Before we started to film we thought it was going to be a long process of framing up and doing takes after takes of footage. however filming went much more smoother than we expected, i think this was because we as a group worked really well together and our actors were really hard working and easy to direct; both giving really great performances.
During filming we did encounter some problems:
Continuity was a main issue. When we would change room we would leave the room in which used the way it was after we finished filming, leaving doors and other objects around the room in different positions. Also where we using a extension lead we had to be careful where we placed it as it kept being left in the back of shot. This left us more to do on the second day of filming.
When we started to film we also had another problem, this was lighting. We wanted to film a the images of the girl getting ready in her bedroom, however the lighting in the room was really dark, so we changed room to the bathroom instead. However in the bathroom the light was brighter in there the light still seemed like there was something wrong with it. We tried adding additional lighting via lamps and even torch but this however did not work, so we looked along the camera and found a switch which controls the brightness of the camera and it had been turn down to the bottom setting. Luckily enough we had only filmed a couple of shots so they had to be re filmed, but other than that it was fine.
After these errors the rest of filming ran quite smoothly thanks to our great actors who took the piece very seriously and also the fact we had built some expearience via our prelim task also meant that we were able to be fast and confident with using the camera and the tripod which really sped up the filming process.
Monday 28 December 2009
Tuesday 8 December 2009
Our Thriller Opening Location
By Joseph Cocklin
This is the image of the doorway to our location. This is a very important part of our thriller opening as this is the place where we first see our stalker, we needed to know what this part of the location looked like for camera set-up reasons.
This is the hall way space where both characters in the opening interact.
This is shot of our locations kitchen. This is important as it is where we first start to establish the character of the stalker. The lighting is really good in this as it is really bright, and also has outer lighting when in pitch black from the garden.
This is the staircase, This will be shown twice in our film for entrances and exits.
This is the bedroom of thriller opening, this is where we will film the majority of our opening, where both characters will intertwine. However there is bad lighting in this room so some shots may have to be compramised because of lighting.
This is the bathroom of our location will show the young girl getting ready for her night out and will also have the last shot of the opening. This room is very bright so will be easy for close ups and other shots on the young girl.
This is the image of the doorway to our location. This is a very important part of our thriller opening as this is the place where we first see our stalker, we needed to know what this part of the location looked like for camera set-up reasons. Doorway width: 2ft 6.
Doorway Height: 6ft 4.
This is the hall way space where both characters in the opening interact.width: 4ft 9.
Lenght: 10ft 6.
This is shot of our locations kitchen. This is important as it is where we first start to establish the character of the stalker. The lighting is really good in this as it is really bright, and also has outer lighting when in pitch black from the garden. Lenght: 15ft 6.
Width: 4ft 4.
This is the staircase, This will be shown twice in our film for entrances and exits. Width: 2ft 4.
This is the bedroom of thriller opening, this is where we will film the majority of our opening, where both characters will intertwine. However there is bad lighting in this room so some shots may have to be compramised because of lighting. Width: 9ft 6.
Lenght: 10ft 4.
This is the bathroom of our location will show the young girl getting ready for her night out and will also have the last shot of the opening. This room is very bright so will be easy for close ups and other shots on the young girl. Width: 6ft 7.
Lenght: 7ft 2.
Thursday 3 December 2009
Production Schedule
Production Schedule: Written by Laura
Actors: We will be using Joe's sister Lauren for the girl in our piece, and our friend Ollie to play the stalker.
Transport: We will be going from Selhurst station to East Croydon, to London Bridge, then to Welling.
Location: 44 Kenmere Road (Joe's House)
Phone Numbers: Holly - 07751822111
Joe - 07859103083
Laura - 07847552897
character Profiles
Character Profiles:
Written by Laura.
The Stalker: We wanted the stalker to be really creepy. Someone which would raise the hairs on the back of your neck. We also didn't want him to be stereotypically creepy though, we decided that he'd have a job, dress well and always be neat. But perhaps, a little too neat. We knew straight away that we wanted him to be very OCD. This would become obvious within our thriller opening as you see him straighten and clean things. We wanted him to always be calm and collected. When you hear the girl re-enter her home, his face stays the same. He doesn't panic, or rush, or run. He always has a plan in his head and can think extremely quickly. This would add to the creepy feeling that he was always one step ahead of you. We wanted him to be tall and in his thirties.
Written by Laura.
The Stalker: We wanted the stalker to be really creepy. Someone which would raise the hairs on the back of your neck. We also didn't want him to be stereotypically creepy though, we decided that he'd have a job, dress well and always be neat. But perhaps, a little too neat. We knew straight away that we wanted him to be very OCD. This would become obvious within our thriller opening as you see him straighten and clean things. We wanted him to always be calm and collected. When you hear the girl re-enter her home, his face stays the same. He doesn't panic, or rush, or run. He always has a plan in his head and can think extremely quickly. This would add to the creepy feeling that he was always one step ahead of you. We wanted him to be tall and in his thirties.
The Girl: We wanted her to be/look about twenty. We imagined her to be pretty, slim and completely normal. This is so that the beginning of our opening with just her would put the audience at ease, and create more tension when we introduced the stalker. We wanted her to be quite the opposite of him; messy, bubbly and cheerful. We definitely wanted her to seem sweet and nice so that the audience would like her character, and therefore feel threatened and worried for her safety when she came back into the house and nearly found the stalker.
Prop list
Below is a list of the props that we need to film our opening sequence-
GIRL'S BEDROOM
-radio
-hair dryer
-makeup bag (lipstick, mascara, eyeliner etc)
-wine glass
-photo frame
-hairbrush
-purse
KITCHEN
-clock~ preferably an analogue clock
-white latex gloves
-large kitchen knife
-grapefruit (several, to allow for practice and retakes)
[Holly]
GIRL'S BEDROOM
-radio
-hair dryer
-makeup bag (lipstick, mascara, eyeliner etc)
-wine glass
-photo frame
-hairbrush
-purse
KITCHEN
-clock~ preferably an analogue clock
-white latex gloves
-large kitchen knife
-grapefruit (several, to allow for practice and retakes)
[Holly]
Tuesday 1 December 2009
Sunday 29 November 2009
Target Audience For Our Thriller Opening
By Joseph Cocklin
Our thriller opening is a psychological thriller, this type of movie would attract a certain type of audience. From researching other psychological thrillers such as:
Seven
This thriller portrays the exploits of a deranged serial-killer. His twisted agenda involves choosing seven victims who represent egregious examples of transgressions of each of the Seven Deadly Sins. He then views himself as akin to the Sword of God, handing out horrific punishment to these sinners. Two cops, an experienced veteran of the streets who is about to retire and the ambitious young homicide detective hired to replace him, team up to capture the perpetrator of these gruesome killings. Unfortunately, they too become ensnared in his diabolical plan.
Memento
Memento chronicles two separate stories of Leonard, an ex-insurance investigator who can no longer build new memories, as he attempts to find the murderer of his wife, which is the last thing he remembers. One story line movies forward in time while the other tells the story backwards revealing more each time.
Silence of the lambs
Clarice Starling, a young intelligent FBI trainee, has been sent to the Batlimore state hospital for the Criminally insane to interview an inmate Dr. Hannibal – the cannibal – Lecter. A brilliant and renowned psychiatrist turned serial killer. She must match wits with Lecter to gain clues in the search for “Buffalo Bill” – an unknown psychopathic serial killer.
All of these following three films have certificates of fifteen to eighteen. Seeing as our thriller movie has content of a young girl being stalked by a older man, and content which is not suitable for young children, I would say our certificate would be round about the same as the other movies fifteen to eighteen. I would see adults watching this type of movie as it has mature themes and will be testing the audience's intelligence with the plot and they will have to have a open mind watching the movie.
