Saturday, April 20, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Friday, March 22, 2013
Sound
sound
as a group we did research on sound especially on gangster films
as that was our genre, we gathered. however seeing as thriller has many sub genres
the music differed with each type of lm we research for example
The godfather is a gangster film the music was very calm and
orchestral started of quietly then the music started to rise and became quite
racy and pacy and louder. however even though this is what a gangster movie
would have I don't think it will be suitable for our film as I think our movie needs a bit more of beat to it
and jumpy however there are some scenes that will require quite music slow
motion part. But because our movie is more modern it won't be using the orchestral
we also researched a more modern gangster movie e.g anuva hood
a felt the music used in anuva hood was similar to what we would like to
include in our film upbeat racy and fast the lyrics also mean something that applie to our story. compared to the godfather the compleltey different i would classify it as more modern and not as classcial as the god father this would be something i might include in my film for sound, so when making or music on garage band i will be focusing in this type of gangster rather than the other one
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Re film
Friday 15th November 2010
Today's filming went much better as we got everything we had needed all or footage was ready to upload and edit.
Today's filming went much better as we got everything we had needed all or footage was ready to upload and edit.
Re film
for one of the scenes we needed it to be just before dark At around 4pm we was ready to shot, as it was winter it had got dark a lot quicker than we had anticipated and the lack of natural light prevented any of our shots to be visible enough to see the action within the scene. However, it was a learning tool that when we come back to do that scene again, we would come slightly earlier to give ourselves more time to set up, and to come with a plan of what we want to film.
Filming
Filming day 3 (31st
January 2013)
Today we filmed the scene were Fahad
writes the letter and decides he wants to commit suicide. we had to re-film a
few times because we had to fix our continuity editing as in some shots there
were people in the background and in the next shot then there was not so we
thought the best idea would be to film when there is no one around so it won't
mix up.
Filming
filming day 2 (29th
January2013)
Today we filmed the first part of
the chase when Fahad enters the common room and the bully chase after. filming
this went well we just had to have the same people again to film the next day
which was quite difficult as they all had other things they needed to but in
the end we managed to film,
Post production
After our filming task
was completed during the following week was the editing stage. We used MAC
Computers and two types of software, Final cut pro and logic pro.
As a group we had to decide what footage we would use to put into our final piece.
Some of the footage was really good and others had a disadvantage, usually either to dark , not showing the whole picture or there was a mistake in the acting. When we had decided on the film we used Final cut programme to put them together.
we all took turns on editing however smara was the main editor. At first i found it difficult, i had never used the programme and was feeling not so confident that we would do this all in a week. After adjusting to the process we added effects such as black and white to represent the flashbacks so the audience would be able to know the difference, we added other effects such as dissolves and fades to make the scenes drift in and out.
It began to be frustrating trying to locate and put them back within the sequence to make it at least 2 minutes long. I found the editing stage very stressful and not as enjoyable as the filming process, simply because i was not used to the programme and began panicking as i thought we would not have it finish in time. However, because of every ones input we was able to get the final copy created and fit our soundtrack on top.
As a group we had to decide what footage we would use to put into our final piece.
Some of the footage was really good and others had a disadvantage, usually either to dark , not showing the whole picture or there was a mistake in the acting. When we had decided on the film we used Final cut programme to put them together.
we all took turns on editing however smara was the main editor. At first i found it difficult, i had never used the programme and was feeling not so confident that we would do this all in a week. After adjusting to the process we added effects such as black and white to represent the flashbacks so the audience would be able to know the difference, we added other effects such as dissolves and fades to make the scenes drift in and out.
It began to be frustrating trying to locate and put them back within the sequence to make it at least 2 minutes long. I found the editing stage very stressful and not as enjoyable as the filming process, simply because i was not used to the programme and began panicking as i thought we would not have it finish in time. However, because of every ones input we was able to get the final copy created and fit our soundtrack on top.
Editing
Thursday
Today is the day
before our deadline for handing in our final sequence so we had so much work to
be getting on with we all did something each so we will not be wasting much
time, we have finally finished out footage all we have to do now is put
everything together so it is all complete.
