Evaluation section 3
My job role was being in charge of sound for our product. I also helped with some of the editing, and made our storyboard.
I added a voice over to our opening by writing a script between a police officer/detective and the mum of the missing girl in the shots. I then got two people to read out the script whilst I recorded it. I also added foley sounds during the talking when the mum rummages in her bag for an address. I did this by using a crisp packet and recording the sound of it crumpling. I also added music over the opening. I searched online for one and found a very eery and tense piece that I liked a lot and thought suited the genre and our opening.
My favourite thing about the music was probably the fact that it really set the scene for the opening and was very mysterious. Feedback from my classmates also confirmed that the music worked well with what was happening, for example, when the door slowly swings open the music matches very well. However, someone did say that when the shot of someone going up the stairs is on the music could have changed to something more tense and fast to suggest something bad or different is happening. It could also have changed during the flashback.
I also liked the voice over as it explained the storyline to the audience and made it a lot more clear what was going on. However, it could have been improved as I had very little time to record it and my actors had a few problems, so next time I need to make sure I do more than 1 take.
The music and voice over both stop very abruptly also but this could probably have been improved when editing.
A similar product to ours would be a film like Taken. This film is also about a missing person and is a thriller too. The opening scene of Taken is a flashback of a girl on her birthday. This is similar to ours as we also use a flashback. You can tell that its a flashback due to the effect of the shot, it looks like it's been recorded and is very old-fashioned looking. The music starts off quite happy but slowly gets quite tense and almost frightening. They are also sound effects used such as a child laughing which makes it seem quite creepy.
Showing posts with label Anna May. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Anna May. Show all posts
Friday, 20 December 2013
Thursday, 28 November 2013
Evaluative Report
Our brief was to plan and film an opening sequence to a thriller film in small groups of about 3 or 4. We were allowed to choose a sub-genre of our choice. The planning included making a storyboard and planning things such as shot types and duration and camera angles.
The research we did was doing things such as looking at several different crime thriller openings (such as Taken) and stating how they use the usual thriller conventions and/or how they used their own original effects. When researching these thriller openings I also paid attention to things such as the age ratings on the films to see what the age of the audience is meant to be. From research I have also discovered that some thrillers make it quite difficult to recognise the sub-genre of a film in the opening scene, and it's possible that (for example) they may be a crime thriller, or a psychological thriller, but you can't tell until you watch further into the film. The two film openings I looked at were James Bond-Skyfall and Sherlock Holmes. I chose these because they are both very well known thriller films and they have won many awards so I felt like I could learn a lot from analysing their techniques they have used. In class we also watched the first 15 minutes to a thriller film to identify what usual thriller conventions were being used and how the thriller was different. This all developed on how we can start our own thriller and make it clear that it is a thriller but also make it original at the same time. We also had a trip to the cinema to watch 'LA Confidential' a classic thriller film that involves a detective/detectives looking into different crimes such as murders and prostitution. We then wrote a 500 word essay on the way the scenes have been shot and different characters have been presented and lighting has been used to create the different effects (for example, low key lighting and shadows may create a serious and tense mood for the audience and a high key scene may be used to make a face look softer and more attractive and present a character in a good way).
I would say that my target audience would probably be teenagers and above. This is because to make the product more interesting, if it was a real film, it may involve things such as violence to build up tension and make it more action packed. After I decided on this age group I then asked a different range of people in that specific group to answer some questions on what they like the most about crime thrillers. I think I have attracted them to my product by using interesting features such as tense music and sophisticated lighting to make the production seem a lot more professional and worth watching. I also think that as there may be a hint of mystery and someone being taken it may attract them as it is very unclear what has happened and they may want to find out what happens next.
The elements of my research that were useful in forming the pre-production process were definitely reflecting on other crime thrillers and watching their openings and seeing how they all differ yet all use the same kind of techniques to create the tense and dramatic mood that thrillers are meant to have. It also helped a lot asking my target audience what they most enjoy about thrillers as that way I got to see what people like and what I should include in my own to keep it interesting and enjoyable for the audience. Watching 'LA Confidential' also helped me a lot, mainly because it uses such a variety of different techniques yet still is a very classic and clear thriller. For example, it taught me about how you can use it to make two characters appear very different to the audience just by using a harsher or softer lighting on them.
