Developing Ideas of opening sequence of thriller

Opening ideas of a thriller sequence

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What is a thriller?

The definition of Thriller is a genre of literature, film, and television that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as the main elements. The primary genres are mystery, crime, and psychological thrillers.

These thrillers have been designed for a purpose, usually designed to keep the reader or viewer on edge with suspenseful and sensational action. Many thrillers have not only just been produced in film but also been produced on the radio, theatre and most commonly television media. Thrillers is a genre incredibly well recognized and a large genre in today’s media industry, many of these thrillers often overlap with pieces of work produced by other or similar genres, for example mysteries. People watch thrillers for a reason, normally as they appreciate the fast pacing and complex plots associated with his genre. Within thrillers there are many characteristics; typically they involve sudden twists within the plot and lots of misdirection and enigma codes which keep people unsure about what is going to happen. Within thrillers there is also a lot of action going on, which is often chaotic and they typically feature resourceful heroes and exotic settings. All thrillers are not similar, and there plots can vary widely, for example some are supernatural, others are scientific or medial in nature. Although some are simply straight mysteries with clever, horrific, or intriguing antagonists although some others focus on the inner workings of the legal system, environmental threats, technology, or natural disasters. Some thrillers are extremely intellectual and of very high quality, encouraging more educated people to enjoy them.
Many thriller books are adapted into movies, and thrillers can also be turned into comic books and television shows.

Examples of particular thrillers which i have watched is se7en.
Seven is about two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, which hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his modus operandi.

storyline- A film about two homicide detectives' desperate hunt for a serial killer who justifies his crimes as absolution for the world's ignorance of the Seven Deadly Sins. The movie takes us from the tortured remains of one victim to the next as the sociopathic "John Doe" sermonizes to Detectives Sommerset and Mills -- one sin at a time. The sin of Gluttony comes first and the murderer's terrible capacity is graphically demonstrated in the dark and subdued tones characteristic of film noir. The seasoned and cultured Sommerset researches the Seven Deadly Sins in an effort to understand the killer's modus operandi while green Detective Mills scoffs at his efforts to get inside the mind of a killer...


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Here is a youtube clip on the opening credits of se7en.


Another example of a thriller is Fightclub (1999)
Fightclub is about an office employee and a soap salesman build a global organization to help vent male aggression.
Storyline- A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion



Here is a poster of the front cover of Fightclub and the trailer of this movie.

Analysis on an opening sequence.

This here is an analysis of the opening sequence of the Horror film -'A nightmare on Elm Street'.I have incoperated ideas of sound, themes and pictures involved in this opening sequence. Withing this production i have done slides on what the films about, if its a horror/thriller, opening credits, music, photos and the language involved. Also i have included a few photos from withing this film.

A nightmare on Elm Street Analysis

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Horror/Thriller conventions.

A mood board is a collection of ideas, themes and pictures which i find are interesting and help me to be creative with my work on the themes of horror and thriller. This mood board contains images which i found on google which represent things which represent fear, threat and danger. I have created a collage of these to provide an orginal development of fresh ideas for what makes people afraid or intrigued.

Storyboard linking in with horror

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Peliminary Post production evaluation.

This week we have learnt how to access our footage, by using final cut server. The Rushes / dailies are uploaded to the Final Cut Server, from which you can access an Edit Proxy (digital copy) of the raw footage which you can then open in Final Cut Pro to begin the editing / post production process. Then once in final cut server, we could find our footage there, and then drag all the clips into the rushers bin. After when you want to start editing you drag your preferred and chosen clips into the log bin. The log bin is a separate area where only the shots you want appear.  Here we dragged in various clips we wanted to use, and managed to put them into a sequence, then started editing them by cutting there lengths and rearranging them to form a film. We also worked a bit on editing the sounds, by decreasing or increasing various sounds.

We also had to take into consideration once again, continuity editing. This here is the predominant style of editing in narrative cinema and television. The purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the inherent discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots. This is very important to the audience, as the audience need to be able to follow and understand the shots so they have to be in a logical order. Whilst we were filming, we followed the 180 degree rule, which meant we couldn’t cross the 180 degree line; we could prove that we didn’t cross this line by viewing our shots on final cut server, we were able to delete shots that did cross the line, and include the shots that didn’t. This therefore meant that our shots made sense and won’t confuse the audience when they watch it.

