Costume testing

This is Megi trying her costume on which is the school uniform to check that it fits her. In these pictures she is wearing a skirt but when we actually shoot the scene she will be wearing black trousers.

Locations

These are the locations we are going to film the opening sequence in.

This is the image from outide the school where Megi will be walking.

This is the theatre where we will film the theatre scene.

Brainstorming Ideas

Before we could start filming we brainstormed our ideas on paper. Below you can see that we have brainstormed ideas about location, mise-en-scene, equipment and genre of the film. We also brainstormed ideas about what the film name is going to be. As a group we decided that we should do a horror/thriller film. We came up with several different ideas but it was hard to choose because we had to take everything into consideration.

The images above show that I have brainstormed ideas for the film name and film narrative

Changing narrative ideas

Originally our narratiive was about a teacher who got abused in school when he was young, so he became a teacher so he could also abuse children from his class as he wanted revenge. So there was going to be who was going to be his target. We then changed our narrative to where a boy walks into his classroom where he got abused and he remembers his past times in that classroom. The camera would then zoom into his eyes which would zoom out as him being a teacher, so he would not actually be in the classroom but would be day dreaming, when he comes out of his dream he shouts at his class in frustration. There is my blog post which shows the pictures I took when we were testing whetehr or not this concept would work. However when we came to editing the sequences we were not happy with the concept because it was a bit confusing. so we changed our narrative all over to something completely different. Our new and final treatment of the opening film sequence is about a girl who gets kidnapped by an anonymous person who will not be shown in the opening sequence. The girl will be tied to a chair in a basement where she will have been hurt and abused. Throughout the sequence of her in the basement there are going to be flashbacks of what she did earlier on in the day like getting ready for school and walking to school.

These are the pictures I took when we were test filming our second idea.
http://sara2asmedia.blogspot.com/2011/03/recording-film-scene.html

Testing ideas

DVD Analysis

DVD Covers:

'Phonebooth':

This is the DVD cover for the thriller 'Phonebooth'. The font is very bold and stands out as an attractive feature, but isn't the main feature of the cover. The word 'PHONE' is written in captials compared to the word 'booth' which is written in lowercase. This suggests that the word 'PHONE' is of more importance and asserts the storyline and matches the image on the front of a man trapped within a phonebooth. The font is also in white with a slight touch of blue which matches the images on the cover, as they mainly consist of tones of blue and natural daylight as they are stills taken from the actual film.

I've decided to analyse the font for this DVD cover because I found it very appealing. Instantly, it caught my attention because the name of the film is written as though it is a knife with sharp points. The letters are portrayed as sharp knives through the letters F and T, which suggests that the film will have elements of murder and death. As I've already mentioned in my research, knives are a typical piece of iconography associated with the thriller, so therefore this DVD cover conforms to the genre.

'Orphan':

This is the DVD cover for the thriller 'Orphan'. Instantly by looking at the font style you can see that it looks like it has been written by a child and therefore you can presume that the film will be based around a protagonist who is an orphan. The name is also written in red which suggests that this orphan is associated with blood somehow and could possibly represent danger, as reinforced by the statement located underneath which says: "There's something wrong with Esther," which shows how she isn't normal.

Overall, I can conclude that the majority of fonts within the thriller genre are often bold, big and childlike with connotations of knives and blood as a way of representing the iconography of the genre. This shows how the iconography impacts upon the fonts because they need to enforce the genre and make sure that they conform to it so that the audience do not get confused and so that there is no distortion. It is necessary to match the genre in order to appeal to a mass audience and ensure that they perceive the genre correctly.

