Today we completed the reshoot of False Pretences and we are all really excited and pleased with the footage we captured.
Exteriors;
Luckily, the rain and gales subsided whilst we we filming the sequence in the alley (although we still needed to juggle multiple umbrellas to protect the camera!) In fact, the weather actually worked in our favour as it created really good pathetic fallacy; the grey clouds and steady dizzle suggests a looming 'danger' and a sense of 'gloom'.
Interiors;
We managed to capture a number of really dynamic shots in these sequences. I am especially proud of the way in which we have integrated the titles into the of the protagonist, as they subliminally contribute to the progression of the narrative (they demonstrate, in more detail, the protagonist's investigation).
To ensure that we had a broad range of material to manipulate in the editing process, we shot each frame a number of times, using different camera angles and movement.
Overall, I think we have filmed a much more sophisticated, dynamic and interesting openning that definetely show cases our ability far more effectively than our first.
Now we just have to focus on editing our shots together, which we will carry out in our Media lessons, free study sessions, lunch times and, if required, after school on Wednesday and Thursday. However, if we manage our time effectively, I feel that we will be able to complete the final product with out staying after school hours.
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Evalutation - Commentary Planning...
Recently, as a group, we came together and wrote down what we would include when trying to answer our evaluation questions. We decided on what should be shown, and in what order. We have now begun work on our commentary.
This is a brief summary of how our commentary will be set out:
-It will be split into chapters - Each question appearing on screen
- Answers are in the form of: Clips with voiceovers, Speaking to the camera and 'making-of' clips and stills.
-Outtakes shown at the very end.
Question 1 -
'In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?'
Talk about and show clips of:
- The title order
- It raises more questions than it answers
- Male protagonist
- Fast paced (editing and music)
- It looks at current issues
Question 2 -
'How does your media product represent particular social groups?'
Talk about and show clips of:
-Our inspirations/context (show clips or relevant people and events)
-Out representation of the government as 'untrustworthy'
Question 3 -
'What kind of media institution might distribute your media product, and why?'
Talk about and show clips of:
- Our research into distributers that are experienced in Thriller movies
- 20th Century Fox
Question 4 -
'Who would be the audience for your media product?'
Talk about and show clips of:
- Our research and previous blog post bout our audience
- Feedback from questionnaires/reviews
Question 5 -
'How did you attract/address your audience?'
Talk about and show clips of:
- Questionnaires and poll on blog
- Describe how we decided on our audience before creating our thriller
- We would use a well known production company
Question 6 -
'What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?'
Talk about and show clips of:
- Our blog
- The music (Garageband - Ben)
-LiveType
Question 7 -
'Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?'
Talk about and show clips of:
- Contrasting clips from our preliminary with our current product
- Match-on-Actions
- Shot types
This is a brief summary of how our commentary will be set out:
-It will be split into chapters - Each question appearing on screen
- Answers are in the form of: Clips with voiceovers, Speaking to the camera and 'making-of' clips and stills.
-Outtakes shown at the very end.
Question 1 -
'In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?'
Talk about and show clips of:
- The title order
- It raises more questions than it answers
- Male protagonist
- Fast paced (editing and music)
- It looks at current issues
Question 2 -
'How does your media product represent particular social groups?'
Talk about and show clips of:
-Our inspirations/context (show clips or relevant people and events)
-Out representation of the government as 'untrustworthy'
Question 3 -
'What kind of media institution might distribute your media product, and why?'
Talk about and show clips of:
- Our research into distributers that are experienced in Thriller movies
- 20th Century Fox
Question 4 -
'Who would be the audience for your media product?'
Talk about and show clips of:
- Our research and previous blog post bout our audience
- Feedback from questionnaires/reviews
Question 5 -
'How did you attract/address your audience?'
Talk about and show clips of:
- Questionnaires and poll on blog
- Describe how we decided on our audience before creating our thriller
- We would use a well known production company
Question 6 -
'What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?'
Talk about and show clips of:
- Our blog
- The music (Garageband - Ben)
-LiveType
Question 7 -
'Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?'
