when we came to upload it was very small, so with this project we made sure we had it set every time. Like my preliminary task, we didn’t set the white balance for every shot we did as it distracted us from the ‘zone’ which the group were in while filming.
We used music in this piece to add to the drama of the film. I decided to do this because in the preliminary task, the background noise of the setting was off-putting to the audience, who would have been distracted by the odd noises being made on set rather than what was happening on set.
Previously in the preliminary task we had to have 4 lines of dialogue, we decided against a mass of dialogue in the final piece as the camera microphones didn’t pick up the actors/actresses voices very well, obscuring the message to the audience and causing confusion as the audience wouldn’t be able to hear the dialogue very well, which we learnt in the preliminary task.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
In order for our to create a two minute opening sequence of a thriller, which is both effective and professional, we began by researching and comparing professional thriller openings; The use of mise-en-scene in thrillers to create suspense and enigma is approached in many different ways. In Fargo (1996) the first minute is the camera panning and following a car through the snow. The white back ground contrasted with the dark colour of the car, forcing the audience to focus on the car. The long take draws in the audience, by creating a sense of enigma, making them question who is in the car. What are they doing? Why are they there? Our idea was to copy the sense of enigma and to get the audience thinking the same questions about our product. We did this by using long shots of our main female character walking along an open field in the early morning, which mimics the environment of the setting in Fargo. We added the flashbacks to break up the walk home, and to introduce her present situation. It also creates more character enigma as the audience never sees the rapist’s face. We used a convention format for our titles as we didn’t want to take anything away from the main action on screen, we used white as it’s easy to see, which is quite uncommon of thrillers as normally they have everything in dark colours to create a more sinister atmosphere. We used different angles of the female walking through the field to make it more interesting for the audience. We used different fade speeds to show the passing of time to shorten down the length of some of the clips. We went with the convention female victim as it was easier to show a female victim in this case, that in would have been to have shot a male in the same situation, as stereotypically, a man being raped is a slight taboo subject which usually upsets audiences. We did several close up shots and tried to create graphic matches, for example it fades from the victims shoes, joined by the rapists feet, we tried to match this by having a close up of her shoes in the puddle. We added a piece of music that Robert produced himself, to avoid any copyright discrepancies, we added this over the flashbacks, as it is set at a house party, stereotypically house parties have loud drum and bass music, we wanted the track to sound slightly muffled so it gave the audience the effect that it was coming from downstairs.
We used the name of the film in the opening sequence, near the end, like in The Matrix (1999) which I studied earlier; the title appears in the middle of the opening sequence. However, to make the title seem more important, as it is telling you primarily what the film is about, we used it at the end in a fade to black which makes it stand out and seem more dramatic, which is what we aimed for.
Conventionally the title sequence has some sort of reflection on the protagonist’s psychological state; in this sequence it shows our protagonist, as the victim and her mind state reflects in the title sequence as her mind is confused and keeps jumping back in time, thinking about the series of events that lead her to “The Morning After”. There is no dialogue in the opening scene, we used this technique to extenuate the music as there no need for dialogue. The scene becomes more shocking as it is the actresses reaction and the surroundings that she goes through walking home that explains the physical and emotional turmoil she is experiencing.
Straw Dogs (1971), caused controversy when released, because of the rape scene that was at the centre of the film. The controversial scene shows the female lead enjoying being sexually assaulted. “Feminist cinema critics accused director Peckinpah of glamorizing rape and of engaging in misogynistic sadism” (Extract from Wikipedia) Our film shows the horrifying experience to have a mental effect on the victim, who does not enjoy the experience and instead is haunted by the traumatic incident. It doe not glorify the act of rape, and is an exploration that challenges societies view the taboo subject.
How does your media product represent particular social groups?
It represents teenagers as party goers which to a certain extent is a mediated reflection on that sort of social group’s age. Our piece shows a college student who’s drunk too much, which is stereotypical of college students and teenagers of that age. The use of stereotypes means that it is easier to get the message across to the audience, as most people in the modern society has heard through different mediums about the drunken teenaged stereotype.
As most mediums create stereotypes it was easier to pursue stereotypes that had already been created by society.
The series of events leading up to her heavy drinking is unknown to the audience from the opening scenes. She suffers the consequences of her actions as an unknown male takes advantage of her drunken state, which is a sad reality for many college house parties. Which therefore represents and also reflects on the dangerous life style this social group leads.
What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?
I would hope that a small group like EM Media or some other same UK company to take my media product on for distribution. EM Media uses actor and actresses that are from the East Midlands area, who have not had an opportunity to star in film roles. The company concentrates more on artistic opportunity than making profit. They take on projects with messages behind them, instead of generic storylines that most Hollywood blockbusters’ production companies mindlessly churn out solely for profit. EM Media was the media institution behind ‘This is England’ (2007) this film reflected on the 1980’s in the eyes of a child who used the local teenagers as role models. This was a ground breaking film which shown the 1980’s as a gritty violent time. My film would be a boundary pushing thriller which it would be realistic enough to get the message of the harsh realities of drinking. The point at the end would be is to get the audience thinking about situations they could find themselves in when drinking too much.
Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience would have to be older than 16, for them to be able to sympathise with the horror that our female victim has gone through and to understand the situation. However the age people watch thrillers are 18 – 36, so this would be the main audience. It is a product that is accessible by both genders. However, they must be mature teenagers or older, as most people will have to have experienced or have an idea of the madness of house parties for them to understand. It would be for people who enjoy the thriller genre as the end product should end up being quite spine chilling and memorable. There is a message there for parents of teenagers, slightly dramatized but still a clear message which parents should be aware of by watching this film.
How did you attract/address your audience?
We attracted the audience by opening with a girl, in a field. It gives nothing of the plotline away to the audience, until the first flashback. In which, shows feet, that engrosses the audience even more by keeping the mystery up. The only piece of dialogue in the piece is 1.30 minutes in, leaving the audience hanging as the film title fades in. The flashbacks attract them by encouraging the characters enigma. The lack of dialogue is effective as the opening sequence is presented with a kick, the lack of words are a mediated reflection on her mental state, as she would be completely blank. Therefore it gives the audience a chance to dip into her psyche and sympathise with her. Engrossing them into wanting to watch the rest of her story. At the end of the opening sequence there is a fade to black as the heavy breathing changes from diegetic to non-diegetic, we did this to attract the audiences attention creating more of a situation enigma.
What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
I have learnt about how to use a camera and tripod to great effect. I learnt how to use natural lighting in my work instead of using the harsh light which the artificial lighting gives off. I used how to use the tripod to get steady shots and pans, and how to adjust the tripod for the perfect shot. We used Adobe Premiere for the editing, I use editing software myself. However Robert had better skills and talent than myself, therefore he took the editing role. However he taught us all how to use fades to black and into other clips. I now know the basics of the technology we used to construct this product. I got the chance to edit some of the music into the background of the sequence this was a new experience for me and I learnt that it isn’t always easy to balance to music tracks out so that there are no silent gaps where the audience only hears ambient sound.
Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
My organisation skills have improved from the preliminary tasks as I planned the storyboard and shots for the project. The planning and research was organised by me therefore all aspects got completed. I carried the creative flare through from my preliminary task through to this project as the story line was based on multiple ideas of my own. I have learnt that if I was to do this again I would go in a smaller group as it would be easier to organise and have full group co-operation all of the time. The ‘180 degree rule’ was well executed in my preliminary task, however I believe we kept to it with this project.
We used more tracking and panning shots in the final piece compared to the preliminary task which was more effective. We used different angles for example the feet in the puddle – which makes the piece more exciting for the audience.
We used more fades to black, which creates a sense of mystery and suspense. Which, made the final piece seem more suspenseful than the preliminary task.
We used colour in the final piece with a mix of black and white, I used black and white in the preliminary task to make the piece seem more dramatic, however in my final piece there was no need for the sinister look as the film itself did that in the field shots. However in the flashbacks, the black and white effect helped create the dark effect which the rape flashbacks needed.
In our preliminary task we never made sure of the camera being set to widescreen. Therefore when we came to upload it was very small, so with this project we made sure we had it set every time. Like my preliminary task, we didn’t set the white balance for every shot we did as it distracted us from the ‘zone’ which the group were in while filming.
We used music in this piece to add to the drama of the film. I decided to do this because in the preliminary task, the background noise of the setting was off-putting to the audience, who would have been distracted by the odd noises being made on set rather than what was happening on set.
Previously in the preliminary task we had to have 4 lines of dialogue, we decided against a mass of dialogue in the final piece as the camera microphones didn’t pick up the actors/actresses voices very well, obscuring the message to the audience and causing confusion as the audience wouldn’t be able to hear the dialogue very well, which we learnt in the preliminary task.
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Sound and Titles
Robert made a track to go in the soundtrack, with a heavy bassline. We used this to show that it's a stereotypical teenaged house party. As stereotypically, teenagers like to have music with a bassline.
We wanted to the music to seem as if it was coming from below, so Robert used some effects to make it sound more muffled and distant.
There was a gun shot sound in the music, so we decided to use this over the rape scene, when the rapist gets violent towards the girl as a gunshot is representing the violence.
We have decided on the production company name of "Fast CARS" CARS is all of our initials put together. 'Fast' just makes it more catchy.
We wanted to the music to seem as if it was coming from below, so Robert used some effects to make it sound more muffled and distant.
There was a gun shot sound in the music, so we decided to use this over the rape scene, when the rapist gets violent towards the girl as a gunshot is representing the violence.
We have decided on the production company name of "Fast CARS" CARS is all of our initials put together. 'Fast' just makes it more catchy.
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Editing
Robert began to edit the clips from the bedroom, in with what film we already had from the previous lesson. We decided to put it black and white, as it looked scaryier and more sinister. We put white and black fades in to signify the difference between flashbacks and present.
We still need to settle on a soundtrack, we've decided to go for a muffled bassline, as she is suppose to be at a party. Hopefully, Rob's brother will create a track for us otherwise next lesson we shall be searching for different copyright free tracks.
