Within the opening of this thriller piece, blue is the prominent colour. This demonstrates the idea of an empathic film meaning that the colour used can give off a certain feeling. In this case and most commonly the colour blue is used to represent both sadness and depression.( eg feeling blue) This is not a common factor in thrillers but is a very clever way of presenting a certain mood and helping the audience to understand the emotion they are meant to feel during the thriller. More so, using a gloomy beginning and death helps to keep the audience attracted and more questions unanswered . This thriller shows that colour can be very helpful during a certain representation sending subliminal messages, by promoting a particular emotion through colour.
"ZODIAC"
In most thriller its a very rare thing to use a lot of dialogue and causes the audience to become very tired of what's happening as rather than watching it as a way of using your own imagination to question what happens next, the fun of a thriller is to give the audience a way of drawing up there own conclusion. Dialogue gives away too much information . In this case this thriller uses a good use of monotone with a voice over. He speaks in an abrupt tone telling the audience his not happy, By not only the tone but the accent gives us a sense of where the mise- en- scene is set. Once the trailer carries on it shows us the dusty deserted and isolated western part of america.
On that point once the trailer carries on the antagonist in which case is the policeman is arresting the protagonist ( the criminal) which represents the typical line that the authority figure has power over someone of a lower standard. Although once the trailer comes towards the end it shows that the authority figure becomes powerless as the protagonist has killed him this in which case deceives the audience. In which stuns the audience as the criminal is committing the murder at ease and in such a way that he has occupied such a murder before , this leaves the audience hung in a way as a cliffhanger and leaves various questions to be answered.
A title sequence is a method by which films or television programmes present their title, key production , cast members , or both, utilizing conception visuals and sound which are followed by superimposed text known as the opening credits. within a title sequence it has to include a variation of the following elements production company music and logo.
Se7en
The opening title sequence to the film se7en to an extent is graphical in some places to the fact it include quite ghastly images like the blood, but not revealing much detail but blood, images of people in a prison like theme with letters . creates a questionable scene as the images are not presented quickly but just quick snippets of what they wants us to see and this therefore sets the overall theme for the rest of the film. You can clearly establish that the film is a thriller genre as it represents "thrill". The questionable image this film gives us is vastly important as it makes the potential viewers drawn to the entering cliffhanger. This also helped by the presentation of the title and the text given through out , just as much as the importance of the sound carried out through out the scene. The difference between this filmj and other films is clearly demonstrated by the simple fact it does not include a studio ident. Panic Room
The opening scene of this thriller is clearly set in New York. There is clear use of panning shots and overhead shots to emphasise the effect of the height of the buildings this clearly demonstrates from the name of the thriller the large variety of building opens up the option of where the "panic room " is and that an important thin g . There is a good use of sound whilst the title sequence and other titles are shown . Unfortunately this don't give much suspense or a cliffhanger to keep your eyes on the film although the use of no great detail or no cliffhanger gives even more suspicion in what this film is about.
This here is me and Abbie putting our separate clips that we have recorded for a our film together to see if they fit together appropriately using the help from premier pro to achieve to the best of our ability. Unfortunately this editing did not reach the requirements that we needed to reach in order to make our thriller piece representable. This was due to simple mistakes such as the sound used to cover to initial piece which was really unfortunate. On the other hand one editing and using music rather than sound effects it improved the original idea altogether bring our thriller piece to a better grade.
PRELIMINARY TASK EVALUATION In our preliminary task our storyline is based on two ordinary girls who are catching up on some good old gossip about one of there friends and a boy we used an over the shoulder shot and a a shot reverse shot to represent this . Our preliminary task is vital into going against the idea of a patriarchal society as both main characters are in initially female. Our storyline was about two girls who had been to the cinema as a group of friends and one of there girl mates had finally got a boyfriend in which all the friends had wanted. we represented a match on action with the two girls whilst stick to the 180 degree wall throughout the film ending on the use of an eye line match. Our instructions was to use at least a few of these shots listed below or if we could of them unfortunately the only one we didn't use was the graphic match.
"Match on action"
We see a character start an action in one shot and then see them continue in the next. A trick with the match on action is each individual piece is filmed at separate times and evolved together in a way in which it looks as though its one scene. The editor does this by creating a visual bridge, This distracts the initial viewer.
"Eye line match"
We see a character looking at something off screen and then we cut the shot and then see them continue in in the next shot.This is based on a premise that the audience will want to see what the character on screen is seeing.
