Planning- Target Audience

Target Audience

This shows minor points about each audience bands

Thriller opening ideas

Spider diagram of the first ideas that came into my mind for the thriller opening; quick points about the thriller opening.

Evaluation- How successful were you in meeting your prelim?

 Evaluation

How successful were you in meeting your prelim?
We weren't fully organised about the plot of the prelim, so we had to make it up on the spot, therefore it would have been better if it was planned. In order to make sure we met the deadline, we had to make sure we all worked efficiently and productively. For example, I worked on the editings of shots, emily worked on the sounds whereas Sian was working on the titles. Then after, we put all our work together as soon as possible, and made it more better, with all our ideas put into thoughts together. We stayed in contact with each other to make sure we know what our tasks are. 

Thriller scedule.

Plan for Thriller (important dates)

Friday 1st Feb - Planning, taking photos for storyboard
Tuesday 5th Feb - Pitch Presentation
Friday 8th Feb - Filming (film day 1)
Tuesday 12th Feb - Filming (film day 2)
Friday 15th Feb - FILM ALL DAY - INCENT DAY (final film day)
Tuesday 26 Feb - Editing (edit day 1)
Friday 1st March - Editing (edit day 2)
Tuesday 5th March - Editing (edit day 3)
Friday 8th March (3 o-clock) - Deadline (final deadline)

Final Prelim Evaluation.

What would we do differently next time?
-Once we had filmed, and fully editied our film opening we realised there were things that we would have done differently. The first thing we would have done differently would be thinking more about our filming locations and if they work. The reason i would do this is because when filming we had a character walk towards a door, but actually walk out a different door. When we was editing we realised this didnt work becasue when he was waliking to the door and then walking out of the door, the rooms were different colours. If we had the chance to do it again, we would make sure that we thought more about our filming loacations and if they work.

(Add screen grabs of the doors).

Evaluation- What did you learn from doing it?

Evaluation

What did you learn from doing it?

I gained a lot of knowledge from making this prelim, for example, I learnt how to use soundtrack pro, how to put two pieces of music together to get one sound track, I also learnt how to input text (conventions) on to the clip from final cut pro. 

Using soundtrack pro taught me how to mix sounds together, how to blend them, and also how to input the final sounds into the film. (screenshot of soundtrack pro)

Learning mistakes gives us more knowledge about our real thriler, and what not to do, for example, we learnted how important mise-en-scene is when filming, and we made an error when using the doors, as I was walking out after collecting the drugs. This has got me informed for not to make a mistake like that for the real things. As a group, we thinks our camera understanding has improved very much even though Emily was our main camera girl. Watching her record certain shots (e.g. shot reserve shot between mine and Sian's conversation) has given us confidence and ability in our groups recording ability. I learnted that editing was the most important process in making this prelim, as editing the shots, sounds, and titles, creates the whole tone of the prelim therefore editing plays an important role and we should be fully aware of that when editing our real opening thriller.

Genre and sub-genre research

Genre and sub-genre research

Whats the difference between genre and sub-genre?

Genre: In film theory, genre refers to the method based on similarities in the narrative elements from which films are constructed. Most theories of film genre are borrowed from literary genre criticism. As with genre in a literary context, there is a great deal of debate over how to define or categorise genre. Besides the basic distinction in genre between fiction and documentary, film genres can be categorized in several ways.

Examples of genre: - action - adventure - comedy - crime - erotica - faction - fantasy - historical - horror - mystery - paranoid - philosophical - political - romance - saga - satire - science fiction - slive of live - speculative - thriller - urban 

Sub-Genre: A sub-genre is a sub-category of a specific genre, and can apply to literature, music, film, theater, video games, or other forms of art. Genres were created to classify artistic works into descriptive categories, and a sub-genre breaks down those categories into more defined subjects. 

Examples of sub-genre:- romantic comedy - action adverture - crime thriller - disaster thriller - supernatural thriller - techno thriller - comedy thriller - musical comedy 

Examples of thriller films under sub-genre

Casino Royale

Unknown

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Researching this topic gave me an idea to what type of editing and sounds I could use for my prelim. Moreover, it gave me more knowledge about the camera angles used in these specific type of thrillers which I could use (intertextuality) for my prelim.  

The checklist

Before starting the coursework, we got given a 10 page blogging checklist, where we had to tick our way through each boxes. This made me organised and notified for what I have left to do.

Research: Genre&Sub-genre.

Research: Genre& Sub-genre.