Thursday 26 November 2009
Shot List -Thriller Film Opening Sequence
SHOT LIST- THRILLER FILM OPENING SEQUENCE
1. CU radio (hear static noise at first, fades to music playing)
2. MS young woman drying her hair
3. MS of the dressing table, pan to show her putting on lipstick
4. Multiple on-screen shot-
*left half of screen~ woman standing in front of her wadrobe, opens it
*top right of screen~ CU of glass of wine
*bottom right of screen~ MS of her makeup scattered on the table
5. Bird's eye shot- woman getting her shoes on
6. Worm's eye shot- of her feet, leaving the room from the gap in her door (she goes out of shot, light turns off, door slams)
7. CU of clock ticking
8. ECU of scattered makeup
9. LS of kitchen, hear the tap dripping, see the flash of car lights going past window
10. Low angle shot from the banister at bottom of stairs (hear scratching, the door opens, shadow of man is seen)
11. ECU light switch, light comes on
12. MS (from doorway, looking at the man's back) man walks to kitchen
13. LS establishing the kitchen
14. MCU him putting gloves on
15. CU of him dragging his finger along the worktop
16. POV checking his fingers for dirt
17. MS (side on) opens fridge, slowly reaches in
18. (cut to) Over the shoulder shot, him reaching into the drawer for knife
19. MS (side on) him lifting up the knife- it shines slightly in the light
20. Bird's eye shot of the knife cutting grapefruit, he puts his fingers in the juice, lifts hand to mouth
21. ECU (slow motion) wiping the juice from his mouth
22. MS he throws the gloves into the bin
23. Low angle MLS- his legs are seen as he goes up the stairs
24. MS from the gap in her bedroom door, stillness and silence, his face suddenly appears in the gap
25. Worm's eye shot- door slowly opening and he comes into the room (see his feet)
26. LS from behind photo frame. He is out of focus. His head turns, he comes into focus. He rushes towards the photo
27. POV, he lifts up the photo
28. ECU of his eyes, he stares intensely
29. Over the shoulder shot (but slightly further away than the shoulder) he puts the picture down gently. Sudden turn of his head, half of his face is seen
30. Low angle MS slowly reaches for the hairbrush on the table, holds it still and pulls a hair from it. begins to wrap it around his little finger lovingly. Hear her come in, see his reaction. Stillness as he waits for her, we hear her coming up the stairs on the phone, getting nearer. He looks up at the door
31. LS of door from the bed where her purse is, door swings open, she enters the room. Moment of stillness, grabs the purse, turns to go and notices ensuite light is on. She goes to the door
32. CU of her hand on the door handle
33. Two Shot- the door splits the screen, he is stood hidden behind the door and she is on the other side, she reaches for the light switch
34. black screen END SCENE
1. CU radio (hear static noise at first, fades to music playing)
2. MS young woman drying her hair
3. MS of the dressing table, pan to show her putting on lipstick
4. Multiple on-screen shot-
*left half of screen~ woman standing in front of her wadrobe, opens it
*top right of screen~ CU of glass of wine
*bottom right of screen~ MS of her makeup scattered on the table
5. Bird's eye shot- woman getting her shoes on
6. Worm's eye shot- of her feet, leaving the room from the gap in her door (she goes out of shot, light turns off, door slams)
7. CU of clock ticking
8. ECU of scattered makeup
9. LS of kitchen, hear the tap dripping, see the flash of car lights going past window
10. Low angle shot from the banister at bottom of stairs (hear scratching, the door opens, shadow of man is seen)
11. ECU light switch, light comes on
12. MS (from doorway, looking at the man's back) man walks to kitchen
13. LS establishing the kitchen
14. MCU him putting gloves on
15. CU of him dragging his finger along the worktop
16. POV checking his fingers for dirt
17. MS (side on) opens fridge, slowly reaches in
18. (cut to) Over the shoulder shot, him reaching into the drawer for knife
19. MS (side on) him lifting up the knife- it shines slightly in the light
20. Bird's eye shot of the knife cutting grapefruit, he puts his fingers in the juice, lifts hand to mouth
21. ECU (slow motion) wiping the juice from his mouth
22. MS he throws the gloves into the bin
23. Low angle MLS- his legs are seen as he goes up the stairs
24. MS from the gap in her bedroom door, stillness and silence, his face suddenly appears in the gap
25. Worm's eye shot- door slowly opening and he comes into the room (see his feet)
26. LS from behind photo frame. He is out of focus. His head turns, he comes into focus. He rushes towards the photo
27. POV, he lifts up the photo
28. ECU of his eyes, he stares intensely
29. Over the shoulder shot (but slightly further away than the shoulder) he puts the picture down gently. Sudden turn of his head, half of his face is seen
30. Low angle MS slowly reaches for the hairbrush on the table, holds it still and pulls a hair from it. begins to wrap it around his little finger lovingly. Hear her come in, see his reaction. Stillness as he waits for her, we hear her coming up the stairs on the phone, getting nearer. He looks up at the door
31. LS of door from the bed where her purse is, door swings open, she enters the room. Moment of stillness, grabs the purse, turns to go and notices ensuite light is on. She goes to the door
32. CU of her hand on the door handle
33. Two Shot- the door splits the screen, he is stood hidden behind the door and she is on the other side, she reaches for the light switch
34. black screen END SCENE
Monday 2 November 2009
Locations, Set designs, Costumes and Props. Why are they important?
Locations, set designs, costumes and props are very important to a thriller movie in transferring messages to the audience and building tension. The location of a scene can be what makes the difference in how scary it is, props included in this. With locations also comes set designs, this equally helps to make the location more tense or more how the director himself pictured it. The easiest way of explaining how important all of these are is by analysing a scene from the movie 'Jaws', the first attack, as Spielberg during filming was very Specific and at points cryptic.
Jaws: The Second Attack (Loacation, set design, costumes and props)
We first see a young boy walking up the beach, a tracking wide shot slowly zooming in follows the boy. We see the design of the beach crowded to make us wonder which one of the many people all in summer clothes will be the victim. The boy who walks up the beach is wearing red swimming shorts, the red could symbalise blood. Next, Spielberg focuses on Brody; showing us his concern for the public’s safety, but in the background we see empty guard towers as if Brody is on his own protecting the people, this I believe was deliberate set design adding more tension to the scene. Straight away there is a cut away from Brody as we see a young boy chucking a stick for his dog into the water, The stick is a deliberate prop which is chucked into the water so we the audience can see how the dog one of our two victims in this scene enterd the water. This gets the audience working; thinking. Cutting back again we see the boy entering the water. From then on in the scene cutting back between boy and dog, we now know they are going to share the same fate, and we see the location in a empty sea where they both are isolating them both, Spielberg shows dog and boy in similar positions using a parallel plot with parrellel location in the scene.
We then have a mid shot of the sea; we see a black bump moving towards the shore, this is a dilberate prop used to try and fool the audience into thinking it is the shark. We hear no music as it is just an old man swimming. Finally the music kicks in; we know the shark is there. A low angle shot under the water from the point of view of the shark is used, using under the water as the location for this shot and having the set under water be packed with kicking legs it adds more tension. The attack is seen in the distance a wide shot is used, this shows the boy as helpless. We don’t know how big the shark is as the view is very limited, Spielberg forces the audience to use their imaginations. Finally we end the scene with a high angle shot of the wrecked Lillo being washed up on to the shore with the boy’s blood. The boy’s blood and the yellow Lillo contrasting in the water, this is deliberate set deign with the blood in the water and the yellow lillo being used as a deliberate contrasting prop.
