Monday 11 May 2015
Wednesday 6 May 2015
Final Cut editing
In our final cut of editing we had to alter the brightness on particular scenes, such as the location scenes. As the overall clip was too bright, and with our genre being thriller our intentions were to create a dark intense atmosphere.
In this section before we edited it for our final cut of editing, we had the emotional piano. However we took this out as the piano created a sense of sympathy and emotion throughout, however we wanted to create a sense of mystery and suspense in order to grasp the genre of thriller.
In this section before we edited it for our final cut of editing, we had the emotional piano. However we took this out as the piano created a sense of sympathy and emotion throughout, however we wanted to create a sense of mystery and suspense in order to grasp the genre of thriller. Tuesday 5 May 2015
Stalker- soundtrack
We created this sound track using Apple software's Garage Band app. This soundtrack can be heard during the credit sequence for Stalker.
For our soundtrack we chose to go for two contrasting types of music, one being the emotional piano which would give the audience a sense of sympathy for the victim. We then contrasted this with the intense pulsing sweep to create a sense of mystery and suspense, as the audience will not know what to expect next from the opening which is popular from a thriller genre. We also used orchestra strings in parts of the sound track as it also creates sympathy, like the emotional piano.
The soundtrack took us longer than we expected to create, as we found it difficult to make the music fit with the film, as we wanted to the emotional piano to become more obvious when the shots of the victim in a vulnerable position appeared. Whereas we wanted the pulsing sweep to be more obvious when the shots of the victim unaware of the protagonist, continuing the sense of mystery.
For our soundtrack we chose to go for two contrasting types of music, one being the emotional piano which would give the audience a sense of sympathy for the victim. We then contrasted this with the intense pulsing sweep to create a sense of mystery and suspense, as the audience will not know what to expect next from the opening which is popular from a thriller genre. We also used orchestra strings in parts of the sound track as it also creates sympathy, like the emotional piano.
The soundtrack took us longer than we expected to create, as we found it difficult to make the music fit with the film, as we wanted to the emotional piano to become more obvious when the shots of the victim in a vulnerable position appeared. Whereas we wanted the pulsing sweep to be more obvious when the shots of the victim unaware of the protagonist, continuing the sense of mystery.
Saturday 2 May 2015
Discarded locations and possible locations
This was one of our potential locations for our opening to our film, however we chose against filming here. There were a variety of reasons as to why we didn't film here as we thought the scene would of looked to hectic for the opening, and to gain a clear shot of the victim we would of had to have filmed at certain ours of the day, so it wouldn't of been busy and this would of just been to time consuming.
Another discarded location was the first potential house we was originally going to film outside of. However the street the house is located on is next to an extremely busy road, meaning there would of been to much noise and sound, but also would have been to chaotic to film on.
Examples of Shots used
The shots used in our opening where to add atmosphere and a create a mood for the narrative. These are some of the shots we used;
1. Establishing shot- how the opening begins, of a location setting of a street seen throughout the film
2. Extreme close up- victims face, expresses the sense of emotion clearly to the audience
3. Zoom- victims house, shows her looking out the window, showing a sense of suspicion and uncertainty
4.Over the shoulder shot- protagonist looking into the victims house
5. Long shot- used to show the movements the victim made
6.Mid shot- of inside the house of the doors, suggesting the victim may of been held hostage in one of the rooms behind the doors
7.Establishing shot- shows another location setting
8. Midshot- used to show the victim held hostage, struggling to escape free
9. Close up- used on the victim to show her struggle, and the way she's been held hostage
10. Over the shoulder shot- used to show the protagonist, pulling the cloth out the victims mouth
11. Long shot- showing the victims walk into another location
1. Establishing shot- how the opening begins, of a location setting of a street seen throughout the film
2. Extreme close up- victims face, expresses the sense of emotion clearly to the audience
3. Zoom- victims house, shows her looking out the window, showing a sense of suspicion and uncertainty
4.Over the shoulder shot- protagonist looking into the victims house
5. Long shot- used to show the movements the victim made
6.Mid shot- of inside the house of the doors, suggesting the victim may of been held hostage in one of the rooms behind the doors
7.Establishing shot- shows another location setting
8. Midshot- used to show the victim held hostage, struggling to escape free
9. Close up- used on the victim to show her struggle, and the way she's been held hostage
10. Over the shoulder shot- used to show the protagonist, pulling the cloth out the victims mouth
11. Long shot- showing the victims walk into another location
Titles - discrete or minimal?
