Preliminary Link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8tVBAIi7uY&feature=youtu.be
- Eddie, bea's and my prelim youtube link.

The Main Location:

We used this Victorian house as our main place for filming.  

 This angle of the house and the taller tree shows the area of which we recorded in. for example we filmed the tree, the front of the house, the porch and the grass infront of the house which at the time was covered in leaves.

 This is the drive we filmed the stalker walking up to the electric gates. We felt this was successful and helped set the scene appropriately.

 

Preliminary Task - Made In Chelsea spoof

Task - stability task – film and edit the character walking, opening door, crossing a room, sitting down in a chair opposite another character, the characters must be involved in a brief conversation.

-This is a prime example of the over

 the shoulder shots for the conversation which we used for our own filming.
Planning -  We based our prelim on a current programme called Made In Chelsea. We planned our shots with a story board, the shots included:
- close up shot of feet walking down a street or stair.
-extreme close up of the character answering the phone
- over the shoulder shots for the conversation
- match on action (picking up the coffee cups)
I felt that our camera work was successful as we used a tripod to make sure the filming was steady and not wobbly, we also used a range of camera shots to help create the appropriate effects for our storyline and task.

For our misene-scene we were very careful with props, settings and being accurate when we stopped recording and where everything was placed so  when we started filming again there would be very few mistakes. This was also to help the footage run smoothly and make sense. The props we used was: x2 phones, x2 coffee cups, one table and x2 chairs. The setting was in an outside shaded eating area for our school canteen.

We didn't use sound effects or music as we had a large amount of dialogue which I thought was appropriate for the task in hand as we didn't want to over complicate our piece. Due to this we limited our editing which in some ways did work but it could have been better if we had have edited it slightly. With titles we also kept these simple and only used them to introduce the character and for the end credits, to improve this we could have created a title or an introduction to our piece to make sure the audience understand it completely.

Overall I was happy with how it turned out the only improvement largely would be the planning as it was rushed and last minute. We could have made our storyboard a lot clearer and then we would have known what to do instead of more on the spot and seeing how it goes.

Studio System: It's decline and the institutes today

Before:
- no studies or institues - just directors and film makers.
However as soon as cinema is realised to be a lucrative it became widely popular.

Southern California  (why? - cheaper, nicer weather, deserts, beaches, mountains and other usefuls scenes.)
- Start to "buy" sets, directors and stars, could even own their own cinema.
Actors could only appear in films distributed by the studio who owned them.

Big Five

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little Three



 

Paul Merton's Birth of Hollywood (a section):

DW Griffith was a great director and believed in himself and his own ideas. In 1908 he produced 60 films and in 1909 he made over 100. These films were often improvised or had very little script work done in advance. Griffith gained a reputation as a director who was good with actors. As all the films were silent he could coach and direct his actors through the film as he wanted to get the best possible outcome and view he had an example would be Mary Pickford in The New York Hat.

"Paul Merton's journey through early Hollywood reaches the 1920s when in prohibition America the cinema industry was on a collision course with its public because of a run of drink, drugs and sex scandals.

Having cynically used the popular press to promote its stars and keep their reputations spotless, it now faced a media obsessed with exposing the dark and decadent side of their glamour.
The programme tells the story of the rise and fall of the lost comic genius of silent Hollywood - Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle - who was charged with the murder of a young actress after an illegal drinks party went wrong. Paul Merton makes a powerful case that Arbuckle was an innocent man, an unfortunate victim of a new type of fame created by the Hollywood studios which had been turned against them. In their rush to clean up their act they were prepared to make the genial Arbuckle a sacrificial victim."

1924-1954
*Golden Age of Hollywood*

Why did it end?
1957 - cold war
         - civil right
         -invention of T.V (wasn't invented at this point, it became popular)
         - American New Wave
         - Versions of old studios and new ones (lots of small ones)
         - Independant film makers (like myself, I am an indepenant filmmaker compared to Universal.)
        





My Research: Questionnaire

Media Thriller Questionnaire

1.       How old are you?

       15-25     26-36     37-47    48+

2.       Gender:

        M    F   O

3.       What is your favourite film Genre?

4.       What are your interests?

5.       What scenery for a thriller is most thrilling:

Wood:

Old house:

River Bank / Dyke:

Normal house / school:

6.       Do you enjoy thriller films?

7.       Yes or no would you prefer to see a male or female lead in the thriller?

8.       What is your favourite thriller if you like them, if you’re not a fan what is the most famous thriller you know of?

