What's Been Happening?

After another reshoot (7th March), we are nearly done! The soundtrack & foley have been mixed, the video has been edited, now we are currently lining up the foley to the correct scenes (it got moved around in the re-edit!)

Rough Cut

Due to several of technical problems (including the tape from today's reshoot not working on the upload), I have been unable to put any of the reshot footage on this. We will have a group meeting on Monday 13th February 2012 to discuss further action.

Reshoot!

Our planned reshoot is for Sunday 5th February 2012. From 3:30 - 4:30. Confirmed: Abbie, James, Amy, Joe. Weather forecast above. 

Thriller titles

During the opening scenes, I've seen a number of thrillers that have an introductory scene, then begin the title credits. I think this is quite an interesting idea, as it sets the atmosphere before we know the feeling of the film (the font of the opening titles plays a huge impact on what sort of film this will be, for example most Disney films are usually very bright, bold & colourful, so the viewers know this will be a film with a happy ending.) In thrillers, there doesn't have to be a happy ending, the film can just end. Usually there is a significant point at which the film ends, usually when someone saves the day or someone has been put to justice. Early ideas for our thriller was a terrorist attack, but starting at the end. So the first thing people will see is destroyed buildings, people's dead bodies, fire, destruction, etc. Then throughout the opening scenes, we'll have flashbacks to earlier events to the build up. This might be tricky as the thriller opening is only meant to be a few minutes long, and with the titles, it might be hard to convey everything we want and still have the viewers understand what is going on. An idea that was built on the terrorist idea was that until the first flashback, it was complete silence except for maybe a sad, slow song - as the actor/actress looks around at the chaos. This is not for certain yet though.

Independant Evaluation

1. Complete - who did what? Level 2- 11 marks
Abbie - camera operator
Danica & Joe - actors
Abbie, Joe & Sophie - editors, however due to technical problems, and I had to leave for another lesson, Abbie & Sophie edited the final copy (there were two, the one I edited didn't have audio working)

2. Useful research & demonstrate learning? Level 2/3 - 11/12 marks
I researched final cut pro but i didn't understand it properly until I actually used it. Sir helped me learn how to export it as AVI finals after school one day and other people had to show me how to batch capture, as Danica had already learned how to use it beforehand.

3. Care/creativity in the presentation? Level 2 - 10 mark
I think i took care in the presentation, but it wasn't that creative. I prefer typing with images over recording audio, especially when having to listen/read it back. Some times, we did actually record ourselves, or video ourselves (the rating video with Maisy & Chris)

4. Time Management? (4 hours per week) Level 2 - 9 marks
I don't believe it looks like 4 hours per week because I haven't posted everytime I've reviewed a thriller film, or evaluated a class.

Evaluation

(The video can be found on abbie's blog)


The planning process -
What planning did you do and why?
we planned our script and camera angles so we knew exactly how what shots needed to be filmed.
How well organised were you?
we weren't 100% organised, we weren't entirely sure on how to film it.
What would you change next time?
we would plan our shoot more in depth, make sure the camera's worked perfectly.

The video production -
What did you do, does it work, do the edits (match on action) work well?
we used a variety of shots, a list of which can be found on this blog, we feel the match on action worked well but at one scene one of the actors heads got a bit cut off.
Have you stuck to the 180 deg rule?
we tried to.
Are the shots & angles well framed (rule of 3rds)?
i wasn't sure whilst filming but in the final product, i think it looks well framed.
Does it look convincing as a conversation?
we tried to make it as convincing as possible. there are pauses which were in the script and used in the film but it might seem as if they are there from bad editing,
What would you change to improve it?
add more dialogue and shoot every scene at a low, medium and then high angle.

Overall -  how well have you completed the preliminary task?
i think we completed the preliminary task to the best of our ability using the knowledge we knew so far about editing.

Storyboard

How To Kill Your Husband (Or Wife) Script!

(A man walks into a dim lit room. A woman is sitting at the table)

DANICA

 Where have you been ?

Pause 

JOE

Out

DANICA

 Out where?

JOE

 Out with friends

DANICA

 What friends 

JOE

 Work Friends?!

Pause

DANICA

 (sighs)

 Were you with her?

JOE

 Who!!

DANICA 

 You know who?

Pause 

JOE

 No i wasn’t 

DANICA

 LIAR!!!!!

JOE

 I’m not 

DANICA

(Shouting)

 Why are you lying?! 

JOE

(Calm)

I’m not 

Danica 

(slaps) 

JOE

(pulls out weapon and kills end scene with smile) 

shot types

Shot Types (Order of Shots)

1. Match on Action - Pulling the door handle/
2. match on Action -Entering the room.
3. Close Up - Danica drumming fingers.
4. Long Shot - Joe reaching the table.
5. Two Shot - Joe sitting down, Danica on other end of table.
6. Close Up - Danica’s face.
7. Close Up - Joe’s face.
8. Shot / Reverse Shot - Conversation.
9. Shot / Reverse Shot - Conversation.
10. Over the Shoulder - Conversation.
11. Close Up - “Liar.”
12. Mid Shot - Gunshot (or other weapon if gun cannot be used.)
13. Close Up - Joe’s face / End. 