We chose to have the majority of our titles to be indiscrete, even though they are blending in with their respective backgrounds. As each title would often move into a position where it is clearly visible, whilst appearing as apart of the physical scene. Ours is over action at the start of our film. Unlike the title sequence "Se7en" as the focus was on the image behind the text however the text in front of the image was still vibrant and clear to the audience bur extremely discrete.
The first titles we chose we decided to discard as we felt it took up too much room, as it was very bulky and stubborn and therefore did not blend in well with image.
The first titles we chose we decided to discard as we felt it took up too much room, as it was very bulky and stubborn and therefore did not blend in well with image.
Which font? Why?
A rejected font, this version, we thought it too blocky and stubborn; Stalker is psychological thriller about a young girl being stalked and therefore the font has to cover the genre as well as all of the characters.
Included in my thriller credits
Thriller Productions
Producer
For my thrillers producer we believed that creating a company name that would strengthen the opening sequences foundations in a narrative base of thriller. The name was designed as an additional clue to the audience to ensure they knew the genre of the film, but potentially the themes also that will feature in the narrative. "Thriller Productions" was the idea for a title that we brainstormed and we stuck with it, as it fits with the theme well, it is simple enough providing a clue as to what our narrative entails.
Credits
Being a duo in the development of Stalker, we didn't feature to many people in our film as we didn't want it to look to chaotic. My brother had acted as one of the protagonists as he played the role of the stalker, as we needed a tall male and he fit the description well. A friend then featured as another protagonist, she featured as the victim, as we needed a small young girl, that fit the look of vulnerability and innocence, which she fit well. Then between the two of us we filmed and edited.
As it stands;
Producer; Thriller Productions
Edited by, Directed by, Music by; Talia Warren and Paris Warren
Actors; Alanna Hanson and Calun Middleton
Editing Software; Apple software- IMovie
Music Software; Apple software- Garageband
Producer
For my thrillers producer we believed that creating a company name that would strengthen the opening sequences foundations in a narrative base of thriller. The name was designed as an additional clue to the audience to ensure they knew the genre of the film, but potentially the themes also that will feature in the narrative. "Thriller Productions" was the idea for a title that we brainstormed and we stuck with it, as it fits with the theme well, it is simple enough providing a clue as to what our narrative entails.
Credits
Being a duo in the development of Stalker, we didn't feature to many people in our film as we didn't want it to look to chaotic. My brother had acted as one of the protagonists as he played the role of the stalker, as we needed a tall male and he fit the description well. A friend then featured as another protagonist, she featured as the victim, as we needed a small young girl, that fit the look of vulnerability and innocence, which she fit well. Then between the two of us we filmed and edited.
As it stands;
Producer; Thriller Productions
Edited by, Directed by, Music by; Talia Warren and Paris Warren
Actors; Alanna Hanson and Calun Middleton
Editing Software; Apple software- IMovie
Music Software; Apple software- Garageband
Friday 1 May 2015
Final Cut
Our final cut of stalker is 1:59, before we uploaded our final cut to our blog we edited some clips and changed the effect on the clips, for example the first location shot which begins the film was quite a bright light with no effect. However we decided to change this clips to the effect 'bleach bypass' as this darkened the mood and created a more intense feeling, which was our aim for our genre. Also we slowed down some clips to create and add suspense which would put our target audience on edge as the clips were dragged out.
Wednesday 18 March 2015
Location Shots
This is the a street view of the location where we filmed as it represents an ordinary community which creates a sense of realism, due to the young girl living her everyday life before she was taken and held hostage.
This is another location as it represents the locations of where the daily events the victim participated in regularly it therefore created a sense of realism.
Plan - Filming schedule
Rough Cut and Final Cut
We planned on filming most in daylight but may add some shots of evening to create a sense of realism, as a stalker would be seen to act upon their victim night and day. Also using the same locations for the rough cut and final cut, in order to gain a sense of order so we knew where were filming on the final cut, meaning we could gain the best results possible.
Day 1;
The first day we chose to take establishing shots of the scenes that the antagonist would go, therefore this would be to show the places that the protagonist was following her to. Also we took shots of the protagonist and the room he's in; which is where he documents the antagonists life. We chose ordinary looking scenes and a ordinary house to create realism and show the normality of the antagonists day to day life. No characters were used at this time.