We still need to settle on a soundtrack, we've decided to go for a muffled bassline, as she is suppose to be at a party. Hopefully, Rob's brother will create a track for us otherwise next lesson we shall be searching for different copyright free tracks.
Sunday, 7 March 2010
Bedroom filming.
We all met up at 5.30pm today at our house location where we shot our last pieces of filming. Fitting 6 people into a small room with bed and trying to keep quiet while filming was hard.
We had a problem with costume, as we only had one pair of tights which we ripped last time, so our actress Ellie wore them backwards.
We casted a male actor, Jake Frost, an AS Drama student, he was chosen for his size and build, as we needed someone to look dominating and slightly scary.
We filmed an extra 3 mins of clips to edit together with the other clips from last saturday in tuesdays lesson.
Below is what happened, taken from Catherine White's Blog (http://catherinethriller.blogspot.com/)
(Before the rest of the cast/crew actually got to my house and it was only me, Elle (main actress) and Sarah and so we decided to do the first scene on our own. This was the scene of Ellie actually gagging in the sink and then taking a swig of her wine.
The rest of the crew/cast then turned up and we got on with the rest of the filming that we needed to do. We started with a shot of Ellie's feet and her holding her bottle of wine across the edge of the bed and then Jake's (our actor) feet moving in closer to Ellie's feet. We had to do this a couple of times to make absolutely sure that we had the right walk and got the right amount of footwork in the scene.
The next shot was going to be the one in which Ellie gets pushed onto the bed in a harsh way and then starts to scramble away as if she knows what is going to happen to her. This again took a few shots because most of the pushes weren't hard enough and we really needed to get the perfect shot.
The third shot was the one in which the rapist gets on top of the victim, Jake didn't really grasp how he had to do it properly the first time, but after a few shots we got what we needed.
Jake then needed to pull Ellie back to him and smother her with a pillow to get the effect of him trying to 'shut her up' this again took a few shots because we wanted it to be as harsh as possible to give a nasty effect. In the end we got it exactly how we wanted it, Ellie really struggling and Jake putting in a lot of force.
We then needed a shot of Ellie's tights being ripped because we had already shot her walking home in the morning and her tights are ripped all over, meaning there needed to be a reason for it. The tights were quite hard to rip and I had to do it with a key in the first place, so it made a bit difficult for Jake to rip them, but in the end we got there.
We then needed Ellie to take her tights off because we realised that rape wouldn't be able to occur if tights were on. So she took them off and Sarah hung them on a nearby stand to ensure that they were still seen by the audience in the next shot.
This shot was of Ellie then just lying on the bed, distraught and alone, whilst then panning towards Jake doing his trousers up and walking off scene. This only needed one shot as everyone said my pan was okay.
We then wanted a shot of Jake walking out of the door from one angle, behind him, and then another angle from Ellie's point of view lying on the bed, shot by Sarah.
We had a problem with costume, as we only had one pair of tights which we ripped last time, so our actress Ellie wore them backwards.
We casted a male actor, Jake Frost, an AS Drama student, he was chosen for his size and build, as we needed someone to look dominating and slightly scary.
We filmed an extra 3 mins of clips to edit together with the other clips from last saturday in tuesdays lesson.
Below is what happened, taken from Catherine White's Blog (http://catherinethriller.blogspot.com/)
(Before the rest of the cast/crew actually got to my house and it was only me, Elle (main actress) and Sarah and so we decided to do the first scene on our own. This was the scene of Ellie actually gagging in the sink and then taking a swig of her wine.
The rest of the crew/cast then turned up and we got on with the rest of the filming that we needed to do. We started with a shot of Ellie's feet and her holding her bottle of wine across the edge of the bed and then Jake's (our actor) feet moving in closer to Ellie's feet. We had to do this a couple of times to make absolutely sure that we had the right walk and got the right amount of footwork in the scene.
The next shot was going to be the one in which Ellie gets pushed onto the bed in a harsh way and then starts to scramble away as if she knows what is going to happen to her. This again took a few shots because most of the pushes weren't hard enough and we really needed to get the perfect shot.
The third shot was the one in which the rapist gets on top of the victim, Jake didn't really grasp how he had to do it properly the first time, but after a few shots we got what we needed.
Jake then needed to pull Ellie back to him and smother her with a pillow to get the effect of him trying to 'shut her up' this again took a few shots because we wanted it to be as harsh as possible to give a nasty effect. In the end we got it exactly how we wanted it, Ellie really struggling and Jake putting in a lot of force.
We then needed a shot of Ellie's tights being ripped because we had already shot her walking home in the morning and her tights are ripped all over, meaning there needed to be a reason for it. The tights were quite hard to rip and I had to do it with a key in the first place, so it made a bit difficult for Jake to rip them, but in the end we got there.
We then needed Ellie to take her tights off because we realised that rape wouldn't be able to occur if tights were on. So she took them off and Sarah hung them on a nearby stand to ensure that they were still seen by the audience in the next shot.
This shot was of Ellie then just lying on the bed, distraught and alone, whilst then panning towards Jake doing his trousers up and walking off scene. This only needed one shot as everyone said my pan was okay.