9.       What is your occupation?

10.   How many films do you watch a month roughly?

0-2   2-4   4-6   6-8    8-10+ 

Results:

Media Thriller Questionnaire

1.       How old are you?

       15-25: 6     26-36: 0     37-47: 4    48+:0

2.       Gender:

        M: 2    F: 8   O :0

3.       What is your favourite film Genre?

comedy - 7

Action - 2

Thriller - 1

4.       What are your interests?

 country sport,

 Art work,

 stage work,

 music,

Music and drawing

5.       What scenery for a thriller is most thrilling:

Wood: 8

Old house: 2

River Bank / Dyke:

Normal house / school:

6.       Do you enjoy thriller films?

Yes: 6

No: 0

Not always: 4

7.       Yes or no would you prefer to see a male or female lead in the thriller?

Male: 1

Female: 2

Either:7

8.       What is your favourite thriller if you like them, if you’re not a fan what is the most famous thriller you know of?

 DraculaThe Bone Collector

Spiders WebPhone Booth

Hunger GamesPulp Fiction

 Shutter Island             Orphan                                  Amityville                           Fight Club

9.       What is your occupation?

school: 6

Commercial bank manager

Free lance Equine Instructor

Teacher Assistant

Tesco's employee

10.   How many films do you watch a month roughly?

0-2 : 2

2-4:

4-6: 6

6-8:

8-10+: 2

How did this iunfluence my Final piece? 

My research influenced our filming and ideas for my thriller opening as we wanted to see; the best gender for the main character for a thriller, the most effective scene to use, what all the best known thrillers are and what they have in common.
These thrillers all have the theme entrapment and luring their victims in with a twisted game. In these thrillers they have mind games and unexpected out comes. With our thriller opening we will be going along with the theme of a mystery, where you won't properly see the abductor. With this in mind we will also be looking at the woods and open spaces to give an idea of being in the middle of nowhere and a struggle to escape. We are also looking at rating our thriller at a teenage target audience so 15+ but due to the content in our openning we would rate the film at a 12.

Presentation of idea 3 - presented by Eddie

Presentation of idea 1 - presented by Bea

Presentation of idea 2 - presented by myself

Mood Board of MGM

The opening of Shutter Island - 510 words

The opening is of an extreme long shot of the ship emerging from thick mist this creates mystery using traditional thriller aspects. The use of dark colours adds to the mystery. The audio which I would justify is diegetic is of a ship creaking heavily and a low ships horn accompanies it this in effect sets the scene as mysterious and applies to the traditional thriller conventions. A straight-cut shot cuts to the next scene of a person leaning over a sink we do not see the persons face yet this in addition to the fact he is heaving into the sink in the dark keeps the audience questioning and keep them watching. The shot also included black rusted chains swinging and clashing, this created questions and images in the audiences minds what were the chains used for? Thrillers usually consist of using chains for torture or to be tied up or locked away and which in effect leads to death. The audience are now wondering what is going to happen to this person or what is this person going to do to others?

We are then introduced to the character he calls himself “Teddy” and by the way he is being sick isn’t used to travelling on boats as it causes his seasickness this sets an air of mystery as the audience wonder where is he going, knowing he gets seasick? Teddy is wearing a dark coloured costume which is almost uniformed with a belt around his hips which prominently holds a gun. The audience’s first impression is that he looks similar to a detective character so could be seen as the good guy/hero within the story. An effective zooming in shot from some hanging chains, hooks and handcuffs towards Teddy this makes his character look vulnerable. The chains, hooks and handcuffs all link to entrapment, torture and most importantly danger. As the shots move on the ships diegetic groaning grows louder gradually. The weather outside is dark with heavy dark clouds this is a typical thriller convention “bad weather” it sets the scene that this place he is travelling to is not good news. The island it’s self is isolated in the middle of no-where surrounded by deep rocky water and large sharp rocks with what looks like one entrance to the island. The island itself is covered in tree’s and greenery which could mean if you tried to escape or run you would most likely get lost and end up running around in circles. An extreme long shot is used to show the full scale of how daunting the island is, with a heavy storm above and strong winds and the sea crashing against all the rocks below this in effect creates a danger atmosphere and immediately tells the audience that the island is not a good place. At the dock and all the roads surrounding is covered in police and guards this alerts the audience that something isn’t right and sets more questions in their heads.. why are the police there? Why is there so many?

