Evaluation :)

In our media product, we used, developed, and challenged several of the Thriller conventions. First off, we used a crime at the core of the narrative. This was the murder of our dead girl and it was all centered around the past and revenge. We also used a complex narrative structure. We see quick shots of the after-murder stage and we don't quite get why the girl was murdered, which adds a bit to suspense. Therefore this is typical Thriller material. We challenged the next convention which is establishing enigmas which are expected by the audience to be resolved. We don't know why the dead girl was murdered, and we don't know why she wanted revenge, therefore it is different from a typical thriller film. We also challenged the fact that the protagonist should get in trouble with the antagonist. We didn't really have an protagonist because in their own little way they are both evil and seeking revenge. Therefore, I believe we have developed on the thriller genre as there wasn't a protagonist. As well as this we have used themes of mirroring. Basically we have used this in our thriller as both antagonists are as bad as each other. They are both out to kill each other and they kind of reflect on each other as friends. In terms of themes of identity, we kind of see that our murderer is a murderer when we see the flash backs of her stealing the necklace from the other girls dead body, and running off. On the other hand we don't actually see her murder the girl, so therefore we might not be able to see she is a murderer. We have also used the fact of both girls having a flaw. Their flaw would be jealousy, which in some way is exploited by murder, and revenge. Obviously, because we don't have a protagonist, the mise-en-scene does mirror/reflect the antagonists plight. It does this by the location of the church, and the darkness of the clothes the murderer is wearing. The black reflects on the murder she has commited and the church also does this.

For our media product, our audience would be women and men, aged from 15-40. The type of people in which would go to see this would be interested in latest thrillers, people who have seen similar films before, for example, The Ring, where a dead girl comes out of the TV to get revenge on anybody who finds her. We attracted/addressed our audience by using the similar idea of the dead girl seeking her revenge, and using fast and jumpy cuts to make them jump. We also showed Grace turning round slowly which created suspense waiting for something to happen. This would attract the audience because they would be on the edge of their seat waiting for something to happen and the typical thriller audience loves that kind of stuff.

I have learnt quite a lot about technology from constructing this product. I have learnt how to use the camera steadily and smoothly to make our film look better. In terms of the editing side, I have learnt how to use iMovie (previous version) and how to import certain scenes from the camera. I have also learnt how to cut and shorten my clips and learnt much about the use of transitions and effects. I found using the technology was very simple as I have had past experience with camera work and using editing software.


A scene from our preliminary task 'Happy Homework'.


Looking back at our preliminary task, we have learnt from our mistakes in terms of continuity. In our preliminary task, during a conversation about me needing the homework, on the next scene the camera has moved and we have changed position. If it wasn't for completing the preliminary task we wouldn't have realised this mistake and our Thriller could have been worse off. We also used pretty childish transitions in the preliminary task for example the circle in and the music we created our self (inspired by star wars and Tara!) The 180 degree rule was also not completed to a satisfactory standard therefore we gained some perspective on how to improve it.

Our media product represents young girls and conflict between them, and how easily it can get out of hand, and can turn fatal. This is a bit stereotypical as girls are considered to have fights and conflict, yet be very close friends. Our thriller shows young girls to be over-reactive, holding grudges, and close friendships (in the past). Women are more prone than men, to believe that deceit is being planned behind their back, even when these accusations are false.

I think a small media institution would distribute our media product as it was not planned to be a big hollywood buster! Also I like to believe that it is not like a typical Thriller to be shown in the cinema, therefore it could be a film to be shown on the internet, which could save a lot of money for budget as advertisement would not be a great issue. I think the audience it would attract for viewing would be smallish. It's not quite like Psycho, but it will keep the audience on the edge of their seats!!

In conclusion, we are happy with our finished media product and we have learnt a vast amount about editing, camerawork, and different shots and angles. We have gained perpective for the coursework we have to do next year, and with work comes bigger, stronger, and better ideas.

Posted below is our final Thriller cut. I hope you like it.

This is R3v3ng3.

Discussion of Appropiate Technical Competencies

Holding a Shot Steady

To be honest, this wasn't the easiest of things to do! Although we had the tripod, when we was panning and tilting the camera it was hard to make it look smooth because our hands are wobbly and the tripod kind of jolted round. It was difficult but in the end we got it pretty smooth.

