Evaluation of whole project.

Evaluation

For our AS Level Media project we had to plan and make a two minute opening sequence for a film of the thriller genre. We began by watching a variety of classic and recent thriller openings to give us an idea of some of the typical conventions used in a thriller film. The films included; ‘Ripley’s Game’, ‘Vertigo’, and ‘North by Northwest’
We liked the idea of not revealing the identity of a certain character; seen in ‘Vertigo’, which begins with an extreme close up of a women’s face, and so decided to incorporate this into our final piece. Not revealing a person sets up the enigma of a film; a typical convention of a thriller. We chose not to reveal the identity of the ‘killer’. This instantly creates suspense as one of the first few shots shown in our film is one of the killers face; a close up which doesn’t reveal the eyes. The shot didn’t turn out as well as it could have though, because when we imported the footage onto the computer we realized that the eyes hadn’t quite been cut off. To make up for this, we edited the lightness and colour of the shot, making it dark. This meant it was harder to see the person as well as creating an eerie, dark sense; connoting the fact that this character is bad.
The black background used in ‘Blade Runner’ was very effective, and worked extremely well in setting up a strong sense of mystery. We decided to use this idea in our film, and so began our film with black backgrounds behind the titles, interspersed with clips of film footage.
The non diegetic soundtracks used in each of the classic thriller openings were quite similar; usually consisting of slow, tense music building up as the action within in the film increased. We thought that having a very creepy, eerie opening music would work well, so we decided to do this, and after researching different music tracks we found effective music that reflected the mystery of the narrative.

Our thriller opening represents the vulnerability of teenage girls, when alone in a house. It reflects how any person would act given the circumstances that the characters have been put in.
It reflects the capability of any serial killer, by revealing how he has murdered a number of people, and presumably hasn’t been affected by his victims, or the killings.

We think our thriller film would be an independent film, presumably produced and distributed by a small independent company. There are no special effects used in our film and we didn’t use any famous highly paid actors to act in it. There are also no expensive locations, or stunt doubles used making it therefore a low budget film. We used little props and had easy access to the filming location. The narrative would appeal to many and is similar or typical for a thriller genre, perhaps appealing to those who enjoy thrillers. It could therefore be quite a popular film, and should be distributed alongside similar films of this genre.

The target audience for our film would be teenagers to young adults. We decided that if the entire film had been made, then it would have included violence and bad language, making it unsuitable for young audiences. After researching the age certificates for films and understanding what aspects of films determine the age ratings, we came to a conclusion that ours would have the certificate 15. Reflecting the violence and language that would take place later on in the film. The opening sequence alone, however, has no violence, nudity or unsuitable language, and so is suitable for all ages, but the narrative wouldn’t be enjoyable for younger children. When referring to the narrative, we found that it would be better suited for older audiences (teens to young adults), because it is quite complex, resulting in younger audiences not following the plot and becoming less interested.

In order to attract our target audience, we made our film instantly set up the enigma. We did this by using voice overs of news reporters talking about a serial killer, with eerie, creepy non diegetic music, before a dark close up of a characters mouth is shown, not revealing his identity. This creates mystery and also gives the idea that this character is the killer that is being referred to. This encourages the audience to continue watching the film, appealing to them so that the they won’t lose interest. This character is then informed via phone that a house is empty, and that he should kill some kids if he needs to.
The music stops as we cut to a house, letting the audience know that this is the house that is being spoken about, and consequently that the killer will be there, or is going to be there. Two teenage girls then pull up in a car outside the house, and we used a point of view shot to show that the killer is already there, and is watching them. This shot lingers on them as they get out of the car and go into the house. We handheld the camera to emphasize the fact that it was a point of view shot and so is therefore shaky. This again creates suspense, and because the audience know that this is the killer, it keeps them watching; making them want to know why he is there and if he will kill them.
We later use another point of view shot looking in through the window of the house as the girls, presumable the ‘kids’ that he is going to kill, are looking for their mum. This keeps the audience involved as they know that the killer is watching these characters, and that they are unaware of this, making it more tense. The two girls inside the house then see the killer through the window, we decided to start the music back up at this point, creating suspense, and an eerie atmosphere. By using the same music again, it becomes more significant, and is a music that the audience can relate to, reminding them that how they felt at the beginning of the film, is what the characters are feeling at this point. The characters then start to panic, before the phone rings. We used a range of shots here, making the cuts fast paced making the audience feel quite disoriented, as well as emphasizing how the characters would feel.
We also included a shot of the keys at the beginning of the sequence, as the girls come into the house. The audience would initially feel as though this shot is irrelevant, however when the same shot is revealed later on but without the keys, the audience are made aware that the keys are gone, and so creating more suspense.