We then wanted a shot of Jake walking out of the door from one angle, behind him, and then another angle from Ellie's point of view lying on the bed, shot by Sarah.
Capturing and Editing More Filming
We captured the film however, there were no different clips so Robert and Catherine went through cutting and editing the 5 minute of footage. They then began to put them in order, however as we had no flashback footage it was hard. Aiden and I went to film more shots of the location for different angles, however as the weather was sunny, it wouldn't have gone with our overcast shots, therefore we abandoned the ideas.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Filming - Saturday.
We met at 6 o clock in the fields, we wanted until 7 for the right light, we were trying to get a morning light, however the clouds made it hard for the light, however it means that the lighting was even all the way through filming.
We tryed to stick to the plans as much as possible for speed however, we tryed some different angles and different locations, including a bus stop which was on the way to our house location.
Catherine and I helped Ellie our actress with make-up and costume. Rob set up the camera, checking the white balance, with Catherine and I had forgotten to do in our preliminary task. The tripod had a screw missing that we hadn't noticed before which made the camera slightly unsteady, so we may have to re-shoot.
We got through filming pretty fast so we wrapped up at 9.30am, we are still yet to cast a male actor for the rapist role, there is some dispute into who would fit the role, and who would be sensitive about the role.
Next Saturday we are to film the flashbacks in our bedroom location, by then we shall have agreed on an actor.
We tryed to stick to the plans as much as possible for speed however, we tryed some different angles and different locations, including a bus stop which was on the way to our house location.
Catherine and I helped Ellie our actress with make-up and costume. Rob set up the camera, checking the white balance, with Catherine and I had forgotten to do in our preliminary task. The tripod had a screw missing that we hadn't noticed before which made the camera slightly unsteady, so we may have to re-shoot.
We got through filming pretty fast so we wrapped up at 9.30am, we are still yet to cast a male actor for the rapist role, there is some dispute into who would fit the role, and who would be sensitive about the role.
Next Saturday we are to film the flashbacks in our bedroom location, by then we shall have agreed on an actor.
Test Filming and Plans
Robert and Catherine worked on editing the test clips together, Rob put some effects and slowed some of the clips down to show what sort of effects we could do.
I wrote up some brief filming plans for Saturday, so that we didn't have to keep checking the storyboard.
Rob had some technical trouble with premiere as he'd tryed to create a storyboard video, however the pictures didn't load so we couldn't upload them.
Catherine and I held a casting meeting she found an actress who had experience as she was doing AS Drama, and she'd had a small role on the BBC show Doctors.
We are not sure who to cast as the role as the boy/rapist as it is a sensative subject so we would need a serious male actor to play the role.
I wrote up some brief filming plans for Saturday, so that we didn't have to keep checking the storyboard.
Rob had some technical trouble with premiere as he'd tryed to create a storyboard video, however the pictures didn't load so we couldn't upload them.
Catherine and I held a casting meeting she found an actress who had experience as she was doing AS Drama, and she'd had a small role on the BBC show Doctors.
We are not sure who to cast as the role as the boy/rapist as it is a sensative subject so we would need a serious male actor to play the role.
Test Filming
We went off sit into Chilwell fields to test out the location. It was severly muddy and impossible to film on as we couldn't get the tripod level, Catherine tryed to walk across but it was deemed to slippy for filming.
We went to our house set and tryed some angles and takes as we wanted some hand held camera work walking up to the door, we tryed to camera at different heights.
To be edited and uploaded next lesson.
We went to our house set and tryed some angles and takes as we wanted some hand held camera work walking up to the door, we tryed to camera at different heights.
To be edited and uploaded next lesson.