Day 2;
The main location used here was the antagonists house, therefore this was to show that the protagonist follows her to her home. Also, we used the location of her work and school to emphasise that he knows everything she does in her day to day life. We filmed this through out daylight and night.
Day 3;
The main location used on this day was where the protagonist went to school, this showed that the stalker goes to the full extent to stalking the young girl, to gain the data he needed to gather information on the girl in order to know her every move. The school filmed was the actual location where the young girl attended school which created a sense of realism.
Props needed for what scene on what day
For the location scenes no major props were needed as much however props such as camera in order to film the different locations and simple props such as daily clothing wear for the character to wear in the scenes such as:
1. Jeans- as they represent daily wear, creating the sense of realism as stalkers stalk their victims daily when the victims is unaware and therefore will be seen in their daily clothing.
For the scenes of the young girl held hostage and in a vulnerable position
Props needed; these props will be needed for day two.
1.Tape - to tape the young girls mouth preventing speech and movement, the tape used will be duck tape as that is a strong and reliable.
Day 3;
The main location used on this day was where the protagonist went to school, this showed that the stalker goes to the full extent to stalking the young girl, to gain the data he needed to gather information on the girl in order to know her every move. The school filmed was the actual location where the young girl attended school which created a sense of realism.
Props needed for what scene on what day
For the location scenes no major props were needed as much however props such as camera in order to film the different locations and simple props such as daily clothing wear for the character to wear in the scenes such as:
1. Jeans- as they represent daily wear, creating the sense of realism as stalkers stalk their victims daily when the victims is unaware and therefore will be seen in their daily clothing.
2. Handbag- all women are stereotypically known for handbags, also due to the locations the young girl is seen at for example a school, she would be expected to be seen with a bag in order to carry the appropriate equipment for school.
For the scenes of the young girl held hostage and in a vulnerable position
Props needed; these props will be needed for day two.
1.Tape - to tape the young girls mouth preventing speech and movement, the tape used will be duck tape as that is a strong and reliable.
Metal Chair - used for the victim to sit on, we chose metal as it would be seen as uncomfortable, and stalkers do not intend on focusing on comfort as priority when they have captured their victims, therefore this creates realism.
Monday 16 March 2015
Storyline - Pitch for film
Stalker Storyline:
The basic storyline for our thriller is an obsession a man has over a girl. He follows her every move until he knows everything there is to know about her ; where she lives,where she works, where she attends school, who her friends are, her hobbies and her everyday routine. Yet for a long while she is oblivious and only has a suspicion however never brings forward her suspicions as she believes she is just being paranoid.
It opens with the anonymous stalker sat looking at photographs he has took, of his victim over a period of time; these images contained her partying with her friends, attending to and from work, her entering and leaving her house and images she had uploaded onto social network sites, whilst also documenting her life in his diary keeping track of events that occur in her life over a period of time. However the audience will never know why the anonymous character had chosen this girl in particular and also you will never know how she was taken, leaving the audience in suspense and building tension, which a thriller is stereotypically designed for.
This then cuts to his victim; a young girl. Which clearly shows she has been held hostage by him for a while due to her clothing and her messy appearance and the cuts and bruises that are clearly shown on her body, representing the struggle she has experienced whilst trying to escape, as she is not their out of choice. She also has cuts and bruises, showing the anonymous stalkers obsession is abusive showing signs from his psychological mind.
The audience will be aware that the young girl in the pictures is the girl he has now kept hostage as further on it will show the pictures close up, so the audience can identify her. The wall will also will have images hung on the wall of another young girl who's identity is unknown, warning the audience that this may be his next victim, but also awares the audience that his victims are always females. Also, the mysterious character has a condition called OCD, therefore the story line will show this by showing how his house is kept such as; in his kitchen nothing will be out of place, showing he is an obsessive character who strives for perfection and when things don't go his way it starts to infuriate him. However, the room that he uses to keep the young girl hostage will not be neat and tidy; this juxtaposition shows how he neglects the young girl due to the way she is treated.
The young girl then starts to object to the rules he is making therefore the consequences she has to suffer worsen over time until she pushes him to his max, which leads her to her death. However the story will end on a cliff hanger as the audience will never see whether her life was actually ended as the ending ends with a close up of a pool of blood, which the audience will assume is the young girls. However this may not be the case the young girl may have escaped and attacked the anonymous character, but this will be left to the audiences imagination.