Framing a Shot and Shot Distances

We found this rather easy! We had great ideas of how we was going to frame our shots and used the following shots:
Close-up (to emphasise a certain expression i.e. sadness, anguished look.)
Extreme close-up (to show the necklace, expression of eyes, and smile.)
Mid-shot (to show BODY LANGUAGE)
Dutch Tilt (to show that Grace is possibly ill, and not thinking straight about what she just done!) Point Of View Shots (to show her timidness, high angle, looking down, shows shes weak.)
Establishing shot (necessary for the beginning, sets the scene)
Pans, Tilts. (to show off setting)

Shooting Appropiate Material

We used a back-drop of the church because it symbolises death. The close-up of the necklace was a heart shape! This shows love/friendship and the way that Grace is holding the necklace she is kind of fiddling with it showing shes messing with friendship/love. The lovely bush behind the bench is green, in which we can gain connotations of sickness! The frame looks rugged, old, ruined, which gives a sort of eeary effect and its dark which shows DARK times.

Editing (Transitions) and Effects

We used a cross dissolve mainly to go from what is happening to what has happened, and it gives a ghostly kind of effect. We use this going from the frame to the scene, from the dropping of the frame to the smashed frame, and from Paris standing there to her jumping out towards Grace. At the beginning we faded it in because it looked a hundred times better and goes from dark to the light, which is also a bit symbolic. The fun scene and murder sniplets are in black and white to show that it is the past and that again, it's dark times.

Also, for the part where Grace turns around, the duration of the shot is long, creating suspense. When Grace is running away and Paris is appearing, the duration of the shots are fast to show that there is panic and its fast!

Mise-en-Scene

The girls were kind of contrasting. Grace was wearing black, showing murder, death, and mourning of dead girl Paris. Paris on the other hand is wearing white, to show her innocence and ghostly look. In terms of performance, Paris had to look angry and revengeful. Grace had to look upset, sad, and in distress. When filming the fun scene, we had to film it on a bright sunny day which showed a happier time. We tried very hard for the weather to be bad and dark on the day of filming the church scene however we can't predict the weather can we!? The necklace Grace is wearing is what Paris was wearing and shows friendship/love of them both (awww).

Using Sound With Images

The non-diegetic music we hear playing is the piano song. Its in a minor key and reflects on the sadness with times of looking back and deep thought. The heartbeat noise also shows heart racing and leading to the murder we see! The only diegetic noise we hear is Grace's scream which shock the neighbourhood! We don't see what happens after Paris jumps at Grace but the sign 'Is There More to Life Than This?' comes up. We used this with the scream because there is more to life than slaugther! Not knowing what happened to Grace adds to mystery and suspense.

Graphic Match

The graphic match we used was the picture to the moving scene! We used this because it looked like Grace was looking back into the past time and it's what she remembers in her mind. Its almost like the memory is kept alive.

OUR THRILLER IS COMPLETED !!

Today our Thriller was completed at long last. We tidied up the shots and added our music. We ordered the music from www.akmmusic.co.uk due to the fact that the Moby Gratis site did not give us the music we had ordered in time. However for this website we used we had to pay but the service was alot better and we got the music straight away!

Editing

We have now finished all our filming for our Thriller and we have now started to edit.

Firstly we uploaded our scenes from the camcorder to iMovie on the Mac, then we started to edit our movie.
We've just finished our first cut, which is looking pretty good but needs some improvements. During the process of creating our first cut we have looked at various transitions and special effects and have a good idea on which ones will look awesome...

Tomorrow we will be improving our Thriller!! Over the course of the week it will be looking better and better.

Jessica also signed up for the Moby Gratis site for our song. However it hasn't come through yet. Since we have not got long left at all to complete our coursework, we might have to create our own song using GarageBand on the Mac. That should be okay because we all had a mess around on GarageBand and we know how to use the program well. Plus I have great knowledge of the program as I use it in another subject.

We decided not to show the pan and tilt up of the sky at the beginning fading into the dark scary sky for two big reasons.

1) Short on time for video space.
2) The weather was unfortunatly lovely that day!