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Shot Plans
Field Shots
1. Across the bridge, long shot of girl walking towards bridge.
2. Close up of girls legs walking across the bridge.
3. Long low angle shot of girl walking (down path)
4. Side close up of girl crying, still walking down path, near gap leading to next field.
5. Close up on ripped tights straight on, girl walking to camera.
6. Low angle long side shot panning as girl walks, showing street.
7. Girl walks past camera to front door, camera pans.
8. Mid shot of girl at her door, side mid-shot.
9. Close up of girl fumbling in her bag.
10. Hand held camera walking up behind girl.
11. Close up of girls head and shoulder, hand comes up behind her.
12. Close up of her turning around.
13. Pan, eye level, empty street.
Flashback Shots
1. Girl with bottle, drinking. Mid-shot side.
2. Girl feet to right of frame, guys feet come in from left side.
3. Girl being pushed onto bed, Mid-shot from side.
4. Girl lying down, guys crawls up and heads out of shot, Mid-shot of bodies.
5. Close up of her leg, guy rips tights. Hand slides in from top of frame.
6. Long shot eyeline match of door closing.
1. Across the bridge, long shot of girl walking towards bridge.
2. Close up of girls legs walking across the bridge.
3. Long low angle shot of girl walking (down path)
4. Side close up of girl crying, still walking down path, near gap leading to next field.
5. Close up on ripped tights straight on, girl walking to camera.
6. Low angle long side shot panning as girl walks, showing street.
7. Girl walks past camera to front door, camera pans.
8. Mid shot of girl at her door, side mid-shot.
9. Close up of girl fumbling in her bag.
10. Hand held camera walking up behind girl.
11. Close up of girls head and shoulder, hand comes up behind her.
12. Close up of her turning around.
13. Pan, eye level, empty street.
Flashback Shots
1. Girl with bottle, drinking. Mid-shot side.
2. Girl feet to right of frame, guys feet come in from left side.
3. Girl being pushed onto bed, Mid-shot from side.
4. Girl lying down, guys crawls up and heads out of shot, Mid-shot of bodies.
5. Close up of her leg, guy rips tights. Hand slides in from top of frame.
6. Long shot eyeline match of door closing.
Monday, 22 February 2010
Media Questionnaire
Media Questionnaire
This is to help with the planning and developement.
1. Do you prefer fast pace or slow for a thriller?
Fast – 4
Slow –6
2. Would you prefer lots of dialogue or less
Lots of dialogue - 3
Not so much - 7
3. Would you prefer a loud soundtrack behind the film?
Yes – 6
No - 4
4. Male or Female lead?
Male – 2
Female – 8
5. Would you prefer a large or small cast?
Large –3
Small –7
6. Would you have a mostly dark or light environment?
Dark –9
Light – 1
7. Which font do you prefer for opening credits?
Century Gothic - 1
Monotype Corsiva - 8
Papyrus -
Segoe Script - 1
Trebuchet MS -
8. Do you prefer opening titles to be?
Bold - 2
Underlined - 1
Italic - 5
Mix - 2
9. Where would you prefer it to be set?
Forest - 2
House -
Town – 1
Field - 3
Abandoned places – 4
10. How long would you prefer each credit to be on?
3 Seconds - 6
5 Seconds - 3
5+ Seconds - 1
Using this information, our film ideally should look like this.
(Photo - http://iforgotmypen.deviantart.com/art/The-clear-path-was-lost-155015937)
This is to help with the planning and developement.
1. Do you prefer fast pace or slow for a thriller?
Fast – 4
Slow –6
2. Would you prefer lots of dialogue or less
Lots of dialogue - 3
Not so much - 7
3. Would you prefer a loud soundtrack behind the film?
Yes – 6
No - 4
4. Male or Female lead?
Male – 2
Female – 8
5. Would you prefer a large or small cast?
Large –3
Small –7
6. Would you have a mostly dark or light environment?
Dark –9
Light – 1
7. Which font do you prefer for opening credits?
Century Gothic - 1
Monotype Corsiva - 8
Papyrus -
Segoe Script - 1
Trebuchet MS -
8. Do you prefer opening titles to be?
Bold - 2
Underlined - 1
Italic - 5
Mix - 2
9. Where would you prefer it to be set?
Forest - 2
House -
Town – 1
Field - 3
Abandoned places – 4
10. How long would you prefer each credit to be on?
3 Seconds - 6
5 Seconds - 3
5+ Seconds - 1
Using this information, our film ideally should look like this.
(Photo - http://iforgotmypen.deviantart.com/art/The-clear-path-was-lost-155015937)
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Storyboard
Here is the storyboard I drew out, Rob put it into a video. This is what the shots should look like.
Friday, 19 February 2010
Conventions of a Thriller with examples
Thriller Conventions
These are the general conventions which most thrillers will have.
- Darkness - Most thrillers will be set in a dark places for effect and for suspense. Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight' (2008) is mostly in darkness, however the protagonist is the one in a dark costume, not the villain, this reflects the inside struggle between good and bad which Batman suffers with throughout the film.
- Music for effect - For example Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' (1960) has the infamous shower scene with high pitch screeches of a violin immediately creating a danger effect. Again with Stephen Spielberg's 'Jaws' (1975) two notes create suspense, and also tell audience that danger is near.
- Vulnerable victim, usually female - Ridley Scott's 'Alien' (1979) has Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) who is the only character left alive besides Jones, the cat. She single-handily fights off and kills the alien.
- Serious Baddy/villain/Antagonist - James Cameron's 'Terminator 2' (1991) features T-1000, an advanced cyborg sent back in time to kill John Connor. This is the ultimate Antagonist as he seems to be indestructible.
- Narrative Enigma - A question which is usually resolved at the end of the film David Flincher's 'Fight Club' (1999) is an example as right at the end the audience find out that Tyler and the Narrator are the same person.
- Mystery - Thrillers must convey a sense of mystery for example the opening in The Wachowski Brothers' 'The Matrix' (1999) there's a phone call "You sure this line's clean?" What line, who's the woman and man talking, who's the 'one' why are they going to kill him?
- Suspense - This the edge of seat, nail biting which a thriller relies on. Alfred Hitchcock is reguarded by the experts at Radio Times as "The master of suspense".
These are the general conventions which most thrillers will have.
- Darkness - Most thrillers will be set in a dark places for effect and for suspense. Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight' (2008) is mostly in darkness, however the protagonist is the one in a dark costume, not the villain, this reflects the inside struggle between good and bad which Batman suffers with throughout the film.