The research we did was doing things such as looking at several different crime thriller openings (such as Taken) and stating how they use the usual thriller conventions and/or how they used their own original effects. When researching these thriller openings I also paid attention to things such as the age ratings on the films to see what the age of the audience is meant to be. From research I have also discovered that some thrillers make it quite difficult to recognise the sub-genre of a film in the opening scene, and it's possible that (for example) they may be a crime thriller, or a psychological thriller, but you can't tell until you watch further into the film. The two film openings I looked at were James Bond-Skyfall and Sherlock Holmes. I chose these because they are both very well known thriller films and they have won many awards so I felt like I could learn a lot from analysing their techniques they have used. In class we also watched the first 15 minutes to a thriller film to identify what usual thriller conventions were being used and how the thriller was different. This all developed on how we can start our own thriller and make it clear that it is a thriller but also make it original at the same time. We also had a trip to the cinema to watch 'LA Confidential' a classic thriller film that involves a detective/detectives looking into different crimes such as murders and prostitution. We then wrote a 500 word essay on the way the scenes have been shot and different characters have been presented and lighting has been used to create the different effects (for example, low key lighting and shadows may create a serious and tense mood for the audience and a high key scene may be used to make a face look softer and more attractive and present a character in a good way).
I would say that my target audience would probably be teenagers and above. This is because to make the product more interesting, if it was a real film, it may involve things such as violence to build up tension and make it more action packed. After I decided on this age group I then asked a different range of people in that specific group to answer some questions on what they like the most about crime thrillers. I think I have attracted them to my product by using interesting features such as tense music and sophisticated lighting to make the production seem a lot more professional and worth watching. I also think that as there may be a hint of mystery and someone being taken it may attract them as it is very unclear what has happened and they may want to find out what happens next.
The elements of my research that were useful in forming the pre-production process were definitely reflecting on other crime thrillers and watching their openings and seeing how they all differ yet all use the same kind of techniques to create the tense and dramatic mood that thrillers are meant to have. It also helped a lot asking my target audience what they most enjoy about thrillers as that way I got to see what people like and what I should include in my own to keep it interesting and enjoyable for the audience. Watching 'LA Confidential' also helped me a lot, mainly because it uses such a variety of different techniques yet still is a very classic and clear thriller. For example, it taught me about how you can use it to make two characters appear very different to the audience just by using a harsher or softer lighting on them.
Thursday, 21 November 2013
Test shots
During one of our lessons we decided to test out some camera shots which we were planning on using for our opening sequence to make sure we are able to film our shots as well as we can for our final piece.
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| This is a mid shot of the main character (victim) looking in the mirror which will be set in a bedroom and will show that she is getting ready to go out. It will be a flashback of before she disappeared. |
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| This is a long shot of a car driving past from the distance. |
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| This is a panning shot which pans across the corridor from one end to the other which we will include but instead it will be set in the street in which the victim lives, of the houses around hers. |
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| This is another panning shot of houses down a road which is more realistic to how the final shot will look. |
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| This is a tracking point of view shot of going up the stairs, which will be used in the victims house leading up to her bedroom before we discover that she has disappeared. |
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| This is a tracking shot of doors opening which we will use near the start of our opening sequence of the front door of the victim's house. |
Wednesday, 13 November 2013
Storyboard decision
On mondays lesson we decided to use a storyboard based around the disappearance of a young girl from her home. We decided on this storyboard because its easy to film and there are more sources available. We can also experiment with lighting by filming outside and inside. This storyboard features scenes in a girls house which means when filming we are able to use resources available in the house and we can use last minute props.
We also decided on our roles in the group:
Director: Anna May
Sound: Anna May
Filmer: Gemma
Actress: Tegan
Editor: Tegan
Cinematographer: Anna May
Lighting: Gemma
Mise-en-scene
We will make sure that the mise-en-scene suits the thriller genre. For this we will use props such as a broken glass.