History of thriller

History of Thriller

Information for the powerpoint and sources:

A Thriller contains certain characteristics. The pace must be quick, there has to be a lot of action, and there should be suspense and plot twists aplenty. Thrillers should have the reader on the edge of their seat, wondering if the good guy can get one over the bad guy and save the world (even though it's extremely rare for the bad guy to win, in your classic Thriller).
Thrillers are often set in exotic locations, although this isn't mandatory and certain sub-genres, like Crime thrillers, don't have this characteristic. The main characters are also traditionally men, with a career that leads them into the plot; spies, armed forces, elite government forces, and of course, chiseled good looks. Sometimes the protagonist is an ordinary citizen who is drawn into the plot, but he (and it's almost always a he) is usually square jawed and cut out for danger anyway. Women are being introduced as protagonists in contemporary thrillers to a limited extent, usually as law enforcement officers, but it's still a fairly male dominated genre. It has also been suggested that Thrillers require the protagonist to solve a current and pressing problem and prevent its occurrence, rather than chase down a criminal who has already committed a crime. The crimes, or evil forces, or bad guys, have to be grand scale as well. The Bill certainly wouldn't count as a Thriller, but Red Dragon certainly would.http://www.illiterarty.com/genre-thriller




http://allmoviesearch.com/category/genres/thriller

Research done by: Megi

Nine frame analysis

This is a 9 frame grid analysis of another horror opening sequence, our treatment for the opening sequence is pretty similar to this.

The 9 frames show how he is lost and illusionised throughout the first 2:23 of the movie.

Research done by: http://zarahhameed.blogspot.com/2011/05/nine-frame-analysis.html

Iconography Associated with the Thriller Genre

As part of our allocated roles within our group, another of my tasks was to research into iconography associated with the thriller genre. Iconography simply means symbolic representations, which often has a conventional meaning attached to an image or object. Thrillers are easy to analyse because they often have various pieces of iconography associated with them. Iconography is very important as it is part of the mise-en-scene and therefore helps to construct certain messages for the audience.

Knives:

Knives are a typical symbol associated with a thriller as they have connotations of blood, death, pain and brutality. A typical representation of this would be in the famous knife scene from Hitchcock's film 'Psycho'. Knives are often used to show that somebody is going to get killed and thus it acts a common device to keep the audience engaged.

Shadows:

Silhouettes and shadows are what give a thriller the enigma and mystery for the audience. Shadows are a common piece of iconography associated with the thriller genre because they build up fear in the audience, by instigating that the protagonist is being watch by a human being or some kind of animal/monster. The protagonist is often oblivious to this but can often sense that something isn't right, which leads them on their journey. They often induce thoughts of fear and darkness for the audience as well as giving them clues and they ask questions out of suspense. A character with a silhouette is most likely to be the antagonist, which usually isn't revealed until the end of the film.

Confined spaces:

The use of confined spaces in a thriller also makes the audience feels as though they are too trapped. Being in a confined space often leads the protagonist to start breathing heavily and panting to inform how they are trapped and cannot escape, or it often leads to the start of their struggle as they try to break free.

Woods:

Woods are locations often used for thrillers. This is because they create a sense of being lost as the characters find themselves tyring to figure out how to escape. Woods are often isolated too, which creates a sense of vulnerability and it seems inevitable that the characters will ever find any help. There may be one house in the woods which often turns out to be the antagonist.

Running water:

Running water is often a symbol of death as it suggests the draining of life or it is often associated with blood dripping and suggests that the characters are in danger.

Street lamps:

Street lights at night are often used in thrillers to keep the emphasis and focus on the protagonist and the fact that there is almost complete darkness surrounding them, apart from the spotlight from the lamp. This further accentuates the fact that the protagonist is alone in the dark and creates fear for the audience as they do not know what might be underlying in the darkness and therefore a tense atmosphere is created.

Bars on windows and fences:

Bars on windows are used to show imprisonment and isolation, which links to the conventional thriller. Fences consisting of razor barbed wire also suggest that the characters are imprisoned and have no way of getting out which shows how they are detached from the outside world and therefore conforms to the convention of isolation in thrillers.