Talk about and show clips of:
- Contrasting clips from our preliminary with our current product
- Match-on-Actions
- Shot types
Saturday, 27 February 2010
THRILLER ANALYSIS - Title Sequences
We didn't include a title sequence in our first openning as the digital/artificial text and animation seemed disjointed from the shots. Therefore, in our re-shoot, we decided to 'intergrate' the main production titles into the mise-en-scene during the first 'flashback'.
I watched two thriller opennings and noted down the order of the titles/roles, so that our thriller would appear more realistic and professional.
Fight Club - actor's name; actor's name; actor's name; FIGHT CLUB; actor's name; actor's name; casting by; costume design; special effects; sound design; music; editing by; production designer; director of photography; executive producer; screenplay; produced by; directed by.
SIGNS - actor's name; actor's name; SIGNS; actor's name; actor's name; actor's name; casting by; music; visual effects; costume design; edited by; production design; director of photography; executive producer; producer; directed and written by.
I watched two thriller opennings and noted down the order of the titles/roles, so that our thriller would appear more realistic and professional.
Fight Club - actor's name; actor's name; actor's name; FIGHT CLUB; actor's name; actor's name; casting by; costume design; special effects; sound design; music; editing by; production designer; director of photography; executive producer; screenplay; produced by; directed by.
SIGNS - actor's name; actor's name; SIGNS; actor's name; actor's name; actor's name; casting by; music; visual effects; costume design; edited by; production design; director of photography; executive producer; producer; directed and written by.
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Production Titles
The following is what we have created in LiveType as a production logo for 'Reflect Productions'. Although it is relatively simple, it is also sleek and sophisticated; for example the font we used is a flowing, hand-written style that connotes maturity and professionalism (both things we want to convey to our audience). The actual motion above the titles was one that came with the programme, we did relatively little to change that, except slow it down and play around with how it finished. Overall, this production title is good, and of a slightly less than professional standard, but hopefully that is what can be expected of us, with the technology we have at out fingertips.
Thursday, 18 February 2010
Media Institution...
Question 3 for our evaluation is 'What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?'
The genre of mine and my groups opening is a psychological thriller, which means I had to look at industries who distributed psychological thrillers like 'The Sixth Sense', 'Signs' and 'Basic Instinct'.
Firstly, one main decision is to decide whether to get a well known distributor, like Warner Bros. Pictures, or a less well known distributor, like Film London Microwave. There are both advantages and disadvantages of using less well known and well known distributors. For example, it is cheaper to use less well known distributors, more well known distributors have distributed more films so have more experience, etc. As some people sometime see films because they like well known distributors, so we are going to go with a well known film institution because, on average, Warner Bros Pictures earns £845 million per film, while Film London Microwave earns £578.2 million per film.
Paramount Pictures have distributed many of psychology thrillers which have become very popular like, The Godfather (1972), Psycho (1960), Vertigo (1958) and Double Indemnity (1944). However, as you can see from the dates, these were films from years ago and Paramount Pictures haven't made new films in a long time, so I don't feel that this media Institution would be best for our film. 20th Century Fox, also distribute a lot of psychological thrillers like, Fight Club (1999), Dead Ringers (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and The Vanishing (1993). As you can see, these are more recent films, so more suitable for our thriller that it is set in the recent day.
The genre of mine and my groups opening is a psychological thriller, which means I had to look at industries who distributed psychological thrillers like 'The Sixth Sense', 'Signs' and 'Basic Instinct'.
Firstly, one main decision is to decide whether to get a well known distributor, like Warner Bros. Pictures, or a less well known distributor, like Film London Microwave. There are both advantages and disadvantages of using less well known and well known distributors. For example, it is cheaper to use less well known distributors, more well known distributors have distributed more films so have more experience, etc. As some people sometime see films because they like well known distributors, so we are going to go with a well known film institution because, on average, Warner Bros Pictures earns £845 million per film, while Film London Microwave earns £578.2 million per film.