The basic storyline for our thriller is an obsession a man has over a girl. He follows her every move until he knows everything there is to know about her ; where she lives,where she works, where she attends school, who her friends are, her hobbies and her everyday routine. Yet for a long while she is oblivious and only has a suspicion however never brings forward her suspicions as she believes she is just being paranoid.
It opens with the anonymous stalker sat looking at photographs he has took, of his victim over a period of time; these images contained her partying with her friends, attending to and from work, her entering and leaving her house and images she had uploaded onto social network sites, whilst also documenting her life in his diary keeping track of events that occur in her life over a period of time. However the audience will never know why the anonymous character had chosen this girl in particular and also you will never know how she was taken, leaving the audience in suspense and building tension, which a thriller is stereotypically designed for.
This then cuts to his victim; a young girl. Which clearly shows she has been held hostage by him for a while due to her clothing and her messy appearance and the cuts and bruises that are clearly shown on her body, representing the struggle she has experienced whilst trying to escape, as she is not their out of choice. She also has cuts and bruises, showing the anonymous stalkers obsession is abusive showing signs from his psychological mind.
The audience will be aware that the young girl in the pictures is the girl he has now kept hostage as further on it will show the pictures close up, so the audience can identify her. The wall will also will have images hung on the wall of another young girl who's identity is unknown, warning the audience that this may be his next victim, but also awares the audience that his victims are always females. Also, the mysterious character has a condition called OCD, therefore the story line will show this by showing how his house is kept such as; in his kitchen nothing will be out of place, showing he is an obsessive character who strives for perfection and when things don't go his way it starts to infuriate him. However, the room that he uses to keep the young girl hostage will not be neat and tidy; this juxtaposition shows how he neglects the young girl due to the way she is treated.
The young girl then starts to object to the rules he is making therefore the consequences she has to suffer worsen over time until she pushes him to his max, which leads her to her death. However the story will end on a cliff hanger as the audience will never see whether her life was actually ended as the ending ends with a close up of a pool of blood, which the audience will assume is the young girls. However this may not be the case the young girl may have escaped and attacked the anonymous character, but this will be left to the audiences imagination.
Sunday 15 March 2015
Font - rejected and chosen
For our title of our thriller 'stalker', we decided to used the font 'capture it'. The reason we chose this font is because it looks disorientated and mysterious; which links to the title. Consequently, using this font also fits in with the genre of it being a thriller. However we then decided against this font as it looked more for a police crime thriller, even though our film does include a variety of crimes, we do not involve any police investigations which this font would fit correctly with. Also this font was unavailable on iMovie which was what we created our film on.
This was the font we chose to represent our thriller film as its a simple text which blends well with the images behind the text.
Wednesday 11 March 2015
Film Company
The Film Company that will make and distribute our film is 'Thriller Productions'. We chose this com pay to represent and distribute our films as, it represents the genre of our film. Film productions that had influenced our choice for this was 'Paramount Productions' as its a simple title which represents the films they distribute well, but also they have a variety of genres, unlike our productions which is aimed at one genre which is thrillers.
Tuesday 10 March 2015
Why 'Stalker'?
We chose to name our opening sequence 'Stalker' due to it having the connotations of crime and mystery; which is what thrillers are about. Consequently, it is a psychological thriller and therefore emphasises the psychology of the protagonists unstable emotional states. The definition for the word stalker is: to follow or observe a person persistently, especially put of obsession or derangement. The stalker picks a random victim who he had been following for a few months in order to gather information of her daily life. Therefore, this title fits well with our story line but doesn't give it away too much, however the title awares the audience of the events of that will occur within our film. Also the title 'Stalker' will attract our target audiences of 15-18+ as the events are clear and therefore allows the audience to know some of the content within the film, letting them know if the film fits their interests in films and will dictate whether they chose to watch the film or not. Also 'Stalker' is a denotation as it is the actual definition of the word.
Names Rejected
We also came up with titles such as 'Huntsman' however we felt that didn't relate well with the storyline, as it gave the audience the wrong impression as to what tasks the stalker really out took,
We also came up with 'Chaser' which is also a synonym for 'stalker' however we thought that by complicating the title the audience wouldn't be able to come to grasp with the true meaning of our film. Therefore by keeping the title simple with a true with an evident meaning this would create a sense of realism with the full effect of the title.
