Friday 26 June 2009
Thursday 26 March 2009
Thriller Evalation
In my media product I feel we stuck to real life media conventions for example the 180 degree rule, match cuts and shot reverse shot. We especially paid attention to these 3 rules because if we didn’t we realised our whole thing would go wrong and wouldn’t be understood.
To do this and understand what works and what doesn’t we had to study a few clips that have made it as professional films. We watched a selection of films in our media lessons and we wrote notes down. Some of the interesting things that we learnt was some techniques which involve important matters like lighting in “28 days later” this didn’t really help with our filming because we didn’t have the money to buy it and use it, there would also be no point of us getting this because we wouldn’t use it apart from this one time of filming so it would be a waste of money. Also from watching these shot openings to a thriller, I found out that we was able to film anywhere in London and wouldn’t get it trouble or fined because it is a public place and can be used for anything. We were given the opportunity to watch a documentary of a film called
“The watching” which helped immensely. Also some of the clips we studied were:
”28 days later”,
”Arlington road” ,
“collateral”.
After watching a lot of professional films and their beginnings but surprisingly we decided as a group that we would not go for the shocking style of thriller but instead we went for a different style in the way of flashback and suspense.
However many thrillers can appeal to anyone of any age, for example a crime thrillers such as snatch
Baring in mind all of the information we have taken in from the professional thrillers we were asked to plan the opening to a thriller. Our teachers gave us as a group a double side of a3 size of purple sugar paper to come up with and a good idea to present back to them. Some of the things we had to come up were camera angles, lighting, storyline, who it is going to appeal to (age, gender, ethnicity etc) and we needed to produce a storyboard of shots which we could follow if we got stuck on what to do next. The first and second idea we came up with as a group wasn’t as appealing and got turned down by two of the teachers. After hearing some advice we decided to scrap them ideas and to think again and this is where we came up with our current idea of a job interview. When we presented this to our teachers we got approved so the next lesson we started to film which was a relief.
Yet our thriller only appeal to young audiences as many people are or have experienced being bullied or yet even witnessed this kind of terrible behaviour. This is why we feel that our thriller can appeal to all ages because everyone has experienced a bit of this disgusting behaviour in their life!
To shoot these specific shots wasn’t that hard to shoot as many people might have thought but was actually quite easy because we planned to do this. Here is some example of the shots:
The reason why we have chosen to present these in black and white is to show that he is having flashbacks from when they both were at school and when he was getting bullied. Also we chose to put them in black and white because we want these shots to seem exaggerated and too graphic to show it in colour. These still shot images were only to represent our story board so the teachers got a rough idea of what we was filming, and also felt it would be acceptable so we could go ahead and film. This is what we came up with these shots:
My media product isn’t like ordinary thrillers for example the conventions of my thriller was different to many of the other groups doing the thrillers my thriller breaks the conventions of thrillers as it is not about crime, violence or murder etc. Although we broke media conventions I feel we have stuck to the media conventions very well in the view that we generated allot of tension, building to a climax and making the audience what is going to happen next , when he opens the lift door.
In my media product I feel that it represents all ages, all races, all classes and all genders. We decided to have no women in the thriller because very rarely we see thrillers where there are men beating up the women, although this could have made people feel more sorry for the person being beaten up. Maybe this is something that we should have doneto make it more impactfull. Also I feel everyone who regards themselves to be in any of these cases can be heavily involved in being bullied as a child or even as an adult. This can also be a result of which religion they represent, their political views or even what postcode they are from. Also I feel that our thriller is different to others as we have the white guy being beaten us whereas in professional thrillers have the black guy or Asian being beaten up which is very unusual.
I think that my media product will be distributed in a smaller production line. Something like over the internet, YouTube,
MySpace, maybe turned into a documentary then put onto a DVD. I think this because we didn’t have a lot of money to work with like the big film maker make for the Hollywood type screens. Maybe if we had more money to explore more places with then we would definitely make it to a Hollywood premier.
The target audience for our thriller is mainly for the age group from children starting school to teenagers in school or even college students. Specifically people who have different looks (over weight, wears glasses, ginger etc) or even if they have a disability (wheel chair, dodgy leg, speech impediment etc). If children of these ages have a function like these, our thriller is aimed at them. People think that they are the only people going through these but millions are going through the same thing each and every day. In some cases it is because of races or even gender. These people fit into our product in the way that when the interviewee was in school the interviewer bullied him and although you might have forgotten about the past it will still be in your mind and may affect you later on in your life time. For example in this case the victim is called Timi and the bully is called Ryan, and the reason Timi got bullied is because Ryan was jealous of him, maybe he was smarter than him or he was more popular den him with certain people or even jealous of him because of his looks? As one of the producer I can’t say what the reason is behind it because that is part of the suspense and might make the story seem not as good but these are possibilities. The reason why we are aiming our product at these people is because this is how many teenagers are ending up dead, either being stabbed, shot or even committing suicide. We made this thriller in aid of sending a message to every single teenager around the world encouraging them to lead a good life and not starting trouble with other people their age.
Addressing my target audience shouldn’t be difficult to capture. I would market my film by ringing some good professional members of the film industry show them a trailer of our film, which I cannot see them disliking. But first I would get in contact with one or two famous actors to help progress this film to the next level. This would give my film that extra bit of oomph. Maybe to play the victim having a big star like:
Martin Lawrence who has previously starred in films like blue streak, wild hogs, bad boys, big momma 1 and 2etc. And to play the bad boy bully we could have bad boy Vinnie Jones who has starred in films such as mean machine, football factory etc. This would definitely get the attention of the film promoters. I feel that by bringing in some famous actors to act the parts that me and Ali was playing would make it more believable and because these are both two well known fantastic actors people would be attracted to their work which would make the viewings more than if it was just me and Ali some unknown actors. I feel that the relevance of having these two actors specifically is that the effect of their race would make the message more exaggerated. The victim would be black and the bully would be white like the common conventions of a thriller.
To go about advertising my film I would have posters in the most popular places in the country such as: Mac Donald’s, KFC, billboards on motorways, trailers at the beginning of films at the cinema, adverts on television, posters stuck at train stations etc.
Overall I and also my colleagues feel that this process of filming editing and acting went really smooth maybe a few kafuffles along the way and a bit of match making made this film the little bit better and probably wouldn’t have been half as good as it ended up as. Some of the things that went wrong and were not planned were some things like the close up shot of the fingers pressing the lift button .
The thing that made this clip work, is that once we put our video together we watched it and thought there was something missing so we thought we should do a close up of the fingers quickly repeatedly tapping the lift button to show some intensity about our thriller which also gives it a little bit of quickness.
Other shots we didn’t plan was things like the weather but luckily when watching the footage on the computers it blended in very well with our topic because it didn’t matter whether it had rained or not because we started shooting and finished shooting outside in the one day (session). I think if we had filmed the outside shots (bullying scenes) in different weather conditions it would have gave it the affect that he is being bullied on different days instead of just the one day and in the same place.