We feel that the filming equipment, such as the camera, tripod, microphone and tape all worked extremely well, and overall were very reliable. We had no problem in assembling the equipment, and when using it found it very easy.
On the other hand, the computers and software used to import and edit the footage were a major problem.
After several attempts of importing the footage on to the computer, due to computer freezing, and general slowness, we eventually imported it. We were initially using an updated version of the software iMovie, which was extremely slow, making editing a very long process. The film was nearly completed, and had been saved, when it unintentionally got deleted, and we were unable to get it back. We then had to begin editing again, but the software was now even worse, and was close to freezing, making it impossible to edit anything.
We gave up using the computer and resulted in using one of the older Apple Mac. laptops, which meant we had to start editing again! Fortunately, the importing was very speedy in comparison to the first computer, and we were able to use the old and much simpler version of iMovie, making it a great deal easier. The laptop was extremely reliable and let us edit our sequence very quickly.

Before beginning our final opening sequence, we were asked to create a short preliminary exercise in keeping with the thriller genre. This allowed us to experiment different camera angles, shots and techniques as well as practicing editing the footage to form a short film or scene.
We had to begin by making a detailed storyboard, similar to what we would have to do for the final piece. The storyboard didn’t help us as much as it should have because it was very basic, lacking the vital details. By failing to make a precise and detailed storyboard, it effected our preliminary film as we had nothing to refer to when filming. We learnt that for the final film, we would need to make a reliable storyboard, which we did; meaning that we knew which shots to use where and when.
After filming we were able to edit the footage and add effects allowing us to see what worked and what didn’t. We found that most of the effects, transitions and default audio from iMovie were extremely tacky, and didn’t look very effective, making the footage look very cheesy and unprofessional. We only realized this after we had applied all the effects, and after feedback from our teacher we agreed that we had gone over the top with adding too many default sound effects and messy transitions. We therefore knew that for our final piece we would need to go for a more simplistic approach, and use our own sound effects where needed. The result, we think, was a more professional looking film sequence.

Our narrative, or initial synopsis for the entire film.

There is a family living in an isolated house, in the middle of nowhere. Some older relatives of the owners have recently died and left them a large fortune.

There is a serial killer, and his colleague who work together in order to obtain family fortunes, by brutally murdering them. He has succeeded so far, in killing many and receiving their fortunes, which is revealed on the news reports at the beginning of the film. He shares the money with his partner, who is heard at the beginning of the film informing the killer that owners of the house are out, but that the kids will be there, and that he should kill them if he needs to. The money however, isn't mentioned; creating an instant mystery as to why this house is so important.
The killers face isn't revealed throughout the entire opening sequence, creating suspense and another mystery. The only thing that is certain from the beginning is that he has killed people previously.
The kids then arrive at the house and realize that their parents are not there, before getting locked in the house by the murderer. The opening sequence ends at this point.
We went for the name ‘V1TAL M1NUTES’. This reflects how the kids have little time, but time that it is very important because their lives are at stake. We decided that the number one should replace the ‘I’s in the title, reflecting the minutes.