Paramount Pictures have distributed many of psychology thrillers which have become very popular like, The Godfather (1972), Psycho (1960), Vertigo (1958) and Double Indemnity (1944). However, as you can see from the dates, these were films from years ago and Paramount Pictures haven't made new films in a long time, so I don't feel that this media Institution would be best for our film. 20th Century Fox, also distribute a lot of psychological thrillers like, Fight Club (1999), Dead Ringers (1988), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and The Vanishing (1993). As you can see, these are more recent films, so more suitable for our thriller that it is set in the recent day.
Wednesday, 17 February 2010
Just another update...
Well the plan was we were meant to be filming all of today. However, at the last minute our actor got called into work. This was a big downer for us all as we planned to get it all done today and then edit in all our free time we have.
But because of the changes, we are going to talk about filming when we go back to school on Tuesday but the idea is at the moment is that we film next Sunday. When hearing the news about not being able to film today, I think I can speak for everyone when I say we were all shocked, disappointed and really nervous about when we were really going to film. However, when we think about it, in the amount of time we have, we can do it. We already have our titles done and the music done, so when we have finished filming, we just need to edit and match the music with the action.
If we film next weekend, we will have 5 days to edit and finish it completely. These 5 days include 3 media lessons, 3 frees and after school on some days. When we think about the time in which we have to finish and what we have to do, if we all work together and put 110% into it, then it is clear we will finish.
But because of the changes, we are going to talk about filming when we go back to school on Tuesday but the idea is at the moment is that we film next Sunday. When hearing the news about not being able to film today, I think I can speak for everyone when I say we were all shocked, disappointed and really nervous about when we were really going to film. However, when we think about it, in the amount of time we have, we can do it. We already have our titles done and the music done, so when we have finished filming, we just need to edit and match the music with the action.
If we film next weekend, we will have 5 days to edit and finish it completely. These 5 days include 3 media lessons, 3 frees and after school on some days. When we think about the time in which we have to finish and what we have to do, if we all work together and put 110% into it, then it is clear we will finish.
Thursday, 11 February 2010
Radical Movement - False Pretences...TAKE TWO!!!!
Today we critically reviewed the footage that we have edited, but even though we really like some specific shots (the low angle track in the kitchen for example)overall, neither of us felt it truely show cased our ability and potential.
What we plan to do...
Therefore we have decided to do an entire re-shoot of our opening (I understand that this sounds very risky but WE WILL pull it off and I think we will all regret our decision if we choose to stick with our current footage)
The openning will follow the same plot of the original but I think we need to make it much more visually dynamic by including more of a variety of complex shots and angles.
We also found that our openning was far too short, so we have decided to draw in another flashback which will allow us to build up more of a backstory and add to the mounting tension.
After deciding on this rather radical path of action, our group had a new lease of life and a burst of creative energy. We managed to brainstorm a number of exciting ways to incorporate titles; draft in a new, 'older' actor (Roisin's Dad) to make the Thriller appear more mature, serious and realistic; and find an alternative to the voice recording as we never realised that the sound quality would be comprimised through using the dictaphone.
So what now?
We are keeping the same locations, so we don't have to carry out any additional research or location scouting. We also intend for the weather, costumes, props and majority of the mise-en-scene to remain identical to our original. Therefore we have less pre-production work to do giving us more time to get stuck into filming!
It is my responsibility to draw up the storyboards to incorporate the shots that my group want, and these will be completed by the end of tomorrow (Friday) and will hopefully be on the blog by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.
Our group has organised a whole day (Wednesday the 17th) during half term in which we can all be present for the filming process. We plan to dedicate the ENTIRE day (9am-4pm) and we are confident that this is more than enough time to capture everything we want.
People may see this move as a bad or risky choice but our group is united in the idea that this will work; and will work ten times better than anything we could have achieved with our original openning.
What we plan to do...
Therefore we have decided to do an entire re-shoot of our opening (I understand that this sounds very risky but WE WILL pull it off and I think we will all regret our decision if we choose to stick with our current footage)
The openning will follow the same plot of the original but I think we need to make it much more visually dynamic by including more of a variety of complex shots and angles.