The costume was very selective as Speilberg uses yellow alot, yellow being a summer colour, bright and coontrasting to the scene. The only person with their costume not yellow is the boy who we see killed by the shark. The costume really helps to add to this gripping scene.
The location of the scene at a busy beach in broad daylight really helps to add extra tension at the start of the scene, especially as we don't see the shark in the attack the locaion makes the shark more frightening, how could we not of seen the shark in broad day light?
This is a really good example of how all of these things can be used to help make the thriller run smoother and make it much more thrilling.
Jaws: The Second Attack (Loacation, set design, costumes and props)
We first see a young boy walking up the beach, a tracking wide shot slowly zooming in follows the boy. We see the design of the beach crowded to make us wonder which one of the many people all in summer clothes will be the victim. The boy who walks up the beach is wearing red swimming shorts, the red could symbalise blood. Next, Spielberg focuses on Brody; showing us his concern for the public’s safety, but in the background we see empty guard towers as if Brody is on his own protecting the people, this I believe was deliberate set design adding more tension to the scene. Straight away there is a cut away from Brody as we see a young boy chucking a stick for his dog into the water, The stick is a deliberate prop which is chucked into the water so we the audience can see how the dog one of our two victims in this scene enterd the water. This gets the audience working; thinking. Cutting back again we see the boy entering the water. From then on in the scene cutting back between boy and dog, we now know they are going to share the same fate, and we see the location in a empty sea where they both are isolating them both, Spielberg shows dog and boy in similar positions using a parallel plot with parrellel location in the scene.
We then have a mid shot of the sea; we see a black bump moving towards the shore, this is a dilberate prop used to try and fool the audience into thinking it is the shark. We hear no music as it is just an old man swimming. Finally the music kicks in; we know the shark is there. A low angle shot under the water from the point of view of the shark is used, using under the water as the location for this shot and having the set under water be packed with kicking legs it adds more tension. The attack is seen in the distance a wide shot is used, this shows the boy as helpless. We don’t know how big the shark is as the view is very limited, Spielberg forces the audience to use their imaginations. Finally we end the scene with a high angle shot of the wrecked Lillo being washed up on to the shore with the boy’s blood. The boy’s blood and the yellow Lillo contrasting in the water, this is deliberate set deign with the blood in the water and the yellow lillo being used as a deliberate contrasting prop.
The costume was very selective as Speilberg uses yellow alot, yellow being a summer colour, bright and coontrasting to the scene. The only person with their costume not yellow is the boy who we see killed by the shark. The costume really helps to add to this gripping scene.
The location of the scene at a busy beach in broad daylight really helps to add extra tension at the start of the scene, especially as we don't see the shark in the attack the locaion makes the shark more frightening, how could we not of seen the shark in broad day light?
This is a really good example of how all of these things can be used to help make the thriller run smoother and make it much more thrilling.
Target Audiences
A thriller as a genre has its own target audience. I would think that the majority of people that watch thrillers are from teenagers upwards, I don't think that younger children would want to watch a high tension complex thriller to a disney movie for example. However certain thrillers are aimed at percific people:
Death Proof - For example, 'Death Proof' (2007) I feel is aimed at a certain group of people. The movie is full of good looking under dressed girls and full on fast car violence. In one scene the leading male Kurt Russle gets a lap dance off of a drunken half naked young girl, deffinantly atracting a male audience, also includig references to drugs and sex. I feel this movie is aimed at Male teens to late 20's, it has all the stereotypical likes of a young male. When writing and directing for what was to put on to the screen I feel Quentin Tarantino was creating the movie for that type of audience.
However if you compare this to another thriller movie like 'The Davinci Code' then the target audience changes. 'The Davinci Code' is a smart intelligent mature religious thriller and is based on a best selling novel. I highly doubt that the target audience for this movie is the same as 'Death Proof', I would say that this movie as it is more maturer it will be for a older audience and will attract people of culture and intelligence, so you can imagine the content of the film will be more challenging for the audience to watch. This would also appeal to people of religion and people with interest in art and books, where as 'Death Proof' does not show any signs of wanting to attract that type pf audience.
Depending on the content of the thriller the target audience can change completely, it depends on what type of people the writer, director and the producers want to attract to. Thhis will also see a massive difference in advertising between movies of a different target audience.
Sunday 1 November 2009
Music to a Thriller Movie
Why does a thriller movie need music? The music helps to create the atmosphere, with out the music the scene we see on the screen would not be as thrilling for one or capturing. Loads of thriller movies usually go down the same route of having music play quietly but effective in the background, possibly a low bass.
One Movie that comes to mind when I think of thriller music and building terrific suspense is Jaws. The music in Jaws really helps to create a eerie atmosphere, from every 'F' to 'F' sharp as the shark locates its pray. With long and fast string notes the music really helps to draw in the audience watching.
Another great soundtrack to a thriller is the one from The dark Knight. For me this is because its not like any other soundtrack to a thriller movie, it has a very distinctive melody which repeats throughout the movie to help keep the tension. The strings in the music play quick fast notes to compliment the fast action on screen, this works really well and makes the action on screen even more thrilling! Using percussion to underline the bass giving the music a dark feel and almost has a epic feel to it making the drama on the screen bigger also.
The music theme for Kill Bill is to put it in my own words amazing! It suits the type ppf thriller it is so well! It helps to build the climax and the struggle which Uma Thurman will face to get her revenge on Bill. The use of brass helps to dramatise the music making the music feel more epic and helps to make Uma Thurman look more invinsible.
One Movie that comes to mind when I think of thriller music and building terrific suspense is Jaws. The music in Jaws really helps to create a eerie atmosphere, from every 'F' to 'F' sharp as the shark locates its pray. With long and fast string notes the music really helps to draw in the audience watching.
Another great soundtrack to a thriller is the one from The dark Knight. For me this is because its not like any other soundtrack to a thriller movie, it has a very distinctive melody which repeats throughout the movie to help keep the tension. The strings in the music play quick fast notes to compliment the fast action on screen, this works really well and makes the action on screen even more thrilling! Using percussion to underline the bass giving the music a dark feel and almost has a epic feel to it making the drama on the screen bigger also.
The music theme for Kill Bill is to put it in my own words amazing! It suits the type ppf thriller it is so well! It helps to build the climax and the struggle which Uma Thurman will face to get her revenge on Bill. The use of brass helps to dramatise the music making the music feel more epic and helps to make Uma Thurman look more invinsible.
Thriller Directors
Christopher Nolan -
Top Four Thriller Movies
1. Dark Knight, The (2008)
2. Memento (2000)
3. Insomnia (2002)
4. Prestige, The (2006)
1. Dark Knight, The (2008)
2. Memento (2000)
3. Insomnia (2002)
4. Prestige, The (2006)
Chris has directed some of the best thriller films in this decade. Starting with Memento in 2000, this Blockbuster blew me away the first time I watched it. I thought it was really clever how the movie is filmed in pieces and is put together when Guy Pearce starts to remember his memory. The second Insomnia made in 2002 about Two Los Angeles homicide detectives are dispatched to a northern town where the sun doesn't set to investigate the methodical murder of a local teen. The third, The prestige made in 2006. The prestige is about Two rival magicians up against each other to make the perform the better tricks, but the main trick on their mind is the transporting man which draws in the crowds. This Movie is high in drama and is a different kind of thriller, by watching the tricks on screen we are literally hanging on to see what will happen. And the last in 2008 with The Dark Knight. This movie is truly inspiring to all comic book movies is sets the bar for me and Chris developed the concept of Batman in a realistic mature thriller movie.
