We were given various comments and questions by other members of the class and we now have to consider the following ideas before we go and do the actual filming: -
1. We have to think about how we will make it obvious to the audience that the cop has already visited other houses where the killer has killed someone; eg pictures of the victims/books/etc.
2. We have to consider what kind of clothes/costume the cop will wear, because we want to make it clear to the audience that he is a cop and not a murderer.
3. We have to further analyze the conventions of thrillers before we do our filming, because otherwise we could end up producing a film that relates more to the conventions of a horror/action film than a thriller.
4. We need to decide whether or not to show the killer in our film, because if we don't show the killer it will add an element of suspense and anticipation, but if we do show the killer it will make the thriller seem more dramatic and give the audience a better idea of who the actual killer was so the cop is not mistaken for the killer.
5. We need to give some reason as to why the killer is killing so many people to add a psychological element to our film, as this is what a typical thriller audience would expect from our production.
Thursday 27 January 2011
Tuesday 25 January 2011
Planning for thriller pitch
Narrative description
A cop is searching big house to look for a person who's been killed in it. The cop searches several rooms until the victim is finally found dead on the floor in one of the bedrooms. The lights then go off, leaving the cop all alone with the killer still in the room.
Sub genre
The film is a crime thriller
In a typical crime thriller, there is usually dark, unsettling, fast-paced music played to establish a dark and climatic mood in the film that leaves the audience eager to find out what happens next.
Natural lighting is normally used in thriller films as well, so we will be using this type of lighting to our advantage to create our thriller.
Most crime thrillers portray the crime itself and elements that relate to it rather than focusing on the psychological aspects of the killer, so our narrative relates to this idea effectively.
Characters
Cop - protagonist of the film. he is the guy in the film who is attempting to stop the killer and have him arrested for murder. he has already searched several houses in the area but the killer has managed to escape from his clutches every time, so in an attempt to redeem himself, he tries to search the next house the killer went to, hoping to put an end to his killing streak.
Dead Person - this person is dead, and will be covered in ketchup (supposed to be blood) as a way of showing that the killer has already murdered him; emphasising the brutality of the killer. the fact that he is dead obviously suggests that this character will do absolutely nothing in the film apart from lie there on the floor making no movements whatsoever.
Killer - antagonist of the film. he is the guy who has already killed several victims including the person he has killed in the film. although the cop is attempting to arrest him, he is very cunning and is more than capable of taking out the cop.
Location
We will be filming at Jolyon's house, and we have decided to film here for the following reasons:
1. It is close to Long Road, so it will be easy for us to get over there quickly and start filming
2. It is a big house with lots of rooms, so it will take up a whole 2 minutes for the cop to search a few of the rooms, then find the dead person
3. We wanted to film in Jolyon's house because Jolyon's house is modern and we want a modern look so it feels as if it is in the present day
BBFC
The film is classified as a 15 because of the harsh, physical violence and bad/offensive language. There is no graphic, sexual contact in our film so therefore it is not an 18. It is also a 15 because it may be scary or disturbing for people under this age. Not only this but, a 15 has many connotations of psychological disturbances and elements of surprises which could startle audiences which don't conform to the aging certificate. This has remnants of those features.
A cop is searching big house to look for a person who's been killed in it. The cop searches several rooms until the victim is finally found dead on the floor in one of the bedrooms. The lights then go off, leaving the cop all alone with the killer still in the room.
Sub genre
The film is a crime thriller
In a typical crime thriller, there is usually dark, unsettling, fast-paced music played to establish a dark and climatic mood in the film that leaves the audience eager to find out what happens next.
Natural lighting is normally used in thriller films as well, so we will be using this type of lighting to our advantage to create our thriller.
Most crime thrillers portray the crime itself and elements that relate to it rather than focusing on the psychological aspects of the killer, so our narrative relates to this idea effectively.
Characters
Cop - protagonist of the film. he is the guy in the film who is attempting to stop the killer and have him arrested for murder. he has already searched several houses in the area but the killer has managed to escape from his clutches every time, so in an attempt to redeem himself, he tries to search the next house the killer went to, hoping to put an end to his killing streak.