Editing
Tuesday
19th 2013
Today we swapped
roles as yesterday Fahad and Inoshan were editing and today me and samara did
the editing. when editing we realized that we had all ready reached to 2 minutes
long of the film and we still hadn't edited half of the footage so we decided
to edit the whole film regarding of how long it will be and from there we will
cut scenes out to make it up to 2 minutes and half at least. we also stayed
after school today while Inoshan and Fahad finished filming the last parts of
the film that we will hopefully be editing tomorrow.
Editing
Monday
18th 2013
Today we uploaded
most of our footage we still had to reshoot some scenes meanwhile we started
editing our sequence. I felt this time our editing went better than last time
when we attempted t edit because we got some practice on different was of shooting
so they can fit when we edit. in today's
lesson we got half way through our sequence hoping that we will be done by the
end of this week. we also stayed after
school to edit some more we had some errors wit our footage when importing
however we managed to sort that out in the end. while we were editing Fahad was
making the sound for the sequence on garage band we all decided on the music
and Fahad will be putting it together
seeing as he has had some experience on using garage band so far we have been
working well as a group.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
show case
showcase (Thursday)
Today in the lesson as a class we had to show a rough show
case of what we had done so far with our opening sequences, then the whole
class will gave feedback on what they liked and what they thought needed
improvement. We thought having the class feedback on our work was great because
there were errors in our sequence that they had seen and we hadn't e.g. in one
shot there were people in the class and the next it was empty, we hadn't
noticed this until we got told so we need to be careful and concentrate on
improving our match on action . After we read the comments the class left we
decided to review our own sequence and see if we thought we can make any
changes, we saw that we were better off re-filming some parts, for smooth
cutaways we also saw that there were some scenes missing that we need to fill
in. overall we got some got comments however we have a lot to be doing to
improve what we have already and to get the best possible sequence.
reschedule for filiming
Reschedule for filming
we uploaded our first footage our opening shot, we saw that
there was some problem with our shooting
as there were many people walking past and in order for this shot to
work we needed a quiet and empty
environment therefore we rescheduled for another day to shoot we thought doing
this scene after school would be a better idea as we will be no one around to disrupt
the filming.
filming day 1 (25ht jan 2013)
filming day 1 (25th January2013)
on our first day filming we decided to film the opening shot
using a point of view shot (POV) o f the bully walking round the school and this is where we will include our title and
credit sequence. this was as much as we got up to this was because the
characters that were acting for the chase were not available however we
scheduled that for another day.
shooting schedule
shooting schedule
in order for us to get everything done on time and to have
everything more organised we made schedule of when we have our frees to use
this for our filming and after schools:
storyboard
Storyboard
Having a storyboard is crucial in determining the success
and quality of our opening sequence. also by having a storyboard, the
production team will be clear of what is expected of them and we all have a
clear overall picture of what the whole movie will look like. the storyboard
does not mean that that will be our final idea you are able to make changes t
is only a rough idea to base it on so it is more organised.
This story board is subject to change as we all had our on
individual storyboards we all had a look at each other's we all had some great
ideas therefore we decided to put all our ideas together to make a new story
board.Costume
Costume
we chose our costumes very carefully because this place a
big part for mise en scene. As a group we
had come to an conclusion that we have found our ideas of costumes and props to
use in the film opening sequence. The characters will be dressed
by stereotypical ideas of how the public see the role and the action the
character who plays the role of the character.
Bullies - hoodless, baggy jeans
and Nike shoes
characters
Characters
when choosing our characters we made sure that they would be able to meet up with us when we scheduled the days we would like to film we also made sure that the character looked like bullies but the way they dressed their facial expressions and body language this all comes back to mise en scene which place a big part in filming. getting the character right is important because that is what he audience will be looking out for.