Genre: Genre is a type of class; a category. Genre may fall under one of two categories: Fiction and nonfiction. In the film industry a genre is how a film is categorised.  There are many types of genres, here are some examples:

• Horror
• Romance
• Action
• Disaster
• Comedy
• Adventure
• Fantasy
• Science fiction
• Thriller

Sub-genre: Sub genres are sub-classes of the larger category of the main film genre. They have there own style and subject matters. There are many sub genres, here are some examples:

• Romantic comedy
• Action adventure
• Crime thriller
• Disaster thriller
• Supernatural thriller
• Techno thriller
• Comedy thriller
• Musical comedy

The sub-genre that most inspires me is 'crime thriller'. Crime thriller inspires me because i feel that i could do a lot with it, for example you can experiment with different crimes, e.g. knife crime, robbery, drugs etc. I also like crime thrillers because you can appeal to a wide audience, and you can also experiment with different characters and support or challenge stereotypes. This could influence my own film opening because it would give me opportunity to see what type of editing is used, what types of camera angles, mise-en-scene and sounds are used, this could also help me in editing and producing my own film opening.




Research: Foley sounds.

Foley Sounds.

 

Foley sound is sound that is added to a film during post production. For example, it can include footsteps, the rustle of clothes, placing a glass on a table and much more. It is the process of putting a pre-recorded sound effect in sync with the image being shown on the screen, for example, if there was a man walking down the street the footsteps that you would hear wouldn't be real, they would be pre-recorded and put into sync with the man walking. In many films and TV programs, when you hear sounds that are caused by human actions, it is actually Foley sound.

This is a video i found that futher explains Foley sound. I can see here how Foley artists create and/or replace sounds that can not be captured or created on set. I can see how the artists have to be very aware of timing and how important it is to get eveything in sync.



Planning Coursework

Brief Planning Overview of Coursework

Research/Planning.Production/Evaluation broken into peices^

Final Prelim Film.

Foley sound

Foley sound

Foley effects are sound effects added to the film during post production (after the shooting stops). They include sounds such as footsteps, clothes rustling, crockery clinking, paper folding, doors opening and slamming, punches hitting, glass breaking, etc. etc. In other words, many of the sounds that the sound recordists on set did their best to avoid recording during the shoot.
For example, an introductory shot of a biker wearing a leather jacket might be enhanced if we hear his jacket creak as he enters the shot - but do we really want to hear it every time he moves? By adding the foley sound fx in post, we can control its intensity, and fade it down once the dialogue begins. Even something as simple as boots on gravel can interfere with our comprehension of the dialogue if it is recorded too loudly. Far better for the actor to wear sneakers or socks (assuming their feet are off screen!) and for the boot-crunching to be added during Foley.

This video is a great tutorial on what Foley is and how Foley artists go about adding the realistic audio touches to a movie or television program. 

Collateral storyboard

Collateral Storyboard 

We had a task to remake an opening and we chose to remake the opening of Collateral. In order to make it successful and well planned, I made a story board. As we were in groups, we had to divide the scenes and get each person to focus on their specific scene; my scene was from 0-11 seconds. As we all done ours story boards, we then put all our story boards together and filmed the remake of Collateral. 



This is my storyboard (0-11seconds) 

Research: intertextuality 

The definition of intertextuality is a term to describe the visual referencing between films. In other words, films 'borrow' from each other, however the audience, may recognise certain camera angles, aspects of mise en scene, snippets of sound or methods of editing in some films that have borrowed from each other too. There are some very well-known pieces of intertextuality for example is the famous shower scene from "psycho"; loads of films have borrowed that famous shower scene from Psycho such as: The Stepfather and What lies beneath you.

This is the video of the famous shower scene from the film "psycho" 

The stepfather is one of the films that has shown intertextuality from the film psycho. They have used the same camera angles; when the camera focuses on a certain object (broken mirror shot). Moreover, there is some identical mise-en-scene, for example the shower curtain being the same clear white colour as the one in psycho and its also ripped of the rain when the man falls into the bath and dies. This is a clear form of intertextuality. 

What lies beneath you is another film that has borrowed from psycho, for example the scene where a woman is dying, is placed in a bath tub with the water running. Furthermore there is also a high angle shot from above the shower looking dow at the women, which is used from the film psycho. 

Intertextuality makes the audience want to watch the film more, for example, if I used intertextuality from a well known film for my own film, the audience would easily recognise it and want to watch it more. 

Research: Using soundtrack pro

Soundtrack Pro

We used the programme 'soundtrack pro' to insert a non-diagetic soundtrack into our short opening sequence called 'Drugs'. We chose two tracks from the programme which we think went well with our clip. We used a more calm soundtrack for the beginning, and when the most significant part of the clip (the drug deal) took place, we changed the music to a louder hiphop sound track. This showed a change in the characters moods.

We used this video tutorial on how to use soundtrack pro, to help us learn how to use the programme.

Title sequence conventions order

We had a task to guess the conventional order of the title sequence with no knowledge at all. This was done in the beginning of the lesson and the end of the lesson to highlight our understanding of the conventional order. 

