10 second sections explaining the 2 min opening

1-10 seconds:
The protagonist will be in bed sleeping in his bedroom
 mise en scene: dark bedroom
sound: rain and thunder
shot type: establishing then mid shot.

10-20 seconds:
Transition of  a fade out from the character sleeping to entering his dream
 colouring stays the same the character is laying on the grass looking up into the sky
mise en scene: field with trees and a clear sky
sound: (maybe voice over) music
shot type: point of view looking up at the sky. the camera slowly spins around to give
clear image as the title appears in the form of clouds.

20-30 seconds:
The clouds continue to show and then he looks around him and sees his friends laying
beside him. the character shuts his eyes and falls asleep
mise en scene: field and sky and as the protagonist closes hes eyes a blackout forms in
the shape of an eye either by using black paper over the camera or editing.
sound: music and sound effects of a natural environment
shot type: continued in point of view ... establishing shot, close up.

30-40 seconds:
colouring changes to black and white to change the imagery and to show a different
 storyline. character slowly gets up and starts walking around feeling slightly
unconscious. as character gets a bit dizzy the cameraangle changes to show the
protagonist and spins around him to give a clear image and to engage the audience in
giving them a glance of how he is feeling. the caracter is looking at himself in a
confused way. looks at his hands and body.
mise en scene: field trees etc. the same as  before but all in black and white
sound: empathetic music to match the mood of the character.
Shot type: establishing shot as camera spins around

40-50 seconds:
the camera changes point of view to the antagonists point of view hiding behind a tree.
Mise en scene: same setting
sound: pause music and hears heavy breathing or a sound effet of sticks snaping on the
floor to make it seem as if he is stepping on them coming from the antagonist
Shot type: establishing shots close ups and point of view.

50-60 seconds:
protagonist starts walking around the feild only to find a dead person lying dead on the
floor he continues to walk slowly looking scared.
Mise en scene:same setting and starts to show some building as the character is walking
into a building (long road college)
Sound: some sound effects and maybe a voice over Echoing to set the atmosphere.
shot type: mid shots, tracking and long shots.

60-70 seconds:
the character continues to walk and look around slowly entering the building and sees
some more dead bodies.
mise en scene: inside the college, elevator, corridors, rooms.
Sound: sound effects and faded music.
Shot type: mis shots, long shots, close ups.

70-80 seconds: 
protagonist steps over the dead bodies feeling more and more frightened and looking
lost. he waits impatiently for the elevator to open as he starts to get the feeling that
someone is watching him. then the antagonist point of view is shown again but this
time is from behind a do.


                        
                      
 
                     
                  

This name was chosen to represent our company logo because  skyscrapers are known to be something big wich is a good way to represent our company. The writing is chosen to be in a glowing type of colour that stands out from the sky and reflects into the sea to portray a type of image that would attract all ages over the world .The idea of the two lights at the bottom were taken from the "21st century" company logo. The lights make the image stronger and make the tittle seem more important as it stands out more.

This to start of was just a simple image of google of skyskrapers which was then later on edited on a programme called gimp. The contrast slightly changed, the writing was added and smudged a little as its reflected on the sea to make it seem more realistic. A glowing effect to the skyscrapers was also added onto the image  to contrast with the lights inthe corners. The editing was kept to a standard level so that it doesnt look too tacky but also looks good enough to represent modern times and the 21st century.

Thriller Ideas

IDEAS:

Genre: Psychological
Title: Envisage (pictures in ones mind)
Characters: 3-4
Plot: Main character is laying in bed sleeping, then finds himself to be laying down on a field looking up at the sky and his surrounding which include his friends. He then falls asleep and after a little while he wakes up and see's everything around him is gone. He gets up and investigates what's happened, but as he gets up he feels dizzy and walks around slightly unconscious of his surroundings. This is all filmed as a point of view shot. The camera shot is changed from the protagonist point of view to the antagonists point of view who is hiding, whilst showing shots of the protagonists actions and to build up tension (POV establishing shot). As the story progresses, the protagonist will be searching for people he knows, but when he finds them they're dead. He only finds each friend one at a time. As he is finding his friends, the antagonist gradually gets closer to him. Then after finding everyone he cares about, the antagonist goes after him, but before the antagonist kills him, the protagonist wakes up only to find that it was all a dream.
Effects: Voice over, a couple of transitions, music.
Possible locations: Field, bedroom, places around college.

Mood Board:
The film Inception could relate to our plot due to the fact it's all about dreaming.