Film language also comes into consideration as we need to ensure that only the relevant story points are shown, but also to manipulate time and space in the narrative, and to force the audience to identify with the right characters. Also to make sure the story makes sense to the audience. One example is match on action, this here for example was used in my preliminary task when we had a medium shot of the actor putting the gun forward, then a close up shot of the actual gun. This enables the audience to realize that the actor was placing the gun down and also the close up of the gun was to emphasize the fact it’s a gun, and guns are associated with crime and danger.

Another example was eye line match; this for example in our preliminary task was for when we took a shot from one of the actors positions then another shot of the other actors face. This tells the audience that we are looking at the actor, but without needing to show two shots of the actors. As long as the directions of the eyes match then it will work and the audience will be able to understand that one actor is looking at the other without showing two separate shots.

Various terminologies

Logging my shots-

By having dragged all our footage into the rushers bin, this enabled us to have access of all shots. Once we had this, we could then choose the shots that worked best and we preferred, and then drag these shots into the log bin. Its important to select and reject particular shots as some shots may need to be rejected, for example if we crossed the 180 degree rule line, or if we didn’t adjust the focus or got the headspace wrong. This is also why we took each shot at least a couple of times. The clip viewer which is on the right hand shot, is split into two, one screen enables us to watch a clip we’ve clicked on, and the other is of what our storyline consists of at this moment of time. Due to some shots having a good start, then halfway through having an error, we were able to watch the shots in the clip viewer and find shots with the best fit. We did this as it saves time and effort rather than chopping up each one for the overall best example.

Organizing my shots

We could either use the storyboard we were given, with the choices of shots already in order. Or from our knowledge and choice we could put together our own storyboard by rearranging shots, or repeating various shots. We did this, so we could tell the best story. Whilst filming we had to decide which character we felt sorry for and which characters side we were on. In my task, we were on the actor’s side for the character that walked into the room, this was shown due the actor having more shot time, and the camera being focused more on its face. This tells us that we are on that persons side, as firstly she is standing by the desk and the other actor is already seated looking up at the actor. These shots can emphasize who the good characters but also the bad character. The actor, who walked into the scene, seemed to be more dominant and have more power and asked the other character to ‘just do it’. We feel sorry for the character already seated, as the actor is being interrogated and questioned and the actor is looking down on it like he’s some kind of victim. The fact that we followed our storyboard, enabled the shots to appear in order and make sense, this then tells the audience that we have understood continuity but also sequential editing.

Editing in final cut

Using final cut was an easy process, it was easily laid out and this is shown by the diagram below. On the time line, we had dragged in various shots, but we were also able to decrease the time of a shot, but cutting it. This in some circumstances changed the whole shot completely. For example we cut the shot of a close up of a gun as we wanted it to be a quick shot, and emphasize how it’s being thrown down. Another shot we lengthened was a close up of our actors face, this was lengthened to emphasize the expression on his face and to let the audience react to it.

Here is a print screen of final cut-

Preliminary task evaluation

Location- the location we used to film in was the Hurtwood house film studio.
Did this location work?- this location worked incredibly well, as we had access to large amounts of space, props and lighting. We were able to shoot our clips from different angles and we could make as much sound as possible as it was secluded from other people and sound proofed.
My role- in this preliminary task, I had the chance to take on all the roles including directing the film, this was an easy, simple task which consisted of me speaking out loudly the words ‘stand by’, ‘roll on’, ‘action’ and ‘cut’. This terminology was used as it appropriate to filming and everyone understand it so therefore would be able to follow it. These words are very important to the camera operator, as I’m directing them on when to start and stop filming. Another role I took on was the role of the camera operator, the job of this was to operate the camera and film the actions going on. Another job which wasn’t very big but vital was the job of pressing the light switch on the side of the wall, when this switch was pressed it enabled a red light outside the door to light on, this warns people that filming is going on in this room and they may not enter. The role I enjoyed the most was directing the film, as I felt I had more control and everyone could listen to you, but also you can watch the filming going on at the same time.