Another choice of a title for our film was 'Victim' as this creates a sympathetic emotion instantly due to the title, which gives the immediate effect that there will be a character in a vulnerable position with potential violence. However we rejected this title as the main focus was not just on the victim but also on the antagonist therefore the title 'Victim' would have taken the focus away off the antagonist and this would have confused the target audience.
ADD IMAGES OF TITLES CHOSEN AND REJECTED
Names Rejected
We also came up with titles such as 'Huntsman' however we felt that didn't relate well with the storyline, as it gave the audience the wrong impression as to what tasks the stalker really out took,
We also came up with 'Chaser' which is also a synonym for 'stalker' however we thought that by complicating the title the audience wouldn't be able to come to grasp with the true meaning of our film. Therefore by keeping the title simple with a true with an evident meaning this would create a sense of realism with the full effect of the title.
Another choice of a title for our film was 'Victim' as this creates a sympathetic emotion instantly due to the title, which gives the immediate effect that there will be a character in a vulnerable position with potential violence. However we rejected this title as the main focus was not just on the victim but also on the antagonist therefore the title 'Victim' would have taken the focus away off the antagonist and this would have confused the target audience.
ADD IMAGES OF TITLES CHOSEN AND REJECTED
Stalker props/costumes
Black gloves- to hide the identity of the main protagonist. There will be close up shots on the gloves to create a sense of mystery. The gloves are used stereotypically as criminals are known to wear black leather gloves as they do not want to leave any DNA, i.e finger prints.
Balaclava- is used throughout the clip to keep the main protagonists identity unknown. The mask carries many negative connotations; due to the world of media as it is known to be worn by, criminals, rioters and trouble makers and terrorist organizations. This has resulted in a great deal of paranoia and fear which circulates within society due to costumes such as this.
Protagonist (Victim) costume:
Jeans- the victim will be seen to be wearing jeans as it emphasises her innocence as she has been snatched away from her daily life, and jeans are a popular clothing to wear on a daily occurrence. The jeans will have tears and seen to have dirt marks on them to represent how the girl has been looked after and how long she has been in those conditions for.
Black jumper- the victim will also be seen to be wearing a white tshirt as similar to the jeans it is a popular item of clothing to wear on a daily occurrence which emphasises how the young girl did not expect to be snatched and taken as she was just living a normal day. The victim is also seen to be shy and timid due to her circumstances as she is scared of the current challenges ahead of her, the collar of the t shirt can be pulled up hiding half her face making her appear panicked as she doesn't know what to expect, therefore hiding her face she is trying to block out her environment. But also with the t shirt being a light color the marks on the tshirt would be much more clear representing the state the girl has been kept in.
Other Props:
This metal chair is far from comforting which represents the general scene.
The duck tape will be used to restrict the victims movement representing the situation the victim is in is not out of choice.
Monday 9 March 2015
Age Ratings
Films rated 15 are films suitable for only fifteen years and over. No-one younger than 15 will be able to see this age rating in the cinema or buy / rent an 15 rated video / game or film. Consequently 15's may contain the following; discrimination, drugs, horror, imitable behaviour, strong language, sex, nudity, drugs, violence. There should be no promotion encouragement or glamorisation of illegal or anti-social activities. 15's have a limit on what the viewer is going to see though, due to it being a teenage age and not an adult, unlike the age rating of 18.
Target audience
Target audience;
We are aiming at an 18+ this is because we want our film to contain some violence and disturbing scenes that could have a devastating effect on a younger audience as these acts of antisocial behavior, violence and drugs.
We also want to create a confusing and stressful sequence of narratives and flashbacks that a younger generation may not be able to understand but also may cause them some disturb. The purpose of this is to create a typical thriller that use enigmas and foregrounds the climax.
Looking at the expectations of for an 18+ certificate in line with the findings of 'BBFC's', consolations and the human rights act 1998. There are usually scenes with strong violent language, sexual nature and explicit violence. We therefore are going to focus on the categories of an 18+ certificate.
We are targeting our thriller on a local based audience as we are awaring them of the of the dangers that do occur daily in the local neighborhoods. We also want to inform people of the different scenarios and challenges these victims are challenged with and the reality of these devastating events. This is a film thats in the crime thriller genre.