- Music for effect - For example Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' (1960) has the infamous shower scene with high pitch screeches of a violin immediately creating a danger effect. Again with Stephen Spielberg's 'Jaws' (1975) two notes create suspense, and also tell audience that danger is near.
- Vulnerable victim, usually female - Ridley Scott's 'Alien' (1979) has Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) who is the only character left alive besides Jones, the cat. She single-handily fights off and kills the alien.
- Serious Baddy/villain/Antagonist - James Cameron's 'Terminator 2' (1991) features T-1000, an advanced cyborg sent back in time to kill John Connor. This is the ultimate Antagonist as he seems to be indestructible.
- Narrative Enigma - A question which is usually resolved at the end of the film David Flincher's 'Fight Club' (1999) is an example as right at the end the audience find out that Tyler and the Narrator are the same person.
- Mystery - Thrillers must convey a sense of mystery for example the opening in The Wachowski Brothers' 'The Matrix' (1999) there's a phone call "You sure this line's clean?" What line, who's the woman and man talking, who's the 'one' why are they going to kill him?
- Suspense - This the edge of seat, nail biting which a thriller relies on. Alfred Hitchcock is reguarded by the experts at Radio Times as "The master of suspense".
Friday, 12 February 2010
Another Opening.
The Dark Knight (2008)
URL - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OYBEquZ_j0
Mise-en-scene
Again, like the Matrix, Warner brothers logo appears before anything, this time with a blue tint, therefore in this film the running colour scene would pressumeabley be blue. Legendary Pictures logo and DC Comics logo also appear in a tinted blue. Fades to black, blue cloud/smoke swirling fades into screen, it then becomes slightly more obvious that it's the aftermath of an explosion. It spreads out the frame. To above a building, zooming in onto the side of a black glass building straight ahead there's an explosion of glass, it cuts to a man in a clown mask with some sort of weapon, which he has just used to break the window. This creates character enigma, who is this man/why is he wearing a mask. He reaches onto a table where another guy wearing a clown mask is standing, Loads his weapon, it becomes clear that this is a harpoon, leading the audience to think that these are not nice characters.
A man, carrying the same style mask and a bag stands on a street corner with dark clothing on, creating a sinister atmosphere, even though it is broad daylight. He carries a blue bag over on shoulder. A silver car stops next to him, he walks to the car and gets in, putting his mask over his face.
It goes back to the men in the building one standing on the window ledge, one getting up onto the legde, it cuts to one of the men (probably the one who fired the gun) moving equipment down this make-shift zipline, the two men follow. This shows that they are secretive, as they aren't using conventional mentions like doors, to get around. Both are dressed in dark clothing, therefore look like dark evil characters.
Sound
Unlike The Matrix, the Warner Brothers logo appears in silence, creating an ominous and uneasy feeling. The Legendary Pictures logo also appears in silence, there is a faint beat when DC Comics logo appears still keeping tension to a high. 30 seconds into the film and still quiet, which keeps audiences on the edge of their seats.
There is a faint non diegetic beat as the camera zooms in, There is diegetic sound of the glass breaking and the man loading and firing the harpoon. The beat still goes on throughout, there is a non diegetic flat monotonal note being held as the camera zooms in on the mask, which the man is carrying. As the car stops on the corner, next to the man the note stops, there's diegetic sound of the brakes of the car squeeling, and diegetic sounds of the man opening the door. The beat turns into a slight string sound as the men on the window ledge prepare to jump from the ledge.
Camera
Camera moves towards the black building in an establishing shot which tells the audience that it's day time. Side mid shot shows the audience; it's a men, he's masked and he has a weapon which he just broke the window with. Straight cuts to a high angle shot of the man loading his weapon, the camera pans to the left to show the man firing the weapon so that the audience can see the rope attached.
The body shot of the man shows he's in a long coat looking down, adding to his character enigma. It zooms in on the mask, this shows that the mask will be important in the film, as it is a clown mask, the audience make the obvious link to the joker.
The camera follows from a low angle the man getting into the car, the audience can see when he turns to the side that he's put on his mask.
The camera is level to the window as the guys climb onto the window ledge, it shows one of the guys in a close up of his upper body and head, pushing the bag they have along the zipline. Cuts back to where the camera was previously then as they jump out the window, it cuts to a long shot of them traveling down the line, this shows them to be professionals, as they were so clean and quick, and also risk takers as they were at such a height.
Editing
Long take of camera moving upto the building. Staight cut to the man wearing a clown mask. Straight cuts again to show the man loading his weapon this is on screen for nine seconds this shows how fast the man can load the weapon and fire it, showing that he has done this before. Straight cut again to a long shot of the guy holding the mask and bag on a street corner, this adds to his mysterious appearance as it is a long take, he make be important adding to the character enigma could he be the Joker?
Straight cut to the guys back inside the building, creating more of a fast pace, as they are getting the equipment and themselves over to the roof.