Shot list:
1- Ident (5 seconds)
2- Panning shot of houses (5 seconds)
3- Long shot of house (4 seconds)
4- Door opening (3 seconds)
5- Shot walking up to the bedroom (10 seconds)
6- Bedroom door opening (3 seconds)
7- Panning bedroom shot (7 seconds)
8- Bed shot from birds eye view (3 seconds)
9- Drink knocked over (2 seconds)
10- Close up of drink with dripping (5 seconds)
11- Phone on side (3 seconds)
12-Shot from behind girl doing makeup in the mirror (10 seconds)
13- Shot of her putting coat on (6 seconds)
14- Gets a text and puts phone down (8 seconds)
15- Shot followed down the stairs (15 seconds)
16- Gets to front door (3 seconds)
17- Hand to pocket (4 seconds)
18- Door left open while she gets keys (3 seconds)
19- Zooms into car in distance through front door (8 seconds)
20- Shot from man in cars point of view (6 seconds)
21- She leaves house (5 seconds)
22- Shot from behind her walking down street (5 seconds)
23- Car door opening (2 seconds)
24- Film title (5 seconds)
We also decided on our roles in the group:
Director: Anna May
Sound: Anna May
Filmer: Gemma
Actress: Tegan
Editor: Tegan
Cinematographer: Anna May
Lighting: Gemma
Mise-en-scene
We will make sure that the mise-en-scene suits the thriller genre. For this we will use props such as a broken glass.
Shot list:
1- Ident (5 seconds)
2- Panning shot of houses (5 seconds)
3- Long shot of house (4 seconds)
4- Door opening (3 seconds)
5- Shot walking up to the bedroom (10 seconds)
6- Bedroom door opening (3 seconds)
7- Panning bedroom shot (7 seconds)
8- Bed shot from birds eye view (3 seconds)
9- Drink knocked over (2 seconds)
10- Close up of drink with dripping (5 seconds)
11- Phone on side (3 seconds)
12-Shot from behind girl doing makeup in the mirror (10 seconds)
13- Shot of her putting coat on (6 seconds)
14- Gets a text and puts phone down (8 seconds)
15- Shot followed down the stairs (15 seconds)
16- Gets to front door (3 seconds)
17- Hand to pocket (4 seconds)
18- Door left open while she gets keys (3 seconds)
19- Zooms into car in distance through front door (8 seconds)
20- Shot from man in cars point of view (6 seconds)
21- She leaves house (5 seconds)
22- Shot from behind her walking down street (5 seconds)
23- Car door opening (2 seconds)
24- Film title (5 seconds)
Sunday, 10 November 2013
Evaluation Report
Our brief was to plan and film an opening sequence to a thriller film in small groups of about 3 or 4. We were allowed to chose a sub genre of our choice. The planning included making a storyboard and planning things such as shot types and duration and camera angles.
The research we did was doing things such as looking at several different crime thriller openings and stating how they use the usual thriller conventions and/or how they used their own original effects. When researching these thriller openings I also payed attention to things such as the age ratings of film to see what kind of age the films audience was meant to be. From research I have also discovered that some thrillers make it quite difficult to recognise the sub genre of the film in the opening scene, and it's possible that they could be crime thrillers or psychological thrillers, for example, but you don't recognise this unless you watch more of the film. The two film openings I looked at were James Bond- Skyfall and Sherlock Holmes. I chose these because they are both very well known thriller films and they have won many award so I felt like I could learn a lot from analysing the techniques they have used.
I would say that my target audience would probably be teenagers and above. This is because to make the product more interesting, if it was a real film, it may involve things such as violence to build up tension and make it more action packed. After I decided on this age group I then asked a different range of people in that specific group to answer some questions on what they like the most about crime thrillers. The answers varied quite a lot from this such as how the characters contrast and how suspense is built up. This helped me as it gave me an idea as to what I should aim for with my own crime thriller/final project to make it more interesting and enjoyable for the audience.
The research we did was doing things such as looking at several different crime thriller openings and stating how they use the usual thriller conventions and/or how they used their own original effects. When researching these thriller openings I also payed attention to things such as the age ratings of film to see what kind of age the films audience was meant to be. From research I have also discovered that some thrillers make it quite difficult to recognise the sub genre of the film in the opening scene, and it's possible that they could be crime thrillers or psychological thrillers, for example, but you don't recognise this unless you watch more of the film. The two film openings I looked at were James Bond- Skyfall and Sherlock Holmes. I chose these because they are both very well known thriller films and they have won many award so I felt like I could learn a lot from analysing the techniques they have used.
I would say that my target audience would probably be teenagers and above. This is because to make the product more interesting, if it was a real film, it may involve things such as violence to build up tension and make it more action packed. After I decided on this age group I then asked a different range of people in that specific group to answer some questions on what they like the most about crime thrillers. The answers varied quite a lot from this such as how the characters contrast and how suspense is built up. This helped me as it gave me an idea as to what I should aim for with my own crime thriller/final project to make it more interesting and enjoyable for the audience.