Dead Person - this person is dead, and will be covered in ketchup (supposed to be blood) as a way of showing that the killer has already murdered him; emphasising the brutality of the killer. the fact that he is dead obviously suggests that this character will do absolutely nothing in the film apart from lie there on the floor making no movements whatsoever.
Killer - antagonist of the film. he is the guy who has already killed several victims including the person he has killed in the film. although the cop is attempting to arrest him, he is very cunning and is more than capable of taking out the cop.
Location
We will be filming at Jolyon's house, and we have decided to film here for the following reasons:
1. It is close to Long Road, so it will be easy for us to get over there quickly and start filming
2. It is a big house with lots of rooms, so it will take up a whole 2 minutes for the cop to search a few of the rooms, then find the dead person
3. We wanted to film in Jolyon's house because Jolyon's house is modern and we want a modern look so it feels as if it is in the present day
BBFC
The film is classified as a 15 because of the harsh, physical violence and bad/offensive language. There is no graphic, sexual contact in our film so therefore it is not an 18. It is also a 15 because it may be scary or disturbing for people under this age. Not only this but, a 15 has many connotations of psychological disturbances and elements of surprises which could startle audiences which don't conform to the aging certificate. This has remnants of those features.
Friday 21 January 2011
Comparison between 2 thrillers (of the same sub-genre)
The sub-genre I have chosen for my comparison is the psychological thriller, and the two films that I am comparing are Psycho and Panic Room.
In Psycho, the theme tune creates a dark and unsettling mood for the first scene of the film, as the music plays at hugely different pitches to create this mood, whereas in Panic Room, the music appears to have several bars of notes that start off with a low note and then the notes gradually increase in pitch; so the theme tunes both create the same unsettling mood, but with different pitches of notes.
In Psycho, the entire film is in black/white, which works well with the thriller because it adds a sinister tone to the film, whereas in Panic Room, the colours are normal but they are dark and this is because natural lighting has been used in the film to portray the peculiar psychological aspects of the thriller.
In Psycho and Panic Room, a lot of jump cuts are used to work with the fast pace of the films so that the actions that take place happen quickly and can surprise the audience; which is obviously typical of a thriller.
In Psycho, the characters wear old-fashioned clothes and there is a scene where there is a woman writing using a quill, which clearly suggests that the film is set in the early 20th century, whereas in Panic Room, the characters wear fancy clothes (such as sparkly dresses and black/white suits) which you would expect people from the late 20th/early 21st century to wear, so the objects and clothes that can be seen in the two films clearly suggest what time period the films are set in, and it makes sense that they are presented so differently because Psycho was produced in 1960, and Panic Room was produced in 2002.
In Psycho, the theme tune creates a dark and unsettling mood for the first scene of the film, as the music plays at hugely different pitches to create this mood, whereas in Panic Room, the music appears to have several bars of notes that start off with a low note and then the notes gradually increase in pitch; so the theme tunes both create the same unsettling mood, but with different pitches of notes.
In Psycho, the entire film is in black/white, which works well with the thriller because it adds a sinister tone to the film, whereas in Panic Room, the colours are normal but they are dark and this is because natural lighting has been used in the film to portray the peculiar psychological aspects of the thriller.
In Psycho and Panic Room, a lot of jump cuts are used to work with the fast pace of the films so that the actions that take place happen quickly and can surprise the audience; which is obviously typical of a thriller.
In Psycho, the characters wear old-fashioned clothes and there is a scene where there is a woman writing using a quill, which clearly suggests that the film is set in the early 20th century, whereas in Panic Room, the characters wear fancy clothes (such as sparkly dresses and black/white suits) which you would expect people from the late 20th/early 21st century to wear, so the objects and clothes that can be seen in the two films clearly suggest what time period the films are set in, and it makes sense that they are presented so differently because Psycho was produced in 1960, and Panic Room was produced in 2002.