Quentin Tarantino-
Top Four Thriller Movies
1. Pulp Fiction (1994)
2. Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
3. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
4. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2002)
2. Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)
3. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
4. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2002)
Quentin Tarantino has always been a controversial director with the critics and his viewers, however for me he has made one of the best sub-genre thrillers in Pulp Fiction. Pulp Fiction shows a great story of mob gangsters and the people surrounding them. With great performances from Samuel Jackson and John Travolta.
Not forgetting the Kill Bill volumes one and two which exploded on to the movie screen in 2002 and 2004. Both these movies are jam packed with action and gory fight scenes, with tight thriller suspension and our leading lady Uma Thurman tries to track down Bill.
Steaphen Speilberg -
Top Four Thriller Movies
1. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
2. Jaws (1975)
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
2. Jaws (1975)
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
4. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989)
Steaphen Speilberg is a world wide known name for his fantastic directing. For me these are his top Thriller movies, with Indiana Jones Raiders of the Lost Ark being my favourite of the Indianan Jones movies. With Thrilling action.
Jaws also is one of my favourite movies of all time, it has such suspence and thrilling to watch. For me it does not matter that the macanical shark lacks authentisity, especially as Speilberg chooses not to show the actual shark til the very end oof the movie! My favourite thrilling scene in jaws is the scene where Brody (Roy Schneider) looks through the book of shark attacks and we here the music kick in every time he turns the page.
Sub - Genre
'Scary Movie' is a sub-genre of a spoof comedy thriller. This particular movie bases its story line on 'Scream' a thriller movie made in 1996. Using the thriller techniques to build the suspense like in 'Scream' but instead of a bloody frightening outcome the movie has a comic out come. This idea of a spoof comedy thriller was very popular with its audience as the 'Scary Movie' brand has gone on two make a second, third and fourth. My favourite scene in this movie is actually the opening one, when we see the killer and the victim face to face, the killer has a knife at the ready and our victim beside her has a tray of deadly weapons and a banana, instead of picking up the a weapon to defend herself she picks up the banana.
'Reservoir Dogs' is a sub-genre of a crime thriller. The movie mixed with lots of thriller techniques and suspense also has a plot of crime. This is a very common sub-genre with such movies as 'Eagle Eye' and 'The Inside Man' also made in this style. Reservoir dogs is a fantastic movie and did well as director and writer Quentin Tarrantino's first film, however the end of the movie did cause a lot of criticism. My favourite Scene is this movie is when we see Mr.Blond dancing and singing to "Stuck In The Middle With You" as he slices the ear off of a helpless policeman.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiU2pKQ683s (Stuck In The Middle With You)
'The Dark Knight' is a sub-genre of a action crime thriller movie. Christopher Nolan the director did not take the similar route to other Batman movie directors before him and take a comic book like outcome, but instead he tried to make the film more of a thriller and more realistic. 'The Dark Knight' I think has suspense and a great 'villain' and is epic and thrilling but also has the crime story line, and of course has loads of action fighting and car chases (What Batman movie would be complete without it!). My favourite scene in this movie is when the Joker has one of the mob gangsters up to a pool table with a knife and he is telling him how he got the scar's on his face.
Tuesday 27 October 2009
Thriller Actors
What makes a good thriller actor? To be a good thriller actor you have to be able to keep your audience tense and make sure your acting on the screen is obviously above all thrilling to watch. Most thriller films have a 'villain' trying to undermine a 'hero'. The hero needs to be strong and be able to connect with his or her audience, this is vital in giving a good performance in a thriller film. If there is no connection between themselves and the audience when the hero comes into trouble if the audience has a strong emotional connection with him or her then it will be more thrilling. Here are some examples of well known and resppected thriller actors:
Rachel McAdams - Rachel has a great performance in the movie 'Red Eye' (2005). Rachel plays the young organised hotel manager who has booked a flight back after a family funeral. Rachel gives a great performance as she battles the master mind terrorist Cillian Murphy, she really connects with her audience as she gives a very emotional performance. Aslo Rachel gives a good performance in 'State of play' (2003).
Matt Damon - Matt appeared in his famous trilogy of the 'Bourne' films. In all three playing a trained assassin, who is trained to kill and protect. Matt has been nominated for several awards for his acting in the trilogy.
Also not forgetting 'The Departed' (2006) playing a young cop undercover in a crime gang. Matt has developed himself now as a hard thriller actor with his dedication to four consecutive Thriller films.
John Travolta - I chose john as one of my favourite thriller actors because of two fantastic performances in to great tense and entertaining thriller films:
The first, 'Pulp Fiction' (1994), this film is one of m favourites and John gives a fantastic performance as a gang employee of Marcellus Wallace. John really drew his audience in and gave a thrilling performance as he stabs the syringe into Uma Thurman's heart.
The first, 'Pulp Fiction' (1994), this film is one of m favourites and John gives a fantastic performance as a gang employee of Marcellus Wallace. John really drew his audience in and gave a thrilling performance as he stabs the syringe into Uma Thurman's heart.
Second, 'The Taking of Pelham 123' (2009), When I went to see this film in the cinema I was captured my John's performance as the 'villain' holding passengers hostage on the subway for ransom. I loved how he played the character as quick witted but also a vile unlikeable character at the same time, it was like he had two sides to him, one minute he would smiling and be very witty and the next angry and over powering. This really drew me and kept me on the edge of my seat, I felt his character was unpredictable which made it so thrilling to watch.
Rachel McAdams - Rachel has a great performance in the movie 'Red Eye' (2005). Rachel plays the young organised hotel manager who has booked a flight back after a family funeral. Rachel gives a great performance as she battles the master mind terrorist Cillian Murphy, she really connects with her audience as she gives a very emotional performance. Aslo Rachel gives a good performance in 'State of play' (2003). 180 Degree Rule
Here is a picture explaining the 180 degrree rule. The green area where the cameras are looking is following the rule of 180. In the top right hand corner we see where the actors are placed on screen, if we croos the 180 degree line to the red section and film from there we see in left hand corner the characters change there position on screen. That is why it is important to follow the rule.
Saturday 24 October 2009
Evaluation and Final Edit of Prelim Task (2nd)
Looking over our video I thought as a group we did really well. The continuity was smooth and I feel our video is to a reassembly good standard, however there is lots of room to improve.
We opened up on a two shot of Will and CJ sitting on the ground talking, this was good and I liked how we panned up to follow Will as he began his journey, however the next shot that follows is very dull and next time I would look at different ways of making the journey more interesting. Next the POV from the stairs, this shot I thought was one of our best it was interesting and saved the journey from being completely dull, going in to the high angle shot which I thought was a good way of showing the actors surroundings. The POV getting into the lift lasted to long and I don't think was necessary either, I think if I were to film that section again I would have a mid shot from inside the lift as will enters. The pan coming out of the lift was nice and smooth but once again was to long, maybe a upward angle shot would have been nice to use instead. Finally when he gets to the room we had the POV as our actor is instructed to push not pull the door, I think personally this was our best shot, it was interesting and wasn't to shaky either. Our conversation between our actors was good, with over the shoulder shots. Also what was good about it was it was pasty and didn't drag on for to long . Finally our the end shot as will exits, the zoom on to the pens was not the best.
Overall comments: There are quite a thew bits I would do differently if given the chance. The transactions needed to quicker and more interesting. I think especially if we are making the thriller the need to make shots more interesting and the whole think a lot quicker paste is a necessity.