Evaluation of our final Thriller opening.

Risk Assesment

Update.

Update.

We have just finished our opening sequence and have completed a written evaluation as apposed to a spoken one. We attempted a spoken evaluation but it didn't work as well as it should have because we did not speak fluently. This made it hard for our points to get across so we decided to do a written evaluation.

I feel that the filming and editing of the film went very well, and we worked well as a group. We had some problems with the technology, in particular the computers which caused us a lot of problems. We changed computers to a smaller laptop though which helped us. 

Because of time, we were unable to complete the amount of filming that was needed to follow the entire storyboard. We later realized, however, that we had enough footage to produce over 2.00 minutes of film. We edited the story slightly through editing, which meant we didn't need the rest of the footage.  

 

update

We have now wrote our evaluation and answered all the questions 

We have done all the editing and we are hoping to get the video onto the blog today

Editing

We've now made quite a lot of progress of the editing of our titles using a laptop. I-Movie is working well, and we've been able to use a combination of transitions, sound effects etc. We are currently debating if we need to re-film parts of it as we're not 100% happy with them, but are not sure if it's absolutely necessary.

update 21/11/08

Today we tried to add the anamatic but it kept coming up with an error. We have done a bit more on the editing but it kept freezing, we will try again next week.

update filming

At the moment we have just finished our filming. We had put it onto imovie and start editing however we are experiencing technical difficulties. We have tried to re-do the editing as we lost it the 1st time but we had a big problem with the computer which means we have to wait till the computers are fixed and then we will start trying to edit it again.

as you can see we have tried to edit it but haven't got far as the computer keeps freezing

Started filming

Filming has now started on our thriller titles. We are about to start editing what we have got, and we are hoping to do more filming on Monday.

Anamatic

We have just finished our Anamatic and added some voice overs to help us get an idea of what it would look like as the real opening. We have also used sound effects of a telephone.

Next we have to decide what the film is going to be called and how to get the music onto our opening.

Storyboard for Thriller Opening Page1.

Storyboard for Thriller Opening

Idea For Thriller Opening Sequence

There is a family living in an isolated house, in the middle of nowhere. Their Grandparents recently died and left them a large amount of money.

There is a thief/murderer who is out to get the money. He has succeeded so far, in killing many and receiving their fortunes, which is revealed on the news at the beginning of the film. He shares the money with his partner, who is heard at the beginning of the film informing the killer that the parents are out of the house (the house which holds the money). He tells him that the kids will be at the house, and that he should kill them if he needs to. The money however, isn't mentioned; creating an instant mystery as to why this house is so important.
The killers face isn't revealed throughout the entire opening sequence, creating suspense and another mystery. The only thing that is certain from the beginning is that he has killed people previously.

The opening sequence starts with the titles, which overlap the film clips. Dead bodies are shown, that he has previously killed, with supposed news readers informing the viewer as to how they died, stating that 'another' body has been found. Implying that they have been murdered by the same person. As the titles continue to come up on screen, they overlap clips of an extreme close up of the a mans lips answering a ringing phone, which tells him to go to the house.

After the director, writer and cast have come up, the title of the film shows on a black background. Before cutting to an establishing shot of the house.

The kids then arrive and realise that their parents are not there, before getting locked in the house by the murderer. I think that the opening sequence should end just when they see the killer from the other side of the glass. Or something, yar?

Dunno what to call the film yet ???

update filming

We have just shot some of our ideas to see what they would look like we have decided to change a few ideas and a couple of camera shots as they didn't work to good.

The opening is now going to be slightly different as we have decided to have the hunter at the beginning instead of jumping straight to the house shot.

Music

currently we are looking for music for our thriller we have an idea of starting the opening with credits and a dramatic song then as the opening starts the music will stop and it will be quite and all you can hear is the car and the surroundings of the area.