To do this and understand what works and what doesn’t we had to study a few clips that have made it as professional films. We watched a selection of films in our media lessons and we wrote notes down. Some of the interesting things that we learnt was some techniques which involve important matters like lighting in “28 days later” this didn’t really help with our filming because we didn’t have the money to buy it and use it, there would also be no point of us getting this because we wouldn’t use it apart from this one time of filming so it would be a waste of money. Also from watching these shot openings to a thriller, I found out that we was able to film anywhere in London and wouldn’t get it trouble or fined because it is a public place and can be used for anything. We were given the opportunity to watch a documentary of a film called
“The watching” which helped immensely. Also some of the clips we studied were:
”28 days later”,
”Arlington road” ,
“collateral”.
After watching a lot of professional films and their beginnings but surprisingly we decided as a group that we would not go for the shocking style of thriller but instead we went for a different style in the way of flashback and suspense.
However many thrillers can appeal to anyone of any age, for example a crime thrillers such as snatch
Baring in mind all of the information we have taken in from the professional thrillers we were asked to plan the opening to a thriller. Our teachers gave us as a group a double side of a3 size of purple sugar paper to come up with and a good idea to present back to them. Some of the things we had to come up were camera angles, lighting, storyline, who it is going to appeal to (age, gender, ethnicity etc) and we needed to produce a storyboard of shots which we could follow if we got stuck on what to do next. The first and second idea we came up with as a group wasn’t as appealing and got turned down by two of the teachers. After hearing some advice we decided to scrap them ideas and to think again and this is where we came up with our current idea of a job interview. When we presented this to our teachers we got approved so the next lesson we started to film which was a relief.
Yet our thriller only appeal to young audiences as many people are or have experienced being bullied or yet even witnessed this kind of terrible behaviour. This is why we feel that our thriller can appeal to all ages because everyone has experienced a bit of this disgusting behaviour in their life!
To shoot these specific shots wasn’t that hard to shoot as many people might have thought but was actually quite easy because we planned to do this. Here is some example of the shots:
The reason why we have chosen to present these in black and white is to show that he is having flashbacks from when they both were at school and when he was getting bullied. Also we chose to put them in black and white because we want these shots to seem exaggerated and too graphic to show it in colour. These still shot images were only to represent our story board so the teachers got a rough idea of what we was filming, and also felt it would be acceptable so we could go ahead and film. This is what we came up with these shots:
My media product isn’t like ordinary thrillers for example the conventions of my thriller was different to many of the other groups doing the thrillers my thriller breaks the conventions of thrillers as it is not about crime, violence or murder etc. Although we broke media conventions I feel we have stuck to the media conventions very well in the view that we generated allot of tension, building to a climax and making the audience what is going to happen next , when he opens the lift door.
In my media product I feel that it represents all ages, all races, all classes and all genders. We decided to have no women in the thriller because very rarely we see thrillers where there are men beating up the women, although this could have made people feel more sorry for the person being beaten up. Maybe this is something that we should have doneto make it more impactfull. Also I feel everyone who regards themselves to be in any of these cases can be heavily involved in being bullied as a child or even as an adult. This can also be a result of which religion they represent, their political views or even what postcode they are from. Also I feel that our thriller is different to others as we have the white guy being beaten us whereas in professional thrillers have the black guy or Asian being beaten up which is very unusual.
I think that my media product will be distributed in a smaller production line. Something like over the internet, YouTube,
MySpace, maybe turned into a documentary then put onto a DVD. I think this because we didn’t have a lot of money to work with like the big film maker make for the Hollywood type screens. Maybe if we had more money to explore more places with then we would definitely make it to a Hollywood premier.
The target audience for our thriller is mainly for the age group from children starting school to teenagers in school or even college students. Specifically people who have different looks (over weight, wears glasses, ginger etc) or even if they have a disability (wheel chair, dodgy leg, speech impediment etc). If children of these ages have a function like these, our thriller is aimed at them. People think that they are the only people going through these but millions are going through the same thing each and every day. In some cases it is because of races or even gender. These people fit into our product in the way that when the interviewee was in school the interviewer bullied him and although you might have forgotten about the past it will still be in your mind and may affect you later on in your life time. For example in this case the victim is called Timi and the bully is called Ryan, and the reason Timi got bullied is because Ryan was jealous of him, maybe he was smarter than him or he was more popular den him with certain people or even jealous of him because of his looks? As one of the producer I can’t say what the reason is behind it because that is part of the suspense and might make the story seem not as good but these are possibilities. The reason why we are aiming our product at these people is because this is how many teenagers are ending up dead, either being stabbed, shot or even committing suicide. We made this thriller in aid of sending a message to every single teenager around the world encouraging them to lead a good life and not starting trouble with other people their age.
Addressing my target audience shouldn’t be difficult to capture. I would market my film by ringing some good professional members of the film industry show them a trailer of our film, which I cannot see them disliking. But first I would get in contact with one or two famous actors to help progress this film to the next level. This would give my film that extra bit of oomph. Maybe to play the victim having a big star like:
Martin Lawrence who has previously starred in films like blue streak, wild hogs, bad boys, big momma 1 and 2etc. And to play the bad boy bully we could have bad boy Vinnie Jones who has starred in films such as mean machine, football factory etc. This would definitely get the attention of the film promoters. I feel that by bringing in some famous actors to act the parts that me and Ali was playing would make it more believable and because these are both two well known fantastic actors people would be attracted to their work which would make the viewings more than if it was just me and Ali some unknown actors. I feel that the relevance of having these two actors specifically is that the effect of their race would make the message more exaggerated. The victim would be black and the bully would be white like the common conventions of a thriller.
To go about advertising my film I would have posters in the most popular places in the country such as: Mac Donald’s, KFC, billboards on motorways, trailers at the beginning of films at the cinema, adverts on television, posters stuck at train stations etc.
Overall I and also my colleagues feel that this process of filming editing and acting went really smooth maybe a few kafuffles along the way and a bit of match making made this film the little bit better and probably wouldn’t have been half as good as it ended up as. Some of the things that went wrong and were not planned were some things like the close up shot of the fingers pressing the lift button .
The thing that made this clip work, is that once we put our video together we watched it and thought there was something missing so we thought we should do a close up of the fingers quickly repeatedly tapping the lift button to show some intensity about our thriller which also gives it a little bit of quickness.
Other shots we didn’t plan was things like the weather but luckily when watching the footage on the computers it blended in very well with our topic because it didn’t matter whether it had rained or not because we started shooting and finished shooting outside in the one day (session). I think if we had filmed the outside shots (bullying scenes) in different weather conditions it would have gave it the affect that he is being bullied on different days instead of just the one day and in the same place.