Cast and Crew

cast: 3-4 characters, male main character, students at long road. 

crew: Ben, Harry, Samanda

Mise-en-scene

Lighting: natural lighting to create realism

Costume: protagonist is wearing formal clothing (trousers, shirt) his friends also wearing formal clothing to show the stereotypical thriller characters which make them seem unlikely to be a hero but they are.

Antagonist is wearing scruffy clothes to create a binary opposite against the protagonist.

Set: the scenes will be set in a bedroom, to show that the protagonist is comfortable and safe when sleeping. When the dream begins, we will set it on the field to show that they're outgoing and like to have fun when they're not working. We'll also use the forest bit at the back of long road to represent a hidden mysterious area. The forest can also present the stereotypical genre of a thriller.

Make-up: none used

Colour: black and white to show a different mood to the scene, natural colour for the rest of the scene.

Props: bed

company logos

An example of a company logo that is used in the thriller film die hard is 20th century fox.
This Logo helps to indicate the type of film that is going to be shown. The logo adds on other details i.e a character from the film to make it more interesting and seem more creative.
the 20th century logo helps us to understand that the film is modern and the lighting in the logo makes it seem very important as the loud instrumental makes it seem royal . The background also creates an effect to it to attract the audience and again to indicate the genre of the film.

company logo

New Line Cinema Ident

New Line Cinema's ident uses dark blues and blacks to create a mysterious and sophisticated introduction to the production company which hints towards the sorts of films they make. The Logo consists of cuts of old fashioned film which shows the viewers exactly what they make. The music invites the audience to watch and grabs their attention to concentrate on what is about to be shown. The light at the back of the screen shines on like an old fashioned film projector which also fits in with the logo.

Feedback on previous openings

Marking Criteria

>> holding a shot steady where appropriate 

>>Framing a shot including and excluding elements

>> Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate

>> shooting material appropriate to the task

>> selecting mise-en-scene include colour, figure,lighting etc

>>Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer 

>> using varied shot transitions + effects.

>>using sound with images

                 >>Using titles appropriately

This video has a good variety of effective shots i.e close ups extreme close ups over the shoulder etc.
the sound/ music is also very effective as the beat and tempo create suspense to the actions.
the lighting adds onto the atmosphere and makes the thriller seem more realistic along with the titles that go with the theme, the font and colour helps to indicate the genre. The ending is filmed very well and attracts the audience attention as the character is close up to the camera which makes the audience seem like they are more involved in the film.

something that could have been improved was the length of the titles because they lasted a little too long and more action should have been involved to make the opening more clearer.

The Recruit

Crime Thriller Conventions

• The protagonist usually has a troubled past for example a missing father
• Good looking protagonist
• Female character who the protagonist is clearly attracted to
• Story centers around a secret organization 
• Gadgets
• Older wise character who might become a father figure to the protagonist
• Binary opposite characters
• Music that builds tension
• Well known actors
• Contrast of younger and older characters who are similar
• Dark, mysterious and shadowy lighting

Characters

Main character is first introduced when lying in bed

what we learn about him :

- good liar

- good at technology

- athletic

- as the film goes on we learn more about his past ( his father) - the plot becomes clearer

- he becomes more educated about the C.I.A 

- creates a connection with the recruiter  who seems to know everything about him

- becomes more curious as to what happened to his father

- gets attracted to a another of the new recruits 

Filming and Editing Techniques 

the beginning - edited quick shots of the documents ( that later on appear during the film where the main character is sat at the computer researching about his father)

- quick shots to represent the speed of the action

- shots of all angles to show power between the characters

- close-ups and extreme close-ups to emphasise on the characters features

- voice over where the recruiter character is explaining why people have joined the C.I.A

these are typical to a thriller genre because they build suspense and tension towards the audience, making them want to find out more as the film goes on.