We are going to add a heartbeat sound also soon into our Thriller.

Filming

Over the course of the Easter holidays, myself, Jess, and Tara have been filming!!

We decided to use the church shown in my blog as the location and we also used a park near where Jessica lives.

Our actors involved a girl called Grace as our murderer, a girl called Paris as our dead girl, and myself and Tara were extras for the fun scene.

Now we are going to start editing when we get back to school Monday. We all really enjoyed filming and I hope you enjoy our film when its complete!!

We have experienced a couple of problems however with our location. There is not much of a gap between the bench and the road, therefore our mid-shots are hard to film because we could of got run over!!!

We managed to change a few of the shots which compromised the storyboard! (UH-OH!) However we think it looks better this way. The only big change in the filming was the mid-shot of Grace on the bench where we had to instead film her at a diagonal angle. Also, we decided not to film the sky but to film the cross at the top of the church, representing of course the lovely classic DEATH.

Location!

Here are our pictures of the church we will be using in our thriller. We are using a church to symbolise the death of the girl. It also gives an eery effect. It also represents mourning.

Tuesday 31st March 2009

On Tuesday we practiced some different shots and angles that we could use for our Thriller. We experienced some problems whilst panning and tilting the camera as it does not stay very smooth. 

We are also experiencing some problems with the times as normally when one of us are free during the week the other has lessons! Therefore we are going to take the camera out during the Easter holidays giving us 2 weeks to complete our filming.

We have now also found somebody else to play our dead girl ... Stacey Reading!

Preparation

We are now ready to start filming when we can. First of all we are going to film the middle section of the Thriller, due to the fact we need a picture of this to put in the frame for the beginning and ending. After this we are going to film the church scene, which is near Jessica's house in Collier Row.

After this we will have finished our filming hopefully...and then we can start to edit!

We have made a schedule of our free times, lessons, e.t.c. and we now all know when we are free. We should be filming sometime this week :)

Here are some props we will need ... these are just an idea. We'll get similar items.

This is an idea of a dress our victim can wear.

Black make-up for the victim to wear...

The photo frame showing the past and memories...

A heart necklace also for our victim to wear.

Animatic

This is our storyboards...

Here is our animatic

Please enjoy...

Our StoryBoard

Last Monday, we drew out a rough copy of our storyboard, and then Tuesday we drew out a neat copy. Using my phone I took pictures of the images and bluetoothed them onto the computer. All there is to do now is made a slideshow of these pictures to create our storyboard. We all hope to achieve this tommorow...

Our Preliminary Task.

This is our preliminlary task starring me and Tara.

It was filmed by Jake Harding, and edited by myself, Tara, and Jess.

It's very short and simple but quite funny!




Our excerise had to include continuity, match on action, shot/reverse shot, and the 180 degree rule. Our preliminary task involves all of these things.

We started off with our titles. We created our own music using GarageBand and used cool synth effects. This gave us good practise for when we have to make our own music for our thriller.

After the titles we started with our establishing shot of Tara walking towards the building. We used a pan as well to follow her action. We then see a mid-shot of her walking in but see this inside the building which is the 180 degree rule. Then it is a long shot of Tara walking towards me. Then we see a close-up/over shoulder shot of me talking to show Tara is still there, so it looks like a conversation. We then see a close up of the bag so you can see the action. After that, we see a very short clip of Tara handing me the homework.

At this point we experienced some problems with the continuity. For the next shot we had moved places so we had to use a dissolve effect to show time passing. This has helped us gain experience for continuity so we won't make the same mistake twice!

Then me and Tara skip off into happiness and the shot closes in on us. The music also starts to play, indicating quite obviously the end.

We had great fun filming and editing this preliminary task and we have now come up with even more ideas for our soundtrack and filming ideas!

Final Idea

We have not decided on all the shots yet, or location. 

It starts off with a shot looking at the sky which then pans down to a killer either swinging on a swing or sitting on a bench in a park (with a church in view?). Killer is looking down at a happy picture which happened in the past of he/she having fun and mucking around with friends. 

Graphic match to when it actually happened and you see them having fun. Shot goes back to killer on the bench or swing then over-shoulder shot to show picture still moving but then drops and cracks. As the frame drops maybe the motion will be slow. 