We also found that our openning was far too short, so we have decided to draw in another flashback which will allow us to build up more of a backstory and add to the mounting tension.
After deciding on this rather radical path of action, our group had a new lease of life and a burst of creative energy. We managed to brainstorm a number of exciting ways to incorporate titles; draft in a new, 'older' actor (Roisin's Dad) to make the Thriller appear more mature, serious and realistic; and find an alternative to the voice recording as we never realised that the sound quality would be comprimised through using the dictaphone.
So what now?
We are keeping the same locations, so we don't have to carry out any additional research or location scouting. We also intend for the weather, costumes, props and majority of the mise-en-scene to remain identical to our original. Therefore we have less pre-production work to do giving us more time to get stuck into filming!
It is my responsibility to draw up the storyboards to incorporate the shots that my group want, and these will be completed by the end of tomorrow (Friday) and will hopefully be on the blog by Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest.
Our group has organised a whole day (Wednesday the 17th) during half term in which we can all be present for the filming process. We plan to dedicate the ENTIRE day (9am-4pm) and we are confident that this is more than enough time to capture everything we want.
People may see this move as a bad or risky choice but our group is united in the idea that this will work; and will work ten times better than anything we could have achieved with our original openning.
Wednesday, 10 February 2010
Our Work, Documented
As you can see, the top picture is not one of our group; he is the Year 11 we drafted in to help us write our music, as this is one aspect of film that we all seem to really struggle with. However, Ben managed to cope very well with the brief that we set him, and within an hour he had written a very good piece of music, exactly what we were looking for. Previously, we had tried to use GarageBand ourselves, but we didn't really get very far. However, we did use it to add the sound effect right at the beginning of the telephone ringing, before the voice over picks up. With the music, originally, we had planned for it to begin when the voice over stopped talking, but eventually we decided to play the music quietly underneath the person talking, and the phone ringing too. We as a group all feel that it adds significant tension to the very beginning when the protagonist is looking over his work, as without the music it seemed a lot more amateurish and less like a thriller.
Above, you can see what our group spent part of today doing. As professional films tend to have professional logos and production titles at the beginning, we decided to use some new software on the Mac to attempt to make a production title of our own. Since we had never used the software before, it was a steep learning curve, and while what we have come up with is far from perfect, we all agree that it looks much better than what we had before (production titles flash up on black screen). Also, it adds an element of professionalism that it is always good to have in a film.
The above are pictures of our resident artist and story-boarder, Jade, doing the storyboards for our thriller, and above that is what the final storyboards looked like, if you hadn't seen the post with them in previously. Coming up with the storyboards as a team, we then roughly drafted what we wanted to see in each shot, before Jade drew them up neatly for us. During filming, they have been really good, as we can see what we need each shot to be framed like, and we can also remind ourselves of the action going on in the shot. However, we haven't followed the storyboards exactly, as when it came to filming, getting some shots proved too difficult, and we were forced to improvise. Tuesday, 9 February 2010
Music and Sound Effects
We have already blogged about our voiceover, which lasts approximately half of the opening, and the other half is going to be tension-building, conventional thriller music. What will be different about our music to other groups' is that ours will have a faster paced atmosphere to it, because we have decided to go straight into the action with our opening.
We have enlisted the help of a Year 11 music student to show us how to use GarageBand properly, because although we managed to make a decent soundtrack to our preliminary task, we knew that it wasn't really of a very high standard, which is what we need for our coursework.
We decided that adding a sound effect of a phone ringing whilst the titles are coming up works much better than just cutting straight into the voiceover speaking, so a phone now rings four times before the voice comes in, which I think works much better.
I also think that there should be some sort of emphasis when the match-on-action occurs, to make it obvious to the audience that there has been a change in what is happening on screen, rather than just really bad continuity.
Overall, I think if our music turns out well and matches what is happening on screen, and the voiceover sounds good too, then our film should be pretty good. Of course, if there is also really good continuity and the rest of it goes well too, then we will have a very good film, but we will have to try very hard for that to happen.