analysing prestige part 1/9

Prestige part 1 follows a path using specific conventions so that it builds a certain effect on the audience I.E the dark lighting and shadows to either show where the character stands in the film i.e the "bad" character would be shown in the dark and the "good" character would be in the light or the dark lighting could just simply be to create atmosphere and help indicate the genre.
The slow music is there to help expand on the atmosphere by creating tension and attracting the audience.
Something else that is also used in the part 1 of the prestige is match on action showing three different actions to help create a stronger storyline usually, the antagonist will drive the protagonist deeper and deeper into a puzzle leaving the protagonist feeling hopeless this continues until the protagonist finds a solution to defeat the antagonist by solving the crime in this case its Mr cutter trying to solve the story behind a man's death in a magic trick and assumes that Alfie has something to do with it.
The low tone of the voice-over (narrator) is also the main character in the film this may be so make the audience see the story from his point of view and to help indicate who the protagonist is straight away.
A short story line  is shown at the beginning to get a better understanding of the following parts and as to why those specific events are happening i.e when the main characters are in the court discussing previous event.
Extreme close-ups on human features and objects are very popular in thriller films to get the audience hooked into the film directly so that they can later on link the close-ups to the genre i.e in the beginning of prestige there's a number of black hats lying on the floor as if something has happened and black hats are a piece of clothing that is known to represent the appearance of magicians.

Thriller conventions

Conventions
narrative centers around a crime.
Binary opposites- protagonist - Lead  - Moral
                             Antagonist - Villian
 Protagonist will often have a weakness - this is often referred to in the title
Protagonist will often be seen in peril
Complex web of clues/ questions - Loads to the protagonist being isolated
Themes of mistaken identity mirroring illusions
objectifications of females
viewer becomes voyeur (voyeurism)
Micro-elements build suspense

Differences between Thrillers and Horrors

Thriller

• More mature cast
• Often highly regarded (expensive) actors and actresses
• Focus is crime - who did it? why? how?
• Often detective as the lead - victim is not always known to the audience

Horror

• Young cast - often teens
• Violence - blood/guts
• Focus of the narrative is the violence (not the crime)
• Multiple victims
• Lead 'victim' often becomes detective
• Suburban setting
• Adults are absent or not supportive

prestige analysis

Mise-en-scene

Costume - the costume makes all the characters seem as though they were all in the early 1900's, so it could show that  is a thriller which happened in the past. For example, Hugh Jackman's character wears clothing like a long coat, a top hat and all smart clothing. This is pretty much the same for every character. The costume can also signify the difference between good and bad. This is shown by the fact that both Jackman and Michael Caine's character are both wearing lighter coloured clothing, whereas Christian Bale's is all dark to show that he is the bad guy.

Lighting - There is not alot of lighting which can relate to the genre of a thriller, but the only part in which lighting could show the genre is where Bale's character is under the stage when he drowns the magician in the tank. The lighting at that moments is all dark apart from the light which shows both characters' faces, this could be to determine who's in control of the situation.

Setting - There are a few settings which can link to it being a thriller. The most obvious setting is where Bale is in the jail cell, and this could hint to the audience that he's the bad guy in the film. The other setting is the theatre where they perform there magic tricks. This could relate to a thriller because weird things could happen if they're all magicians. Apart from the two settings stated, I don't think the other settings can relate to the genre.

Make  up - The make up in the footage doesn't have alot of effect on the genre. Although, if I had to say something about the make-up, when they're doing the escape act with the women being tied up, the main magcian had make up on his face.This could show mysteriosity and that he is hiding.

Props - The main prop used to show present the genre could be the tank of water in which the magician drowned in because in that specific scene, we determine a crime and who the bad guy is, which is often found in most thriller's.

Narrative themes

The only piece of narrating which happens is at the beginning where Caine is telling the audience about how to perform a magic act, giving us (what seemed like) step by step instructions. This could be benificial for the genre because when describing each step, he doesn't make it clear that the steps are about magic acts, they could also be a way to describe how to cover a crime.

Character roles

The main character's within the clip are Jackman, Bale and Caine. Jackman seems to have a 'good guy' presence about him, he seems to be a character who plays by the rules; unlike Bale. His character is the opposite to Jackman's character because when doing the act with the other magician, Jackman does the rope tying how he was told, unlike bale who tied it up how he wanted it to have done. Also, we can tell Bale is the bad guy because he cause the magician to drown in the tank of water. Caine's character role is like Jackman's by being the good guy, this is shown where they're in court appealing that Bale has committed the crime and Caine is trying to prove the judge that he did commit it.



Preliminary task video

We have improved from our last preliminary task because we completed the task quicker which means we must have improved.

storyboard of preliminary task

The aim of the preliminary task was to film the following shots:
establishing shot
   close up
   match on action
   reaction shot
   long shot
   180 degree rule.
by completing this task  we are able to start with the thriller opening
because our knowledge and understanding of the shots will have improved.
we have improved from the last preliminary task because we have better experience of it and are able to do it in a shorter amount of time.