Cities:

Psychological thrillers often take place in a city which brings all of the drama closer to home. This often gives a sense of reality for the audience.

After conducting all of this research, I made a collage to present my findings:

Research done by: http://as-sonya.blogspot.com/2011/03/iconography-associated-with-thriller.html

Still frame analysis

Still Frame Analysis

I have analysed 5 still framed pictures, taking into consireation mise-en-scene and genre.

Psychomania Opening Credits

This is a scene from the opening credits of Psychomnia, a horror movie. An extreme eye-level shot displays this grave-yard scene, the scene is very smoky which can connote a suspicous atmosphere as they might not want some things to be seen. A dark cloud is seen above the grave-yard, dark colours like black and grey have am evil, negative connotation along with spiritual symbolisation. The image has a very dark contrast which is a stereotypical convention of a horror movie scene.

Friday The 13 Part III Opening Credits

This horror opening sequence from the movie 'Friday The 13 Part III' displays the more sinister representation of a horror movie, most of the screen consists of pitch black, the centre of the image shows a male head, giving off a grotesque bizzare sense of whats going on, the shot zooms into the head which created suspicion to what the head symbolises. This shot is made to show that is does not use any digital technology to use light within the image, the light used is from the candles and a beam of light coming from the back.

Freddy vs Jason Opening Credits

This horror movie is abit different to the ones analysed above, it consists of way more movement unlike the two above which are very still and not much activity is present, this shots mise-en-scene challenges sterortypes of horror movies. (As most horror movies are slow but have grotesque content and the sound and atmosphere makes the story) however looking at the shot above it may seem to look like an action/thrillr movie however the only aspect holding us back from thinking that is the dark contrast and the gloomy colours used within the image above.

Day Of The Dead (1985) George A Romero Opening Credits

This image again differs from the rest of the images previously analysed, th mise-en-scene consists of more light. The scene is very stereotypical of a horror scene in some ways in the sensethat the scene does not consist of much activity, it is slow in order to awake suspicion. This sense of isolation and closed environment around the individual allows us to acknowledge the person is suffering and they are trying to get away from something (this something could be the horror element of the movies opening sequence) or something unusual is taking place. The pure white mise-en-scene is used to connote strength and bluntness.

Jason X 1 Opening Credits

This opening sequence from the movie Jason X 1 features a very revoluntionary opening scene. What we seem to see is probably an explosion or some sort of an invasion or landing. It is not clear from the image above what exactly it is. The image is not very clear, there is alot going on, however the colours used within the scene are very connotive of negativity. The black would represent evil, bad and darkness whilst the mouldy colour represents dullness and something prevading the scene. This scene in itself consists of alot of elements.

Research done by: http://zarahhameed.blogspot.com/2011/04/still-frame-analysis.html

Font Analysis

Opening sequences

I decided to analyse some existing thriller opening sequences as part of my research in order to observe the type of fonts they use and how they may/may not conform to the thriller genre. I also looked at thriller DVD cover to see whether they kept to a house-style and used the same or similar fonts.

'Se7en' Opening Sequence:

The font featured in this opening sequence is quite child like. It is almost as if it has been hand written and is relatively small. I believe this has been done to keep the emphasis on the fast paced cut between shots which are informing what the film will be like. The font is also in white and is small to stand out against the clips. This is a sequence I've seen with one of the smallest fonts. The font is also quite jumpy and looks quite old which creates an eerie effect for the audience, especially as it accompanied by gory images in the background. This is therefore typical of the thriller genre as it creates suspense for the audience and already contains clues/messages in the sequence of what is to come in the film. It also suggests that a child may be involved through the child-like font. The non-diagetic music playing is also quite scary in the sense that has an eerie sound to it, which accompanies the credits and thus creates an effective opening sequence.