Analysing Existing Thriller Openings
The Matrix (1999)
Mise-en-scene
First is the Warner Brothers logo, in green spinning into it's usual position. It fades to black, suggesting darkness. Straight cut to the Village Roadshow Pictures company's logo, with is also tinted green, it is apparent that green is to be a theme, green is suggested to be linked with the early model computers, the green foreshadows the links to computers and technology. Letters and numbers scroll down the frame in green, this makes a stronger link to the old generation of computers. Camera begins to zoom in on the letters which spell out "THE MATRIX" in an off white.The letters fade and are replaced by a green cursor, another referral to the old computers. A code scrolls along the screen as if it's being typed, another referral to computers. Straight to black, it is replaced by another message 'typed' in green "Trace program: running". Straight cut to green numbers, which rapidly change, the camera zooms in as columns disappear, numbers appear at the top.
There's a graphic match as the camera zooms into the '0' which seems to melt into black. A white dot appears, it grows closer and bigger as the camera zooms in at speed the camera pans slightly to the left to show a policeman holding a torch.
Sound
The WB logo is accompanied by a sci-fi soundtrack with sounds like a computer/machinery which merges into wind/horn instruments.
The horn instruments grow louder and more intense as the letters fall and make "THE MATRIX" this is to make it seem more dramatic and important.
When the cursor is flashing, there's a non-diegetic sound of a phone dialling, a phone conversation goes on with a woman and a man, about a "him" and "The One" the subject reminds anonymous, creating an enigma, "The One" makes him sound like an important person.
The woman apparently hears a noise and the says "Are you sure this line is clean?" this creates mysteries to the audience as to what 'clean' means. "I better go." This leaves the audience hanging, as they don't know who she is, or where she is, so it creates a situation enigma.
There is more computer/machine sounds as the camera travels down through the '0' in the background, fainter than for the horns play the same notes as before making it apparent that important parts are coming.
Editing
Most of the editing for the opening sequence is either straight cut or a slight fade, mostly to black.
Titles
The only titles there are in this sequence, is the film title "THE MATRIX".
Friday, 5 February 2010
Evaluation of Final edit
Personally. I believe that our work was pretty imaginative, and that we set out and completed what we aimed to do.
The sound wasn't very good in quality or volume when the actors weren't right up against the camera. If I was to go back and do this again with more equipment, I would use mics or I would get a camera with a better inbuilt mic.
The editing looks slightly unprofessional and jumpy, if I were to do it again I would spend more time on editing, using more dissolves, instead of all straightcuts.
Even though there was some shots were varied, I'd like to explore different camera angles, if it were ever possible a tracking shot when the pizza man was walking to the door could have been better.
Another thing I would change would be the lighting and setting however as we were restricted with equipment and location, that became an impossiblity.
The sound wasn't very good in quality or volume when the actors weren't right up against the camera. If I was to go back and do this again with more equipment, I would use mics or I would get a camera with a better inbuilt mic.
The editing looks slightly unprofessional and jumpy, if I were to do it again I would spend more time on editing, using more dissolves, instead of all straightcuts.
Even though there was some shots were varied, I'd like to explore different camera angles, if it were ever possible a tracking shot when the pizza man was walking to the door could have been better.
Another thing I would change would be the lighting and setting however as we were restricted with equipment and location, that became an impossiblity.
Editing Cont.
We finished editing in this session.
We chose to turn the picture to black and white to make it more dramatic, and also to cover up the slight light changes and the harshness of the strong lights we had as they couldn't be adjusted while filming.
We finally got the hear our work for the first time, there wasn't all that many faults with the sound, however they're were bits of whispering which I edited out by replacing the sound track with ambient sound.
URL - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLr7s5cQZ6A
We chose to turn the picture to black and white to make it more dramatic, and also to cover up the slight light changes and the harshness of the strong lights we had as they couldn't be adjusted while filming.
We finally got the hear our work for the first time, there wasn't all that many faults with the sound, however they're were bits of whispering which I edited out by replacing the sound track with ambient sound.
URL - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLr7s5cQZ6A
Editing
I started on editing the beginning, however there was no sound so it was rather hard, I helped Ash and Trisha with the basic editing skills and labelled the clips. Ashley carried on with the beginning from where I'd left off, getting to near the middle of the clip, I began with the shots of money we had which we'd done at slightly different angles, to the end. We got about half way through editing, so it was pretty productive. However, we probably would have had more done if Trisha had played more of an active part in the group.
With the trouble with sound, we'll have to sort it out next lesson, and hopefully finish editing.
With the trouble with sound, we'll have to sort it out next lesson, and hopefully finish editing.
Monday, 1 February 2010
Continued Filming
We set the lights up slightly different for some of the shots, as the faces needed to be seen, when we tryed them the same as last time Catherine came out looking orange so we tryed to change that with subtle lighting.
We used red paint to dye Ash's t-shirt to look like blood, simply because none of us had any fake blood.
Trisha took a small role in the production today, taking a "backseat" approach to the filming.
We finished filming today. However, after having a conversation with our teacher, we realised we hadn't changed the white balance for each shot as far as I could tell through the camera it hadn't made much of a problem.
We captured the film and put it on the PC for editing next lesson. Hopefully we should be well into editing next lesson.
We used red paint to dye Ash's t-shirt to look like blood, simply because none of us had any fake blood.
