Final Thriller

how does your media product represent particular social groups?

I feel that our main character is similar to Character played by Heath Ledger the joker in the 2008 blockbuster The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan. My reasons for this are that the joker shares Many things in common with our main character, For example he is criminally insane and a threat to Society. Also adding to this I feel that the joker acts in the same way our main character Does. We have dressed our main character in dark And rugged clothes, this is to indicate a sense of danger and tension. By using black As the colour of the clothes and the bag over his head it makes the character seem Inhuman and almost lacks feelings and emotions.

who would be the audience for your media product?

Our media product is for a specific type of audience, for example people who love thrillers and enjoy watching them and also people who don’t mind a bit of violence and strong language. We and the bbcf have rated our media product as 15 this means Suitable only for 15 years and over and that No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated film.

How does your media product represent particular social groups ?

we feel that our main character is similar in many ways to the character of the Joker in Batman the dark knight. The reasons for us choosing the joker is that he suits our idea of a villain. Firstly, there is an air of mystery and confusion surrounding the main character in our plot, also it seems that his sanity can be questioned. Our villain is male and our victim is female this helps represent women as vulnerable and almost helpless as they need rescuing.

Camera Work
-execllent
-disorientating when needed to be,
-Shot distances appropriate to give disorientating feel
-variety of shots effectiveley placed for earie feel to film.
-Location shots good for setting the environment

Sound
-Sound could be made more relevant to whats happening, sounds a bit thrown in in places
-Personally would make the sound more atmospheric then synthetics

Mise en scene
-Good use of props the head bag was good for not suffocating their actor tho giving the appearance of distress

Editing
-variety transitions
blur filters and quick transitions effective at creating disorientation feel.
fade transitions create confusion then small window of realisation of new scene

thriller feedback

mise-en-scene

- use filters to make lighting in the woods more dark and creepy
- the lighting is a little too dark at the end, edit it to make it lighter
- location- no link to why they are in the woods. add props and show how they got location

camera work

- good hand held/ point of view
- range of shot types
- hand held too shaky
- establishing shot would make audience understand more

sound

- make music in sync
- make it more diegetic
- music does not fit the film
- add folly

editing

- add contras into the beginning bits to draw viewer in more

location

we found our location that meets the right credentials for a great interrogation. however there has been some minor problems in getting this site. we had to find permission from the duty manager. and our teacher will have to grant the permission for us.

We have been assigned a task to create a short sequence linking different shots together. We were assigned a position that we would not normally do, i took the role of creating the music. This was important because it gave the film that extra edge and a personality. To match the characteristics of our film i needed to create a piece of music that would build a sense of suspense and danger. Within the task we had to use a range of shot types:

• close up
• extreme close up
• long shot
• mid shot
• high angle
• low angle
• point of view
• slow zoom in
• pan

By using these shot types we could create certain effects, and by completely this task it helps us broaden our knowledge of filming.

camera Practice-tied up

Our task was to create a 1 minute sequence of someone being tied up, whilst creating a sense of claustrophobia and panic, through camerawork, editing and music. We used the following camera shots:

• Extreme close up
• Close up
• Mid shot
• long shot
• Pan
• Zoom in/out
• Point of View
• High Angle
• Low Angle

I thought our sequence went well. We worked well as a team and accomplished our task of creating the sense of claustrophobia and panic using the required shots. we did this in groups of four and my role was to direct and edit the sequence i feel that i did what was required of me which was to make decisions and to communicate so that everyone else in the group knew what they had to do for there role.

Camera work practice

the task we were given was purely simple we were given a whole lesson and a part of the next lesson to film, edit and soundtrack a short video, this had someone being tied too a chair. we were put into different groups and were given specific roles, i was given a leading part in the acting. although i had never acted in my previous projects. i feel that the way our group cooperated with each other reflected on our overall quality of our project. i am very happy with our project and i feel it went very well and our project was very successful.

camera shots of story board and shot lists

prop list for film

costumes- formal clothes for interrogators











for josh the suspect rough and rugged clothes




props- bag (black)














chair/ table
light (bright lamp)

locations - dark room, forest








camera with tripod and moving dolly

ideas for our title logo

as a group we have decided to go with the logo on the far right as
it indicates the vulnerability of the child ''hope''.

Mood Board

homework the effects of a title sequence jaws

jaws- the effects of the jaws opening sequence are that there is two ladies swimming in the open sea, the music enter and it get louder and faster this indicates that something is out there and is going to happen. although it is unclear about how or by what. the sequence continues and the music continues to get louder and louder this builds suspense and tension for the audience. this title sequence is very effective in the way it builds tension and suspense.

Blog advice from Andrea

Your blog is designed to evidence the research and planning you have done before you start filming your thriller.
A blog in the 'excellent' category could include some of the following detail:

1. Analysis of student thriller
2. More than one detailed analysis of real thriller openings
3. Practise soundtrack for your thriller
4. Practise soundtrack for Taking Lives intro
5. Production company logo
6. Definition of thriller, outline of different sub-genres and hybrids
7. Analysis of examples of political, psychological, action thriller and crime thriller
8. Initial ideas post
9. Final idea post - for pitch
10. Influences and the thriller generic conventions you intend to explore
11. Mood board
12. Research into other films of similar sub-genres
13. Props list - with illustrations
14. Details of costumes - with illustrations
15. Location report - where you intend to film, if it is a public place then you need to consider the logistics of filming there. If it is private property you must seek permission from the owner.
16. Complete shot list
17. Completed storyboard
18. Test footage with a full explanation as to the technique you were testing and how successful the test was.
19. Details of when you intend to film (dates, times and places), who is responsible for bringing what props etc, what actors are needed and who is in charge of ensuring the actors are informed of times and locations.
20. Practise titles, consider the job titles and the names you wish to include. Do some research into titles. Look at Saul Bass as an industry expert in title sequences.