The first task was to create a small continuaty sequence, which in my opinion worked very well. As a group we then analysed and studied a variety of classic thriller openings which gave us ideas on what different effects, camera angles etc to use in our opening sequence.

The narrative for our final project; 

A psychopathic killer is  stalking young teenagers to inherit their grandparents fortune. 

For our video we are going to use ideas off some of the videos we have watched we like the idea of not showing the face and leaving that secret to keep the audience guessing.

We also like the idea of using lines to make the audience feel trapped and this will add to the effect of thriller.

We are going to use the idea of a black background and the credits being white as them two colours work really well together. The use of string instruments is very interesting to us and we may be considering it as it will build up alot of tension to make our thriller a success.

Defence Of The Realm

This is film which i thought really gave a good effect as alot of background music was used and the use of the radio at the beginning and not alot of films do that.

• Black background with white writing which really stands out
• Title is written in the colour red with represents blood, death, fighting
• Digetic sound mixed with a non digetic soundtrack
• News reporter talking at the beginning on a radio with a scenery in the background
• The location and date appear on the screen
• the black background turns into a early morning with the clouds low and it is very misty which helps make the mood
• low shot/ birds eye view shots are used at the beginning
• it then cuts to 2 people in a car driving slow and then speed up as they are being chased by the police.
• low music plays in the background to help to the effect
• photographs are shown
• sound of footsteps

Classic Thriller Openings.

To help us with our final thriller film sequence, we have been looking at, and analysing, existing thriller opening sequences. This gives us ideas of what types of camera shots to use, as well as what music to use etc.

We began by looking at what makes a film a thriller.

• Enigma
• Suspense
• Mystery
• Action
  
• Usually murder, deaths etc.

Then we started analysing the different thriller openings;
'North By Northwest'

• This film is directed by Alfred Hitchcock.
  
• It beginsn with a great deal of lines on the screen, which are typical conventions of thriller films.
  
• The lines connote prisons, or being locked up.
• They also make the viewer feel claustrophobic, again representing being locked up or trapped.
  
• The film name is typically shown at the beginning of thrillers, this can sometimes give the narrative away, though never in great detail.
• This particular thriller is known a comedy thriller, however there are only few comedic elements within the film.
  
• The title sequence then dissolves into the establishing shot of a building, revealing where the opening scene is set, and perhaps where most of the film is set.
• The transitions that dissolve often indicate that it is still in the same location, whereas harsh cuts could mean that it has changed location.
• The high angle shot makes the people or characters seem less significant.
  

'Vertigo'

• The word 'Vertigo' means the fear of heights.
  
• This title sequence begins with an extreme close up of a womens nose and mouth, which instantly sets up the enigma. Who is it? etc.
• The mystery of who she is, is reinforced by the soundtrack.
  
• The camera then explores her face (Still an ECU), which still unables us to identify her.
  
• The camera then approaches her eye, and zooms in. The screen is then transformed by a red tint; connoting danger, evil or death.
  
• The pupil of the eye is then centralised in the the screen. Which could indicate that her eyes are the most important part of her face.
• The title of the film, 'Vertigo', then comes out of her eye, as if from the brain, which could suggest that vertigo (fear of heights) comes from the brain.
• A spiral then appears in the centre of the eye on a black background, which could represent dizzyness or being hypnotised. It could also reflect the fear of height - falling, black hole etc.
• The spiral then gradually evolved into a more complex pattern, becoming very like hypnotism , which could represent being controlled.
  
• The large spiral pattern moves around in slow motion, and is accompanied by suspense-like music.
  

'Touch of Evil'

• The sound track to this opening is very unique, it slightly resembles the ticking of a clock.
  
• It shows the timer/or bomb, being placed in the car.
  
• The lighting is dim, lots of shadows.
• The tension is built up as the camera follows certain people.
  