Friday 23 October 2009
Introduction to Editting (2nd Prelim task)
This was really interesting for me as I had only edited before on a Microsoft software already installed on the computer. The software we used was really interesting, also I didn't find it to complicated to use.
When we started to edit our footage we firstly watched back what we had and then edited the shots we were going to use, this was a long process of having to keep rewinding and watching back the clip and making sure that our continuity was perfect. Also making sure that we didn't edit the clips wrong and have poor continuity with the transition between the shots.
When we had edited all of our footage and had put it all together and looking over our final video there was something not quite right with it. After we looked over it again we could see that some of our shots were not interesting enough or went on for to long, It wasn't the conversation part of the video that was boring it was some parts of the journey. As the journey wasn't the most important part of the video we decided to cut around the problem and fuse some shots together, after we done this our video looked better and more interesting. This was a good lesson we learnt, and I'd rather make the mistakes now than when we come to making our thriller film.
I was over all pleased with how the editing session went, now I think I have a better understanding of how the editing software works. Next time I would like to learn how music is added to the film.
When we started to edit our footage we firstly watched back what we had and then edited the shots we were going to use, this was a long process of having to keep rewinding and watching back the clip and making sure that our continuity was perfect. Also making sure that we didn't edit the clips wrong and have poor continuity with the transition between the shots.
When we had edited all of our footage and had put it all together and looking over our final video there was something not quite right with it. After we looked over it again we could see that some of our shots were not interesting enough or went on for to long, It wasn't the conversation part of the video that was boring it was some parts of the journey. As the journey wasn't the most important part of the video we decided to cut around the problem and fuse some shots together, after we done this our video looked better and more interesting. This was a good lesson we learnt, and I'd rather make the mistakes now than when we come to making our thriller film.
I was over all pleased with how the editing session went, now I think I have a better understanding of how the editing software works. Next time I would like to learn how music is added to the film.
Prelim Task (2nd)
The task: In this task we had to get into groups of three again, this time I went with James and Nicola. We had to film a conversation between two people at a location, we had to make as interesting as possible but including the 180 degree rule.
Choosing our location(s) and conversation: We had to write down our shots in order before we wet off to film, we could also plan where we going to film.
Filming the conversation: My group decided to show a tiny journey before our actor got to the room where he will have the conversation, we used mid shots and long shots to show how he started the journey, then two POV shots; one from the bottom of the step and the other from our actors eyes getting into the lift. We then tried to use another POV in which the actor was spoke to directly, the camera lens being his eyes. This shot I thought was our best shot as it worked really well. Then we finished with our conversation using over the shoulder shots and a two shot.
We had to make sure that the conversation we filmed had good continuity, as this was our first try at perfect continuity we wanted to make sure that it was perfect. However we had to have several attempts at certain shots because after watching it back we could see where it was poor and would impossible to fix in editing. This was a good learning curve as now we have had some practice at it so when we come to make our thriller films we should be able to better at keeping smooth continuity.
Choosing our location(s) and conversation: We had to write down our shots in order before we wet off to film, we could also plan where we going to film.
Filming the conversation: My group decided to show a tiny journey before our actor got to the room where he will have the conversation, we used mid shots and long shots to show how he started the journey, then two POV shots; one from the bottom of the step and the other from our actors eyes getting into the lift. We then tried to use another POV in which the actor was spoke to directly, the camera lens being his eyes. This shot I thought was our best shot as it worked really well. Then we finished with our conversation using over the shoulder shots and a two shot.
We had to make sure that the conversation we filmed had good continuity, as this was our first try at perfect continuity we wanted to make sure that it was perfect. However we had to have several attempts at certain shots because after watching it back we could see where it was poor and would impossible to fix in editing. This was a good learning curve as now we have had some practice at it so when we come to make our thriller films we should be able to better at keeping smooth continuity.
Introduction to Prelim Task (1st)
The task:
We had to film a journey of our choice. The journey could be what ever we wanted it to be, we had to as creative as possible with our shot range. The whole point of the task was to get comfortable with the cameras so when it comes round to filming our horror films we have a bit of experience.
Setting up camera: When we first got the camera we learnt the basic of how to set it up: putting in the tape, making sure the sound was on, how to play back, how to put it on to the tripod and how to make the camera level.
Choosing a journey: We decided as a group as we didn't have a lot of time to film the prelim task as we had to account for human error to choose the journey quickly. So we chose to start on the school field and show a journey to the toilet.
Filming the journey: When we started to film the journey on the field we wanted a interesting way of showing the location where we starting our journey. So we decided to open up with a pan of our area ending up at myself who would be making the journey, i thought the shot was effective and more interesting than a mid shot or a close up. The next part of the journey we tried to make interesting by using variety of different shots, using a POV, high angle shots and close ups. However when we watched the play back at the end when we finally got finished it wasn't as entertaining as we thought it would be, I think it was because even though we used good shot variation each frame lasted for to long, it felt like when watching it back you were waiting for each shot to end.
Over all comments: Next time I would like to improve on the shot times making sure they don't go on for to long. If my ending thriller film has good variation of shots and suitable time limits on each one then it will make my opening more interesting.
Monday 19 October 2009
Independent Reaserch - Red eye opening sequence
Red eye (2005)
Tittle sequence: Very quick, no longer than 15 seconds, this maybe to settle the audiences brain as the movie in self will be just the same; quick and snappy. With the tittle in bold red this is really effective to make the tittle really stand out, also links in with tittle but not the film however, after watching the film I don't think it has real connection to the events other than the plain they go on is nick named "Red eye" as it is the latest flight. But because of the film and its nature the heroin is not able to feel tired as she has to much on her mind and has total energy the complete opposite to the tittle of "Red eye".
Shots and opening sequence order: We open up on a pan of happy photos, a complete contrast to the music which adds a tension, which gets us asking questions in our head, why is the music like that?
We then see a unknown person drop a wallet on the side, the camera zooms in to the initials, we now know as the audience they will be important later on in the movie.
The next sequence opens up with a repeat of the Pan of the surroundings, from this shot we are drawn to a large box in the middle of the screen, just like the zoom in the on initials the camera zooms in on the box, just as before we know this box is of great importance.
The next sequence is a shot of a table as the camera pans along, and close ups on different blue prints and pictures, with quick jumps cuts used and transactions to different shots. This sequence of shots is used to show the 'Villains' are very clever and a lot of planning has gone into it, so the organisation must be very big.
On the table we see the wallet again with the initials 'JR', it zooms once again we are seeing a pattern remaining, I feel this is a good idea as it helps the audience to identify important information.
We then cut to another sequence involving the box, we see inside the box a powerful weapon. The 'zoom' was correct.
The next sequence is with a young under pressure hotel employee, her emotions and the unhappy customers are shown via lots of close ups and a two shot for the customers. We then see a shot of our heroin as her phones rings, a mid-shot is used. It is the Young hotel lady calling for help, during the phone call we see our heroin is multi tasking and via lots of jump cuts back and forth and close ups on our confident heroin we see she copes well under pressure. Will she cope well when she comes into contact with the 'villain' ?
Even though this is only a phone conversation the director keeps its fast and tense by using lots of close ups and quick transitions form the cab where our heroin is and the hotel desk, this helps to build the climax to the soon to be battle between our heroin and 'villain'.
It is also very ironic that the phone conversation is used as an example to show how she copes under pressure as later on in the movie she comes under pressure twice more when on the phone and both times change the course of the movie.