Thriller Ratings (With Maisy & Chris)

Final Cut Pro

Since I learnt how to change the movie file into an AVI, and basic editing, all I really needed to do was learn how to batch capture. I used websites I found google to use as tutorials.

Abbie, Danica & My Se7en Commentary

Mine, Abbie & Danica's Match Cut example

Mine & Dann's Thriller Opening Sequence

Catch Me If You Can

From these 9 frames, we can already tell what a basis of this film will be about. An airport. The opening credits are animated, which is strange for a film that is shot in live action. Each frame seems to seep into the next one, using the 'people' or the actors names. The atmosphere expressed throughout these 9 frames are of a type of chase. We can already assume that the main characters will have to chase or find another character using a series of transport. It uses quite bright and bold colours, such as blue and yellow. This could give the audience a feeling of a comedy or a happy film, it doesn't use angry or depressing colours, commonly found in thrillers and horror films, such as red and black.

Se7en Opening Credits Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEZK7mJoPLY
The opening credits of Se7en, an iconic thriller film, begins with a series of clips. We begin to piece together the fact that this is a detective, working. It also uses an eerie background music, fast paced and dramatic. This sets the tense and suspenseful atmosphere as the audience has no clue as to what is going on, or what is going to happen. The font seems to be as chalk on a blackboard, which seem to jitter about, this reinforces the atmosphere as suspenseful. As the opening credits draw to a close, we see a dollar bill, and the word God is cut out. This could mean religious themes are included in the film. The music becomes faster and seemingly louder as the credits finish.

Match On Action

A match on action edit, is the same thing, place, event filmed from different angles. This could be achieved by using different cameras filming it at the same time, or the way we will use it in our film - recreating the scene various times altering the angle and position of the camera. As it is extremely difficult to get the exact same thing twice, we will have to be careful, especially in editing. Examples of match on actions are: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHh12_JHjTg and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laUPi7MPOSQ . We will edit it using Final Cut Pro, something we learned to use today in Media.

Examples of thriller posters.

History Of Thrillers

The earliest thriller, directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is thought to be The Lodger (1926), a silent black and white film based upon a Jack the Ripper type character.

However it is also based upon a book written by Marie Belloc Lowndes, the plot line is basically of how a serial killer goes round London killing young, blonde women.

This was followed by Hitchcock’s next thriller, Blackmail (1929), another black and white film. Two versions of this film were released, a silent one, and a non silent one, a “talkie.” It follows the story of Alice, a young woman who kills an artist after he attempts to flirt with her, she has to cover up her murder.

The next notable thriller film M (1931) directed by Fritz Lang, starred Peter Lorre as a child killer. The film's story was based on the life of serial killer Peter Kurten. Already we can see a pattern of most notable thrillers being based or loosely based upon true stories.

Another notable director, George Cukor's psychological thriller Gaslight (1944) featured a scheming husband plotting to make his innocent young wife go insane, in order to acquire her inheritance.

A common theme surrounding Hitchcock’s thrillers, typically involved an innocent victim, thrown into a usually life threatening situation or a wrongful accusation.  Innocent, average people can be seen today in today’s typical thrillers. Such as The Spiral Staircase (1946) directed by Robert Siodmak. A serial murderer terrorizes innocent, disabled women.

Strangers on a Train (1951) marked Hitchcock’s move into Technicolor. Bigger Hollywood stars were cast as well. Two men on a train meet and stage a battle of wits and murders. Other Hitchcock films of the 50’s include: Dial M for Murder, Rear Window, To Catch a Thief and Vertigo. 1960 saw Alfred Hitchcock’s perhaps most notable thriller film, Psycho. Based on a lone mother, and motel owner who goes insane.

1970’s – 1980’s saw Hitchcock’s first British thriller film Frenzy (1972) given an R rating (18) for it’s vicious and bloody scenes. Like other Hitchcock thrillers, it’s based on a serial killer in London who rapes and kills women. Brian De Palma directed several films, all with common themes of paranoia and guilt. His work includes the 1973 thriller, Sisters which focuses on a pair of murderous Siamese twins, the music for this film was by Hitchcock’s favourite composer and most of Brian’s work is inspired and pays homage to Hitchcock’s work. Another example is Obsession (1976) which was inspired by Vertigo. A man loses his wife and daughter to kidnappers and must save them. The last film from this era of thrillers, stars Nicole Kidman in the 1989 Dead Calm. This thriller introduced the theme of being trapped and must escape from the villain. In this case, Nicole’s character Rae, must escape the villain whilst trapped on a yacht in the ocean. Phillip Noyce’s work would inspire modern day thrillers which introduced this new technique of characters being trapped.

Modern day thrillers seem to have introduced another new common theme, people with mental disorders. A prime example of this is Misery (1990), directed by Rob Reiner, and based on the Stephen King novel, a crazed fan traps an author, not allowing him to leave her house. Preharps the most well known thriller of the 90’s, Silence of the Lambs, directed by Johnathon Demme (1991) it focuses on FBI type detectives hunting down a cannibal killer. Se7en focuses on the hunt for a serial killer who renacts the seven deadly sins. These films have introduced the sub genre Crime Thriller. Directed by David Fincher, it was released in 1995.

Part of my history of thrillers work. This is a timeline taken from http://timerime.com and shows the different thrillers over the past few decades.