Location
Location
our main location was based mostly at school as our idea was
on a school boy getting bullied however we also had a second location at new
Malden were the victim attempts to commit suicide. in our sequence location is important because it
represents everything that is about to happen
in the scene, it is a key place where a scene's foundation is built around, the
scene is the one thing that our group has considered a main key to this task,
the scene initially establishes the role of the character. Location is
the place or point that something is at, so therefore we will have to consider
every location put for every scene is correct and fits the role of that scene.Traget audience
Target audience
I think that for thriller films it can be aimed at any age
group depending on the sub-genre however I personally think 15+ is more
suitable this is because most of the scenes and storylines used within a
thriller can be very dramatic including violence and scary nature therefore it
is not suitable for ages under 15.
I also believe the thriller genre is more aimed at male
gender this is because stereotypically, males are more interested in
frightening and scary elements of films than females although some females
enjoy these type of films. however we are hoping that our sequence will be
suitable and liked by both genders.we found more about or target audience after takng on a questionnaire.
Genere research
As a group we have done some research into our genre and their codes and conventions for our opening sequence I have learnt that thriller is a very broad genre that many films fit in to sutitles for example crime chase action all will fit into the genre thriller. the three main elements included that help you understand that a film is a thriller are: suspense; tension and excitement. i think by chosing thriller we have a really wide range
together as a group when planning our opening sequence we
will need to take into consideration that thrillers re mainly fast-paced and
the aim of it is to keep the viewer alert and on the edge of their seat.
some examples of thrillers:
·
suspicion
·
strangers on a train
·
psycho
Questionnaire
Questionnaire
How old are you?
-12-15
-16-19 7
- 20+ 3
Do you watch thriller movies?
- yes 10
-No
Why do you watch thriller movies/ what attracts you to
them?
What is your preferred
sub genre for a thriller?
-horror 4
-crime 2
- sci-fi 1
- real life
-action 3
- chase
-other 1
who do you prefer to be the victim in a thriller?
- innocent person 6
- hero/heroine 2
- someone young 1
- someone old
- other 1
Name a word you think when someone says thriller?
- death
- crime 1
- suspense/intense 4
- chase 3
- violence 2
what do you like to have with a thriller story line?
- someone being chased/ watched 3
- mystery/ unseen villain 2
-crime
-death
- chase
- physiological dilemma 5
what factors o a thriller have the best effects on your
emotions?
- music 8
- dialogue 1
- sound effects
- narrative
- setting 1
I made this questionnaire to find out
more about my chosen genre and what my target audience was so I could apply this to my opening sequence. I
asked about 10 people to answer this questionnaire
1) This shows that the majority of
people who watch thriller films are within the age range of 16-19 years. This
may be due to us mainly asking our peers in this questionnaire but we feel, on
a whole, that this age category is fairly correct. We also feel that our
thriller opening fits this audience well. We asked this question because we
wanted to see what age group would be the most likely to watch our Thriller
opening.
2) Everyone that we had asked ticked the box yes of having watched some sort
of thriller movie, this shows that thriller movies are quite popular and
likable.
3) Our research shows they would like to
so some suspense and excitement maybe a bit of
twist to it something that will keep them on the edge of their seats in
our opening sequence We asked this
question because we wanted people to write down their honest opinions without
having an option as to what personally appeals the most to them when deciding
which Thriller to watch.
4) This shows us that the most popular
sub-genre for a thriller film is horror followed by Crime & Action, this usually
involves death and weapons violence ,
with some disturbing factors also. We feel our thriller film opening will fit
into this sub-genre. We asked this question because we wanted to know if our
Thriller would fit the most popular sun-genre.
5) Our research shows that the most
popular character for a victim is an innocent person. This is most probably
because it is a stereotypical victim and will want to make people want to watch
and wait to see what happens next We
asked this question because we have a victim in our Thriller opening and wanted
to see if we had chosen the most popular victim.
6) Our results display that the top 5
most common words thought of when they think of ‘thrillers’ are: Suspense, Scary, Intense. However everyone had
ticked a box from the above showing that all our choices we had given all linked
to together I feel that these five words
are all reflected within our thriller opening. We asked this question to see
whether our Thriller would meet the expectations of what our audience will be
expecting from a Thriller.