"Shot reverse shot"
Shot reverse shot, also know as shot/counter shot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen) and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character
" 180 degree rule"
The 180 degree rule is a basic guideline that states that two characters (or other element) in the same scene should always have the same left /right angle relationship to each other. This means that if the last shot was on the left hand side it would start on the right hand side as going back to left in the next shot will look like they just walked back on themselves.
"Graphic match"
A graphic match is an editing technique that that uses a continuous transition between two successive shots. A graphic match is used to create a cut between two shots that juxtapose their graphically similar images. This cut can establish a link between the shots graphically, aesthetically and metaphorically.
i liked the format of this opening thriller piece as it shows that women can have just as much power as men. it goes against the original patriarchal society and has two females as main characters therfore this has brung my fortunate attention .. its about time women were given power in film
personally, having two female main characters is brilliant as i believe that everyone is equal .. but as a male im not attracted to the idea of the thriller as much as i would like. i believe strongly in equality and the idea of equal power is important
It was important that we got two different opinions from both female and male genders shown above are personal opinions of both male and female
When covering certain aspects of our film like would our film actually reach production and have a future in the film industry. We chose two people currently studying the same subject as they could give us relevant feedback as they know what was listed to make the film. Using our first audience as student from our subject meant we could make comparisons of our film. Learn what things were maybe not good and what could be changed to make our thriller have a different effect.
This meant that showing other potential audience we could see the effect that would arise and whether our thriller was anything special or just an unseen thriller.
Our storyboard shows out film in pictures with more depth and detail as it shows the camera angles that were used to demonstrate some of the effect during the film. More so it shows what sound effects were inserted where to show the atmosphere of the particularly part that was recorded. Each image shows a particular angle and once put together shows the flow of the whole film in pictures rather than the actual recording.
At first the initial storyline was two spy's coming over to an undercover house in which they were undergoing a mission. This mission included protecting a micro-chip. When coming over to the house the spies caught glimpses of a person in the top window in which they instantly began to think about the micro-chip in which they had not been protecting during the time. They remembered they had turned the lasers that were across the floors on and was hoping that they were still on as these being turned off meant the micro-chip was accessible. Therefore the young spies wasted no time and ran into the house in which case they heard a sudden bang. This followed by the pair of them franticly running into the house to there distraught the micro-chip had disappeared. This left the two splitting up and running around the house looking for this "mystery person". The way that Abbie had followed to find this person unfortunately led her also to her death as she shot in the chest in which she started to roll down the stairs leaving the ideas of ;
Who killed Abbie (belle)?
what was on the micro chip ?
why was it Abbie (belle)?
FINAL IDEA'S
After thinking about our ideas we decided it would be better to maybe change some of ideas as there would be too many shots and the storyline would be hard to carry on if most of the action is in the beginning sequence. So in the end we decided that we would keep the ideas of the spies and the micro chip. Except maybe adding a twist to the story would create more suspense and an ideal storyline . Therefore we began the scene with the spies walking towards the house and once reaching the door there was a bang . In which case this followed buy the distraught = that the micro-chip had been stolen and the lasers had been cut off . Both franticly running around the house.. We first follow "Violet" around the staircase, followed by flicking to Abbie in which she becomes worried and slowing down the further she goes up as she reaches the turret of the house. To her surprise she conronted by a person dressed in black which shock and surprise she freezes in which the "person" pushes her down the stairs braking her neck by the time she reaches the bottom the camera ends the shot on the killer.
Our aim of this film is to keep the audience guessing on who the killer is .this gives suspense. Why did they kill her ? ... What's on the moicrochip? ... Whos is the killer? ..
Studio Idnets have a purpose of trying to represent the company by giving them their own identity. i will be looking at the following companies idents and how they have changed over the years.
Universal
The first universal ident was created in 1914 two years after the company was founded. This ident showed the company name along with the words "The Trans-Atlantic film Co. LTD" This is shown in the Gif to the right
As the company progressed the ident changed from having a plane flying across the earth showing the companies name, to the earth spinning around with the logo across it. The company have also developed the ident to show that it was their 100th year anniversary.
I believe that this ident and the name of the company represents how the company is powerful and well known. This is shown by
the name of the company circulating the world and ending up infront of the world showing that they are dominant.
Dreamworks
made at imgflip.comDreamworks company was founded in 1994. The owners wanted to create a new kind of hollywood studios, they have also worked very hard to have one of the biggest and best animation divisions in the world.