Lighting- lighting in film is a very important aspect, we had to have a slight thought of what kind of lighting we wanted to use, appropriate to the scene of action going on. Lighting is used to create an effect and ambiance, which is given off when watched by the audience. We wanted to base the lighting around a dark room, with only a small amount of lighting, white lighting on the characters, this lighting then reflected and made shadows of different points and section of the room itself, creating a dark, tense and scary atmosphere. The lighting that we used were two studio lights, these were easy to move and switch off and on.
Important to this scene?- lighting was very important to this scene as it changes the effect completely, the fact that it was situated in an office and a gun was used, we thought a dark, eerie atmosphere would be more appropriate than a lit up room. It changes the feeling and atmosphere of the scene and gives a much better visual appearance.
Effective- the lighting in our scene was used for a purpose, and that purpose was to give off an effect to the audience. And that effect was created, due to the appropriate lighting we used and the shadowing created due to the actors blocking some of the light or particular props which also created shadows and blocked sections of lights.


Filming
Setting up camera- we were given the camera itself in the case with a tripod, we were given the task to set it up by ourselves, we had no trouble in this and were able to adjust the knobs on the side to adjust the height of the tripod, also we bubbled the tripod to enable it to be levelled out properly and adjusting the camera on the actual tripod just needed steady and careful hands, making sure we did this properly and fitted the camera on correctly.
Checking level- we had to check the tripod level at every shot, as we sometimes moved the tripod around the room, to get the different shots, and this may have adjusted the height of the tripod, un-levelling the tripod. It was important to level the tripod as we needed to make sure the camera shot wasn’t of at an angle or wonky.
Shot framed correctly- once again at each shot, we had to double check that the shot was framed correctly. This consisted of us checking headspace of the characters and making sure the actors were inside the screen, we had to follow the storyboard and make sure that the two actors had an eye line match in each frame. Also another important aspect was making sure we didn’t cross the 180 degree rule. This is a faulty that can be easily made, so checking it in every shot was vital.
Lighting equipment not in the shot- the lighting equipment was portable, so had various wires and plugs streaming from it, we had to make sure these things were not in the shot, as it would give of an unprofessional and messy impression. Also due to us moving them around so much due to the different shots we had to make sure the lights weren’t obstructing the camera itself creating light shadows as this would interfere with continuity of filming and the other shots.
Angles for shots- the storyboard consisted of five shots, we shot these five shots but due to having extra time we shot another few shots, for example a close up on the telephone and the gun that we used, this was taken for extra detail and also to contribute to the ambiance of the shots. Another shot we used was a shot from up high, we adjusted the tripod to make it taller and shot from a greater height, so it gave off the impression we were looking down on the actor, making the actor look like a victim. By variating these shots, it makes the overall film more exciting and interesting.
180 degree rule- we applied this rule to all our shots, making sure we never crossed it, but one of the extra shots we took we were just on the line of crossing it, you have to be extremely careful as it is a rule and if this rule is broke it confuses the audience as the actors would be in different positions.




What I have learnt so far- so far in terms of practical film making I have learnt how to set up a camera and tripod, use them to film. Edit my shots which I have used, I learnt how to white balance, exposure, focus and adjust the camera appropriately to the shot, I was able to follow the storyboard which gave me an idea on how to film in order, I had to take into consideration continuity and the 180 degree rule in all the shots.


These pictures of of my storyboards that we followed, they include the actors lines aswell.

Camera shots & Camera Movement OCR videos

Camera shots & Camera Movement OCR videos




This week we have been learning about using a video camera unlike last week we focused on just a camera. We also learnt about the different ways to create a effect on a video camera such as the different angles and methods whilst using a video camera.


Camera operation and functions


Recording Speed- when recording, always uses record videos at ‘standby play’.


Date/Time Imprint- here the time and date is displayed on the camera screen and also when plugged into a screen to watch, once this information has been imprinted into your tape, it cannot be removed.