We are aiming at an 18+ this is because we want our film to contain some violence and disturbing scenes that could have a devastating effect on a younger audience as these acts of antisocial behavior, violence and drugs.
We also want to create a confusing and stressful sequence of narratives and flashbacks that a younger generation may not be able to understand but also may cause them some disturb. The purpose of this is to create a typical thriller that use enigmas and foregrounds the climax.
Looking at the expectations of for an 18+ certificate in line with the findings of 'BBFC's', consolations and the human rights act 1998. There are usually scenes with strong violent language, sexual nature and explicit violence. We therefore are going to focus on the categories of an 18+ certificate.
We are targeting our thriller on a local based audience as we are awaring them of the of the dangers that do occur daily in the local neighborhoods. We also want to inform people of the different scenarios and challenges these victims are challenged with and the reality of these devastating events. This is a film thats in the crime thriller genre.
Tuesday 3 March 2015
Shot List
Shot 1- Establishing shot- of a street view- shows a variety of different houses on an anonymous street
Shot 2- POV shot- of a young girl leaving a location - front door
Shot 3- Tracking Shot - of the same anonymous street but from a different angle
Shot 4- Over the shoulder shot - close up of the antagonist looking through pictures on a social media site of an unknown young girl
Shot 5- Mid shot- unknown young girl who has been restricted of movement, but trying to escape - strapped to a chair
Shot 6- Mid Shot- girls face becomes clear to audience, full view of face
Shot 7- Extreme close up- girl looks straight into the centre of the camera-
Shot 8- Establishing shot- mid shot of two unknown doors
Shot 9- Over shoulder shot- of antagonist looking into a location
Shot 10- Close up - of the window of the location
Shot 11Extreme Close Up- Into the window of the location - a person becomes visible looking out the window
Shot 12- Mid shot - young girl who is the victim still uable to escape- still trying to break free
Shot 13- Mid shot- repeated in slow motion
Shot 14- Long shot - of a the girl walking down a anonymous street - represents her life before she was captured by the stalker
Shot 15 Tracking shot - girl walking down the street
Shot 16- Tracking mid shot - of a garden with a location behind
Shot 17- Long shot - of the young girl who is walking into a school
Shot 18-Tracking Shot - of a school location where the victim is seen to be walking into
Shot 19- Cut in shot - of an unknown hand
Shot 20 -Mid shot -of a anonymous hand
Shot 21- Close up- of the hand - which is placed on a wooden flooring
Shot 2- POV shot- of a young girl leaving a location - front door
Shot 3- Tracking Shot - of the same anonymous street but from a different angle
Shot 4- Over the shoulder shot - close up of the antagonist looking through pictures on a social media site of an unknown young girl
Shot 5- Mid shot- unknown young girl who has been restricted of movement, but trying to escape - strapped to a chair
Shot 6- Mid Shot- girls face becomes clear to audience, full view of face
Shot 7- Extreme close up- girl looks straight into the centre of the camera-
Shot 8- Establishing shot- mid shot of two unknown doors
Shot 9- Over shoulder shot- of antagonist looking into a location
Shot 10- Close up - of the window of the location
Shot 11Extreme Close Up- Into the window of the location - a person becomes visible looking out the window
Shot 12- Mid shot - young girl who is the victim still uable to escape- still trying to break free
Shot 13- Mid shot- repeated in slow motion
Shot 14- Long shot - of a the girl walking down a anonymous street - represents her life before she was captured by the stalker
Shot 15 Tracking shot - girl walking down the street
Shot 16- Tracking mid shot - of a garden with a location behind
Shot 17- Long shot - of the young girl who is walking into a school
Shot 18-Tracking Shot - of a school location where the victim is seen to be walking into
Shot 19- Cut in shot - of an unknown hand
Shot 20 -Mid shot -of a anonymous hand
Shot 21- Close up- of the hand - which is placed on a wooden flooring
Wednesday 25 February 2015
Other films we liked and disliked
Liked Taken
We liked the choice of soundtrack to create a sense of suspense and tension. Also the plot and narrative which created a lot of enigmas, with the sharp editing to how quickly the scenes change, especially in the scenes of racing and fighting, this puts the audience at the edge of their seats expecting the unexpected.
Disliked
Reservoir Dogs
Disliked
Reservoir Dogs
We disliked reservoir dogs as we felt the scenes were quite simple with a lack of realism which created boredom and therefore we wasn't interested in watching the full trailer.