One of the three founders, Steven Spielburg, wanted the ident of Dreamworks to be a reminiscent of
Hollywood's golden age. The ident was going to be computer generated at first but Spielburg's friends suggested that it may look better if it was painted.
made at imgflip.comThe ident starts with the young boy floating up to the moon with some balloons. As you can see in the Gif to the left. The gif to the right shows how after the boy reaches the moon he lets go of the balloons, they carry on floating up in the sky, then suddenly burst revealing the Dreamworks name.
voknzO on Make A Gif, Animated Gifs
Paramount Pictures
This film production company was formed in 1912. Their ident has relatively stayed the same over the years. The ident shows a tall mountain with the 'Paramount' name above the mountain where the tip is. The is purposely placed there to show that the company are the top film production company there is and want to be respected by all as they believe they are at the top.
Disney
The Walt Disney production is the largest media and entertainment company including the production of theme parks as well as cartoons and movies. The company including the logo was first introduced in 1923. During this time the production company was founded by Roy and Walt Disney and named the Disney brothers studio. The purpose of the logo was to symbolize a fairy tale world, and focuses on the provision of entertainment purposes to young children.
MISE EN SCENE Costumes: -Mask for killer -All Black Clothing (killer) Props: -USB (micro chip) -Laptop -Gun Setting: -Eastbury Manor House which is shown in the image to the right. Sound: -Creaking on the Floor -Door creaks when it is opened -Bang Gunshot -Running/Panting -Footsteps running on pebbled floor
This was the beginning of our initial shooting at East-bury manor house this was the involvement of just me and Abbie as some parts of the filming we needed to based on the ideas we had agreed together. We filmed both the opening scene and all the scene that involved the running up the stairs and the overview of the outside of the house.and pushing belle down the stairs.
5/03/2015 This was the second day in which we continued our filming further at the Eastbury Manor house, In which case we re-filmed the scene in which belle was initial killed (push down the stairs) We had to shoot this scene a few times trying different relevant angles in order to make the shot at its most realistic effect as possible.
In our thriller our aim was intended to create a great deal of anxiety and suspicion especially with in the audience the best title we considered suitable was the the title oblivious . This title seemed most appropriate with the initial storyline as Abbie ( Belle ) is oblivious that her so called friend working on the same mission was also her biggest threat.......
PARALLEL SOUND: Matches the action CONTRAPUNTAL SOUND: Does not match the action
In a normal film at the start of the scene the sound will be contrapuntal as the atmosphere of the film and action will not match the sound used. Whereas when the next part of the action happens the sound becomes parallel to the atmosphere.
SOUND: SOUND BRIDGE
A sound bridge helps create a smooth transition between one scene to another
The sound "Bridges " the two scene
This is clearly represented within the scene "GAME OF THRONES"
The sound bridge in the game of thrones is used to portray a tense atmosphere of receiving information about another person . This is shown by man A receiving a letter about man B these scenes are linked together by the sound bridge
In our sound piece we were exploring the use of sound and the correct sound to put in our scene our piece included the use of parallel sound this meant that the sound effects or music used throughout matched the scene that was playing at the same time. We used the use of the sirens to demonstrate the use of police coming. More so we used a gun shot to represent the confusion between destiny and billy we found this effective.
Editing is the process of looking at all the footage shot during the making of film/TV programme and placing it in the desired order and joining it together. There are two key areas when concentrating on editing these are;
Speed of editing- How long it lasts?
Style of editing - How each shot is joined next ?
SPEED OF EDITING
In a film each scene may last a matter of seconds, or it could continue for a number of minute's. The importance of the length of the sequence is to establish the pace of the film moving the action along. The speed of editing helps to determine the mood in which is taking place on the screen. In one account in order to feel a sense of anxiety ans suspense the editing will be fast and frequent in an action sequence for example a horror movie. On the other hand, if a relaxed mood is desired , the scenes last longer and change less frequently for example a romantic comedy.
Scenes at the beginning of a film usually are start off of the storyline, must be long enough for us to be able to understand where we are and what is going on . It also shown in a slow motion at times to introduce the main characters. As the film progresses scenes may become shorter as the editing cuts between timing two or more story lines at the same time.
STYLES OF EDITING
These styles of editing show how shots are linked together, the movement in which one shot goes to the next this is called a transition
STRAIGHT CUT
A straight cut is when a picture and sound are cut at the same frame as of opposed to an overlap where a picture and sound are cut at different times., This shot allows on shot to end an another shot to abruptly come onto the screen. this cut removes the unnecessary areas in the film or shortens the original film to save time in certain areas instantaneously moving one shot to the next without attracting the audience attention. This is most commonly known as the "invisible" form of transition.This cut helps retain reality, the don't break the viewers suspension of disbelief . This type of cut is clearly shown in the batman movie (1989). This sequence shows batman suited up clicking together a belt in which a straight cut is clearly established as if it showed batman actually suiting up it would represent the individuals elements of the uniform like the boots each individual arm and leg. This would make the sequence extremely time consuming, and draw the audience away from the point of the film. Therefore in order to keep the audience drawn its important to show the relevant areas in the sequence, in the case of this sequence batman coming out of a volt doing his belt up which represents his logo shows who he is and that his ready to par take in his next source of action.