'Panic Room' Opening Sequence:

The font featured in this opening sequence for the thriller 'Panic Room' is very bold. The fact that it is all in capitals reinforces this and shows how the credits are of importance. Although all of the credits are generally big in size, some of them are smaller to give emphasis on the names e.g. 'MUSIC BY' is smaller compared to the name 'HOWARD SHORE' at 1.17. The credits are also displayed against a natural backdrop of a city. The music is also very intense and heightens tension which coincides with the credits to create an effect on the audience such as suspense.

'Vacancy' Opening Sequence:

This is the opening sequence for the film 'Vacancy'. I chose this film to analyse as the opening sequence predominately consists of text, so therefore I thought it would be good to look at its font. The font mainly consists of the colours yellow, red and black. The font itself is very big and bold and takes up the whole of the screen through the fancy links between each name i.e. the names follow a path which display each name in a creative and unique way. The font firstly appears as flawless, but then the name 'Vacancy' has some lines drawn into it making it appear broken and therefore indicates danger and conforms to the thriller genre. The rest of the names are also in this format too. An interesting and unique feature I picked out in this sequence is also the fact that when each name appears, some letters continue drawing a straight line as if it is portraying blood dripping as demonstrated from 0.51-0.54. At this precise moment 'Kate Beckinsale's name has the letters K and B expanding as if it were blood. This foreshadows what is later to happen in the film and the audience get a feel that the characters are going to experience something horrific.

Research done by:

http://as-sonya.blogspot.com/2011/05/font-analysis.html

Script

Most of the opening sequence of the film consists of action rather than dialogue. this is because the film is based around horror and thriller, so a genre like this one ceates more tension and suspense with non-diagetic sound like dramatic sound tracks.

Scene description:

The girls is sitting tied to a chair, she wakes up all drowsy, wondering where she has ended up.

There is a flahback of the girl on  her phone walking to school.

She looks down at herslef and is shocked when she sees blood and bruises.

There is a flashback of the girl entering the school gates.

There is complete silence is the basement as she is gazing around wondering what happened to her.

There is a flashback showing the girl getting ready for school.

You can hear the girl mumbling as she is trying to speak and escape but the tape on her mouth creates a barrier.

The audeince can see the abusers feet approaching the girl, this creates suspense as it gets the viewers thinking what is going to happen next.

"Now, where was I?" is said by Ally (abuser). There is a pause craeting suspense.

The girl screams and you can hear a gunshot.

Editing schedule

Editing Shoot Schedule 11/04/2011 

Location: Media Room 

Meeting Time at Location: 

10.00am - 3.00pm

Break - 12.30 - 1.30

Contact: 

Megi - 07521512037

Sonya- 07890878965

Zarah- 07986543267

Sarah- 07545367865

If anyone has any questions, let us know before Sunday.

Filming schedule

Wednesday Shoot Schedule 6/04/2011 

Location: School and Theatre

Meeting Time at Location: 

Dress Rehearsal and Make- up 08.40 - 09.15

Filming 9.25 - 12.00 

Break - 10.00 - 10.15 

Cast List:  

Ally- offender

Megi - victim

Equipment List: 

2 camera's 

2 tripods 

1 digital camera

Lighting: 

Key light

side light 

back light 

Props:

Make up

Clothes- uniform, 

Tie

Chair

Gaffa Tape

Paint

Rope

Contact: 

Megi - 07521512037

Sonya- 07890878965

Zarah- 07986543267

Sarah- 07545367865

If anyone has any questions, let us know before Wednesday.v

Conventions of thriller

As part of our allocated roles, one of my tasks was to research into the conventions of the thriller genre. A Thriller is a type of film genre that consists of many sub-genres such as crime-thriller, mystery thriller and action thriller. The genre itself uses a wide array of devices in order to build and create certain effects upon the audience, such as creating/heightening tension and suspense as a way of building up exhilaration. The Thriller genre has a lot in common with the Horror genre, with it's two main sub-genres being horror-thrillers and psychological thrillers. A conventional thriller usually takes place within an eerie, isolated location. However, today many thrillers challenge this by incorporating a more modern approach. There are several characteristics which help to define a thriller. Below are the findings that I found through my research:

- They usually involve binary opposites as represented through the protagonist and antagonist. The antagonist sometimes breaks the conventions of thriller by trying to outmanoeuvre the protagonist.