Close-up of cracked picture then mid-shot of killer on bench or swing we see a dead girl standing behind he/she. Killer gets up and turns to look behind him/her. See expression on both faces, different shots. Killer goes to run away. 

Point-of-view shot to see girl has reappeared in front of killer. Close up of her eery smile. Same shot of killers horrified eyes. POV again of girl in front leaping at camera/killer. 

Pitch black screen and all you can hear is the scream of the killer and then more screams and up comes the title of the movie 'R3v3ng3'.

We have been discussing different shots and locations for this. We have yet to decide what they are going to be. We have got our main character (dead girl) and still deciding on other characters. Also we are thinking of using a birds eye view to look down at the killer and the dead girl just before we see the eyes and mouth.   

Idea's for Our Thriller

Idea 1: Opens with a girl rocking back and forth holding her knees, crying in a darkly lit room, looking into a cracked mirror with a small stream of light shinning on one side of her face, making shadows on the other side. Or the mirror crack in half separating her reflection into two parts.
The camera would zoom into focus on her eye for an extreme close up.
Next shot would be a graphic match where the camera fades from the same girls eye to a flash back to a sun into a happy memory of her past.
Camera follows her having fun and having a laugh.

Idea 2: A person is found lying on the floor disorientated and unconscious.
People try to help them but they don't see another person hiding in the shadows round the corner.
The camera in a high angle shot looks down at the person lying down on the floor, then sweeps from their feet to their head.
Fade in the person round the corner, seems as they are standing above them looking down at camera (low angle shot here)
Zoom in to the strangers mouth as they smile and laugh, all other features are hidden by the shadows (chiaroscuro)
Camera spins around the victims as if it symbolizes their world turning upside down
This could then have a graphic match to earlier on in the story where the victim wakes up to a fresh new day all happy and cheerful, not knowing what is darkness is around the corner.

Idea 3: Girl walking along ... see's shadows, turns round, nothing there. Turns again, see's a dead girl standing there looking as if she has just drowned. Screams and runs around the corner. Point of views are used for when running away. At the end, everything goes black, and all you hear is the scream of the girl.

I have spoke to my group members today about this and I believe we will probably use idea 3!

I will put more about this idea up next week!

:)

'Shadow of a Doubt'

'Shadow of a Doubt' was made in 1943 and is a film directed by Alfred Hitchcock. He is a very famous director and was born in Latenstone (1899-1980). In the opening sequences for this film, there are couples dancing in a circle wearing old ballroom outfits and the fact they are going around in a circle can represent no way out/endlessness. Hitchcock uses dissolves from establishing shots to close ups to show from the area to the action setting. You then see a man lying on the bed lifeless, and he has money lying all over the floor, and he isn't even bothered. It can show hes rich or he as a man has no value in life. As the blinds go down and the shadows go across his face he comes to life which can show he is an antagonist and on the dark side of life.

This is another great example of a thriller that I have looked at.

Analysis of Opening Titles for Se7en

In class we watched the horror thriller 'Se7en' and I did a little analysis on the opening titles.

'The opening of Se7en shows a metronome which shows us things are slow moving and can show theres alot of time for things to happen. The sub titles flicker symbolizing light bulbs, which can show there is little energy left. We also see the colour red giving us connotations of danger or murder. There are scrapbooks with peoples pictures and details in which could show that they are the people about to get murdered or being hunted down. Editing is quick pace in this sequence showing that there is a rush and things are going to be fast-paced.'

Thriller Conventions

• A crime at the core of the narrative (often murder, but not necessarily)
• A complex narrative structure, with false paths, clues, and resolutions
• A narrative pattern of establishing enigmas which the viewer expects to be resolved
• A protagonist (the hero) who is systematically dis-empowered and drawn into a complex web of intrigue by the antagonist (villain)
• Extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations
• Themes of identity
• Themes of voyeurism
• Protagonist with a 'flaw' which is exploited by the antagonist
• Titles often reflect an aspect of the pro/antagonists psychological state
• There is often a scene near the end of the film which the protagonist is in peril
• The mise-en-scene which echoes/mirrors the protagonists plight

Thrillers generally use a lot of straight and jump cuts to bring something to the audiences attention fast! Quite a few close-ups are also used so we notice things and gain knowledge of what's happening. Depending on the genre of the thriller, normally top lighting is used to highlight things more, and maybe sometimes a bit of chiarascuro is used! Music is often brought in all of a sudden, and is used to build up to what is happening often.