How does Welles create an air of mystery in the opening of Citizen Kane? - essay

Citizen Kane Opening  

How does Welles create an air of mystery in the opening of Citizen Kane?

Welles used the technique of fade to black in the opening to create mystery when changing from the different angles of the house this in effect makes the audience query why we are concentrating on this old mansion and why there is one window lit.

The audience continue to question as the camera slowly moves up the defensive gates and fences making the audience feel as if slowly entering the grounds as well as this there is an edgy suspense of prison and danger with the prison bar like gates.

Welles uses the use of taunting music which is slow and gradual with occasional sharp interjections, music is a key element in thrillers as it sets the scene and creates the correct emotions which the audience should be attaching themselves to for the full effect of the movie.

Welles uses the set of a periodic mansion, which is quite fairy tale similar, but with a dark edge and with uninviting features, keeping the audience in suspense as if they are being kept from the secret within the house. The features of the house consist of large daunting front doors and windows with grand gates and sat on large grounds.

He uses props such as the snow globe, this is quite a main feature of the opening as it is what the old man was holding before he died.  When he died the globe smashed this could be used as a symbol, as the glass shattered and the water leaked away it could resemble the end of his life, he as the water was free to go from the entrapment of the globe this might be the intention. This is another question on the audiences’ minds as well as; why was he holding a globe, why did the director concentrate on the globe smashing and when it did smash have the “gold fish bowl” effect? 

Within the opening there was a lot of shadowing used in the shot composition this makes the audience think of mystery and leaves them in suspense to what is going to happen.

Welles uses extreme shots when in the bedroom  of the mansion, he closes up on the snow globe when in his hands and when it falls this makes the audience concentrate only on the snow globe and understand that it may have some importance or relevance for later on in the film. There is also an extreme close up on the man’s lips before he dies as he says “rose bud” this creates the effect of mystery as the audience have the question “who is rose bud?” and why did he say it? Another effect I noticed was the snow inside the snow globe was having the shaken up effect inside the globe as well as on his lips this is quite mysterious as it isn’t realistic and is quite strange. The use of non-diegetic sound is still very gradual with the adding of diegetic sounds; the glass breaking and the old man speaking.

In the very beginning the shots seem to consist of the house with one lit window in the top right corner of the screen the rest of the mansion is dark and in shadows this creates an air of mystery as it seems we are meant to go to the window. As the shot stays still the light quickly switches off this then cause a jump shot to inside the room where the outside seems bright and lighter. With this the camera at a certain angle creates the man, and when the nurse enters, to be in silhouette. This creates the effect of mystery and makes the audience question why did the man die?, what was his nurse for? and  did the silhouette symbolise his death? 

Analysis of Thriller Covers

These films all have similar features, they all have dark colours or dark shades of colours. The titles of the films stand out in serious block fonts. Another feature is the use of the eyes, they are very plain and daunting, the effect of them looking right into the camera makes the consumer feel watched and brings the air of suspense and tension to the film. 

Editing

Editing 

• Putting together film/ video clips in order to make sense to the viewer 
• Joining clips together 
• Adding special effects / sound 

Transition: 

• The way two shots are joined together 
• The most common one is a straight cut -where one shot cuts straight to the next 
• keeps continuity and pace in the film 

Dissolve: 

• gradual transition from one shot to another - one shot fades into another 
• can help continuity show a move from one location to another. 