Monday 23 March 2009
Evaluation
The Reunion
Our Thriller applies to the conventions of a normal thriller, for example the shot reverse between me and Chris. This was shown in the scene where I first entered the room and he gazed at me and I looked bemused. This is a common convention for communication in a thriller, more over narrative was shown not only through the shot reverse but also but also through a letter which explained the interview this addition help audience members understand the reason for Chris waiting in the holding room and gave sense to our thriller. Also we used the effect of black and white to indicate the past; this is where the bullying took place in the scene where there was black and white for the audience to understand that the bulling had taken place at school. This is a normal convention in many thrillers such as “once upon a time in America”.
However our thriller we did not go for the shocking theme as many thrillers do , for example many thrillers go for the shock effect such as Scarface, yet our we wanted to build the audiences suspense instead of a shock theme. This
The Reunion applies to people age 18 and below because of the fact that our thriller is based on the idea of how bullying could affect someone when they become older. The reason why we believe that the age 18 and below is suitable is because teenagers are commonly bulling or getting bullied, and it is fresh in younger people. This shows the impact of bulling and still affects people when they get older.
Moreover class and gender is not sufficient in our audience because people in every class and both male and female have witnessed or been bullied so it could be applied to any of them. Yet ideal audience members would be the people that bully other people so they can see their extent of what they are doing. More over if I could for an ideal audience member he would be at secondary school, age 14, lonely no friends and being bullied, this will help him understand that he is not alone.
The advertisement is key to any films success because the way you advertise your film is the way it will be perceived by the public. Moreover we there will be a surprise celebrity in our film so it could get more publicity as people do not care what the film is about rather they care about who is in it we will choose Will Smith to play the person getting bullied this is a publicity move so he can get a sympathy vote as he plays roles more often very brave and Manley, for example “I AM LEGEND”. The reason for choosing Will Smith is because he is one of the most well known actors in the world and is at his prime of his acting career.
We would advertise the thriller through trailers on YouTube as it is the biggest shared video site in the world and could give our film good coverage and publicity; this could profit the film by more people knowing about the film. We will attract audience by having billboards around main cities which we want our film to be viewed. Also we will advertise through McDonalds as they are supreme in their market for fast food with their support we can attract all ages and also with the support from them we could get promote McDonalds and in turn get some money from them.
I have learnt how to organise and make a storyboard which is an invaluable asset to making any film as it show you step by step what scene to film next, also filming with the camera is a difficult job for example you have to adjust the focus so that the picture is clear. Also we used the tripod so the camera is not tilting to one side and was fixed on a particular position. Moreover filming is challenging, we had a lot of faults with the camera for example sometimes we could not get the 180 shot as the camera on the tripod could not turn quick enough so we had to adapt to this and slow down our movements. Also final cut pro help us to cut and edit our thriller, we done this by dragging the clip we wanted to edit also we used effects such as Black and white to show the past.
The internet makes it able for me to blog what i have learnt in my lessons and talk about it from my perspective. More over Vimeo allows me to access and see my thriller on my own and make a judgemnt.
Our Thriller applies to the conventions of a normal thriller, for example the shot reverse between me and Chris. This was shown in the scene where I first entered the room and he gazed at me and I looked bemused. This is a common convention for communication in a thriller, more over narrative was shown not only through the shot reverse but also but also through a letter which explained the interview this addition help audience members understand the reason for Chris waiting in the holding room and gave sense to our thriller. Also we used the effect of black and white to indicate the past; this is where the bullying took place in the scene where there was black and white for the audience to understand that the bulling had taken place at school. This is a normal convention in many thrillers such as “once upon a time in America”.
However our thriller we did not go for the shocking theme as many thrillers do , for example many thrillers go for the shock effect such as Scarface, yet our we wanted to build the audiences suspense instead of a shock theme. This
The Reunion applies to people age 18 and below because of the fact that our thriller is based on the idea of how bullying could affect someone when they become older. The reason why we believe that the age 18 and below is suitable is because teenagers are commonly bulling or getting bullied, and it is fresh in younger people. This shows the impact of bulling and still affects people when they get older.
Moreover class and gender is not sufficient in our audience because people in every class and both male and female have witnessed or been bullied so it could be applied to any of them. Yet ideal audience members would be the people that bully other people so they can see their extent of what they are doing. More over if I could for an ideal audience member he would be at secondary school, age 14, lonely no friends and being bullied, this will help him understand that he is not alone.
The advertisement is key to any films success because the way you advertise your film is the way it will be perceived by the public. Moreover we there will be a surprise celebrity in our film so it could get more publicity as people do not care what the film is about rather they care about who is in it we will choose Will Smith to play the person getting bullied this is a publicity move so he can get a sympathy vote as he plays roles more often very brave and Manley, for example “I AM LEGEND”. The reason for choosing Will Smith is because he is one of the most well known actors in the world and is at his prime of his acting career.
We would advertise the thriller through trailers on YouTube as it is the biggest shared video site in the world and could give our film good coverage and publicity; this could profit the film by more people knowing about the film. We will attract audience by having billboards around main cities which we want our film to be viewed. Also we will advertise through McDonalds as they are supreme in their market for fast food with their support we can attract all ages and also with the support from them we could get promote McDonalds and in turn get some money from them.
I have learnt how to organise and make a storyboard which is an invaluable asset to making any film as it show you step by step what scene to film next, also filming with the camera is a difficult job for example you have to adjust the focus so that the picture is clear. Also we used the tripod so the camera is not tilting to one side and was fixed on a particular position. Moreover filming is challenging, we had a lot of faults with the camera for example sometimes we could not get the 180 shot as the camera on the tripod could not turn quick enough so we had to adapt to this and slow down our movements. Also final cut pro help us to cut and edit our thriller, we done this by dragging the clip we wanted to edit also we used effects such as Black and white to show the past.
The internet makes it able for me to blog what i have learnt in my lessons and talk about it from my perspective. More over Vimeo allows me to access and see my thriller on my own and make a judgemnt.
Sunday 22 March 2009
Watching our thriller in the VUE cinema
Thsi was a chance for the whole of the as media students and teachers to compare and give their opinion on other people thrillers. As our group were near the end this gave us time to watch all of the thrillers and essential compare their auidence reactions with ours, their was 45 thrillers in total, which ment that we would be there for more than an hour, also each thriller lasted 2 miuntes.
at the start the auidence were exited so the first few thriller had got good good reactions however as time went on the thrillers tended to be the same, for example a stalker, kidnapper or killer, yet when our one came on the change of scenario gave the auidece a shock, when the flashback scene came on people reaction from confusion to shock, and when the thriller finished the auidence had gave a nice appaulase. Moreover this oppertunity to see our thriller on a big screengave our work a sense of achievement knowing that not only did you created yet starred in your thriller and for poeple to see you on a cinema screen gave not only our group but i feel for the whole of the as media students a sense of self achievment and confidence to know that what you have created could be interpreted in other ways by other people. For example our thriller could be jusgt a basic thriller to one member of the auidence yet to another a frsh new idea.
at the start the auidence were exited so the first few thriller had got good good reactions however as time went on the thrillers tended to be the same, for example a stalker, kidnapper or killer, yet when our one came on the change of scenario gave the auidece a shock, when the flashback scene came on people reaction from confusion to shock, and when the thriller finished the auidence had gave a nice appaulase. Moreover this oppertunity to see our thriller on a big screengave our work a sense of achievement knowing that not only did you created yet starred in your thriller and for poeple to see you on a cinema screen gave not only our group but i feel for the whole of the as media students a sense of self achievment and confidence to know that what you have created could be interpreted in other ways by other people. For example our thriller could be jusgt a basic thriller to one member of the auidence yet to another a frsh new idea.
