First day filming

We began filming today and managed to get some perfect shots of clouds in the sky due to good weather. We only recorded some of the shots we need as we could ot use our whole cast in this lesson. We will film the remaining shots we need later on and will begin editing what we have already recorded. As well as filming some exterior shots we also filmed the lift in D block. We are extremely pleased with the shots of the clouds and sky we have filmed.

Top Tips for Filming

• Take script and description of shots with you at all times
• Always check the location before using it
• Always carry a backup plan for anything that might go wrong
• Know how to use the camera
• Check if characters are available before using them
• Plan out what you will film on what day and time

Target Audience

The target audience of our film is male teenagers from the age of 15 onwards. We have chosen this target audience because our film is similar to 'Disturbia' and this is its target audience.

The film would particularly appeal to male teens who are interested in 'gaming' as the film has a gory story line similar to popular games.

The film may also attract a younger audience because the cast are also young and so the feelings and themes are easy to relate to and more relevant to the audience. 

Our film's name 'Envisage' is quite similar to 'Disturbia' and makes the mind wonder what the film may involve and so may attract the same kind of audience. 

Notes on Seven

Seven - directed by David Fincher

The opening sequence to Seven shows a few of the thriller conventions.

At the beginning, we discover the main character (Morgan Freeman) who is also the lead detective. This also shows the audience who the protagonist is.
We also see that the focus is on the crime which Freeman is investigating in the flat with the two other detectives. Also in this scene, Freeman becomes isolated when he starts talking about other details which aren't linked to the crime and the other detectives ask him what he's talking about. The fact he talks about unrelated details could be a weakness of Freeman's character.

When Brad Pitt is introduced, there is instantly a binary opposite between him and Freeman. This is because Freeman is older, wiser, organised, and he's seen a lot whilst working as a detective. Unlike Pitt who is younger, messy, unorganised, and has a cocky attitude about him. We can tell Freeman is more organised than Pitt by looking at the mise-en-scene. Freeman's costume is neater than Pitts, this is shown because Pitts' costume is messy and looks unorganised unlike Freeman's.

Sound is important to the opening clip because it builds suspense from an early stage of the film. The opening credits build suspense with the music because the music has a dark abnormal tone, which could raise questions for the audience. Just after this, the music builds more suspense again when the detectives are searching through the house/crime scene.

There is a mature and highly regarded cast for this film, and this is shown by the fact that the two main characters are Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt.

To make the setting seem realistic, they base the story in a city.

The titles convey to the audience unanswered questions, and this is good for the audience because it gets them thinking about the plot and what may happen in the film itself. Also, we are introduced to the main character, Morgan Freeman, in the titles.

Going back to the micro elements, the lighting in the crime scene footage is effective for the audience because it gives us a sense of claustrophobia by the fact that it's a small, dark, gloomy room which is difficult to see in. 

analysing past students video

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 including colour, figure, lighting etc.
- Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer
- Using varied shot transitions and effects
- Using sound with images
- Using titles appropriately




This clip was enjoyable to watch because of the effectiveness of the micro elements used. The shot where they were filming the news reporter was very accurate to news which we actually see on TV. This is due to the fact they hold the shot steady. They frame the shot including the important elements which relate to what they're talking about, which is the news reporter and the setting of the terrorist attack. This is helpful to the audience because it gives a rough idea of where the situation at hand is happening. There were a variety of shot distances and angles which determined the position of characters, for example, where the antagonists were running around the building, they were shown at a low angle with a close up, this is significant to the viewer because it shows who's in control, and at this point, it's the antagonists.This is the same as the hostages, they're shown at a mid shot, which shows the audience the amount of hostages. The material within the clip is all appropriate to the task because it shows a sophisticated plot. The plot is that twenty-one hostages need rescuing. Although the plot is given away so early, it is effective for the audience because it gets them thinking how they're going to save the hostages. The mise-en-scene is really effective in this clip, especially the colour. This is where it cuts from the news to the hostage scene. The news is in colour and in daylight, whereas the action scenes of the clip were in black and white. I found this effective because it could convey the idea of what could be that they're doing it like a split screen, where they show the news report footage, opposed to the scenes on black and white. They also edited the shots really well so the storyline made sense to the audience, and they done this by cutting from the news report part then showing the bits in black and white, and this was good because it made the footage more fluent. This is because the news reporter would explain to the audience what was happening, then the black and white scenes would show what he was talking about.