- Complex narratives are also used where misleading clues and pieces of evidence are given. This is a prime example of how suspense is built up for the audience.

- They typically involve sudden plot twists as a way of keeping the audience engaged.

- They also keep the audience in suspense as they are unsure as to what is going to happen next.

- There is often a lot of action which is often chaotic and fast paced.

- A dark, isolated location is often used to create the impression that the protagonist is alone and vulnerable and thus will suffer horrific encounters in order to break free.

- Some are also supernatural where they focus on mystical antagonists.

- Others can be scientific or medial where they force the protagonist to adhere to biological agents or mysterious scientific happenings.

- Some are simply straight mysteries with clever, horrific, or intriguing antagonists, while others be focused on the inner workings of the legal system, environmental threats, technology, or natural disasters.

- One long-established thriller genre is the spy thriller, featuring an often heroic and dashing spy who must confront whichever enemy happens to be popular at the moment.

- The majority of thrillers often incorporate a psychological aspect, where it forces the audience to examine the actions/motives of characters in order to distinguish their back story as a way of figuring out the plot.

Editing:

Editing is also a significant component of the thriller genre because editing things such as the sound has a profound effect for the audience. If there is dramatic music playing with a particular scene, it adds to the tension and suspense.

Research done by: http://as-sonya.blogspot.com/2011/03/conventions-of-thriller-genre.html

Iconic thriller sounds

Analysis of existing opening sequence of film

I am going to analyse the opening sequence of existing films. This will give me a good understanding of what the main features are of opening film sequences.

The British Board of Film Classification

The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/ DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984.

Cinema

The British Board of Film Censors was set up in 1912 by the film industry as an independent body to bring a degree of uniformity to the classification of film nationally.
Statutory powers on film remain with the local councils, which may overrule any of the BBFC’s decisions, passing films we reject, banning films we have passed, and even waiving cuts, instituting new ones, or altering categories for films exhibited under their own licensing jurisdiction.

Video

In 1984 Parliament passed the Video Recordings Act. This act stated that, subject to certain exemptions, video recordings offered for sale or hire commercially in the UK must be classified by an authority designated by the Secretary of State. The President and Vice Presidents of the BBFC were so designated, and charged with applying the new test of ‘suitability for viewing in the home’. At this point the Board’s title was changed to the British Board of Film Classification to reflect the fact that classification plays a far larger part in the BBFC’s work than censorship.

Finances

The BBFC is a not for profit organisation, and its fees are adjusted only as required to cover its costs. In order to preserve its independence, the BBFC has never received subsidies from either the film industry or the government. Its income is derived solely from the fees it charges for its services, calculated by measuring the running time of films or DVDs submitted for classification. The tariff must be approved by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).

Existing production companies

Productions Companies

Working Title Films (UK)

Working Title Films is a British film production company, based in London, UK. The company was founded by Tim Bevan and Sarah Radclyffe in 1983. It produces feature films and several television productions. Eric Fellner and Bevan are now the co-owners of the company.


Working title includes films like:

• Nanny McPhee
• Mr Beans holiday
• Paul

Propaganda Films (US)

Propaganda Films was a prolific and successful music video and film production company founded in 1983 by producers Steve Golin and Sigurjón Sighvatsson and directors David Fincher, Nigel Dick, Grey Gold and Dominic Sena. By 1990, the company was producing almost a third of all music videos made in the U.S.

Interscope Communications (US)

Interscope Communications (also known as Interscope Pictures) was a motion picture production company founded in 1982 by Ted Field. Its divisions included Interscope Records (which was founded in 1990 as a joint venture with Atlantic Records).