We have enlisted the help of a Year 11 music student to show us how to use GarageBand properly, because although we managed to make a decent soundtrack to our preliminary task, we knew that it wasn't really of a very high standard, which is what we need for our coursework.
We decided that adding a sound effect of a phone ringing whilst the titles are coming up works much better than just cutting straight into the voiceover speaking, so a phone now rings four times before the voice comes in, which I think works much better.
I also think that there should be some sort of emphasis when the match-on-action occurs, to make it obvious to the audience that there has been a change in what is happening on screen, rather than just really bad continuity.
Overall, I think if our music turns out well and matches what is happening on screen, and the voiceover sounds good too, then our film should be pretty good. Of course, if there is also really good continuity and the rest of it goes well too, then we will have a very good film, but we will have to try very hard for that to happen.
Saturday, 6 February 2010
just an update....
wow...I didn't realise how long it has been since I last blogged our groups progress, so here's just a short update...
shooting the interiors
These shots make up the bulk of the flashbacks within our thriller (the office and kitchen sequence) as well as the final shot of the protagonist frantically searching for files and documents that have mysteriously gone astray...
I had collected a variety of different newspaper clippings, photos (Tony Blair, Alistair Campbell, houses of Parliament and Dr david Kelly) and post-it notes with links and information scrawled across them for the large notice board behind the computer. Rachel also brought along a large map - which we also mounted on the wall - so that the office was transformed into a controversial, investigation central!!
However, we had a bit of a mishap when the pin board slipped down the back of the desk...and we had to stick all of the images, clippings and post-it notes back on!
Filming went along efficiently and we were all excited about how effective the mise-en-scene looked on camera.
We decide to stray from the story board on one particular shot (the slow zoom mid-shot from behind the computer) as the composition looked messy and far too compact. Instead, we used a high angle shot from the edge of the desk, which shot the action we wanted far better.
We realised after filming, that the angle also added a relevant and effective meaning to the shot (high angle = loss of power; which is exactly what we were trying to show!)
The process of filming the kitchen sequence went alot smoother as the shots needed were alot more simplistic. We tested a variety of different heights so that we had more film to manipulate in the editing process, but we instantly fell in love with the low angle track as the shadows cast across the cabinets were extremely effective and created an almost 'looming' atmosphere.
Shooting the exteriors
I wasn't present for this filming session as I was in an art exam, but the other members of our group pulled together and managed to capture some really dynamic footage (espicially of the protagonist running around the corner of the Atheneium)
shooting the interiors
These shots make up the bulk of the flashbacks within our thriller (the office and kitchen sequence) as well as the final shot of the protagonist frantically searching for files and documents that have mysteriously gone astray...
I had collected a variety of different newspaper clippings, photos (Tony Blair, Alistair Campbell, houses of Parliament and Dr david Kelly) and post-it notes with links and information scrawled across them for the large notice board behind the computer. Rachel also brought along a large map - which we also mounted on the wall - so that the office was transformed into a controversial, investigation central!!
However, we had a bit of a mishap when the pin board slipped down the back of the desk...and we had to stick all of the images, clippings and post-it notes back on!
Filming went along efficiently and we were all excited about how effective the mise-en-scene looked on camera.
We decide to stray from the story board on one particular shot (the slow zoom mid-shot from behind the computer) as the composition looked messy and far too compact. Instead, we used a high angle shot from the edge of the desk, which shot the action we wanted far better.
We realised after filming, that the angle also added a relevant and effective meaning to the shot (high angle = loss of power; which is exactly what we were trying to show!)
The process of filming the kitchen sequence went alot smoother as the shots needed were alot more simplistic. We tested a variety of different heights so that we had more film to manipulate in the editing process, but we instantly fell in love with the low angle track as the shadows cast across the cabinets were extremely effective and created an almost 'looming' atmosphere.
Shooting the exteriors
I wasn't present for this filming session as I was in an art exam, but the other members of our group pulled together and managed to capture some really dynamic footage (espicially of the protagonist running around the corner of the Atheneium)
Editing
The editing of our openning is going really well so far and all the shots are fitting together nicely. I am really happy to report that our wacky, past-to-present, match-on-action transitions are working!!!!