DISSOLVE CUT
A dissolve is a gradual transition from one image to another. A dissolve is normally used to overlap two shots for the beginning of one scene onto the next. In some sense it can be considered a good use for the indication that a period of time has passed.More so this is famously used when the film makes wants to make a connection between two characters , places or objects An example of this is used in the clip below;
GRAPHIC MATCH
A graphic match is an editing technique that that uses a continuous transition between two successive shots. A graphic match is used to create a cut between two shots that juxtapose their graphically similar images. This cut can establish a link between the shots graphically, aesthetically and metaphorically. An example of this is clearly established in the film psycho, in the famous scene the shower scene when Janet Leigh on the floor. The eye line match is differentiated between the eye and the plughole of the shower,this is due to the eye and plug hole being of similar sizes and shapes and therefore can go into each other.
WIPE CUT
A wipe cut is a type of film transition in which a shot is simply replaced when one shot travels from one side to the other.If the wipe proceeds from two opposite edges of the screen towards the centre, this is known as a barn door wipe.With a wipe cut it is more common that the image is pushed off the left-hand side as this movement is more consistent which allows the sense that time is moving forward.This cut is used to signal a movement between different locations that are experiencing the same time.
FADE
A fade is used to create a gradual darkening or lighting of an image until it becomes black or white. This will include one shot fading until only a black or white screen can be seen.This is most commonly used to indicate he end of a particular section of time within the narrative more so showing a the passing of time. For example this is used extensively throughout the star wars films.
JUMP CUT
A jump cut is when the audiences attention is brought into focus on something very suddenly, this occurs by breaking the continuity editing and appears as if the section of the sequence has been removed
MONTAGE THEORY
ONE IMAGE + VARIOUS IMAGES = MEANING (CREATED BY THE AUDIENCE)
AN EXAMPLE = PSYCHO = MEANING
Lev keleshov was a theorist that believed that editing a film was like constructing a building brick - by - brick ( shot- by -shot) in which the building (film) is erected . He created an experiment that proved his point. He took apart an old film and a head shot and inter - cut the shot with different images. This is famously shown within the film psycho as Hitchcock portrays the image that Janet Leigh is being hacked to death when in fact it just shows a knife her scream and her falling .. the idea of her death is down to the mind of the audience the illusionary pictures create the image that she pouring with blood and being hacked to death. This improved to overall view of thriller/ horror films due to the perception.
CONTINUITY EDITING
Continuity editing retains a sense of realistic chronology and generates the feeling that time is moving forward. This may include using flashbacks or flash forwards but the narrative will still be seen to be progressing forward in an expected realistic way.
EYE-LINE MATCH
We see a character looking at something off screen and then we cut the shot and then see them continue in in the next shot.This is based on a premise that audience will want to see what the character on screen is seeing.
MATCH ON ACTION
We see a character start an action in one shot and then see them continue in the next.
180 DEGREE RULE
The 180 degree rule is a basic guideline that states that two characters (or other element) in the same scene should always have the same left /right angle relationship to each other. This means that if the last shot was on the left hand side it would start on the right hand side as going back to left in the next shot will look like they just walked back on themselves.
In our third production meeting we talked about how many shots we have already filmed for our thriller, which was also followed by the discussion that there was other various shot we could use t and how they would look better than the ones we had already used. We looked through our thriller opening on the camera to clarify that we did get all the shots needed and discovered the ones we could add. These shots were even then improved or some were retaken and we went out to follow up the nest lot of shots used.
During the second production meeting we planned out transportation and route in which we have decided to follow in order to get to out destination our the opening setting. We decided to meet at Heathway station in which case Abbie got a 175 to meet me prior Heathway station.
In which we got a district line train to Richmond and get off at Upney, this took us approximately about 5 mins. Once we got off we walked for 10 mins to reach East-bury square, Barking , Greater London IG11 9SN. This required once coming out of the station coming down Upney lane towards ripple road in which we navigated Tudor road in which the house was down.
In this production meeting me and Abbie went to pick our destination and therefore didn't need a camera man as we needed to see where the most appropriate places to film would be and where in the house could be used to match the thriller genre.