This was our first prediction before watching any film openings

First task was to make our predictions of the convention order: 

This was our second predictions

Second task was to watch three opening title sequences: "the room mate", "taking of pelham 123" and "stepfather". And then look back our predictions and re-order them based on our new predictions. 

I learnt that the name of the film appeared within first minutes of the film and the institutional information (the production and distribution company's names and logo) are the first things that appear in the opening. 

This was the answer of the real conventional orders

The stepfather (2009) title sequence analysis

Memento (2000) title sequence analysis

The room make (2011) class analysis

After learning the orders, we had to do our own research and make notes about the convention orders.

Research: Improvements for final prelim

Improvements in for our 'Drugs' sequence:

Continuity:

In our clip we lack continuity. Continuity whilst filming is having a continuous and steady flow. When you are filming shots which take place in the same setting, it is important to keep the set the same.This involves keeping background objects in their place, appropriate lighting and sound etc. In our clip we had a rucksack bag as a prop. During the conversation between the two characters, the rucksack appeared and disappeared. This is because we filmed the shots at different times and accidentally left the bag out of some of the shots. This made it look messy and made the conversation and story line in general less believable. 

At this point the bag is visible.

7 seconds later, the bag disappeared without the actor
 moving it in the clip.

1 second after this the bag then appeared again.

Title sequence

Our title sequence could be improved by changing the colour of the text. The font colour is currently grey which has made it blend in with the background, so it is hard to read. To improve this particular prelim we could make the title sequence a more bright colour. which will make it stand out from the background. In future we will choose a font colour which is appropriate for the background.

Health and Safety Tutorial

Health and safety tutorial introduction to filming
Before using the camera equipments we had to learn how to use it and know the terms and conditions for it. This is important because it is vital to use the equipment in the right way or you may damage the equipment. Firstly we were taught how to use the JVC camera, this included how to switch the main power on and off, how to put the memory card in and out, how to focus, zoom in and out, and finally playback, record, rewind or fastfoward. The memory card holds all the footages and pictures and shots, so it is really important to input and output the memory properly from the camera. The camera is on automatic mode which is less effective of a clear shot, especially for the long shots. We therefore learnt how to put it onto manual mode so we can have clear shots of everything. I also learnt how to put the camera properly onto the tripod, how to take it out with no damage, how to adjust the standing height. and how to lock the camera onto the tripod. On the other hand, we also got taught how to properly take shots. We watched the "mean girls"as an example to see how the shots are taken, and we learnt how there shouldn't be a lot of space above the actors head when they are the main focus. However, i was also introduced to the rule of three, how when an over the shoulder shot is taking place, the main character who is in front of the shoulder person is covering two thirds of the screen, whereas the shoulder person will be taking one third of the screen. This therefore allows the audience to engage with the person facing away from us so we can see what he's seeing. After gaining all these knowledges, I applied the skills in making our remake of the collateral. The health and safety tutorial was very useful.

This is the tripod we used to input the camera onto, into to pan and tilt and steady the camera properly. This tripod is adjustable and very flexible. 

Add caption

This is a look a like camera to what kind of camera we used.

Add caption

This is an example of the rule of three, as the mains characters are covering two thirds of the screen whereas the other is covering the remaining.

This is a clear example of having no space above the head when shooting. 

Research: The making of...

These are some pictures that we took during the making of our film 'Drugs'. 'Drugs' is about two people exchanging drugs in an office based environment. The film is a crime thriller. The target audience are teens and adults, interested in crime, and people who enjoy solving dangerous situations.

Research: Re-editing title sequence- Arlington Road

Arlington Road. 

Research: Prelim exercise

Prelim exercise 

We were asked to create a scenario where a person enters a room, sits down opposite another person and has a conversation. We were also asked to think about the different types of shots  that we could use for our scene.

Scenario ideas:

-          Police office: Police questioning a victim about a crime

-          Police at home: Police informing family members of a death

-          Detective: A detective investigating a murder with a witness

-          School: A student in the head teachers office/ a parent and teacher discussing the pupil

-          Doctors office: Doctors giving the results of a patient e.g. pregnancy test/illness

-          Family home: Family members having an argument/telling children news

(E.g. Divorce, Death, New arrival, Holiday, Moving)

-          Prison: Family member meeting a prisoner/ Lawyer talking with imprison client

Shot types:

-          Shot reverse shot/over the shoulder (during the conversation)

-          High angle (for low status e.g. student) Low angle (for high status e.g. police officer)

-          Eye line match (to a certain object the person is looking at)

-          Match cut (someone opening the door then entering the door from different angles)

-          Tacking/Pan (of a character walking in the room)

Continuity editing could be used to make the scene flow and to seem realistic. Regular cuts would add to the realistic effect but jump cuts may be used depending on the situation.

Location:

We would be filming within the school but different rooms could be used to represent different scenarios.