Class Feedback
In this lesson we watched all our classes thrillers, we each had to give a small presentation explainig what our thriller was about. While watching other peoples thrillers and how they used their time in creating their thriller our group found out that most groups went with the conventional stalker or killer thriller, yet our thriller was different because of the way we implanted the mystery factor which gave an edge to the thriller and from some of the poelpe in our classes the reaction were better than exected, we had a view nail ripping scenes such as the lift scene were chris is pressing the lift button reppeatedly to show his fear.
Moreover the comments from our class was vital to us as they gave us some pointers also the teachers Mary and Dan told us that they like the smooth cuts, so this boosted are belife in our project.
Moreover the comments from our class was vital to us as they gave us some pointers also the teachers Mary and Dan told us that they like the smooth cuts, so this boosted are belife in our project.
Friday 20 March 2009
The Reunion: Thriller Evaluation
In contrast to the many media products that have been made for the consumption of media audiences, I think my thriller film does oppose a few of the many conventions, in the sense that my thriller’s opening shot is not an ESTABLISHING SHOT. Whereas my thriller begins with a ZOOM out of a letter, where the character’s current activity is established. In support of this, my group and I wanted the audience to be uninformed of what is happening initially.
My media product is not deliberately subjective to any social groups and in my opinion, I do not think this presents any issue in my film.The characters in my film represent two working class, white males. However, it was not deliberate that both of the actors would be of the same racial identity but it was primitive that they would both be of the same gender. This was mainly for the purpose of the bullying scene. It would have been a little out of character for a boy to be bullied by a girl and vice-versa, but not impossible.
YouTube owned by Google, is a video sharing site that users can watch, upload and share video content. Once a registered user you are able to upload numerous videos.This would be a good website to use if choosing to broadcast my thriller, as it is free and available to any internet user for consumption.
Channel 4 is an independent, commercially self-funded media company.
The channel offer opportunities for new directors to produce films for broadcast television. In the form of a three-minute media product, appropriately named Three Minute Wonder (3MW).If I were intending to broadcast my short film on television, I would consider approaching Kate Vogul, the Commissioning editor at Channel 4.
One famous film that does follow some of these conventions is the 1958 crime thriller, Touch of Evil film directed by Orson Welles, starring Janet Leigh and Charlton Heston. Although the film does not begin immediately in an ESTABLISHING SHOT, it does include one legendary, continuous, three minute CRANE SHOT.
Still taken from 'Touch of Evil' film (below)
My media product is not deliberately subjective to any social groups and in my opinion, I do not think this presents any issue in my film.The characters in my film represent two working class, white males. However, it was not deliberate that both of the actors would be of the same racial identity but it was primitive that they would both be of the same gender. This was mainly for the purpose of the bullying scene. It would have been a little out of character for a boy to be bullied by a girl and vice-versa, but not impossible.
If my film were for the consumption of media, audiences it would be distributed to a small number of UK ‘art house’ cinemas and would have been a small independent UK release. The reasons for this are that the film was produced on a minimal expense budget and the facilities were provided. In addition to this, the film is intended as a student project.Despite this, the film if released or if made available for public consumption for any reason, would have to distribute via the most cost effective means.
YouTube owned by Google, is a video sharing site that users can watch, upload and share video content. Once a registered user you are able to upload numerous videos.This would be a good website to use if choosing to broadcast my thriller, as it is free and available to any internet user for consumption.
Channel 4 is an independent, commercially self-funded media company.
The channel offer opportunities for new directors to produce films for broadcast television. In the form of a three-minute media product, appropriately named Three Minute Wonder (3MW).If I were intending to broadcast my short film on television, I would consider approaching Kate Vogul, the Commissioning editor at Channel 4.
Other sites I would consider if intending to broadcast my film include:
The target audience for my media product would be 17 – 22 year olds. I think that the audience that would find my short film most interesting would a predominately white working class background, mainly aspirers.
An example of a person that would be typical of my audience is ‘David, 18 works at Sainsbury’s part time whilst studying A level ICT, Electronics and Film Studies. David also enjoys socialising with friends, festivals and supporting small niche groups, spends most weekends with his girlfriend Sophie.
The target audience for my media product would be 17 – 22 year olds. I think that the audience that would find my short film most interesting would a predominately white working class background, mainly aspirers.
An example of a person that would be typical of my audience is ‘David, 18 works at Sainsbury’s part time whilst studying A level ICT, Electronics and Film Studies. David also enjoys socialising with friends, festivals and supporting small niche groups, spends most weekends with his girlfriend Sophie.
To attract my audience I would have an internet campaign and trailers on Channel 4. As I would be working on a small budget, I would like to market my film based on its reviews. I would like to get as many valuable reviews as possible that praise the film, as it is generally ‘word of mouth’ that sparks interest and debate into most films.I would also popular television programmes talk about my film, e.g. London Tonight on the 6 o’ clock news when one of the critics could express their opinion on the film and that is available for viewing at selected cinemas.
Having reached the end of the project and reflecting on my preliminary task, I now understand the importance of a soundtrack in relation to any moving picture. I am now fully aware that sound can be used to manipulate the interpretation of images.
After reviewing footage from my preliminary film and thriller film, I think it is clear that my filming and editing skills have developed greatly. I noticed that in the preliminary film that I was using the ZOOM function unnecessarily at times.I also noticed that the CUTs in between shots in my thriller are much smoother than the ones in my preliminary film.
Having reached the end of the project and reflecting on my preliminary task, I now understand the importance of a soundtrack in relation to any moving picture. I am now fully aware that sound can be used to manipulate the interpretation of images.
After reviewing footage from my preliminary film and thriller film, I think it is clear that my filming and editing skills have developed greatly. I noticed that in the preliminary film that I was using the ZOOM function unnecessarily at times.I also noticed that the CUTs in between shots in my thriller are much smoother than the ones in my preliminary film.
As the planning for the preliminary film was of a low standard, I think it is apparent in the quality of work that my colleagues and I produced on this occasion.
An example of this is that the location we had for filming our preliminary task was decided on short notice. The room was untidy and I believe, distracting for any audience as it has no relevance to the mise en scene. At one point, there is a plant stem in one of the MEDIUM ANGLE SHOTs.
An example of this is that the location we had for filming our preliminary task was decided on short notice. The room was untidy and I believe, distracting for any audience as it has no relevance to the mise en scene. At one point, there is a plant stem in one of the MEDIUM ANGLE SHOTs.