Tuesday 24 February 2015
The Silence of the Lambs Analysis
The silence of the lambs
Expositional dialogue and props were used in the opening sequence; this is when a piece of dialogue or prop is said or used to expose a piece of information to the audience that they need to know. This happens when an assumed colleague shouts “Starling!” we are introduced to this female character by her second name, Starling. This makes the film seem more realistic for the audience. Also, an expositional prop is used to show who these characters work for. Consequently a mid-shot is used when the female is first introduced; which shows the small writing on her jumper that says 'FBI', also the colleague of Starling is wearing an FBI hat, we now know that they both work for the FBI. This piece of information did not need to be verbalised. This moves the narrative along quickly and easily.
There is a shot of the FBI’s motto on signs in the police training ground; this just reinforces the location of the characters and the main starting point for the narrative of the story.On the way in, Starling is high-fived by a female character, and she greets her with her first name, Clarice; this piece of expositional dialogue shows that she is accepted by others. Although, a following shot shows that maybe she doesn't fit the success criteria as she is a lot shorter than the other characters in the shot, it may suggest that she is less able or at a disadvantage compared to the others due to all the characters being male may also suggest that it may be unusual for a woman to work in that occupation. The proximity of the characters may suggest that even though they're psychically close, they're worlds apart in ability. Clarice is placed in the middle of the shot to show that she is the main character and that full attention should be completely be on her. She is also wearing a different colour which makes her stand out even more.
When Clarice goes to see Hannibal, she enters the safety precaution of the extra gate, we then she a shot of one of the police officers on the outside looking in on her. This emphasises she is alone and vulnerable, however she is protected. As the camera tracks her going down the cell block, we meet an eyeline match; where the first cell mate is pushed against the bars trying to grab Clarice, this shows an old fashioned 'traditional' cell. It is almost dungeon like, very empty and dark. As Clarice walks to the chair, we can see that the main focal point is on the chair, a spotlight is used to emphasise the end of her journey down the cells. This also juxtaposes with the normality, as we usually associate a spotlighted chair with being the interviewee, however in this case Clarice is in control, although she doesn't feel it.
Sunday 15 February 2015
Animatic
Throughout our animatic we used a variety of different transitions, the main one we chose to use was cross dissolve, but we also used transitions such as fade to black. We used cross dissolve to move from scene to scene smoothly without any jerks. We also used fade to black to change it in order to give variety.
In the first scene of our thriller we used an establishing shot to show an unknown location, which then cuts to a POV shot of a young girl (who could be seen to be the victim) leave that location.We chose to have the location and the identity of the young girl unknown in order to create suspense and mystery for out target audience.
Thursday 12 February 2015
Directors that have influenced me
Directors that have influenced me…
Steven Spielberg is an American director whom is undoubtedly one of the most influential film personalities in the history of film making, he is one of Hollywood's best known directors and is one of the wealthiest film makers in the world. Spielberg has countless credits to his name as a producer, director and a writer.
Born on December 18th 1946, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Spielberg was an amateur film maker as a child. He went on to become enormously successful and an Academy award winning director of films such as Schindler's list, the colour purple and E.T. In 1994 he co found the film studio Dreamworks SKG, which was soon later purchased by Paramount in 2005. His films have explored primeval fears, in films such as Jaws(1995), or expressed childlike wonders at the marvels of this world and beyond, as in Close Encounters of the Third King (1977) and ET(1982). Spielberg has also tackled literary adaptations to films like The Colour Purple(1985). Spielberg is also well known for his impressive historical films, Schindler's List(1993), which won seven
Academy awards, including Spielberg's first win as the best director.
As a director Spielberg was a massive influence as he is seen to be one of the best directors of all time, which is shown throughout his impressive work. I have watched several of his films enjoying every one making me watch more and more of his exciting work as he never fails to deliver.
David Yates is an English film maker who has directed feature films, short films and TV productions. He rose to the mainstream after directing the final four films from Harry Potter. His work on the series brought him major recognition and commercial success. Yates' following projects include; Tyrant(2014) and Tarzan(2016).
Early in his career Yates directed a variety of short films, where he eventually became television director including the State of play(2003), which he won the directors Guild of Great Britain Award. Yates is also a founding member of Directors UK, he has also had a close relationship with the Warner Bros as a director/producer.