• There is cheerful diegetic sound.
• People cross over and in and out of camera shots - very naturalistic.
• The car eventually blows up, but the camera lingers on several different people before it happens which throws the viewer of course slightly.
• This is the longest opening to follow the narrative of the bomb in the car - meeting several characters along the way, before it eventually blows up.

'Kiss Me Deadly'

• Begins with a women running, there is very tense, loud, non-diegetic music.
  
• She seems very panicked, running away from something? running after someone?
  
• She has no shoes and is running down the highway at night time, as it is dark. Lots of questions are thrown at the viewer, mysteries etc. Who is she? Why is she running? Where are her shoes?
  
• Along with the non-diegetic music, there is her loud diegetic panting. Which suggests shes been running for a while.
• Drum beats, create tension.
  
• She stops a car as it drives towards her.
• The soundtrack then becomes diegetic as we hear romantic music on the radio in the car.
• The driver then lets her in.
• The titles come up whilse the camera follows the car from behind. The titles scroll up backwards, meaning they have to be read backwards. They also obscure the view and are very distracting - increasing the mystery of the narrative.
• Scene then cuts to the front of the car, (titles now gone), and the driver starts asking the women questions. The same questions that the viewer wants answers to.
  
• They end up being stopped by the police; who inform them that they are looking for a women (her). They get passed the police though, as the man pretends she is his wife.
• They then arrive at a place, and she asks someone to post a letter for her. She pulls out a letter and hands it over. Bigger mystery - Whats in the letter? Why couldnt she post it herself? etc.

'Blade Runner'

• Begins with black background.
• Titles then come up, music is quite calm, accompanies by loud drumming.
• Echoey eerie music, creates mystery and suspense.
• Drums create tension/suspense
• Nothing is seen, except for the black background - revealing the titles.
• Narrative is then introduced through caption. (still no images or film - black background) A tense boom sound as the writing comes up.
• Then war sounds can be heard, sirens etc. Non - music soundtrack.

'Marnie' - Alfred Hitchcock - Universal Pictures.

• Annxious string sounds as production company is revealed.
  
• Begins with shot of bright yellow bag - significant.
• Camera only focuses on bag. (Mystery) Whos holding it? Whats in it? Where is it?
  
• Gradually zooms out to reveal the back of a women, still carrying the bag. The bag is very significant - stands out.
• The camera follows her, from behind.
  
• She can not be identified yet.
  
• Slight establishing shot as she moves further away. Location is revealed.
  
• Camera focuses on bag - suggests its important, doesnt show womens face. Though she has extremely black hair.
  
• Cuts to scene of men talking, her name is clearly mentioned.
• Cuts back to women carrying bag as she approaches room.
• Big romantic strings in background.
  
• She approaches bed and changes her identity from the name we heard earlier to a new one.
• She is seen opening the bag, which has lots of money in it.
• She is then seen moving clothes from one suitcase to another - implying she is changing her identity.
• Five minutes into the film, and her face still hasnt been revealed.
• She walks over to sink and rinses her hair, black die comes out in water.
• BIG climax when her face is revealed as she waves her hair around, which is now blond. (new identity) - Big music.

'Defence Of the Relme'

• The atmosphere is set up with black background, eerie music - suspense.
• The titles show up.
• Narrative is being set up by the soundtrack - no images or clips. Just titles.
• Location and date is revealed on a blue background - still no images. 'Eastern England - August 9th' - Tells you where and when you are.
• Film is revealed.
  
• Abnormal shadows.
• Alienated - odd slanted camera angles to disorientate.
• Echo - dark
• The mise-en-scene is very effective in this.
  

There is lots of use of mirrors in thrillers, which give the sense of a distorted reflection of the world, or that the characters reflection represents the character is twofaced.

Research

To research our thriller opening, we have been watching the titles of lots of other thrillers.

One was Alfred Hitchcocks Marnie which was made in 1964.

It starts with dramatic string music which makes the viewer feel uneasy.

The opening credits are like a book, as if the film tells a story. The movie originally comes from a book of the same name by Winston Graham.