Production Logo
a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/56223899@N06/5375679074/" title="logoU2 55 by longroad04, on Flickr">
soundtrack analysis
This soundtrack would fit very nicely with a typical thriller film, because it would create a dark and unsettling mood for the film. This is because the use of the violin and the drum beats fitted together effectively, and this was due to the fact that the beats for the violin and the drums fitted together very well, and it was fast paced and created suspense and anticipation, which is what an audience would expect from a thriller theme tune. The theme tune also ends with a drum beat with no violin playing, which is good because if it were to be played during thriller opening credits, it would lead straight into the first scene and the general mood of the film would then be portrayed in this way for the rest of the film.
Thursday 20 January 2011
Comparing opening theme tunes
Catch me if you can- in catch me if you can the music is climatic and fast paced, this is because it adds drama and a sense of action to the scene. clicking sounds which relates to the click of a clock, this is because time is an issue in this film may be there hero is fighting against time. the music is orchestral and jazzy, and this adds to the drama and suspense of the scene and relates to the visuals. Such examples of this are when the figure runs into the bar and escapes from the lift, but the music is used all the way through the scene, it is just altered at different parts of the scene to relate to these visuals.
The film is a crime thriller, and the opening theme music relates to this sub-genre effectively because the clicks relate to the idea of a gun being loaded before it's fired, which is obviously something you would expect to see in a crime thriller. The climatic and dark mood of the music also relates to the sub-genre well and engages the audiences interest.
Face-off - There is a lot of non-diegetic sound used in this opening scene, and once again, the music is climatic and fast paced, but this time the music has a different mood. The music starts off portraying a cheerful mood that relates to the visuals where a young boy is seen riding on a merry-go-round, relating to the cheerful mood of the music, in which bells could be heard. The diegetic sound that adds to this is the child's laughter, but quickly changes as the face-off title appears and the mood of the music changes from cheerful to dark, and once again this relates well to the visuals as a man is shot towards the end of the scene and one of the characters cries. The quick change in the mood portrayed by the music relates well to the crime sub-genre because it makes the opening scene more climatic and engages the audiences interest.
Panic Room - There are some ticking noises in the opening scene that add to the fast paced and climatic music to create an unsettling and dark mood for the opening scene; which relates well to the crime sub-genre. The ticking noises and music worked with the visuals where the city is shown in the background from different angles with the opening credits along the sides of them and since the font of the words is very big, it creates a dramatic and suspense-filled mood for the film.
The film is a crime thriller, and the opening theme music relates to this sub-genre effectively because the clicks relate to the idea of a gun being loaded before it's fired, which is obviously something you would expect to see in a crime thriller. The climatic and dark mood of the music also relates to the sub-genre well and engages the audiences interest.
Face-off - There is a lot of non-diegetic sound used in this opening scene, and once again, the music is climatic and fast paced, but this time the music has a different mood. The music starts off portraying a cheerful mood that relates to the visuals where a young boy is seen riding on a merry-go-round, relating to the cheerful mood of the music, in which bells could be heard. The diegetic sound that adds to this is the child's laughter, but quickly changes as the face-off title appears and the mood of the music changes from cheerful to dark, and once again this relates well to the visuals as a man is shot towards the end of the scene and one of the characters cries. The quick change in the mood portrayed by the music relates well to the crime sub-genre because it makes the opening scene more climatic and engages the audiences interest.
Panic Room - There are some ticking noises in the opening scene that add to the fast paced and climatic music to create an unsettling and dark mood for the opening scene; which relates well to the crime sub-genre. The ticking noises and music worked with the visuals where the city is shown in the background from different angles with the opening credits along the sides of them and since the font of the words is very big, it creates a dramatic and suspense-filled mood for the film.
Wednesday 19 January 2011
BBFC Classification - 18 and 15
In this analysis, we are going to look at different classification and the reasoning behind their decision on films. We will look at classifications; '15' and '18'.