Still from Preliminary task (below)
I also learnt that professional film makers only use 10% of the rushes they shoot. When filming the preliminary filming my group members and I were short of choice as we had a very basic array of shots to choose from when editing.
However, when editing my thriller the choice of shots was vast and at times, we were undecided on what shots we should use.I have realised the importance of thorough planning. If the planning at the beginning of the project had been more in depth, I am more than certain that my media product would have been of a higher standard and most definitely had a better concept.
I also learnt that professional film makers only use 10% of the rushes they shoot. When filming the preliminary filming my group members and I were short of choice as we had a very basic array of shots to choose from when editing.However, when editing my thriller the choice of shots was vast and at times, we were undecided on what shots we should use.I have realised the importance of thorough planning. If the planning at the beginning of the project had been more in depth, I am more than certain that my media product would have been of a higher standard and most definitely had a better concept.
Tuesday 10 March 2009
The Title
The title is also as important as the sound, because this also describes the film in one way. So we needed to choose one that reflects our Thriller but also appeals to the auidence, yet as we had to finish the sound we didnt have alot of time to choose the right title for our thriller.
Our first title choice was The Comback, yet this title felt a bit common so we decided it would not portray our thiller. The next one was The Return even though this explain our thriller by me returning to see the person i once bullied, it felt too simplictic, we wanted something that explained our thriller but also made our thriller shine when we introduced it. As this was the thing that our auidence would see at the end. The name we thought next was The Reuion this had an appeal to it, for example it portayed that we would reunite and also it has a misty scare to it. The Reuion has a creative edge to it compared with The Comback.
We chose The Reuion becasue we all agreed that it gives the film a nervous approach, Just like what the film is about.
Our first title choice was The Comback, yet this title felt a bit common so we decided it would not portray our thiller. The next one was The Return even though this explain our thriller by me returning to see the person i once bullied, it felt too simplictic, we wanted something that explained our thriller but also made our thriller shine when we introduced it. As this was the thing that our auidence would see at the end. The name we thought next was The Reuion this had an appeal to it, for example it portayed that we would reunite and also it has a misty scare to it. The Reuion has a creative edge to it compared with The Comback.
We chose The Reuion becasue we all agreed that it gives the film a nervous approach, Just like what the film is about.
Sound
We had one lesson before our dealine so this gave us roughly 3 hours to do our sound and titles. The sound is one of the most important factors in any film, the reason for this is because it portrays the way the film is flowing e.g in a thriller we needed a up tempo constant noise to portray the tension in the film.
We had a constant noise which included drum and heartbeat noise because we wanted the auidence to understand the tension and anxiety in waiting for a job interview, moreover when the flashback enters the scene a rumble of noises collabrates, we did this by putting songs on top of each other. We used these rumbles of sounds to create a shock sensation for the auidece. The sound was a long and grueling process because we had so many sounds to choose from, first we had a basic beating sound which we felt was boring, and at one point where going to put the sound of a playground or laughing when the flashback scene came yet they were either too over the top and not authentic so we passed on them. So we were left with a coupl of sounds yet when we found out our base sound the constant sound, then we were able to develope sounds on top of that to make a colarche of sounds.
Furthermore we all had a few sounds we liked that we felt could benfit our thriller, yet the drum sound and the heartbeat is one we all agreed on, becasue the constant druming giives the effect of waiting and bordem at the start this is shown through the constant way Chris taps his foot, drinks his water etc. The heartbeat portrays is fear and anxiety of waiting and not getting the Job.
We had a constant noise which included drum and heartbeat noise because we wanted the auidence to understand the tension and anxiety in waiting for a job interview, moreover when the flashback enters the scene a rumble of noises collabrates, we did this by putting songs on top of each other. We used these rumbles of sounds to create a shock sensation for the auidece. The sound was a long and grueling process because we had so many sounds to choose from, first we had a basic beating sound which we felt was boring, and at one point where going to put the sound of a playground or laughing when the flashback scene came yet they were either too over the top and not authentic so we passed on them. So we were left with a coupl of sounds yet when we found out our base sound the constant sound, then we were able to develope sounds on top of that to make a colarche of sounds.
Furthermore we all had a few sounds we liked that we felt could benfit our thriller, yet the drum sound and the heartbeat is one we all agreed on, becasue the constant druming giives the effect of waiting and bordem at the start this is shown through the constant way Chris taps his foot, drinks his water etc. The heartbeat portrays is fear and anxiety of waiting and not getting the Job.
Sunday 1 March 2009
Credits and Sound and Title
when we came into our final lesson we roughly had a 3 hour deadline so we didnt panic and put anything together we took our time and done it carefully and with alot of thought.
we started doing our credits, we had a veriety of things to consider like: camera, lighting, screen play, sound etc...
a little while after this process we started to put sound to our thriller to make it that bit better, to give it that extra umph.
we firstly started to listen to everything that we had the choice of choosing from in every different cattagory.
once we listened to everything we all took notes on which we liked as we was going through the sounds, we also had to keep in our minds that this is a thriller so it would be very unlikely to have any upbeat sounds or fast beats.
once we had done all this we listen to the ones picked by all 3 of us and decided on the best ones for this piece.
there were various sounds/beats we liked so we added them all together and see how it sounds which actually turned out very good, so we decided to go with this.
finally we had to choose a title for this thriller, we all came up with various names like "comeback", "the return" and a few others but we all chose one that out stood all of the others, so to conclude our short thriller opening we had a little bit of black screen before the title pops up.
we started doing our credits, we had a veriety of things to consider like: camera, lighting, screen play, sound etc...
a little while after this process we started to put sound to our thriller to make it that bit better, to give it that extra umph.
we firstly started to listen to everything that we had the choice of choosing from in every different cattagory.
once we listened to everything we all took notes on which we liked as we was going through the sounds, we also had to keep in our minds that this is a thriller so it would be very unlikely to have any upbeat sounds or fast beats.
once we had done all this we listen to the ones picked by all 3 of us and decided on the best ones for this piece.
there were various sounds/beats we liked so we added them all together and see how it sounds which actually turned out very good, so we decided to go with this.
finally we had to choose a title for this thriller, we all came up with various names like "comeback", "the return" and a few others but we all chose one that out stood all of the others, so to conclude our short thriller opening we had a little bit of black screen before the title pops up.
Editing Our Thriller
after we had filmed all what we needed to film, we then started to piece it together using final cutt pro on the mac's in our classrooms.
Firstly during my spare time i thought i would help my group out by logging and capturing what we shotso we could have more time during lessons to put it together and concentrate more on the more inportant things like match cutt.
once this was done we had more time to do the more difficult things during our lesson time.
we found this easier because if there was something we found hard to perfect we could ask one of our teachers for help.
once we put all of our shots in sequence and where we wanted them to go we then started to put things like fades dissolves in to make our shots flow a little better.
we only used them when we all felt we needed to, it wasnt like "oh its more simpler" it was a matter of do we need it?