Sound: The music Throughout is fast and mimics the sound of a heart beat, this helps to add to the scene and makes it more exciting and tense. Also lots of natural sounds are used, such as: rain, cars, manic people at the airport and mobile phones.The diegetic sounds which are used really well to create a panicky fast atmosphere, also all the sounds off the plain are like our our heroins life manic and always busy as we know from the phone conversation and later on in the movie she is a workaholic. However the sound when she gets on the plane later its all gone, she has none of that busy life style to worry about just the 'villain'.
Movement: Fixed and steady. Helps to capture all the action going on, instead of using complex movement which would distract the audience from what is going on on the screen.
Mise-en-scene: Everything about our heroin's appearence is perfect, she is dressed to perfection, which is the complete opposite to the film. The contrats between the character and the sotuation she is put in is interesting to watch.
Tittle sequence: Very quick, no longer than 15 seconds, this maybe to settle the audiences brain as the movie in self will be just the same; quick and snappy. With the tittle in bold red this is really effective to make the tittle really stand out, also links in with tittle but not the film however, after watching the film I don't think it has real connection to the events other than the plain they go on is nick named "Red eye" as it is the latest flight. But because of the film and its nature the heroin is not able to feel tired as she has to much on her mind and has total energy the complete opposite to the tittle of "Red eye".
Shots and opening sequence order: We open up on a pan of happy photos, a complete contrast to the music which adds a tension, which gets us asking questions in our head, why is the music like that?
We then see a unknown person drop a wallet on the side, the camera zooms in to the initials, we now know as the audience they will be important later on in the movie.
The next sequence opens up with a repeat of the Pan of the surroundings, from this shot we are drawn to a large box in the middle of the screen, just like the zoom in the on initials the camera zooms in on the box, just as before we know this box is of great importance.
The next sequence is a shot of a table as the camera pans along, and close ups on different blue prints and pictures, with quick jumps cuts used and transactions to different shots. This sequence of shots is used to show the 'Villains' are very clever and a lot of planning has gone into it, so the organisation must be very big.
On the table we see the wallet again with the initials 'JR', it zooms once again we are seeing a pattern remaining, I feel this is a good idea as it helps the audience to identify important information.
We then cut to another sequence involving the box, we see inside the box a powerful weapon. The 'zoom' was correct.
The next sequence is with a young under pressure hotel employee, her emotions and the unhappy customers are shown via lots of close ups and a two shot for the customers. We then see a shot of our heroin as her phones rings, a mid-shot is used. It is the Young hotel lady calling for help, during the phone call we see our heroin is multi tasking and via lots of jump cuts back and forth and close ups on our confident heroin we see she copes well under pressure. Will she cope well when she comes into contact with the 'villain' ?
Even though this is only a phone conversation the director keeps its fast and tense by using lots of close ups and quick transitions form the cab where our heroin is and the hotel desk, this helps to build the climax to the soon to be battle between our heroin and 'villain'.
It is also very ironic that the phone conversation is used as an example to show how she copes under pressure as later on in the movie she comes under pressure twice more when on the phone and both times change the course of the movie.
Sound: The music Throughout is fast and mimics the sound of a heart beat, this helps to add to the scene and makes it more exciting and tense. Also lots of natural sounds are used, such as: rain, cars, manic people at the airport and mobile phones.The diegetic sounds which are used really well to create a panicky fast atmosphere, also all the sounds off the plain are like our our heroins life manic and always busy as we know from the phone conversation and later on in the movie she is a workaholic. However the sound when she gets on the plane later its all gone, she has none of that busy life style to worry about just the 'villain'.
Movement: Fixed and steady. Helps to capture all the action going on, instead of using complex movement which would distract the audience from what is going on on the screen.
Mise-en-scene: Everything about our heroin's appearence is perfect, she is dressed to perfection, which is the complete opposite to the film. The contrats between the character and the sotuation she is put in is interesting to watch.
Se7ven opening scene
Se7en (1995)
Titles: Se7ven tittles are amazing, they build tension and are really creepy and eerie to watch. They do seem like they are meant to go with a horror film, but after watching the film I feel they are appropriate. The tittles are inspiring to everyone trying to make the opening sequence of a thriller movie, they capture the audience from the very start so we don't loose interest and give an idea to what we can expect from the movie. With the different pictures and actions going all happening its hard to takes your eyes off, by using some quite disturbing pictures it raised my interest level. Using a red light effect three times towards the end of the tittles this tells the audience that we are going to see some gory images to go along with the intensive planning of the killer which we see in the opening tittles. There is a really intriguing part of the tittle sequence towards the end where we see a boys face and the killer rubs out his face with a thick black pen, I thought this was really effective in showing what kind of person the killer is, and was really scary how someone has a sick and twisted mind to sit there and do that.
Shots: We have a thew POV shots in the first par of the opening scene, This is like as if we are looking upon the scene.
Lots of POV shots from Morgan Freeman help to show us how organised his character is when we see his keys and his badge and other items perfectly lined up on the table.
The crime scene opens with a shot of the dead body and blood spillage around it, The camera slowly pans up around to the room to show how vile and horrifying the murder was. This shot was really effective in capturing the audience and creating tension.
As Brad and Morgan's characters first meet we have lots of close ups and two shots to help show there emotions to the crime scene and each other.
As Brad and Morgan walk talking down the street the camera pans along with them, looking at a upwards angle. I loved this shot as it is interesting and as it can include both of them shows both of their reactions to the first time of them meeting each other which is very important to the story line.
Movement: The camera is always fixed and steady. The pans and tracks are very smooth and finish softly. This a complete contrast to the dialogue in the scene which is edgy and of course the murder which is horrific and sloppy with blood up the walls. However you could make a link between the organisation of the camera to Morgan Freeman's character where they are both very organised and run smoothly, that Morgan's character is just like the camera runs smooth and fixed and presentable but what it sees is completely the opposite.
Generic Themes: During the dialogue in which Morgan and Brad share when they are walking down the busy street of New york, we are made to subside with Morgan over Brad as when Morgan walks down the street and it is raining he is not bothered by the rain and as he walks on the outside he also avoids the busy crowds flooding the opposite way. Where as Brad Pitt does the complete opposite by trying to duck and wive to be covered by the rain and by doing this gets knocked and pushed by the crowd, showing him to be inferior to Morgan Freeman. Morgan's character has experience and power where as Brad Pitt's character from a small quiet town doesn't. By doing this as the audience we are made to subside with Morgan Freeman, as he walks powerfully striding through and Brad not so powerful.
Sound: The sound used is all natural sounds: rain, police sirens, traffic and people. At the start of the movie when Morgan Freeman is getting ready for work we hear the sounds of sirens, traffic rain and people outside. This mixed with his television and all the noises he is making getting ready it makes a massive jumble of mixed noises creating a busy and frantic atmosphere. This could symbolise Morgan's characters life style in the way he is always busy and working and never has a moments piece.
Mise-en-scene:
Throughout out the film it rains constantly till the end scene of the film. Rain symbolises cleansing, just like cleansing of the crime scene and cleaning up the city as Moragn and Brad try to do throughout.
We see Morgan Freeman's bed sheets grey and boring with no personality, we see him as the Portaganist of themovie, stereotypically alone to fight against the killer and the world (etc).
Evaluation: I love the movie se7en, and its opening is brilliantly captivating epsecially its opneing credits. The directing of the film is really interesting in how he represents the differnt characters, especially the killer at the end however I won't spoil it for people who havn't seen it! But its a interesting root he went down when deciding how the audience should feel about the chracters, with mixed emotions for Bradd Pitt and the killer at the end.