We had to be precise about where the action was to take place in the house and how each part of the setting matched the particular shots taken in the scenes. Due to the house being of old origins we had to make sure out thriller did not meet horror criteria in the settings we used .
We used the first hall as the entrance for where the micro chip and computer system was first located.
followed by the wooden stairs in which i used entering the grand hall at the
top floor .
Abbie on the other hand used the concrete stairs to give a more visual effect to the falling part of her death once she reached the top of the stairs me ( a.ka. the killer) used the attic entrance this gave an effect that would grab the audiences attention.
The thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television that includes numerous and often overlapping sub-genres.
Thriller conventions tend to have:
Fast pacing
Frequent action
Resourceful heroes who must thwart the plans of more powerful and more equipped villains
A thriller tends to be a villain driven plot . The villain presents obstacles the hero must overcome
Thrillers find the importance of what makes more of an effect when conducting it and therefore seem to include basic devices in there thriller to meet the best possible outcome. There are main ones that are used more often are ;
SUSPENSE:
Suspense if often represented as a pleasurable feeling of fascination and excitement combined with the almost felling of apprehension , tension and anxiety . The feelings are normally dependent and roused from the source of entertainment . Suspense is also most often referred to an audiences perception in a dramatic situation.This is perceived when a dram or chain of cause has left the audience in doubt and with no accurate solution.. the lack of knowledge in a meaningful event.
In addition director Alfred Hitchcock, describes suspense as giving the audience experiences of suspense so that the effect of when something bad is going to happen or has (or believed has happened ) a superior perspective on events in the drama hierarchy of knowledge . Due to this perception they are powerless and are unable to intervene to prevent it from happening.
RED HERRING
A Red Herring is often referred to as a diversion used to distract the onlooker or audience from the original idea. It tends top be the item which has no use in the story except to distract the reader from the real reason (culprit) . It can take form as mostly anything including a character .
For instance in a thriller the character that has been taken form , allows the readers or audience to believe that this potential character is the killer , only to discover later that he is in fact innocent . More so it can be the item in which the reader portrays as the key to the discovery or clue . but in fact becomes clear is worthless and had no meaning throughout the story.
CLIFFHANGERS:
A Cliffhanger is a plot device in a fiction story line that features the use of the main character in a precarious or difficult dilemma, or in some case in the situation of confrontation or a shocking revelation at the end of a story line . A cliffhanger is used to ensure the audience that them returning for more will allow them to solve and identify how the characters resolve the dilemma.
A cliffhanger in some sense is similar to the red herring and suspense , it don't use the idea to bring the audience away from the original ideas but it uses the idea of leaving it till the end of an event to start on the next to be solved . Hence also the use of suspense. In a thriller suspense of a cliffhanger is used to latch on the audience for the rest of the story liner before confiding into the rest . the use of this smart technique is used or can be used frequently throughout as the more suspicion the more emphasis put into the ending
A FLEXIBLE GENRE
The genre is flexible and can engage the dramatic rendering of psychological, social and political tensions.Hitchcock said that thrillers allow the audience, " to put their toe in the cold water of fear to see what it's like".
Thrillers often take place in exotic settings such as foreign cities
MORE CHARACTERISTICS OF A THRILLER
The heroes presented in most thrillers are frequently "hard men" accustomed to the job of danger including positions such as a policeman. However they may also be portrayed as an ordinary citizens drawn into danger by accident or on purpose in some cases.
On one hand , whilst such heroes have traditionally been men , women in a lead position have become increasingly common . For an early example Sigourney Weaver's character Ripley, in the movie Alien 1979.
THRILLERS DIFFER FROM MYSTERY STORIES
Thrillers often overlap with the contents of mystery stories , but are distinguished by the structure of their plots. In a thriller, the hero must be thwart the future plans of an enemy, rather than uncover a crime that has already happened this then counters the end solution creating great suspense . before the overall outcome. A murder mystery would be spoiled by knowing the murderer's identity whereas in a thriller the identity of a murderer/ villain is typically known all along. Thrillers occur on a much grander scale than mystery films: the crimes that must be prevented are serial or mass murder,
Thrillersoccur on a
muchgranderscalethan Mystery Films:the crimes that must be prevented are
serial or mass murder, terrorism, assassination, or the overthrow of
governments.
Dangerand violent
confrontations are standard plotelements
of a Thriller
The climax ofa mystery iswhen the mystery is solved, a thriller
climaxes when the hero finally defeats the villain, saving his own life
and often the lives of others.