We did however, face a slight continuity problem within the first sequence in the office, where the shots were not flowing as seamlessly as we wanted them to. We combated this issue by replacing the straight cut transitions with fades which softened the cuts between the shots nicely. Although fades would normally look out of place within this genre, they work because they are within a flashback (the fade represents a lapse in memory or time passing which emphasises the length of time in which our protagonist has been investigating this particular case)
imperfections in our openning
After watching the edited openning so far, our group decided there were certain aspects of our thriller that we were unhappy with and wished to change;
- The voice over needs to be re-recorded in a smaller room (such as one of the soundproofed music rooms or small office) to reduce static, echo and background noise.
- The closeup to mid-shot of the protagonist (first transition) needs to refilmed so that it captures the protagonist pushing themselves from the wall. That way, it will flow into the running scene much more easily and fluidly.
- Lastly, the shot at the end of the openning needs to be re-filmed as it is far too long. (a fresh pair of eyes also informed us that our actor was wearing the wrong costume! Opps!)
shooting exteriors #2
Today (6th february) was used to refilm sections of the Bury sequence and the last shot. The group also got the last remaining shots outside Roisin's house that were needed to complete our openning. Unfortunately, both me and gemma were unable to attend the filming so I'm looking forward to seeing the new material for the first time on Tuesday!
On Monday...
In study I plan to re-record the voice over in a more appropriate location so that we can upload it in Tuesday's lesson.
On Tuesday...
In Tuesday's media lesson we hope to meet up with a Music A level student who is going to help us construct the soundtrack on garage band...we know the basics of this programme but feel we need a little extra help from a pro!
From then on...
Continue editing until BEAUTIFUL!!! From next week and over the half term, our group will begin construction on our Director's commentry/Making Of Featurette.
CONVICTION - thriller analysis (previous TCC work)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8AjkNoC4Hw
what is revealed to the audience?
An innocent man stumbles upon a crime scene where a girl has been shot several times. As he approaches the body another member of the public notices. She panics when she sees the blood on the man's hands and phones the police, certain that she has caught the murderer.
During the opening we see the man writting a letter, explaining this situation and how the accusation has destroyed his life. Once the letter is complete, the man stands and raises a gun to his head. The screen fades to black before we hear the gunshot.
What is conventional?
- the action stems from an average member of the public who is pulled into the path of danger. In this case an innocent bystander being falsely accused of murder.
- low key lighting
- high tempo music
- simplistically animated, white on black titles
- we are immediately introduced to the main character
- the protagonist is male
What is unconventional?
- a voice over is used throughout the openning. The voice is that of the protagonist and it depicts what is being written in the letter/suicide note
- the action switches from colour to back and white when the flashbacks are introduced
- there is no clear antagonist
- the 'thrilling situation' is created by the domestic claustrophobia, instead of a large scale action sequence in the 'outside world'.
How has it inspired me?
This thriller openning has shown me that flashbacks are a very effective tool for starting a narrative in an ambiguous fashion and that although black and white shots are unconventional, they do not hinder the verisimilitude of the piece, nor the professional finnish.
One of the only weaknesses in this thriller is the clarity of the dialogue. This means that I will take extra care of our own voice over is recorded so that it is clear and realistic.
what is revealed to the audience?
An innocent man stumbles upon a crime scene where a girl has been shot several times. As he approaches the body another member of the public notices. She panics when she sees the blood on the man's hands and phones the police, certain that she has caught the murderer.
During the opening we see the man writting a letter, explaining this situation and how the accusation has destroyed his life. Once the letter is complete, the man stands and raises a gun to his head. The screen fades to black before we hear the gunshot.
What is conventional?
- the action stems from an average member of the public who is pulled into the path of danger. In this case an innocent bystander being falsely accused of murder.
- low key lighting
- high tempo music
- simplistically animated, white on black titles
- we are immediately introduced to the main character
- the protagonist is male
What is unconventional?