Titles: Se7ven tittles are amazing, they build tension and are really creepy and eerie to watch. They do seem like they are meant to go with a horror film, but after watching the film I feel they are appropriate. The tittles are inspiring to everyone trying to make the opening sequence of a thriller movie, they capture the audience from the very start so we don't loose interest and give an idea to what we can expect from the movie. With the different pictures and actions going all happening its hard to takes your eyes off, by using some quite disturbing pictures it raised my interest level. Using a red light effect three times towards the end of the tittles this tells the audience that we are going to see some gory images to go along with the intensive planning of the killer which we see in the opening tittles. There is a really intriguing part of the tittle sequence towards the end where we see a boys face and the killer rubs out his face with a thick black pen, I thought this was really effective in showing what kind of person the killer is, and was really scary how someone has a sick and twisted mind to sit there and do that.
Shots: We have a thew POV shots in the first par of the opening scene, This is like as if we are looking upon the scene.
Lots of POV shots from Morgan Freeman help to show us how organised his character is when we see his keys and his badge and other items perfectly lined up on the table.
The crime scene opens with a shot of the dead body and blood spillage around it, The camera slowly pans up around to the room to show how vile and horrifying the murder was. This shot was really effective in capturing the audience and creating tension.
As Brad and Morgan's characters first meet we have lots of close ups and two shots to help show there emotions to the crime scene and each other.
As Brad and Morgan walk talking down the street the camera pans along with them, looking at a upwards angle. I loved this shot as it is interesting and as it can include both of them shows both of their reactions to the first time of them meeting each other which is very important to the story line.
Movement: The camera is always fixed and steady. The pans and tracks are very smooth and finish softly. This a complete contrast to the dialogue in the scene which is edgy and of course the murder which is horrific and sloppy with blood up the walls. However you could make a link between the organisation of the camera to Morgan Freeman's character where they are both very organised and run smoothly, that Morgan's character is just like the camera runs smooth and fixed and presentable but what it sees is completely the opposite.
Generic Themes: During the dialogue in which Morgan and Brad share when they are walking down the busy street of New york, we are made to subside with Morgan over Brad as when Morgan walks down the street and it is raining he is not bothered by the rain and as he walks on the outside he also avoids the busy crowds flooding the opposite way. Where as Brad Pitt does the complete opposite by trying to duck and wive to be covered by the rain and by doing this gets knocked and pushed by the crowd, showing him to be inferior to Morgan Freeman. Morgan's character has experience and power where as Brad Pitt's character from a small quiet town doesn't. By doing this as the audience we are made to subside with Morgan Freeman, as he walks powerfully striding through and Brad not so powerful.
Sound: The sound used is all natural sounds: rain, police sirens, traffic and people. At the start of the movie when Morgan Freeman is getting ready for work we hear the sounds of sirens, traffic rain and people outside. This mixed with his television and all the noises he is making getting ready it makes a massive jumble of mixed noises creating a busy and frantic atmosphere. This could symbolise Morgan's characters life style in the way he is always busy and working and never has a moments piece.
Mise-en-scene:
Throughout out the film it rains constantly till the end scene of the film. Rain symbolises cleansing, just like cleansing of the crime scene and cleaning up the city as Moragn and Brad try to do throughout.
We see Morgan Freeman's bed sheets grey and boring with no personality, we see him as the Portaganist of themovie, stereotypically alone to fight against the killer and the world (etc).
Evaluation: I love the movie se7en, and its opening is brilliantly captivating epsecially its opneing credits. The directing of the film is really interesting in how he represents the differnt characters, especially the killer at the end however I won't spoil it for people who havn't seen it! But its a interesting root he went down when deciding how the audience should feel about the chracters, with mixed emotions for Bradd Pitt and the killer at the end.
Opening Sequence to Memento
Memento (2002) -
Titles: Blue writing on a black back ground, this emits a cold feeling to its viewers when watching, I believe Christopher Nolan (Director) chose this because the colour blue symbolises cold.
Shots: Over the shoulder extreme close up shot of Guy Pearce holding a photo of a crime scene, where the picture is so horrific we are drawn to it it as the audience and asking questions, how this crime was committed? Who is the person holding the photo graph?
Movement: The camera is very steady through out, this is very effective as it is like we are watching what he is doing. If this were done in hand held and was not fixed I don't think it would have been as effective, It would have made us feel we were meant to be a POV of someone else who is watching instead of ourselves watching the scene. This is a lot more creepy and tense as we are watching with our own intentions.
Generic Themes: The character of Guy Pearce as we see throughout the opening sequence is trying to remember things constantly, we don't know whats wrong with him but we know he has a form of amnesia. No voice over at the start of the opening of the movie just dialogue, however as Guy gets more vulnerable and is trying to recapture memory we hear a voice over of Guy's thoughts, this is effective as it tells the audience what is going through his head so we feel connected to Guy.
Sound: Always low, adds a eerie atmosphere in background. The music is at its peak as the tittles come on.
Mise-en-scene:
Camera is established as a key object in the scene, with his memory and comes in to play later in the film.
Black and white is used to show the character's confusion and where he can't create new memories his unorganised of his life having to write notes for him self. Using black and white you could also say the colour has gone from his life having to live a disadvantaged life.
Where he is in a motel it says something about his life style, this could mean he has a unstable (not having a home), lonely, has a steady income or has generated money from somewhere.
Evaluation: I really liked the opening of Momento, I felt the use of the voice over was very effective by building connection between the audience and Guy Pearce. The music I thought was effetcive as it helped to build tensioon in the opening credit to capture the audience from the start. I also loved the structure of the opening slowly revealing the very complexed character of Guy Pearce, this is very interesting and inspiring to watch, it was a clever and exciting way to tell the story of this percific character.
Titles: Blue writing on a black back ground, this emits a cold feeling to its viewers when watching, I believe Christopher Nolan (Director) chose this because the colour blue symbolises cold.
Shots: Over the shoulder extreme close up shot of Guy Pearce holding a photo of a crime scene, where the picture is so horrific we are drawn to it it as the audience and asking questions, how this crime was committed? Who is the person holding the photo graph?
Movement: The camera is very steady through out, this is very effective as it is like we are watching what he is doing. If this were done in hand held and was not fixed I don't think it would have been as effective, It would have made us feel we were meant to be a POV of someone else who is watching instead of ourselves watching the scene. This is a lot more creepy and tense as we are watching with our own intentions.
Generic Themes: The character of Guy Pearce as we see throughout the opening sequence is trying to remember things constantly, we don't know whats wrong with him but we know he has a form of amnesia. No voice over at the start of the opening of the movie just dialogue, however as Guy gets more vulnerable and is trying to recapture memory we hear a voice over of Guy's thoughts, this is effective as it tells the audience what is going through his head so we feel connected to Guy.
Sound: Always low, adds a eerie atmosphere in background. The music is at its peak as the tittles come on.
Mise-en-scene:
Camera is established as a key object in the scene, with his memory and comes in to play later in the film.
Black and white is used to show the character's confusion and where he can't create new memories his unorganised of his life having to write notes for him self. Using black and white you could also say the colour has gone from his life having to live a disadvantaged life.
Where he is in a motel it says something about his life style, this could mean he has a unstable (not having a home), lonely, has a steady income or has generated money from somewhere.
Evaluation: I really liked the opening of Momento, I felt the use of the voice over was very effective by building connection between the audience and Guy Pearce. The music I thought was effetcive as it helped to build tensioon in the opening credit to capture the audience from the start. I also loved the structure of the opening slowly revealing the very complexed character of Guy Pearce, this is very interesting and inspiring to watch, it was a clever and exciting way to tell the story of this percific character.