Sunday, 3 November 2013
Research into crime thrillers and preparation for beginning work on my story board
Sherlock Holmes opening scene
The opening scene of Sherlock Holmes does use some expected crime thriller conventions for example it uses quite dramatic and tense music to make the reader instantly hooked and on the edge of their seat. Its also very dark, gloomy and shadowy right from the beginning which is also a factor of most crime thrillers. It uses sound effects of horses as you see them go past the camera and the noises are quite loud and sudden which may make the audience quite anxious, just as a thriller should do. The camera technique also changes as it goes from quite a smooth panning technique to speeding up and getting quite shaky which again adds to the tension. You are also introduced to a few characters but at this early stage you cant be certain whether they are protagonists or antagonists for example. In general its a very tense and mysterious opening and does use quite a lot of the usual crime thriller conventions.
James Bond- Skyfall
The opening scene shows James Bond (the protagonist and main character) in a car chase. Its not particularly like a usual thriller film as there are no shadows or dark images at first, but once the characters get into the car and they are filmed from behind silhouettes are used to create a specific tense mood. The music starts off seeming quite happy but it slowly gets faster and a lot more tense as the scene goes on. You can also tell straight away the genre of the film and specific iconography is used that you can immediately identity, for example the gun in his hand makes it quite obvious it will be a thriller, and although the gun means it may be a horror you don't get that kind impression as it is quite bright and fast paced.
The target audience for our own product would probably be the age of 15 and above. This is because a lot more action could be involved to make it a lot more exciting if its just aimed at teenagers and adults and not young children.
I asked 5 people from this social group what they most enjoy about crime thrillers and the answers were
The opening scene of Sherlock Holmes does use some expected crime thriller conventions for example it uses quite dramatic and tense music to make the reader instantly hooked and on the edge of their seat. Its also very dark, gloomy and shadowy right from the beginning which is also a factor of most crime thrillers. It uses sound effects of horses as you see them go past the camera and the noises are quite loud and sudden which may make the audience quite anxious, just as a thriller should do. The camera technique also changes as it goes from quite a smooth panning technique to speeding up and getting quite shaky which again adds to the tension. You are also introduced to a few characters but at this early stage you cant be certain whether they are protagonists or antagonists for example. In general its a very tense and mysterious opening and does use quite a lot of the usual crime thriller conventions.
James Bond- Skyfall
The opening scene shows James Bond (the protagonist and main character) in a car chase. Its not particularly like a usual thriller film as there are no shadows or dark images at first, but once the characters get into the car and they are filmed from behind silhouettes are used to create a specific tense mood. The music starts off seeming quite happy but it slowly gets faster and a lot more tense as the scene goes on. You can also tell straight away the genre of the film and specific iconography is used that you can immediately identity, for example the gun in his hand makes it quite obvious it will be a thriller, and although the gun means it may be a horror you don't get that kind impression as it is quite bright and fast paced.
The target audience for our own product would probably be the age of 15 and above. This is because a lot more action could be involved to make it a lot more exciting if its just aimed at teenagers and adults and not young children.
I asked 5 people from this social group what they most enjoy about crime thrillers and the answers were
- How exciting and tense they can be
- How they build up suspense
- How action packed and thrilling they can be
- The way the characters usually very different and contrast a lot compared to each other
- How good the story lines usually are and how interesting they can be
Ideas for opening sequence:
- Somebody (probably a teenage girl) has vanished
- The opening sequence would be lots of different images flashing up, such as an empty bed, a full wardrobe (to show she hadn't run away), a glass on the table next to her bed that had been knocked over and maybe the water still dripping off the side and the sound of the drops of water on the floor?(to show it had recently been knocked) etc
- While these images are flashing up there is voices over the top of a detective interviewing her parents about when she was last scene and if there was a good explanation to why she was missing etc
- The titles will be shown whilst the pictures are flashing up
- The girls room may give the audience a image of the girl and the voices over the top will introduce them to the detective (who will be a main character) and the girls parents/mum.
- Mysterious sounding music playing in the background quietly?
- Maybe some slow panning shots of the bedroom
Anna May Duddridge
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