- a voice over is used throughout the openning. The voice is that of the protagonist and it depicts what is being written in the letter/suicide note
- the action switches from colour to back and white when the flashbacks are introduced
- there is no clear antagonist
- the 'thrilling situation' is created by the domestic claustrophobia, instead of a large scale action sequence in the 'outside world'.
How has it inspired me?
This thriller openning has shown me that flashbacks are a very effective tool for starting a narrative in an ambiguous fashion and that although black and white shots are unconventional, they do not hinder the verisimilitude of the piece, nor the professional finnish.
One of the only weaknesses in this thriller is the clarity of the dialogue. This means that I will take extra care of our own voice over is recorded so that it is clear and realistic.
Thursday, 4 February 2010
THRILLER ANALYSIS - Till death us do part (previous TCC work)
What is reveled to the audience?
All you see is a young man all alone and then its flash backing back and forth from him being alone to him with a girl. The next part is him going after the girl.
What is conventional?
- more questions are asked than answered
- use of music
- main male lead is introduced
- use of straight cuts
What is unconventional?
- red writing on a black background
- you don't no whether the male lead is an antagonist or a protagonist
- use of all the abstract colours
- heavily animated and flashing
How has it inspired me?
It as made me realise that we will be able to all of our flash backs in the amount of time that we have been given. Also I like the way that it goes slowly into the action and then suddenly gets into. I like the way that they made it really complex and did this through colour changes, sudden straight cuts, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfPjbSH3Y9o
All you see is a young man all alone and then its flash backing back and forth from him being alone to him with a girl. The next part is him going after the girl.
What is conventional?
- more questions are asked than answered
- use of music
- main male lead is introduced
- use of straight cuts
What is unconventional?
- red writing on a black background
- you don't no whether the male lead is an antagonist or a protagonist
- use of all the abstract colours
- heavily animated and flashing
How has it inspired me?
It as made me realise that we will be able to all of our flash backs in the amount of time that we have been given. Also I like the way that it goes slowly into the action and then suddenly gets into. I like the way that they made it really complex and did this through colour changes, sudden straight cuts, etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfPjbSH3Y9o
THRILLER ANALYSIS - The Sacrament (previous TCC work)
1. What is revealed to the audience?
A man is seen in a car, with a lot of papers, folder and information surrounding him.
It becomes clear that he is killing off a family, and has figured out the last victim.
2. What is Conventional?
More questions are raised rather than answered.
The male lead's face is not revealed to the audience.
Use of music.
3. What is Unconventional?
The male lead is quite possibly the antagonist instead of the protagonist within the storyline.
4. How has it inspired me?
The slow camera movements, and slow pace of the opening in general. The props are well thought out, but wouldn't stretch a budget or cause any problems.
A man is seen in a car, with a lot of papers, folder and information surrounding him.
It becomes clear that he is killing off a family, and has figured out the last victim.
2. What is Conventional?
More questions are raised rather than answered.
The male lead's face is not revealed to the audience.
Use of music.
3. What is Unconventional?
The male lead is quite possibly the antagonist instead of the protagonist within the storyline.
4. How has it inspired me?
The slow camera movements, and slow pace of the opening in general. The props are well thought out, but wouldn't stretch a budget or cause any problems.
Wednesday, 3 February 2010
Location Shots
The pictures above are the are location shots of where we shot 3 short scenes in town. This was at the Atheneum but we shot it so it could have bee around the corner from the house where the other scenes are shot.
These pictures are of Mr.Alison's office and this is where we were thinking of filming the office scene. However, after looking at it closely we decided not to use it as it would have been too difficult to have filmed the shots that we wanted.
These pictures are of the kitchen, study and running up to the house. These were important locations as we wanted to include certain shots and whether these shots would work or not depended on the location.
New Script
After researching for our voice over, we decided that we would get a girl to be the voice over. This is because we didn't want our audience to think that it was our actors thoughts, so stop this confusion we got a girl instead of a boy for our voice over. The girl we got was Zoe Button as she gave it her all and really got into the character and the personality that we needed.