Firstly during my spare time i thought i would help my group out by logging and capturing what we shotso we could have more time during lessons to put it together and concentrate more on the more inportant things like match cutt.
once this was done we had more time to do the more difficult things during our lesson time.
we found this easier because if there was something we found hard to perfect we could ask one of our teachers for help.
once we put all of our shots in sequence and where we wanted them to go we then started to put things like fades dissolves in to make our shots flow a little better.
we only used them when we all felt we needed to, it wasnt like "oh its more simpler" it was a matter of do we need it?
Friday 27 February 2009
Post Production Phase 3
Today’s lesson was dedicated to the soundtrack with the film finished last lesson.I created the entire soundtrack whilst my group members sat and watched. This had no impact on me as I had my own ideas for the soundtrack, regardless of whether or not my colleagues attempted to contribute although they did not.
I tried numerous sounds that I thought would correspond effectively with the footage.
Overall, I believe the soundtrack was the easiest part of the postproduction process, having basic yet previous experience with the Soundtrack Pro software. Fortunately, I was able to complete the soundtrack and import it into Final Cut Pro.
I tried numerous sounds that I thought would correspond effectively with the footage.
Overall, I believe the soundtrack was the easiest part of the postproduction process, having basic yet previous experience with the Soundtrack Pro software. Fortunately, I was able to complete the soundtrack and import it into Final Cut Pro.
Tuesday 17 February 2009
Finishing Our Film
We had to come back on monday, to finish our editing. In this lesson we edited the interview scene the flashback and the lift scene. In addition we also filmed the numbers on the lifts for example lvl 1, lvl 2, to indicate the lift going up. We had many clips that needed editing such as we slowed down the clips to show more emotion, also we edited the flash back so we had one flash back which we had edited to black and white through effects, this gave the the flash back a past effect. Also from a 2 minute clip of the flsh back we had edited it to just 10-15 secounds. we had put the flash backs in 3 parts the first we had put me shaking the camera then it would go back to the interview, then the flash back would appear again and after the flashback would have me hitting Chris and we will see chris running to the lift then we will see last flashback of running away from where i had beaten up chris.
The lift scene was easy to do as we were familer with how to edit, yet we had forgotten to film the numbers on the lift, Chris filmed it as i pressed the lift for it to go to the lower ground floor and to go up to the 3 floor gradually so we could filmed all the floors. the lift scene consisted of me following Chris into the lift, and to show this through different angles.
The credits were done through the words, were we were able to choose the font the size and the writing style. We were able to move it and locate it were we wanted, the first credit was the producers, we located this in the interview scene.
The lift scene was easy to do as we were familer with how to edit, yet we had forgotten to film the numbers on the lift, Chris filmed it as i pressed the lift for it to go to the lower ground floor and to go up to the 3 floor gradually so we could filmed all the floors. the lift scene consisted of me following Chris into the lift, and to show this through different angles.
The credits were done through the words, were we were able to choose the font the size and the writing style. We were able to move it and locate it were we wanted, the first credit was the producers, we located this in the interview scene.
Monday 16 February 2009
Post Production Phase 2
Unfortunately due to the earlier delay to editing, the group and me were forcedto work out of term time to edit our footage. This however was not a problem for me as I have been dedicated from the start of the project to make my thriller a success at all lengths.
This day was the most productive day since the commence of this project, although I did arrive late this had minimum impact as I still found myself doing most of the editing as my group members had not achieved much before my arrival.Whilst editing the flashback scene I suggested to my group that we should film the lift numbers, so that we could cut them in between the interviewee waiting for the lift.
My reason for suggesting this idea was that I thought it would add more of a variation to the clips that we already have and I thought that it would add more tension to the scene.Once we agreed, we decided that Ali and Chris should film this additional footage whilst I continued editing.
During the time, which Ali and Chris went to do the additional filming, I converted the flashback clips into black and white film. By doing so I think, I created an even clearer distinction between the flashback and the interview setting. I also believe that I made it able for the viewer to discriminate that the flashback is occurring during the interviewee’s school days.It was also my idea to integrate the interview scene between some of the flashback clips, as I wanted the flashback to appear as if, it is happening in the thoughts of the interviewee, whilst recognising that the interviewer is the ex–bully.
We later decided to have our credits in the film as a pose to at the end, as our thriller is the beginning of a film. In addition to this, our credits correspond with who did what in the production process.
So far, I have found completing the credits, the most difficult part of the postproduction, when using him image and wireframe functions. Although the demonstration I was given, my one of the technicians proved most useful.
This day was the most productive day since the commence of this project, although I did arrive late this had minimum impact as I still found myself doing most of the editing as my group members had not achieved much before my arrival.Whilst editing the flashback scene I suggested to my group that we should film the lift numbers, so that we could cut them in between the interviewee waiting for the lift.
My reason for suggesting this idea was that I thought it would add more of a variation to the clips that we already have and I thought that it would add more tension to the scene.Once we agreed, we decided that Ali and Chris should film this additional footage whilst I continued editing.
During the time, which Ali and Chris went to do the additional filming, I converted the flashback clips into black and white film. By doing so I think, I created an even clearer distinction between the flashback and the interview setting. I also believe that I made it able for the viewer to discriminate that the flashback is occurring during the interviewee’s school days.It was also my idea to integrate the interview scene between some of the flashback clips, as I wanted the flashback to appear as if, it is happening in the thoughts of the interviewee, whilst recognising that the interviewer is the ex–bully.
We later decided to have our credits in the film as a pose to at the end, as our thriller is the beginning of a film. In addition to this, our credits correspond with who did what in the production process.
So far, I have found completing the credits, the most difficult part of the postproduction, when using him image and wireframe functions. Although the demonstration I was given, my one of the technicians proved most useful.
Wednesday 11 February 2009
10th febuary Starting our editing
We started editing, here we labeled are clips so we can understand what clips are what and were they need to be used. After this we started cutting our clips, first we started from the intervierw scene where Chris is waiting for the interview and show his actions eg. him biting the pen, wiping the sweat from his head and shuffling papers. Moreover as some scene were not taken to our liking we had try different features such as dizzolve to show time passing yet this did not work. Also when i walk up to the door my leg moves which prevents a smooth cut as when pannning up me the camera went down then back up again. We had editied the interview scene yet the scene we have not is the bully scene and the lift scene. Moreover we were looking to finish on thursday, but we are able to come back on moday to finsh, also in the editing lesson i leared how to cut even more smoothly and how to use feature such as dissolve etc. I had more awearness of how to judge when we should cut, and how we should for example one idea i had put forward was that when chris sees me he should go to the flashback as his face looks surprised.