Fade and Dissolve Control- are special effects built into your camera, if you decide to use this effect you cannot get your original images back or remove this special effect.


The zoom- on most cameras, there is a zoom lense, this enables you to go from a wide angle view to a close up of an image or object. Throughout filming you can change the zoom depending on what your trying to film.


Focus and White Balance- To determine what is "white," the electronics in
your camera must be shown a white object under the light that you will be video taping in. to enable this we used a placed a piece of white paper in front of the camera which then set the white balance. For continuous shooting in changing lighting conditions simply set your camera's switch to "automatic”.


Focus - the adjustment of the lens so that the image you are video taping is sharp and clear in your view finder or on your monitor.


Viewfinder- on a modern camera, the viewfinder is the cameras eye, which you look through, you can view the image through this.


Tripod- is a three-legged rack used to support the camera. You slide the camera onto the tripod show and adjust the nuts on the sides of the tripod to secure the camera. The tripod also has a pan handle, which enables you to move direction and height of the camera when placed on the tripod.


Bubbling- Adjusting the tripods level.






Using the camera and shots
Here are some of the shots we have been using to create a film. Clip, the order of the shots is vital, as we need to establish a story of the clips.


1. Extreme wide shot- this shot is often used as an establishing shot; it is so far away that we can’t see much detail or the subject of the photo.


2. Very wide shot- the subject here is now more visible but still rather distant.


3. Wide shot- the subject takes up the full frame, or at least as much as possible. This is the same as a long shot..


4. Mid shot- Shows some part of the subject in more detail whilst still giving an impression of the whole subject.


5. MCU (Medium Close Up)- this shot is Half way between a Mid Shot and a close up.


6. Close up- A certain feature or part of the subject takes up the whole frame.


7. Extreme close up- gets right in and shows extreme detail.


8. Cutaway- A shot of something other than the current action.


9. Cut in- Shows some part of the subject in detail.


10. Two shot- A comfortable shot of two people, framed similarly to a mid shot.


11. Over- the-shoulder- shot- Looking from behind a person at the subject.

Introuduction to video camera

This video explains the common mistakes people make in camerawork, it shows clearly and explain the mistakes. WATCH IT.
watch out for the commmon mistakes of the 180 degrees rule, this is a vital rule used to keep the audience inside of the film and enable us to realize were watching the same scene jsut from a different direction or angle. when the 180 rule is not applied this is when the actors crossed the line and this ruins the effect and ambiance of the whole film youre trying to achieve.


There are mamy Uses of Industry terminology whilst filming-:


1) STAND BY / STANDING BY - readys everyone into position for the take. The AD calls STAND BY and the response tells them that everyone is prepped


2) TURN OVER / TURNING OVER (Roll film/Rolling etc) The director tells the camera operator to start filming - a few seconds of film is then run as the camera gets up to speed - this is often referred to as LEAD IN. Once done the Camera operator will respond TURNING OVER or ROLLING (etc) to indicate being up to speed


3) ACTION! - Cue for the actors to perform the take, and the crew to do their jobs. It is good practice for the Director to let the film run on a further few seconds after the take is completed before cutting - this is referred to as LEAD OUT


4) CUT! - Cue for the camera to stop running film. Industry practice expects that the camera operator does not CUT before being told


The move from a standard camera to a video camera is compeltely different, i really enjoyed using a video camera moer than a standard camera as i was able to capture so much more rather than one image, a moving image can have more of a meaning and give of more of an impression, it gives the audience more to watch and think about aswell.

Introuduction to Adobe Photoshop.

Adobe Photoshop is a graphic and picture editing tool. It enables the user to alter, manipulate and create images either from existing photos or found images.

1. Rectangular marquee tool- cuts rectangular box shapes around a part of an image.
2. Lasso tool- cuts round edges of images inside an image.
3. Move tool- moves and drags images around the page.
4. Crop tool- reduces the image or part of an image.
5. Magic wand tool- selects sections all in the same color.
6. Eraser tool- rubs out sections of an image, turning the rubbed out section white.
7. Blur tool- blurs out sections making it foggy/cloudy- can be used to create more of an effect.
8. Burn tool- turning the screen dark, darkening images/sections.
9. Dodge tool- smudges the images.
10. Clone stamp- highlights certain area of the background and recreates that background on another section of the image.