Conventions of Sub Genres

Psychological

Unusual happenings - extraordinary
Misleading story - plot twists/tricks
Clever character - thinking ahead of everyone else
Isolated character
Film works up to a final shocking reveal
Characters have a fascination or fear of death
Danger on a mental level rather than a physical level
Characters try and find their own purpose
Characters in conflict with their mind - they don't know what is true
2 or more characters preying on each others sanity

Example of a Psychological thriller

Memento directed by Christopher Nolan

Throughout the clip we saw, the main convention which was highly noticeable was the fact that the main character is isolated from the other characters. This is because he has a bad condition of memory loss which alienates him and makes him weak and vulnerable. The main character has a fascination, or obsession with his wife's death, and he is determined to avenge her. Also, the main character has conflict with his own mind due to his memory loss, and this causes repetition of him killing people who h suspects killed his wife, and he won't stop until he finds the real killer. In this film, there is quite a mature cast of characters, this is because the director is common for types of films like this. The plot is non linear which means it is quite difficult to understand because it of the flashback's in nearly every scene, and this can confuse the audience. They probably did this so the audience can relate to the main character's feelings of memory loss, so us as the audience can get a better understanding of what he is like.

Political

Uses many locations - often focuses on different cultures or countries
'False Heroes' - characters we think are good who are revealed not to be
'Helper' - character who provides the protagonist with something useful
Threat is set against a backdrop of political power struggle
Plots are designed to give political power to someone while opponents try and prevent this
Innocent people drawn into the political world
Trying to prove innocence

Action

More screen time main characters - protagonist, helps the audience relate to the characters
High position of authority - usually the antagonist, "false heroes"
Location change
Introduced to characters without fully knowing
Nothing developed straight away
Isolated character
Not knowing anything/unknown plot
Don't get the reason with fights and chases
Antagonist - group
                                = Protagonist outnumbered
Protagonist - one
Variety of characters
Organised (OCD level)
Isolate themselves
Normal setting
Violence - innocent people dying
Usually family issues
Variety of locations
Weakness
Clues
Family issues
Mature cast - expensive budget
Protagonist has talent - athletic

Crime

More screen time for the main character
Basic locations
Protagonist vulnerable due to family (also creates a driving force)
Crime being planned
Mysterious music - build tension
Binary opposite
Based on protagonist
Suspension music
Young adult cast
Older cast turn up
Protagonist introduced
No antagonist yet
Protagonist has issue
Misleading narrative
Opposite sex distraction
Randomly killing people
Isolated crime scene

Test Footage

 

These shots are some of the basic shots that will be used in the opening sequence.

The correct props aren't included in this clip because of the weather.

There is a variety of shots used to portray different things and atmospheres

Class Feedback of Childrens Film

Positives

• Good choice of camera shot types
• Well edited
• Good choice of music

Negatives

• Some shots badly positioned 
• Unsteady hand on some points
• Dialogue quiet on some parts

How to make improvements

• Use a tripod more effectively to ensure all shots are steady
• Make sure we capture all dialogue well when filming
• Plan our shots better before filming
• Spend more time editing after filming

Evaluation of Children's film

Positive Feedback

I was very happy with the soundtrack we made for the film as the sound effects used were slick and authentic and the music suited the genre.
The titles we made looked very professional and also fitted well with the genre.
We used a wide variety of different shot distances including long shots, mid shots and close ups which also worked well.

 Negative Feedback

I think we should have included a wider variety of shots in our film as it would create a more proffesional looking film and be more interesting to watch.
We also could have improved our editiing techniues as I don't think the fact that 'Peter' is invisible is immediately obvious.
We could have also added more interesting effects and shot transitions to make the film more interesting to watch.

childrens film evaluation

positives-

conversation editing

the use of special effects

good background
Good use of photoshop
Good mise-en-scene



Negatives 
random black scene

continuity editing is poor

body parts are missing

sound missing and isn't empathetic

Editing of people
More titles. More detail

 green -happy about 

red - not happy about

How can we improve on our negatives?

We can improve on our negatives by planning our tine so we have enough time to make sure the editing is more fluent and that the sound matches the images. 

Shot List and Storyboard

Shot List

 

Story Board

Notes on Amar's presentation

script writing
story boarding
test shooting
shooting
editing
............................. layers build throughout each stage

don't rely on memory > write down ideas in a simple way
divide script into locations

EXT (exterior e.g. car park)
INT (interior e.g bedroom)

find locations nd diagnose problems
make notes on what you see and hear
always have a shot list and a script < annotate it include INT and EXT
identify props/ costumes  helps edit process

shooting schedule
organize day and time
what restrictions do you have?
if organized you can shoot on time and possibly shoot more.
more options when editing
print off any notes or any of the work above and carry with you at all times.

Call Sheets

A call sheet is a chart issued to the cast and crew of a film production, which lists the production schedule. The sheet also includes contact information for other members of the cast and crew. They are often issued at the beginning of the week because the schedule changes throughout the week and also it is difficult to plan further ahead.

Here is an example of a call sheet for the production of Sherlock Holmes, and from the chart we can see the time, date and location indicated for everyone. We can also see the addresses and contact details for the director and the whole production team. Underneath those, there is a chart which shows the actors, which role they play and what time and page/lines they have to go over. It also shows the dates of when they should be there.

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.