6th of febuary finishing our filming Fridays lesson
In this lesson we only needed about half an hour to complete filming, this consisted of filming the flash back, were i had to get changed into my school uniform and perform my bully scene. When filming the bully scene i had to do sevearal actions with my hands to show me intimidtion towards Chirs who was the person getting bullied. Also we filmed from the perspective of Chris, so i was close up to the camera to indicate my authority, and to show i have power over Chris. Moreover we done to type of shots one were the camera was looking up at me to show my higher status, another was on the same level as my face to indicate to the auidence that i am not scared. However we could not start editing as the camera did not work on the computer.
Tuesday 10 February 2009
Post Production Phase 1
This session we began editing the footage that we had filmed previously. There is one particular clip in the film that I thought would look better if its speed was reduced.
Having no former knowledge of doing so, I asked one of the technicians in the media suite if they could show me how to reduce the speed on the clip. I now know that to do this you must: Firstly HIGHLIGHT the clipNext using the cursor, go to MODIFY on the tool barThen click on SPEED and insert a figure (in numerical form that will either increase or decrease the speed of the clip)
Having no former knowledge of doing so, I asked one of the technicians in the media suite if they could show me how to reduce the speed on the clip. I now know that to do this you must: Firstly HIGHLIGHT the clipNext using the cursor, go to MODIFY on the tool barThen click on SPEED and insert a figure (in numerical form that will either increase or decrease the speed of the clip)
Friday 6 February 2009
Post Production Impediment
The group and I were unable to upload our footage this lesson, due to faulty video drives. This was particularly frustrating with the deadline rapidly approaching, and the time we had left to complete to edit all footage and produce a soundtrack dwindling.
Wednesday 4 February 2009
Friday lesson
We had started filming our thriller which was ann exiting and difficult process. We were able to put all the things we practiced into the real film. We used many filming techniques such as zooming, 180 degree rule also match cut and many more, we were unable to finsh the filming in this lesson but we were going to finsh in the lesson on tuesday yert the weather had disabled our plans. However we only have one scene left which is the flashback of the person, which is essential in order for our thriller to make sense. Moreover our stroyboard gave us a major boost in filming the thriller as it helped us know which scenes we had to film and as it was with photoraph of the scenes instead of drawing this enabled us to understand who was who and where it was going to be filmed. Moreover as we had to change our idea many times because our first idea lack imagination as it was about a stalker, and the other idea was good yet it did not seem that we would enjoy making it, yet our last idea is simploe yet effective, as it has never been done. we hope to finish our thriller filming on fridays lesson and start editing.
Friday 30 January 2009
Production Phase 1
This lesson we began filming our thriller film. The first location for filming was an office located on the college premise. It was necessary that I did the majority of the filming as both of my group members were required to take acting roles.
I made a conscious effort to do multiple angle shots so that when editing my group and I would have an array of shots to choose from.
One problem that my group and I encountered was during break time, as existing students at the college kept walking into a shot that we had finally been able to perfect.Another difficulty I faced was filming shots in and around the lift. This was problematic as from some angles were difficult to film from.
In addition to this filming inside of the lift was hard, as the doors would shut every now and again.Despite this, my colleagues and I were able to complete all filming for our thriller within our pre scheduled three-hour lesson.
I made a conscious effort to do multiple angle shots so that when editing my group and I would have an array of shots to choose from.
One problem that my group and I encountered was during break time, as existing students at the college kept walking into a shot that we had finally been able to perfect.Another difficulty I faced was filming shots in and around the lift. This was problematic as from some angles were difficult to film from.
In addition to this filming inside of the lift was hard, as the doors would shut every now and again.Despite this, my colleagues and I were able to complete all filming for our thriller within our pre scheduled three-hour lesson.
Thursday 29 January 2009
Planning our Thriller
We had an original idea which contained a stalker/serial killer we was going to follow some one and strangle them to death. However this idea was too simple and had been done many times it was to repetetive. so we had to spend tuesday lesson adding new ideas and creating our storyboard through using pictures. Also our new idea is an idea that has never been done before. Also here we were able to use our old ideas and develope them into better ideas for example the stalker chnged in to a bully, which we felt could appeal to many people as bullying may go unoticed in many schools and shows awearness to people who watch our film.
Tuesday 27 January 2009
Pre Production Phase 2 (Storyboarding)
We changed our idea slightly this lesson. We decided to evolve our thriller around an interview situation. An interviewee is in waiting room where he is seen acting nervously and agitated whilst waiting to be called. We decided that we would portray this by filming behaviours associated with nervousness, e.g. perspiration on his brow, sipping water, tapping foot etc.
Then the door to the room is opened by another man, this man turns out to be someone that bullied him when he was at school. There is going to be a close up of the interviewee's face as he has seen the ex-bully.
After which there is a montage of flashbacks of the interviewee being bullied when he was at school.
The interviewee hastily exits the room, followed by the ex-bully at some distance. Interviewee anxiously waits for a lift, he gets inside and as the doors are just about to shut the ex-bully manages to stop them form doing so.
This concept was approved by our teacher, so my colleagues and I were able to storyboard our idea. After storyboarding, we left a sufficient amount of time to discuss props, casting, and attire and production schedule.
Then the door to the room is opened by another man, this man turns out to be someone that bullied him when he was at school. There is going to be a close up of the interviewee's face as he has seen the ex-bully.
After which there is a montage of flashbacks of the interviewee being bullied when he was at school.
The interviewee hastily exits the room, followed by the ex-bully at some distance. Interviewee anxiously waits for a lift, he gets inside and as the doors are just about to shut the ex-bully manages to stop them form doing so.
This concept was approved by our teacher, so my colleagues and I were able to storyboard our idea. After storyboarding, we left a sufficient amount of time to discuss props, casting, and attire and production schedule.
Friday 23 January 2009
Pre Production Phase 1 (Pitch)
At the beginning of the lesson, all groups were given the opportunity to organise the pitches that we had to produce before being given the 'ok' to execute our ideas.
Primarily my group and I decided that the theme for our thriller would be revenge. The storyline behind this theme was about a boy that used to be bullied when he was at school. The ex-victim would then see the boy that had previously bullied him on 'Induction Day' at college. We would then show the ex-victim being bullied at school through the use of flashbacks at various intervals in the film. Eventually the ex-victim would feel the desire to get revenge on the bully.
Two out of the three teachers we pitched our idea to thought it was a good concept. However, one of the teachers did not think it was that plausible, when taking into consideration the amount of time provided to complete the thriller and the duration of the thriller.
Having seen the rest of the classes pitches and with the criticisms we received, through conferring with my colleagues it became evident that we may have been somewhat over ambitious, as it may not be possible to fit this information into the space of two minutes in a clear and concise way.For the rest of the lesson we brainstormed ideas on how we could improve our initial idea and various camera angles and techniques.
Primarily my group and I decided that the theme for our thriller would be revenge. The storyline behind this theme was about a boy that used to be bullied when he was at school. The ex-victim would then see the boy that had previously bullied him on 'Induction Day' at college. We would then show the ex-victim being bullied at school through the use of flashbacks at various intervals in the film. Eventually the ex-victim would feel the desire to get revenge on the bully.