Yates has been an influential participant as he has directed such interesting and intense films such as Harry Potter which is one of the most popular films world wide.
Born on December 18th 1946, in Cincinnati, Ohio, Spielberg was an amateur film maker as a child. He went on to become enormously successful and an Academy award winning director of films such as Schindler's list, the colour purple and E.T. In 1994 he co found the film studio Dreamworks SKG, which was soon later purchased by Paramount in 2005. His films have explored primeval fears, in films such as Jaws(1995), or expressed childlike wonders at the marvels of this world and beyond, as in Close Encounters of the Third King (1977) and ET(1982). Spielberg has also tackled literary adaptations to films like The Colour Purple(1985). Spielberg is also well known for his impressive historical films, Schindler's List(1993), which won seven
Academy awards, including Spielberg's first win as the best director.
As a director Spielberg was a massive influence as he is seen to be one of the best directors of all time, which is shown throughout his impressive work. I have watched several of his films enjoying every one making me watch more and more of his exciting work as he never fails to deliver.
Early in his career Yates directed a variety of short films, where he eventually became television director including the State of play(2003), which he won the directors Guild of Great Britain Award. Yates is also a founding member of Directors UK, he has also had a close relationship with the Warner Bros as a director/producer.
Yates has been an influential participant as he has directed such interesting and intense films such as Harry Potter which is one of the most popular films world wide.
Martin Scorsese is an American director, producer, screen writer, actor and film historian. Scorsese is regarded as one of the most significant and influential film makers in cinema history as he is part of the new Hollywood wave of filmmaking. In 1990 he was the founder of the film foundation. His work consists of Shutter island, Boardwalk empire, Hugo, The Wolf of Wall Street, The 50 Year Argument and Untitled HBO Rock n Roll project. Scorsese's most famous work addresses themes such as Italian-American identity, Roman Catholic concepts of guilt and redemption, modern crime and gang conflict.
With eight director nominations to date, he is the most living nominated director. Since the epic historical drama Gangs of New York(2002), he is also well known for his collaborations with very popular actors such as Leonardo DiCaprio.
Scorsese has influenced me in my work as he explores many different themes that link well will thrillers.
Rough Cut and Audience Feedback
This is our rough cut for our opening. When making this a large amount of our filming was seen to be in slow motion, as this represented the theme of the opening 'stalking', this emphasizes how stalking is done over a long period of time, as the stalker wants to gather information on the victim, getting to know their daily life routine. A variety if shots were also used to film props such as a knife, which we decided to take out as we felt this would give to much of the storyline away. To begin we used an establishing shot as this shows the setting and environment the stalker and victim would be seen in creating a sense of realism. However i filmed two different locations and chose to use the second location as the quality of the setting and shot were much better than the first, as the first was seen to be too short and too blurry. In the establishing shot we also tried to try and include half of the street in order to set the scene and allow the audience into clues, however we had to cut down the clip as we felt as if it dragged and would of made the audience lose concentration and become bored.
In our rough cut we used the font and effect Pull focus however we changed this to soft edge. Pull focus blurred the image to make the text the focus. However our aim was to make the image behind the text to be the main focus to the audience, as it fits our storyline therefore the blur of the image took the impact away from the image. Whereas the soft edge had a more of a delicate touch.
Also in our rough cut we also had no music as we had not created our sound track as we was creating a sense of the film as, we was not sure on the type of music we wanted to create a sense of stalking. As we wanted the music to be soft to create a sense of sympathy for the young victim.
Audience Feedback
All of our class viewed our rough cut and gave us feedback on what was effective and identified where there was room for improvement, here are some of our classes feedback;
Positive
Narrative is Clear
Good use of camera work with a variety of shots, especially in the scenes of the young girl held hostage
Good and clear storyline which relates well to the target audience
Good use of match on action and establishing shots.
Improvements
Edit the scenes of the victims movement to creates the sense of realism
Edit the fonts used as they were a bit to bulky
Cutting from one scene to the next needs to flow more smoothly
All negative feedback has been taken into consideration and will be changed and improved. We edited some camera shots and movements. We cut some down as they were seen to be too long which created a sense of tension, however we also lengthened some shots as this creates a sense of suspense. All the feedback negative as well as positive has had a major impact on our opening extract, and created a whole new range of ideas that we experimented with.
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