-          The classroom for an office or crime scene

-          Common room for the house (the sofas can be used to convey the idea of a home)

-          Science rooms as a doctor’s office

-          Rooms opposite the commons room could be used for the prison (the glass wall can be used to act as the protective screen within the visitor’s room in a prison)

.

Research: previous student thriller opening- analysis

Previous student thriller opening- analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrmwjq0gdGg

I have watched one video which was made by previous students. I watched this clip because it is a film opening to a thriller, which is what I am going to be making.
The first thing I noticed about this clip was that they have used the idea of the 'Classic opening', which means they have established the location with an establishing shot, then showed a building, then zoomed into the window of the building, and then a close up of what is in the building.
 I noticed that the clip has used several match cuts, such as when the main character looks towards something, and the camera then focuses on the phone she was looking at. This technique is generally effective as the audience can focus on particular objects or people. This match cut revealed to the audience what the characters main focus was, and also introduced a new character (holding the phone).

Character showed looking at something.

Following camera shot revealing this was what the character was looking at.

 There was a diagetic sound of a phone ringing playing throughout the clip, and the match cut at the end revealed it was a phone held by another person.This  made the clip more interesting as a new character was introduced, but there was not much clues as to who they were, and why there phone was ringing for so long.
The sound of the phone ringing was slow motion, this made it seem as if the time was going slow, and created an unusual, mysterious and creepy atmosphere.
The mise en scene was significant, it was a bedroom, which seemed quite plain and had make up lying around it. The fact the bedroom seemed normal, contrasted with the slow motion movement and sound, this suggests the protagonist is mysterious and perhaps keeping a secret.
I liked the close up of the protagonists shoes, and the way the camera was tracking as she walked towards the door. This made the fact she was leaving stand out to the audience. Another reason I liked this part is because a foley sound of footsteps was inserted as she walked across the room.

Close up of characters shoes.

Camera tracking shoes as character walks away. This is where
 the foley sound was played, to create the sound of footsteps.

Research: Health and safety tutorial

Health and safety totorial/introduction to filming

We had a health and safety tutorial on how to use the recording equipment in the correct way. This is because it is vital you use the equipment in the right way or you will not get the best result, or the equipment could break. We were taught how to use a JVC camera, this included how to switch the power on and off, how to focus the camera(automatic or manual), and how to insert the memory card the right way The memory card holds all the previous filming we have done. I learnt that having the JVC camera on automatic mode is less effective and gives a less clear picture. I also learned how to safely use the tripod to hold the camera in an effective and suitable position. The tripod can be put up and folded down again, I learnt to do this without damaging it. Other than learning how to safely use the equipment, we were introduced to some important camerea shot techniques. From watching a clip of the famous chick flick 'Mean Girls'. I saw that there is never a large amount of space left above someones head when they are the main focus of the shot. I kept this in mind when recording my remake of Collateral. I was also introduced to the 'Rule of three'. This is the idea that when an over the shoulder shot is taking place, two thirds are focused on the main character who is stood in front of the shoulder, whilst the person facing away fron the camera(the shoulder), takes up just one third. This allows the audience to focus on what the person facing away from us can see, which is the aim of an older the shoulder shot. I also used this technique in my Collateral remake.

 This is what a JVC camera looks like, we use this type of camera for filming.

This is what the tripod we use to hold our camera looks like. To fold the tripod down you open the black parts along the bottom of the tripod, this will cause it to unlock and not be held up anymore, so it will decrease in size.

This is an example of an 'Over the shoulder shot'.
The rule of three has been applied here.

This picture shows that there is no space
above the characters heads.

Research: Intertextuality.

Research: Intertextuality.

 

Intertextuality: Intertextuality is a term used to describe the visual referencing between films. It is when films 'borrow' from each other; they borrow certain camera angles, aspects of mise-en-scene, snippets of sound and/or methods of editing, and as the audience we recognise some of these things.

There are some very iconic and well know pieces of intertextuality; one of the most well know ones is the famous shower scene from 'Psycho'. Various films have 'borrowed' from Psycho such as: 'The stepfather' and 'What lies beneath you'.
This is the famous shower scene from 'Psycho':
 

 

 

 

The Stepfather:

The stepfather is one of the films who have 'borrowed' from Psycho. It has used the same camera angles; when the camera focuses on a certain object(the piece of broken mirror). It also uses the same mise-en-scene; the shower curtain is the same clear white colour as the one is Psycho and it is ripped off the rain when the man falls into the bath and dies, which is exactly what happens in psycho.

What lies beneath you:
What lies beneath you is also another film that has 'borrowed' from Psycho. There is a scene when a woman who is dyeing is placed in a bath tub with the water running. There is also a high angle shot from above the shower looking down at the women, as it does in Psycho.

Intertextuality could influence my own thriller film because if i 'borrowed' from a well known film and used some of the camera shots or mise-en-scene the audience would instantly recognise it and want to watch it.