Taking lives practice soundtrack

The Taken

storyline of The Taken

One single light turns on highlighting a man with a bag over his head, the are two silhouettes interrogating him asking what happened to the little girl. The hidden man starts singing "Mary had a little lamb", this shows the mans insanity. The interrogators reel off many questions and only on the last question does the man answer, he reveals 4 possible locations that the little girl could be in, but what motives would the man have for telling the truth? as the locations are said an image of it is flashed up. As the two men leave the room the title sequence shall start to play over the image of the closing door.

our actors in this opening sequence are josh Jones, Des ford, Matt McCarthy, jack Langley.
the location of our sequence is the school forest at the back of the campus.

the sub genre of our opening sequence is a psychological thriller, this allows us to play with the audiences minds when they are watching our film

the camera shots we intend to use are panning, match on action, reaction shots , close ups , long shots and over the shoulder shots.

the thriller conventions that we will use are suspenseful music and sounds creating a certain manner e.g loud and mechanical sounds. we will also use a dark effect on the film when editing the opening sequence. another thriller convention we will use is that we wont show the audience how the person has died and where he has gone. this will play with the audiences minds and it will leave an uncertainty on who committed the murder, this will be a who done it film.

global production logo

whilst making this logo we had to use adobe photo shop CS3 and Final Cut Express. we found final cut easy to use because we had been shown and demonstrated to by our teacher, also we have used final cut in previous projects and we were more confident in the usage of final cut express.

however, photo shop was a different matter even though we were shown by our teacher before hand, we found it hard to understand certain technical aspects of photo shop for example the use of effects. although our end product was at a decent standard. we feel confident that our attempt of making a logo will improve our next attempt at one in our next project, this time doing it more independently.

Hush

This thriller has an abstract use of sound which sets it apart form other thriller opening sequences, the music helps create an air of suspense as it is distorted and helps to add to the general confusion of the scene. The lighting in this sequence is subdued and helps highlight the main character that is tied down to the chair and is clearly being held captive. This is clearly an opening to a thriller as this sequence allows the audience to imagine how and why this person is in the situation they are in.

jaws opening sequence

the film jaws is a typical example of an old renound thriller. The person swimming is unaware of what lies beneath her as are the audience. The music within this opening sequence helps create a build up of suspense and a general understanding that there is a bad thing about to happen.

obsession anaylisis

The title Obsession makes us wonder who the character is and who the character is Obsessed with and why?????. to us Obsession is a form of abnormal and creepy behavior, this also add tension and suspense. Our first impressions on this video clip was that it made us want to watch on and know what is going to happen in the rest of the film. Therefore they are keeping the audience wanting to see more and to gain more knowledge about the film. we especially like the music that runs throughout the sequence. we think the consistency of the music creates tension because the high pitch sounds of the song indicate that all is not as it should be. The lighting throughout the piece has been well thought about and it re addressed the fear of the unknown by the darkness and the shadows. adding to this the darkness of the room is overpowered by the brightness of the computer. indicating to us that the computer is a key feature of the title "Obsession" this is represented at 2.06 minutes into the film. Throughout the piece there are a few mistakes, for example at the point when he is on the computer you can see the computer game football manager. this is spoils the overall effectiveness of the computer because this is stereotypical program that you would expect a creepy Obsessive person would have on their computer.

why thrillers thrive?

Thrillers thrive because they build excitement for the audiences and create an emotional response to the film. also during thrillers it can seem that the you are experiencing danger whilst actually knowing that you are safe. This done by you visually seeing the danger rather than reading about it, this is called a graphic manor. this effect can be produced by editing and camera work, which can promote realism, suggesting that it can happen to you. thrillers also have the effect of the audiences building sympathy for the characters.

Hannibal

The music within this opening sequence is mellow and calm with a hint of mystery, as at the start you cannot see who is talking it keeps the audience guessing as to what is going to happen during the film. Within the opening title sequence the title are shown in red, this represents anger and blood. this adds to the suspense. the location in the clip shows us an old library, in this library there are red curtains and ornaments, this also add to the tension and suspense.

thriller

definition of thriller: a suspenseful adventure story or play or movie

genres of thriller: Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains.

project deadlines

Shooting deadline: End of lesson 17 (2nd lesson of w/c 22nd Feb)

Rough Cut Deadline: End of lesson 19 (1st lesson of w/c 1st March)

Final Cut Deadline: End of lesson 22 (1st lesson of w/c 8th March)

Interim writing deadline: End of lesson 25 (1st lesson of w/c 15th March)

Final Writing deadline: 9am Monday 22nd March.

Preliminary Task

Preliminery Task

definitions of (shot reverse shot) and (match on action)


Shot reverse shot is a film technique within which, one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen), and then the other character is shown looking "back" at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other.

A match on action is when some action occurring before the temporally questionable cut is picked up where the cut left it by the shot immediately following. For example, a shot of someone tossing a ball can be edited to show two different views, while maintaining temporal continuity by being sure that the second shot shows the arm of the subject in the same stage of its motion as it was left when cutting from the first shot.

The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters (or other elements) in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle.

Welcome