7) This suggests that people like to
have a psychological dilemma within the plot of the thriller, such as a
mysterious villain or a shocking twist. Films that require some thinking and
clever twists to it. however We feel that our thriller opening doesn't include this but we feel that it includes the other
categories: chase and mystery however
this question will help us to put a twist to it for the audience to like. We
asked this question to see whether our Thriller opening will fulfil the
expectations of our audience.
8) I think this was one of the best questions we
had asked because it was the main factor that will attract our audience to our
sequence Setting The factor that people
find most effective on their emotions in a thriller film, according to our
research, is the music. We have chosen our music very carefully for our
thriller and have already edited it to fit with where we want our clips
positioned. We asked this question so we can focus our attention on the area
our audience will be expecting to effect their emotions the most.
I feel after gathering this information
and data has helped us a lot to see who we really would like to aim our opening
g sequence and even maybe change that the audience had suggested. we will try
are best to meet these expectations.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Examples of opening sequences
casino:
Donnie Brasco:
After watching this sequence I found it
quite different to the rest that I had watched, the opening at the beginning
the main character is seen in deep thought while features of a montage of
different images showing the passing of time and development of the place with
narrative/over voice to direct the audience, character also summarises the
characters feelings drawing and image of this character in the audiences minds.
Camera movement follows the main character almost to the extent of
point-of-view, until the camera performs a backwards-creep, and reveals the
main character in front. This was used so that the audience could clearly see
how people feared/respected him by the way they looked in the camera's
direction with worried expressions. I found that this sequence was mostly
detective based involving personal relationships rather than violence and
aggressiveness. I've also taken note of the speech used there is a pattern the
speech almost all the character speak in a dark unsettled tone and voice usually
with an accent being American or British cockney or Italian accents this can be
seen as a form of race that separates them from other gangs/groups. The
lightening used in this sequence vary because it associates with the mood, a
clear separation between daylight and daytime, also inside public places the
lighting is different according to how the atmosphere is this could foreshadow
what might happen next in the film for example dark- something bad is more
likely to happen, also the idea of alcohol being used and people getting drunk
goods being sold and stolen openly shows the pattern of mise en scene being
used to portray gangster life.
The departed:
I found that in this sequence was similar to the other sequences I had
looked at, narrative/ voiceover speaking in the back ground telling the
audience about his side of the story his personal take on things, giving the
audience a sense of his identity. This character was the 'bad guy' he was the
one who bullied everyone knowing they could not stand up for themselves and
fight back.
However in this sequence they have
portrayed gangster differently as to what I had seen in other gangster opening
sequences through the costumes used, in this sequence I did not see any
professional clothing like suits, however this could be used for several
reasons. 1) their way of conveying how they think gangsters are 2) seeing as
this film was made a while ago in 2006, maybe this was how gangsters used to
dress showing how gangster have changed and progressed overtime from before and
have become more modern. 3) also another reason could be used to give a false
image of the character meaning dressed in casual jeans and shirt portrayed his
innocence although after listening to what the character said at the beginning
we clearly and instantly know that he is the bad guy.
Overall after the research I have gathered from the above I have found
out a range of information about gangster related films and the their codes and
conventions that they stick to which has helped me look at what I should
include in my final opening sequence:
- I also noticed there was one main thing that was common in the 3 sequences i researched the language used we were able to identify the charcters though the way they sopke. suggesting speaking this way was familiar in ganagster life.
- Costume plays a great part as it gives the effect for mise en scene
which could represent certain things, depending on how the producer would like
to portray their idea for e.g. gangster: suits and professional costumes.
Costume could also represent the time period as to when the film was set.
- Speech would be aggressive, violence would be used to show the
spiteful behaviour.
- Most of the sequences I've seen alcohol is used a lot commonly being
drunk in bars casinos.
- Also most of the locations are set at bars and casinos or private
places such as offices.
- Weapons are used such as guns and knives etc..
- The roles that are shown include power/control leadership high status.
- The colours lighting mainly used are dark dull colours connoting this
idea of hatred revenge violence.