15 -
Drugs
Drugs in a '15' film maybe used but they must not be promoted or encourage misuse in anyway. The misuse of highly volatile substances will most probably not be permitted by the classification commitee.
Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discrimination, such as 'racism'.
Theme
No theme is prohibited unless it's sadistic or has strong sexual connatation.
18 -
- No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema.
- No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video.
This is all very well, putting down these regulations upon '18; films and dvd's alike, the problem lies when a parent purchases an 18 film for their son's or daughter's. Even though it clearly states, 'No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film.
In an '18' film there may be graphic horror with specific detail to 'blood & guts', aswell as frequently strong language.
'My Bloody Valentines', is considered an '18' bt the BBFC because it contains strong, frequent language and, detailed explicit horror. This film does not involve sex/sexual conduct.
15 -
Drugs
Drugs in a '15' film maybe used but they must not be promoted or encourage misuse in anyway. The misuse of highly volatile substances will most probably not be permitted by the classification commitee.
Discrimination
The work as a whole must not endorse discrimination, such as 'racism'.
Theme
No theme is prohibited unless it's sadistic or has strong sexual connatation.
18 -
- No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film in a cinema.
- No-one younger than 18 may rent or buy an ‘18’ rated video.
This is all very well, putting down these regulations upon '18; films and dvd's alike, the problem lies when a parent purchases an 18 film for their son's or daughter's. Even though it clearly states, 'No-one younger than 18 may see an ‘18’ film.
In an '18' film there may be graphic horror with specific detail to 'blood & guts', aswell as frequently strong language.
'My Bloody Valentines', is considered an '18' bt the BBFC because it contains strong, frequent language and, detailed explicit horror. This film does not involve sex/sexual conduct.
Tuesday 18 January 2011
Analysing Past Students Work Q1-10
I would give their thriller a Level 3. Listed below are a series of comments and criticisms of the film and why I feel it deserves a Level 3:
1. There were a variety of shot distances used eg; close-ups and mid-shots. However, I would have liked to have seen more shots taken from further distances so that there is a greater variety of shot distances used
2. There were a large number of jump cuts used, which I felt were appropriate for a thriller, but I think it should've had a transition where the shot fades in/out to work with the thrilling elements of the film.
3. There was some dark, unsettling music used in the film which relates well to the thriller codes and conventions, but it didn't sound climatic enough, so as it came close to the end of the film, I wasn't expecting anything surprising (or thrilling) to happen.
4. Natural lighting was used, and this is typical of most thrillers in terms of micro-elements, which makes this thriller exceptional.
I would give their research and planning a level 3. Here are some reasons why:
1. Their analysis of thriller codes and conventions was of a high standard, but they should have analysed more thriller films so that their research would have gone into greater detail.
2. Their organisation when it came to bringing in props for their filming was sub-standard, because they didn't remember to bring them in. They should have had a discussion and shared the responsibilities and been responsible for their own props and what they brought in. If they had been, I would have given them more marks.
3. The level of presentation for their posts is really good, as they are colourful and work with different fonts, which makes them easier to analyse.
1. There were a variety of shot distances used eg; close-ups and mid-shots. However, I would have liked to have seen more shots taken from further distances so that there is a greater variety of shot distances used
2. There were a large number of jump cuts used, which I felt were appropriate for a thriller, but I think it should've had a transition where the shot fades in/out to work with the thrilling elements of the film.
3. There was some dark, unsettling music used in the film which relates well to the thriller codes and conventions, but it didn't sound climatic enough, so as it came close to the end of the film, I wasn't expecting anything surprising (or thrilling) to happen.
4. Natural lighting was used, and this is typical of most thrillers in terms of micro-elements, which makes this thriller exceptional.
I would give their research and planning a level 3. Here are some reasons why:
1. Their analysis of thriller codes and conventions was of a high standard, but they should have analysed more thriller films so that their research would have gone into greater detail.
2. Their organisation when it came to bringing in props for their filming was sub-standard, because they didn't remember to bring them in. They should have had a discussion and shared the responsibilities and been responsible for their own props and what they brought in. If they had been, I would have given them more marks.