For our Thriller it is advised dialogue is not to be used. Maybe for our Thriller sad/minor toned music can be playing i.e a simple piano song and loud noises for jumpy bits to make you lot jump!!!! HAHA.

Meeting Cancelled Due to our Lovely British Weather!

Today I couldn't meet up with the rest of my group to discuss our idea's due to the snow outside which is really thick!! Sixth form is closed :( therefore we will all have to discuss our ideas tommorow if the school is open!

However, I've watched the thriller 'The Butterfly Effect' recently and I have gained some ideas for our short movie which I hope I can share with the others which will help us. In the Butterfly Effect a dutch tilt is used which really got me thinking! The dutch tilt shows his illness and if our Thriller was to be based upon murder (which it is bound to be) could show maybe this person is sick in the head, or ill, or drugged, e.t.c.

I would like to use a dutch tilt in our Thriller :)

Group People :)

The people in our group are:

Tara Hussein http://www.tarahusseinrobertclack.blogspot.com/
Jessica Tilley http://www.jessicatilleyrobertclack.blogspot.com/
and Grace Cridland (ME!) http://www.gracecridlandrobertclack.blogspot.com/

We're going to discuss our idea's tommorow and then I'll post what we all came up with :)

The Brief (C/W Assignment) and Research

Brief

Our task is to produce the opening sequence of a thriller, including the titles, aimed at a 15 or 18 certificate audience. It is to be 2 minutes in length approximately.

Research of what is a 'Thriller'

Whilst looking up the definition of the thriller genre I found this:
"Thrillers are characterized by fast pacing, frequent action, and resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more-powerful and better-equipped villains. Literary devices such as suspense, red herrings and cliffhangers are used extensively."
Before finding this definition I thought thrillers were just horror films so I was rather interested.

Thriller Genre Conventions

There are so many sub genres of Thriller but these are a few examples I found from the site http://www.hackman-adams.com/articles/subgenres.htm

Action-Adventure Thriller -This is one of the hardest thriller sub genres to write because you need a lot of action packed in it! Story lines can involve treasure hunts, search for a lost archeological site, the worlds lost meteorite, or mysteries!! Example: James Bond, Indianna Jones.

Disaster Thriller - Storylines can involve tornadoes, earthquakes, tsunami's, e.t.c. Example: Earthquake.

Medical Thriller - Modern medical technology is supposed to make people morth into something deadly. Example: Awake.

Religious Thriller - Uses the rich and long history of religion to build stories with high stakes and deadly politics. Example: The Da Vinci Code.

Serial Killer Thriller - This is a very popular sub genre of thriller. This is where antagonists terrorize people in horrific ways, normally involving MURDER! Example: Psycho, Saw.

Techno Thriller - Basically where technology takes over the plot. Example: iRobot, Minority Report.

Target Audiences of Thrillers

There are a lot of kinds of thriller films and its sub-genres, so the target audience will vary according to the certain kind of a film. The age group of the target audience for a thriller is around 16-25 years, as 75% of the thriller-viewers sample were students.
Typically, age ranges break down as follows:- Kids 5-11 and mums- Tween 11-14- Teen 13-16- 17-21- 18-24 and 18-34- 25-54- 54+

For our Thriller, I believe it will be aimed at 15-40 year old both male and female. Here are some ratings of some popluar thrillers:

Mission Impossible: Fun action packed thriller: Rated 15!

The Butterfly Effect (a personal favourite of mine!): Rated R for it's violence. Maybe not so much for the younger ones...

Predator: Rated 18.

Issues of the Brief

The thing I am most worried about for my Thriller is that it can only be 2 minutes long. This means we will have to really cut things down in order to fit in so much action!

Another issue will have to be the music. This year we are not allowed to use copyrighted music unfortunatly therefore we will have to either create our own music or download copyright-free music from a website. e.g. MobyGratis.com