Trisha took a small role in the production today, taking a "backseat" approach to the filming.
We finished filming today. However, after having a conversation with our teacher, we realised we hadn't changed the white balance for each shot as far as I could tell through the camera it hadn't made much of a problem.
We captured the film and put it on the PC for editing next lesson. Hopefully we should be well into editing next lesson.
Thursday, 28 January 2010
Planning and filming.
The start of this lesson was spend story boarding the task. Catherine and I worked on the technicalities like a reasonable plotline and camera work, while Ash came up with general ideas for props and costume and generally put his ideas in. Trisha put a few ideas in at odd times.
Catherine drew and wrote the storyboard out neatly, however since none of us were very good at art, stick men were used to get the camera angles and storyline drawn.
The story is about a pizza delivery guy, who goes round to a woman's house to deliver a pizza, with murderous results. We wanted our piece to be original and creative.
We came to film, we needed a hat and a pizza box for props for Ashley. After requiring them we started filming. We had to wait a while as another group was using the room that we needed.
We began using a low angle shot of Ashley's feet to the door and carried on from there. We found our main problem was the light in the corridor and room. We got a small industrial light, there was a small problem with lack of sockets. When that little problem was sorted, we found the light was too bright and revealed every shadow possible. After a few goes at moving different pieces of equipment, we found out how to position everything right and began filming.
Next lesson - Carry on filming
Tuesday, 19 January 2010
Introduction Lesson - Blogging, Using Cameras, First Ideas.
Using the Video Cameras
Just incase my notes go missing.
Tape goes in upside down.
- Clean camera lens with a tissue, not your finger.
- Keep filming is the same aspects. (Widescreen, 16:9)
- Check recording format is set to slow play. (SP)
- Play with Manual focus, not just automatic.
- Audio should be recorded in 16bit, NOT 12bit.
- Pre and post roll (Record 5 seconds before and after action)
- Pan wider that needed. (Smooth pan, rather that jerking)
- Always use a tripod. (Only handheld when needed)
- Don't point the camera at the sun. (Causes glare)
- Rule of thirds. (Stick to the lines)
- Ambient sound - Record background noise.
- 180° Rule - Stick to one side of the line, less confusion.
- White balance
Set location up, get blank white piece of paper taking up the whole frame, set white balance. Must keep balancing when in different locations.
Introduction
Introduction into the coursework tasks. Given a sheet, which outlines the tasks for coursework. Then set up our blogs, I've never blogged before, so this is a new experience for me.
The Preliminary Excerise seems pretty easy, I've edited clips into short films before, but never shot them myself so I think it could be good fun. We were shown a few good and bad clips from the previous year, one that completely broke the 180° rule, and by doing so, has made the clip very confusing.
I'm happy about the group, Trisha, Catherine, Ashley and Myself. There doesn't seem to be any immediate conflicts, hopefully it'll stay like that.
We're all enthustastic about the project coming up with quite a few ideas.
We want it to be quite creative, we know it doesn't have to be, but it's a good time to practice for the main project.
We brainstormed some ideas, we know we want it to be quite dark and scary. Even though it's only 30 seconds. We were discussing the different rooms we could film in, there doesn't seem to be much of a challenge where that's concerned.
Next lesson, we'll develope more on those ideas, and hopefully choose a direction to go.
Just incase my notes go missing.
Tape goes in upside down.
- Clean camera lens with a tissue, not your finger.
- Keep filming is the same aspects. (Widescreen, 16:9)
- Check recording format is set to slow play. (SP)
- Play with Manual focus, not just automatic.
- Audio should be recorded in 16bit, NOT 12bit.
- Pre and post roll (Record 5 seconds before and after action)
- Pan wider that needed. (Smooth pan, rather that jerking)
- Always use a tripod. (Only handheld when needed)
- Don't point the camera at the sun. (Causes glare)
- Rule of thirds. (Stick to the lines)
- Ambient sound - Record background noise.
- 180° Rule - Stick to one side of the line, less confusion.
- White balance
Set location up, get blank white piece of paper taking up the whole frame, set white balance. Must keep balancing when in different locations.
Introduction
Introduction into the coursework tasks. Given a sheet, which outlines the tasks for coursework. Then set up our blogs, I've never blogged before, so this is a new experience for me.
The Preliminary Excerise seems pretty easy, I've edited clips into short films before, but never shot them myself so I think it could be good fun. We were shown a few good and bad clips from the previous year, one that completely broke the 180° rule, and by doing so, has made the clip very confusing.
I'm happy about the group, Trisha, Catherine, Ashley and Myself. There doesn't seem to be any immediate conflicts, hopefully it'll stay like that.
We're all enthustastic about the project coming up with quite a few ideas.
We want it to be quite creative, we know it doesn't have to be, but it's a good time to practice for the main project.
We brainstormed some ideas, we know we want it to be quite dark and scary. Even though it's only 30 seconds. We were discussing the different rooms we could film in, there doesn't seem to be much of a challenge where that's concerned.
Next lesson, we'll develope more on those ideas, and hopefully choose a direction to go.
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