Only simple colours are used, which means when the film starts with a close up of a yellow bag, the yellow bag stands out more, and it is obvious to the viewers that it's important.

The woman carrying the bag walks away from the camera, and we see more of her, but only her back. This creates an enigma, as lots of questions about the woman remain unanswered, for example:

• Who is the woman?
• What does she look like?
• What's she done?

We like the idea of not showing the face, and might use this in our own opening credits.

As she walks along, she walks between lines which creates the feeling of entrapment.

We find out more about the woman as it cuts across to the office. A man, clearly a business man because of his suit, shouts 'robbed' and a close up of an empty safe is shown. The viewer now knows the woman is a thief.

Media Studies.

Over the last few weeks we have been learning about different camera shots and angles, and then using them in practice films. This gives us a better idea as to what we will use in our final piece We begin each smaller project by sketching a simple story board, this shows us the mise-en-scene, and angles of each shot. 

We have just finished our practice film, which is posted below. 

this is us.

By Tom Thompson :)

Overall, I am happy with our test video. If we were to complete it again, I would make sure that the camera shots lasted longer (in duration), and that there were no jump cuts. The camera shots, in places, are not very steady, and so I would make sure that the tripod was secure and still. 

We did attempt to correct the jump cuts, by adding pictures and trimming as much of the shot as we could. This meant that the video was more fluent, (rather than jumpy)

We decided to add pictures, that we had taken in the previous lesson. They work well, as they add to the narrative of the story. 

We then added suspense (BOOM) sounds from iMovie, which add to the suspense of the film. 

HOW THE VIDEO COULD BE IMPROVED

Looking at the video it looks really good but it could be improved so much more we have done alot of changes on it over the past week and been watching it over and over again, first of all we had to cut shots as alot didn't fit in the video . There was a part in the video when tom first spoke to Andy but in the video there was jump cuts and it came across to unprofessional , so what we done was cut a part of Andy acting later on in the video and duplicated it and put it in the part before tom spoke,it looked  more professional and we deleted a shot that jumped so it flowed.

We added music to the video so we could set the scene and so the audience could tell what type of genre the video was.

We also placed 3 pictures in the video and added different music on each picture.

Things we changed to improve the video.

• Colour
• Effects
• Sound
• Transitions
• Trimmed shots
• Added music

Andy's opinion of the video

I really liked our video. The music does a great job of building the tension, and the photos being shown quickly add to this. The greyscale adds an element of darkness to the video. We used the storyboard well, so we knew exactly what we were doing when it came to filming.

To improve it we should use a wider variety of shots, such as two shot. I also think the actors (i.e. me) should talk louder as they cannot be heard all the time. Perhaps we could adjust the levels in I-movie.

The Office

This is our first attempt to make a small video 

• We used a variety of shots 
  
• Different techniques on Imovie
• Different effects to create suspense 

Storyboard- continuity sequence

We did a storyboard for our continuity sequence, which we filmed to practice using different shots and get used to using the equipment.

The next step is to edit it.

What we have learned so far

In our group there is 4 people Andy Brady, Rebecca Crawley, Zoe Whitfield and Tom Thompson.

And the genre we are focusing on is a thriller.

In media so far we started at the beginning, we started by deciding what shots we wanted to achieve in our film, we decided if we wanted a close up or an over the shoulder shot. we started off with a long shot and then focused on a over the shoulder so the audience could see what the main character was looking at we focused on a variety of shots so we could practise on what shot looks better and tells the story more. in our work so far we have used a variety of shots 

• Over the shoulder
  
• Long shot
• Close Up
• Mid Shot
• Extreme close up
• High Angle
• Two Shot

We then done a storyboard which involved putting the shots into a sequence to make up a basic story.

Also we have made a short sequence where we had to edit parts to make it all fit in, we had to use i-movie and our short film involved music and sound effects, also transitions.