Today we decided the right person that fits the role best for our voice over. We recorded with the previous script which was 'I don't care who this guy is; he knows too much! If this gets out the whole damn Government will go on trail... you have 48 hours... I want him DEAD!!!' Even though the recording we got of this script were brilliant, when we uploaded it and matched it to the action, we found that it was too short (only lasted 8-10 seconds).
Because of this reason we then had to adapt the script to make i longer as we would have liked it to be 23 seconds long. So our new script is:
'(phone rings)
Hello?...
Home affairs office...
no...no you don't understand!
I don't care who this guy is; he knows too much.
If this gets out the whole damn Government will go on trail...
...no...he's too much of a threat to be left alive...
...I'm sick of your excuses...
...you have 48 hours...
...I want him Dead!!!'
Amazingly Zoe actually manged to get it 23 seconds long, so tomorrow we will edit it a bit to make it fit better, but we are all really pleased with what we have got.
Today we decided the right person that fits the role best for our voice over. We recorded with the previous script which was 'I don't care who this guy is; he knows too much! If this gets out the whole damn Government will go on trail... you have 48 hours... I want him DEAD!!!' Even though the recording we got of this script were brilliant, when we uploaded it and matched it to the action, we found that it was too short (only lasted 8-10 seconds).
Because of this reason we then had to adapt the script to make i longer as we would have liked it to be 23 seconds long. So our new script is:
'(phone rings)
Hello?...
Home affairs office...
no...no you don't understand!
I don't care who this guy is; he knows too much.
If this gets out the whole damn Government will go on trail...
...no...he's too much of a threat to be left alive...
...I'm sick of your excuses...
...you have 48 hours...
...I want him Dead!!!'
Amazingly Zoe actually manged to get it 23 seconds long, so tomorrow we will edit it a bit to make it fit better, but we are all really pleased with what we have got.
Audience Feedback
Although we are no where near finishing our thriller course work, we thought it would be a good idea to ask someone what they thought of our film so far. We told this person what our plans were for the rest of it and asked them to comment on our film with the improvement still in mind. This person that we asked used to actually do Media Studies so they would be able to give constructive points. This is what she wrote:
'I like the match on action with the drawers and eyes. The difference between the black and white bits and the colour bits, it adds emphasis on the differences which is good. I like the amount of post-its on the notice board. Its good mise-en-scene use, suggests he's very intense,the black and white also makes the thriller seem more serious and political. Overall its very good so far.
Bad thing - 1. Continuity to 2nd shot, thew mouse is moving2. Some of the shots seem too long.'
This is very useful to us and we need to consider our audience though out the whole process of it. After we have completely finished our thriller, we are going to get her back to comment on it so we can compare the results she gave us and also to see if we have dealt with her criticisms.
Tuesday, 2 February 2010
THRILLER ANALYSIS - Reminiscence (Previous Thurston Work)
1. What is revealed to the audience?
In this opening sequence, a girl appears to get up, and get ready for the day ahead several times over. Following this, an argument is seen, where an unknown woman kicks over a plant pot. After the title has flashed up, the girl is seen sitting down in the centre of Bury, with people milling around her whilst she remains motionless.
2. What is conventional?
3. What is unconventional?
In this opening sequence, a girl appears to get up, and get ready for the day ahead several times over. Following this, an argument is seen, where an unknown woman kicks over a plant pot. After the title has flashed up, the girl is seen sitting down in the centre of Bury, with people milling around her whilst she remains motionless.
2. What is conventional?
-The use of music (which I was unable to hear for some reason)
-The opening raises a lot more questions than it answers
-Lighting is fairly dim and naturalistic
3. What is unconventional?
-The use of repetition throughout the opening scene
-The use of a female lead
4. How has it inspired me?
Since this is a film done on a similar scale to the one we are making, it has shown me what is achievable within the time frame and budget etc. we are given
4. How has it inspired me?
Since this is a film done on a similar scale to the one we are making, it has shown me what is achievable within the time frame and budget etc. we are given
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