Thursday 15 October 2009
Thriller Independent research - Phone booth
When i first watched phone booth I was thoroughly entertained through out. This i feel was because even though the setting of the phone booth is only in one spot it still managed to remain tense, the directed uses effective music and lots of creative camera shots. For a hostage situation this would be a perfect example of how to keep your audience entertained and keep the movie exciting.
Also looking at the opening its smooth quick and tense with quick titles and fast paste music. With the scenery being new york city there is always something going which makes the hostage situation much more exciting. The director (Joel Schumacher)was really clever by directing the surroundings of the phone booth, by having lots of extras and tall buildings surrounding it creating a manic atmosphere leaving us the audience clueless to where the gun man is. My favorite shot on the movie is a POV from the eyes of the trapped Colin Farrell where he manically looks up at the buildings, using handheld it helps to show his panic and creates more tension.
Tuesday 29 September 2009
Introduction to Thriller Codes and Conventions
Thriller codes and conventions are the essential parts which make up a thriller. We spoke about them in class, on what we thought they were. Here are some examples:
Characters - When a thriller is being written the writer has to make a good group of characters. As it is the characters that help to create the tension on screen, with out a menacing 'villain' and a strong hero or heroin, and of course strong character back grounds and dialogue the movie can not be a success.
Themes - Strong themes help to a story line to capture its audience. There is usually a battle between our hero who we have followed through our movie and our villain. We also have our stereotypical themes of fighting corruption, a terrorist, a hold up or a hostage situation. One of my favorite examples of a hostage theme is phone booth, its tense through out and keeps you as a audience member "on your toes". We will usually have a normal person maybe a policeman or a man of wealth in an extraordinary situation.
Plot Twists - Plot twists are used in many thriller films. Unexpected twists help to create a dramatic ending for the movie to compliment hopefully the exciting climax.
Setting - A thrillers setting also helps to create tension.
Example: If we had our hero tracking down a villain in a Mcdonalds at mid-day it wouldn't be as scary as it would if it it was in a woods at mid-night.
Sub genres - This is when a thriller film has attributes of other genres, this may be action, comedy or even sci-fi.
Mise -en-scene - This is: costumes; objects; weather; setting or natural and unnatural pieces of film.
Friday 25 September 2009
An Introduction to Thrillers
We talked about what made a thriller film. We spoke about the obvious choices of thriller films, they were:
Tense atmosphere; dark lighting; dramatic plot twist; suspence; jumpy music; unsual angles; shakey camera angles; POV'S; fast paste camera work; climax; naturalisic and sub plots. To us all of the above were all combinations in a thriller, so when we are making our thriller movies we need to take these in to acount. If we want to make a professional looking thriller we will need to watch all different kinds of thriller movies, look at different techniques used to make our movie just as 'thrilling' and cutting edge.
This part of our introduction helped to get the idea of what our movie needs to be like, I think this was a really vital part of the course to start building our awareness top thriller films.
We were also introduced to Thriller films bywatching previous years openings.
This gave all of us a good incite of the quality of film we expected to produce. One I would like to comment on is one called 'End of the Line'. It opened up on shots of the setting around London, using diegectic sound of traffic and sirens, this was effective to help build tension of panic. One shot at the beginning was an extreme wide of the London eye, they had left the camera to film for a period of time so in editing they could speed it up and use the effect of time passing. This really set the scene well of day to day London.
We then had a sequence of film based around who we presume is the 'villain' of the film, with quick jump cuts of his home and him at a computer at a fast paste to build tension. This worked well as it made me want to know more about this specific character. Using over the shoulder shots we see pictures of crime scenes being uploaded to a memory stick, not showing us the whole screen was effective as it left the other parts a mystery.
Using hand held in the next sequence they had our supposed 'villain' storming down the street, having this effect it made us feel like we were walking with him.
We then see him end up at a unknown area of London and give someone else a document, who then passes it on for money, after this the film ends. This was good idea as it introduced a story line to there film and leaves the audience wanting more.
Throughout this sequence of film there is a continuous piece of music played, in mimics the beat of a heart. This helps to add extra tension, keeping the audience on the edge of seats.
I did feel their title sequence needed more work, However they may have felt it was better to spend more time on the actual footage than the title sequence.
This was a really good way of introducing us to thriller films also looking different shots it helped to give us a wider idea of what we will need to achieve on the course, and now we can also start to thinking of ideas.
Tense atmosphere; dark lighting; dramatic plot twist; suspence; jumpy music; unsual angles; shakey camera angles; POV'S; fast paste camera work; climax; naturalisic and sub plots. To us all of the above were all combinations in a thriller, so when we are making our thriller movies we need to take these in to acount. If we want to make a professional looking thriller we will need to watch all different kinds of thriller movies, look at different techniques used to make our movie just as 'thrilling' and cutting edge.
This part of our introduction helped to get the idea of what our movie needs to be like, I think this was a really vital part of the course to start building our awareness top thriller films.
We were also introduced to Thriller films bywatching previous years openings.
This gave all of us a good incite of the quality of film we expected to produce. One I would like to comment on is one called 'End of the Line'. It opened up on shots of the setting around London, using diegectic sound of traffic and sirens, this was effective to help build tension of panic. One shot at the beginning was an extreme wide of the London eye, they had left the camera to film for a period of time so in editing they could speed it up and use the effect of time passing. This really set the scene well of day to day London.
We then had a sequence of film based around who we presume is the 'villain' of the film, with quick jump cuts of his home and him at a computer at a fast paste to build tension. This worked well as it made me want to know more about this specific character. Using over the shoulder shots we see pictures of crime scenes being uploaded to a memory stick, not showing us the whole screen was effective as it left the other parts a mystery.
Using hand held in the next sequence they had our supposed 'villain' storming down the street, having this effect it made us feel like we were walking with him.
We then see him end up at a unknown area of London and give someone else a document, who then passes it on for money, after this the film ends. This was good idea as it introduced a story line to there film and leaves the audience wanting more.
Throughout this sequence of film there is a continuous piece of music played, in mimics the beat of a heart. This helps to add extra tension, keeping the audience on the edge of seats.
I did feel their title sequence needed more work, However they may have felt it was better to spend more time on the actual footage than the title sequence.
This was a really good way of introducing us to thriller films also looking different shots it helped to give us a wider idea of what we will need to achieve on the course, and now we can also start to thinking of ideas.
Thursday 24 September 2009
An Introduction to Myself
Hello,my name is Joseph Cocklin, I am in the theatre strand at The BRIT school. I was very happy to find out I had recieved a place for the media AS course as I want to go on to University to study both drama and media. I have been looking at jobs in the field and I am really attracted to the job as a AD; first, second or third.
My favorite movies are:
Pulp Fiction Written and directed by Quenten Tarrantino. I love Tarrentino's way of presenting film by chapters and slowly revealing the story line, Pulp Fiction I feel is his best movie with great performances from Samuel Jackson. John Travolta, Bruce willis and Tim Roff. Even though Tim is only in it for a small amount his character always has a strong impact in his cafe scenes. With Samuel Jackson delivering a fantastic monolouge, "The path of the rightress man..".
One of my other Favourite movies is The Elephant man, directed by David lynch. One of the main reasons I love this movie is the impact it has through out the movie; of constent sympathy the 'Elephant man'. The decision to make the film in black and white was a really good idea this was to make it less grusome to the humna eye when the elephant is first revealed. My favourite party of the film is when a group of people intrude into 'The Elephant Man's' room, When he is being man handled the director chose to add carnival music growing in volume throughout the scene, this is a really good effect and plays on thre heart strings of its audience.
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