Two out of the three teachers we pitched our idea to thought it was a good concept. However, one of the teachers did not think it was that plausible, when taking into consideration the amount of time provided to complete the thriller and the duration of the thriller.
Having seen the rest of the classes pitches and with the criticisms we received, through conferring with my colleagues it became evident that we may have been somewhat over ambitious, as it may not be possible to fit this information into the space of two minutes in a clear and concise way.For the rest of the lesson we brainstormed ideas on how we could improve our initial idea and various camera angles and techniques.
Wednesday 21 January 2009
Match Cut Execrise (Editing)
In this period, we had to begin and complete all of editing for the match cut exercise, unfortunately we unable to finish editing all of our footage to a high degree. Yet we were able to incorporate at least two match cuts into our Short footage.
It has become apparent that my group members and I will have to sacrifice some hours outside of lesson time to produce a quality thriller film/sequence to the best of our ability. Communication between group members is also crucial; I took it upon myself to swap details with my colleagues.
It has become apparent that my group members and I will have to sacrifice some hours outside of lesson time to produce a quality thriller film/sequence to the best of our ability. Communication between group members is also crucial; I took it upon myself to swap details with my colleagues.
Tuesday 20 January 2009
thriller practical
The secound practical film went much smoother than the first. As i was calm and i did not muck about in the lesson, i was serious as i acted and this enabled us to get better shots and gave us more time for editing. As the first practical we did not get the clips we wanted, yet this time we were able work in a room which enabled us to get better shots. In this practical i learned how to understand hw we can get good shots e.g when to zoom or rotate to get the best clip in that scene. We used the zoom to show my facial expression after the clip were cris done the sign with his fingers to show my reacton. Moreover i learnt how to cut clips to make the film run more smoothly, and how to work with my group and collabrate our ideas to get the best clip we could.
Friday 16 January 2009
Match Cut Exercise
This lesson we were required to watch a video of a man copying files from a computer to discs, whilst chain smoking.
The purpose of this exercise was to identify and learn the match cut technique.
Then my colleagues and I were given the task to film a conversation where we would make use of the match cut technique and put into practice the 180-degree rule.
My group and I decided that we would film a conversation between two boys speaking about a package. The location for this conversation was in an office in the colleges Media department.
It was necessary for me to do the majority of the filming, as the rest of my team were the actors. I ensured that we filmed the conversation from more than one angle, so that we would have an ample amount of footage at our disposal for at least one match cut shot.
The purpose of this exercise was to identify and learn the match cut technique.
Then my colleagues and I were given the task to film a conversation where we would make use of the match cut technique and put into practice the 180-degree rule.
My group and I decided that we would film a conversation between two boys speaking about a package. The location for this conversation was in an office in the colleges Media department.
It was necessary for me to do the majority of the filming, as the rest of my team were the actors. I ensured that we filmed the conversation from more than one angle, so that we would have an ample amount of footage at our disposal for at least one match cut shot.
Wednesday 14 January 2009
Thrillers 1
This lesson we began by watching a documentary about opening sequences. Following this, the class was provided with a short question and answer activity based on the documentary, after completion we then discussed.
Next, we were able to preview some As Thrillers produced last year. As a class we discussed each of the featured thrillers by saying what we thought to be a good and bad examples if work, we also discussed the technical elements we were able to identify.
One thriller I thought to be particularly effective was of one man taking a brief case to a lift with a bomb in it.
I thought that the students had chosen a good location, Canary Wharf. This showed good planning.
I also like the way the students had made use of the resources the college has to offer, for example using the college lift. I think this also shows good editing, as they were able to incorporate footage taken from two different locations and edit them effectively. This also showed good continuity.
Lastly, I thought the camera work was excellent; I liked the students’ use of varied camera shots. The panning up buildings and the use of close ups.
By watching As Thrillers from last year, I have been able to think about potential locations and camera shots I would like to include in my own thriller.
Next, we were able to preview some As Thrillers produced last year. As a class we discussed each of the featured thrillers by saying what we thought to be a good and bad examples if work, we also discussed the technical elements we were able to identify.
One thriller I thought to be particularly effective was of one man taking a brief case to a lift with a bomb in it.
I thought that the students had chosen a good location, Canary Wharf. This showed good planning.
I also like the way the students had made use of the resources the college has to offer, for example using the college lift. I think this also shows good editing, as they were able to incorporate footage taken from two different locations and edit them effectively. This also showed good continuity.
Lastly, I thought the camera work was excellent; I liked the students’ use of varied camera shots. The panning up buildings and the use of close ups.
By watching As Thrillers from last year, I have been able to think about potential locations and camera shots I would like to include in my own thriller.
Friday 9 January 2009
Casino Royale
(left) Star Daniel Craig, sixth actor to play James Bond 007 in the 2006 Casino Royale film.We began today's lesson in the Mac room where the class was able to work individually on various clips from the Bond film, Casino Royale.The first task consisted of watching the trailer for Casino Royale.
Then we watched pre-recorded clips of the film's supervising sound editor, Eddy Joseph explaining how you can emphasise certain aspects within a frame and how you can manipulate an audience with sounds that correspond with the mise en scene, but are not visible.
Joseph described this as a way of adding information.We then had the opportunity to move around the sound on selected clips from the Casino Royale film. This task demonstrated that sound has a vital role in how well or how badly an audience will respond to a media text.Next, we were able to create our own soundtrack for three other selected sequences from the Bond film.After which we were given the chance to produce soundtracks for our individual footage that we had produced whilst in our groups, using Soundtrack Pro.
Sunday 4 January 2009
2nd Task In The Last Lesson Before X-MAS
In my thriller, I want to create confusion and a little mystery. I think this would be a good way of getting the audience on their seats and think about what’s going on.The natural lighting that is used is one of the many things that caught my attention and one of the things I liked. It also represents a sense of calm in the city, but the audience do not know that the complete opposite happens after the sun sets.
1st Task In The Last Lesson Before X-MAS
In the lesson before Christmas we were shown a few thriller openings such as 28 Days Later, Collateral, The Shining and What Lies Beneath.We also looked at the different types of thrillers such as -Psychological, Supernatural thrillers, Comedy Thrillers, Political Thrillers, Romance/Murderous Thrillers, Passion Thrillers, Horror Thrillers and Action thrillers.As we analysed the clips, we looked at the Mise En Scene, The Lighting, and use of camera angles, music, editing and setting.The clip that inspired me the most is from 28 days later. I really liked the different camera angles they used and movement. They used wonky angles to indicate the confusion of the character exploring the abandoned deserted city of London. There were more shots such as tilts, low angle and over the shoulder. Long shots were to show how deserted the area was.The clips were short but continuous. The lighting was natural and a yellowy shade. There were also shots of the important places of London to indicate the setting. The Big Ben, River Thames and the buses were shown.I like the way the film starts with confusion and deserted areas. This makes the audience anxious and curious in what is going on.
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