3. The level of presentation for their posts is really good, as they are colourful and work with different fonts, which makes them easier to analyse.
Monday 17 January 2011
Crime + Action Thriller codes and conventions
Crime Thrillers
Action Thrillers
In action thrillers, there are usually a lot of short duration shots used to match to the quick movements and reactions to the happenings and situations that take place in the film, and the fast paced, climatic music is used for films of this sub-genre as well. Mid-shots will often be used to give a better view of the characters' responses and actions, and the jump cuts that are used make the characters' responses and actions more fast and fluid whilst still maintaining continuity. Natural lighting is used to add to the dark and unsettling mood portrayed in the films. Such examples of films like these include "The Bourne Identity (1988) and "The Transporter (2002)".
In crime thrillers, there is usually fast paced, climatic music played to set the mood for the film.
The characters are usually dressed in dark clothes, and there is a killer/murderer. The thrillers themselves focus on the criminal(s), and the action is emphasised over the actual psychological aspects. Films such as these use a lot of tracking shots and natural lighting to focus on the moods and perspectives of the characters in the film. Such examples of films like these include "The Silence of The Lambs (1991)"
and "Hostage (2005)".
Action Thrillers
In action thrillers, there are usually a lot of short duration shots used to match to the quick movements and reactions to the happenings and situations that take place in the film, and the fast paced, climatic music is used for films of this sub-genre as well. Mid-shots will often be used to give a better view of the characters' responses and actions, and the jump cuts that are used make the characters' responses and actions more fast and fluid whilst still maintaining continuity. Natural lighting is used to add to the dark and unsettling mood portrayed in the films. Such examples of films like these include "The Bourne Identity (1988) and "The Transporter (2002)".
Thursday 13 January 2011
Friday 7 January 2011
Preliminary Evaluation
What did we learn?
We learnt about the importance of continuity through the use of the 180 degree rule. We also now know that the lighting being dark makes the scene more thrilling. It was also important for us to understand that since one of the characters is a ghost and we were producing a thriller, the girl who dies in it had to be killed by surprise, because if the viewing audience knows exactly when a character to be killed, it takes the surprise (or thrill) out of the thriller.
Were there any difficulties?
Our first problem we encountered was finding the location. At first we planned on filming our preliminary task in the refectory but as their was too many people in their and as their was too much light we could not film it their. We found a classroom which had blinds to overcome the problems.
Another problem we came across was when we were filming the door closing by its self at the end we had to re-film it lots of times because we had to ensure that the hand closing the door was not seen. Furthermore the door did not close fully every time so also had to re-film it then.
The girl in our thriller was also smiling as I was pretending to kill her with her scarf, so we had to cut the shots where she was smiling a lot to solve this problem.
How we constructed our preliminary task in relation to the micro areas
We learnt about the importance of continuity through the use of the 180 degree rule. We also now know that the lighting being dark makes the scene more thrilling. It was also important for us to understand that since one of the characters is a ghost and we were producing a thriller, the girl who dies in it had to be killed by surprise, because if the viewing audience knows exactly when a character to be killed, it takes the surprise (or thrill) out of the thriller.
Were there any difficulties?
Our first problem we encountered was finding the location. At first we planned on filming our preliminary task in the refectory but as their was too many people in their and as their was too much light we could not film it their. We found a classroom which had blinds to overcome the problems.
Another problem we came across was when we were filming the door closing by its self at the end we had to re-film it lots of times because we had to ensure that the hand closing the door was not seen. Furthermore the door did not close fully every time so also had to re-film it then.
The girl in our thriller was also smiling as I was pretending to kill her with her scarf, so we had to cut the shots where she was smiling a lot to solve this problem.
How we constructed our preliminary task in relation to the micro areas
- Dark lighting
- Shadows
- Mise-en-scene; props (scarf, book, desk)
- the location (dark and empty room)
- Camera work - Close up to show door handle, long shot to introduce character and location,
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