- The camera movements also create tension they apply to the situation
such as close ups/ following actor showing the characters emotions getting the audience
in a tensed mood.
- The narrator speaking in the back
ground/ voice over.
Feed the fish
Evaluation of perlimerenary task:
As a class we had to show each other our sequences and
give feedback on what was good and what we think should be improved. what went
well: was keeping the camera steady this is because we used the tripod also
moving in frame with the character i found was very good as well when we didn't
use the tripod it was very steady for example when walking up the stairs
following the employee walking into the classroom. we used a variety of
different shots: mid shot low angle shots and close ups that gave a great
effect as they all matched the situation. however there was a lot of room for improvements
if we could do this again, we would need to work on continuity editing for
example when it cut it was light then the next cut it was dark that is
something we need to concentrate on. we also go feedback from the class that
our match on action wasn't that great so that will be something we will need to
look at as well, this was the shot were the boss was standing up but the cut
didn't match as he was sitting down when it cut, we need to concentrate on
using match on action. we also got told that we shouldn't pan, as we panned
when the boss and employee were having the interview, pan is mostly used in
documentaries it is best if we just used cutaways .when we were editing our
sequence we used a lot of fade out's this was only because there were some
errors in our filming and that was the only way we could have covered it
however next time we will have more time to make change and we also use
cutaways as that would have made the shot smoother and look more realistic this
would have also added to the mise en scene . To conclude I feel that because
our time was limited we were not able to show what we could have done more to
improve and the sequence could have been a lot more better however our mistakes
that we made this time will help us on our next task and we will have an idea
on what we shouldn't do.
Narrative
There are three main
narrative theories, these are: Todorov's theory, Levi Straus' Binary Opposition
theory and Propp's Narrative theory. I have chosen to focus on the narrative
theory of Todorov's theory as it is the most suitable to the film I'm going to
apply it to (Shrek). Todorov's narrative theory states that there would be
'equilibrium' until something serious and dangerous may appear which disrupts
the narrative and appears as 'disequilibrium', furthermore towards the end of
the tale everything is resolved and the equilibrium is restored once more. This
theory can be applied to the majority of films, these films may be called
'classic' films or 'Hollywood' films, as this is usually the most popular
narrative. This narrative is usually used for films which are targeted at a
younger audience such as children. The Walt Disney film companies are an
excellent example of an industry who use Todorov's narrative, as it makes the
younger audience feel 'safe' in knowing the disequilibrium or disturbance in
the film shall be and will always be restored.
Todorov's theory
applied to Shrek)
Repair: Shrek and Farquad agree that Shrek will
save Fiona if Farquad gives him his privacy back. Shrek rescues Fiona and
whilst making the journey back to Lord Farquad realises his feelings for
Princess Fiona.
Codes and conventions of a chase sequence
A slow build up in the non diegetic music, rising and rising with the scene until a climax is hit for a bigger impact.
Editing gets faster as the chase or stalk gets more intense, having quick editing during the climax of the scene to create the feeling of a fast and intense chase.
- Quick edits intertwined displaying close ups of both the bully and the victim’s emotions, such as their hands, feet, face and body language to show the bully's scary qualities and angry emotion and the victims vulnerability and scared emotion.
- Most scenes like this are filmed at night, using the lighting to express the mood of the situation. If filmed in the day, the scenes usually kept as dark as possible, using an overcast day for example, to express the same emotion.
- Long establishing shots displaying the width or length of the streets or corridors in which the chase is taking place.
- Tracking shots taken either in front of the victim as they run away from the bully or an over the shoulder shot showing where they are running to.
- Slow motion used sometimes to increase the tension as the bully either gets closer or the victim makes a lucky getaway.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Breif idea
Today we decided our final storyline which is going to be based on a
chase sequence.
The storyline would be based on a character getting bullied at
high school and attempts to run away from his bullies. However, this
doesn't work to his benefit and he gets caught and gets beaten up by the
bullies. Consequently the character can't handle this anymore and
commits suicide and writes a letter before his death - ensuring that his
older brother would find it and take action.
Max payne analysis
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