A&M Films

A&M Films was the movie production division of A&M Records and was established in 1970 by musician Herbert Alpert and recording executive Jerry Moss. By 1983, A&M Films co-produced successful films with various Hollywood studios. In 1989, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment purchased A&M Records and continued until it was closed in 1996. In 1998, PolyGram was acquired by Seagram and Sons and A&M Records was merged with the Universal Music Group and now operates under the Interscope-Geffen-A&M label.




Paramount Pictures Corporation


Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still headquartered in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles. Paramount is consistently ranked as one of the top-grossing movie studios.

Thriller Poster Analysis

This is the the poster for the film called "house", its main catch phrase is "THE ONLY WAY OUT IS IN" This gets the audience thinking why someone needs to go in the house. Above the house there is a faded face of a creature that is most probably keeping an eye on those who go in and out of the house. The key colours used in this poster are grey, black and white which create a mystical fog in the far distance. The branches of the trees look like claws which are trying to grab hold of the house as well as empahsise the fierceness of the creatures face. the colour white has been cleverly portrayed which can look like a cloud as well as the hidden face in which the eyes stand out as they are a key feature of the face.

Treatment

The genre we chose to base our opening sequence on is thriller/horror .The opening sequence is going to be about a school girl called Megi (victim) who gets kidnapped by a boy who is psychologically disturbed. she struggles to escape but is trapped under his authority

The opening of the film starts of by showing flashbacks of Megi (victim) walking to school and sorting her tie out in the toilet. whilst the flashbacks are showing she will be in a dark room where she will be tied to a chair. she will have tape on her mouth with bruises and scars on her kneck, face and arms to show that she has been harmed. There will be a spotlight on her so we can see her as she is struggling to escape. also the spotlight will add suspense and tension to thw scene. afetr a while the pscho boy will approach her and take the tape of her mouth. this is weher the sequence will end leaving viewers at a cliff hanger to think about what he is going to do to her.

The camera will zoom out of her face as she wakes up focusing on her bruises and scars. While she is panicking and trying to escape the camera will pan around her and show us a view from her point of view. when the by appraches her a side shot will be used showing his legs and back and megi's face.

Roll allocation for research

The research involves alot of pre-production work we need to complete, so we decided to allocate each of us a few research tasks which meant we would be able to gather more infomation on the research. Once we have collected researched our allocated part we will share the information between us.

Sarah:

• Iconic sounds
• Exisitng production companies
• Certificate ratings

Megi:

• History of thriller
• Research into iconic thriller directors
• DVD/poster analysis
• Understanding camera shots, angles and movement

Sonya:

• Font analysis
• Iconography collage
• Concentions of thriller
• Documentaries

Zarah:

• Research into typical synopsis
• Still frame analysis
• Nine frame structure analysis
• Audience expectations

Film Genres

In the film industry there are millions of films based around several different genres. I have created a collage of the different movie genres.

Film genres include: Horror, thriller, comedy, romance, action and more.

 

Continuity editing

                                    AS Prelim Task Group 1 from Sidney Stringer on Vimeo.

For this coursework we did an ancillary task of continuity editing. In the video we had to make sure that there was someone walking through a door, so we had to show the person opening the door, then continuing as they was through the door. The person then has to have a one to one conversation with someone else which has to show over the shoulder shots.

The concept of our short video is about a girl who is called into the classroom by her teacher who is not happy with her because she has been listening to her ippod in class when she was not meant to. so she goes to the teacher to have a conversation about it.

In the video I am the girl who is the student and Mege is the teacher. I walk through the corridor and walk towards the room i am going to enter. the camera then zooms into my hand showing that I am opeing the door. Once I walk through the camera cuts there. It then shows me walking in which shows the continuity of me walking through door. Once I sit down in fornt of the teacher, we are having a coversation and the camera shows an over the shoulde shot of me and her.

Camera angles

Media Research