11.  White Point Dropper- This lets you make anything a pure white. It's also is used to correct underexposure.

12. Black Dropper- lets you make anything black or hazy smoke.
13. Sharpening- focuses the images pixels into a more dense picture.

How I found Photoshop as a programme:

The tools I found most effective were the lasso tool, as I could cut round an object free hand to make a more precise cut round the object than the marquee tool. Another tool I found effective was the clone stamp, this tool makes a perfect copy of a highlighted part of the image and can be copied numerous amounts of time on the actual image itself.
The tool I found difficult were the lasso tool as you needed a steady hand to do a precise cut round an object which I didn’t have, so it made jaggerd edge round the object which looked messy and rushed.



In my poster of a girl being stalked in the woods i used various tools, firstly i used the burn tool to darken the whole background itself, to make a more terrifying, shocking atmopshere.I emphasized the darkness on the trees in the woods to make them more threatning and stand out in the image. The woods and darkness of the image is iconic to a typical horror film, also the fact its dark makes us think it was set in the night which is also contributing to it relating to a horror film. Adjusting the saturation of the whole image changed the atmosphere too, I enhanced the redness and warm colors to represent blood and horror again. Editing this picture made it more of a threatening, menacing impression, I did add extra objects to the page, for example my body coming out of the ground and a pile of soil on top of me but decided not to use this idea in the end. Adding in objects is part of the mise sen scence of the image. With the title of the image I took into account the rule of thirds, leading the image from the stalkers face, to mine to the text.


Finding Photoshop hard or easy- I personally found Photoshop rather challenging, as there is a lot of tools to use and the way to use them is hard to remember. Once shown how to use the tools and find them it was a matter of fact of remembering the technique and getting on with it. Photoshop needs a lot of time and patience especially when working on producing a precise crop of a picture or when using the lasso tool. I found Photoshop rather complicated and required a lot of time and endurance.

The Purpose i see Photoshop having in creating a Media Product-  Photoshop has the ability to change and alter any image completely to create a false image which we are to interpret through our own imaginations. Photoshop can changes colour, scale, rotation and overall any aspect of the image, transforming the image to something from nothing. photoshop is used widely today in all kinds of markets especially cosmetics and fashion to highlight how good they are.

Basic stills camera work and composition.

Composition:

Photography brings a visual language that is universal in understanding. We must then understand its vocabulary which consists of shapes, textures, patterns, lines, colours, shade of light to dark and sharp to blurry images. Just as we must learn to arrange words in a coherent order in order to make sense when we write or speak, so too must we put visual elements together in an organized manner if our photographs are to convey their meaning clearly and vividly.

Composition means arrangement: the orderly putting together of parts to make a unified whole; composition through a personal, intuitive act. However, there are basic principles that govern the way visual elements behave and interact when you combine them inside the four borders of a photograph. Once we have sharpened our vision and grasped these basic ideas of principles, then we will have the potential for making our photographs more exciting and effective than ever before.

Rules of third is one of the most popular rules in photography and amongst artists. Using this rude of thirds helps produce nicely balanced easy on the eye pictures. And also helps get rid of ‘tiny subject surrounded by empty space’ syndrome. This process works like this-: imaginary lines are drawn diving the image into thirds both horizontally and vertically, where these lines intersect you place the important elements there.

Good places would be- third of the way up, third of the way in from the left.

 Bad places would be- right in the middle, right at the top, right at the bottom, away in the corner.

Introduction and My Doctor Who trailer.

Throughout this year in Media studies, i am going to be starting a journey on learning film language, how to operate cameras and learn editing and various skills. Also we will be learning how to make short sequences taking into consideration continuty editing styles, genre and conventions. I am looking forward to taking on a new challenge and learning various skills within Media and throughout this year.  I'm especially excited to make my peliminary task sequence then my thriller sequence in groups within my class.

Dr Who trailer.