Fade: 

• one shot fades from black to white 
• can create a sense of time passing if done quickly, flash backs 

Cross-cutting: 

• Action cuts between two sequence to create links, parallels or contrasts between the two storylines and their settings 
• creates tension

Editing transitions:

-cross cutting 

- fade to black 

- straight cut  

Analysing: 

What is the effect of the editing? it's made up of jump cuts 

How fast / slow is the editing? the shot changes every few seconds 

When does the shot change?with the editing it reels you in and keeps you alert throughout the song 

Genre

Genre 
it means type or category of film e.g Romance, Thriller, Comedy

Generic conventions
- western : cowboys / native americans

Media Languages:
Genre is a type or category of film. It is a way of classifying a film to help us to identify it so we can:

• Create it - e.g for a director of a film 
• Choose it - e.g for a member of an audience 
• Understand it - for a student of a film.  

Genre:                            Example: 

Romance        -            Valentinesday 

Sci-fi              -       Star wars 

Comedy         -           White Chicks 

Thriller            -     Black Swan, Batman 

Horror           -          Drag Me to Hell

Western         -       Magnificent Seven

Action            -      RED , James Bond

Musical           -   West Side Story, Hairspray, 

Rom-com       -      The Holiday 

Tragedy         -    Romeo and Juliet 

Parody/Spoof  -   Shaun of the Dead 

Chick Flick    - Mean girls, Wild child 

Fantasy         - Twilight 

War               -   Pearl Harbour 

Kids            - Cartoons: Cinderella. People: Home Alone.

There are three types of Genre:

• Major Genre - A dominant, important category, it should be obvious and easy to define. 
• Sub Genre - A minor category or a subdivision that is clearly related to it's major genre by being a specific type in it's own right, e.g James Bond films. 
• Hybrid Genres and Genetic Hybrid - These are for the "mixed" genre films for instance, an action movie aimed at men can maximize its audience by including elements of romantic drama within the plot, thus also appealing to women. 

Generic Codes and Conventions: 

- signifiers 

- recognised in the mise-en-scene 

- the characters 

- the story line. 

*Singifiers - physical aspects 

*Mise-en-scene - frame, set, props, costumes and landscape

                          - what is put into the picture (visual) not so much sound effects. 

Composition and Framing

Composition and Framing

means where the objects are placed in shots.

• The rule of thirds.       # - when a grid is put over the image and the points of interets occur where the lines cross.

• The Golden Mean.      When composing a shot, placing elements within this frame creates an interesting balance in a photograph. It's made up of a series of squares that become increasingly smaller attached by a curve that spirals inwards like a snail's shell. Place the point of focus at the end of the spiral and other elements along the path your eye takes inwards following the spiral.

• Frame.      Means when you choose to include in the shot and what you leave out. What you leave out can be important as well for example a thriller shot might exclude objects to create tension.  

When analysing a action shot of a man holding a gun my notes where: The gun is prominent with the man in the foreground. The background is blurred out which in affect makes the colours and the objects in the foreground stand out. 

Shots 

• Extreme Long Shots (ELS) - the subject isn't clearly visible, wide shots, useful for scenes in war/western films. 

• Long Shot - subject takes up all of the frame, can be used to show a character in their environment. 

• Mid shot - shows some part of the subject, works well with news programs. 

• Medium Close ups (MCU) - halfway between mid shot and close-up. 

• Close Up - a certain feature or subject takes up most of the frame, close up of emotion.

• Extreme Close Up - this shot gets into extreme detail. 

• Cut Away - this is a shot that's usually of something other than the current action , it is also referred to as a "buffer" between shots. 
• Two Shot - establishing a relationship between subjects this could involve movement or action. 
• Over The Shoulder - this shot helps establish the position of each person, and get the feel of looking at the other person. 
• Noddy Shot - this shot is common in interviews. 
• Point of View Shots - quite straight forward as it shows someone's point of view.
• Low angle shot - sense of size, power and authority. 
• High angle shot - helplessness, lack of power and inferiority.
•                         - puts viewer in a position of power 
• Pan - The camera moves from right to left  
• Tracking shot - camera moves on a dolly. 
• Tilt - camera pans vertically - up and down 
•                                           - gives a sense of size and height 
• Canted/ Dutch angle shot - camera position isn't straight 
• Zoom in and out - camera focuses zooming in or out on a key detail 
• Steadicam/Handheld - camera moves around with the action 
•                                 - gives viewers a sense of realism 
•                                 - can create tension/excitement 
• Crane shot - the camera takes a high angle shot looking down on the subject. 
• Aerial shot - the camera is positioned in a plane or helicopter