Wednesday 12th November

Today, I was put in my group in which we are creating the Thriller Opening Sequence. I am looking for to working with my group and I am hoping for good things to happen in the future.

Introduction to Genre

What is a Genre?

A genre is a category a film falls into as a result of its story, context and other conventions.

 For example: Horror, Thriller, Comedy.

As an example, in a horror film, there would be many connections used to identify it as a horror. Such as high and low angles, scary, dark location and sometimes a supernatural being or monster. 

Ideas for Thriller Opening Sequence

4 ideas for Thriller Opening Sequence

1)   ANARCHY

Film Plot: Anarchy follows a young, reckless police negotiator who has to react quickly to a rapidly deteriorating situation in the heart of a busy English city, where he must attempt to stop a group of suicide bombers from causing chaos and anarchy.

Opening Sequence Plot: We begin with the terrorist leader coordinating the bombers across the city. Then cut to the police negotiator rushing to his car with a colleague driving towards an unknown location with sirens on. Follow the policeman for the journey but its edited to seem very quick. Action shot of them running out of the car. Then focus on 1 terrorist, who is  unsure that he wants to do it. Close ups of eyes, hands on the trigger, then to finish, the terrorist quickly pulls the trigger upon arrival of the negotiator.

2)   *SIGNING OFF*

Film Plot: Signing off follows a middle-aged woman who is last to leave her office every night. This time round, she has an unexpected visitor and her life will turn upside down.

Opening Sequence Plot: Start with woman just finishing a long piece of work on a desktop computer. Pan shot of dark office to show she is only person there.  Woman turns off remaining lights etc to show that this is her normal routine. But have her react to one light, which is turned off already, but is never turned off before she leaves, to signify that she is not alone and she knows it. She then calls out, but no response, so carries on walking towards the elevator. Close up of her pressing the lift button, then she turns around one final time. Mid shot of her as lift doors opening and we see a dark, shadowy figure in the elevator waiting for her, then fade to black to leave suspense.

3)   Cracked

Film Plot: Cracked is about a man who is taking part in a harsh lie detector test because of his late wife’s death. The questioner doesn’t believe he is telling the truth. Is he playing the machine? Or is he fighting for Justice for his wife?

Opening Sequence Plot: First shot immediately put into interviewing room, seeing a mid shot of the staring face of the interviewer. Silence for a few seconds, then interviewer asks why the man being interviewed is lying. Cut to shot of man with many patches on his head, showing it’s a lie detector test. Panicking, man says he isn’t lying, then show close up of sweat dripping down his face.  Then shoot a load of random objects like a loud clock, the steam coming out of a coffee mug, and a fly buzzing round a room. No dialogue needed as building tension. Then the interviewers ask why the man killed his wife. No response, then interviewee walks out. As he is leaving, man says that he didn’t kill her, but a small beep goes off, signifying that it might be a lie.

4)   HAZARDOUS

Film Plot: Hazardous follows a scientist who works for the Centre of Disease Control (CDC). When working on a cure for a deadly disease, he seems to have found the answer to his problems. But this may seem fatal in the upcoming days.

Opening Sequence Plot: Do a tracking shot, following a normally dressed man into a laboratory. No dialogue, but classical music playing in background on a stereo, showing it’s a normal day. Man puts on safety HAZMAT suit, and then a close up of the helmet being put on. Close up of hand typing in code for another locked room.  We follow the man in, and he does some chemistry things with some test tubes.  He then drops the test tube onto the floor and it shatters, and the man panics and runs to the door. Alarms going off, music stops, and we see a close up of the terrified man, who then shuts his eyes and falls to the ground. Close up of alarm for a few seconds to help emphasise danger and damage this could cause.

The Preliminary Task

On Tuesday the 7th of October, we conducted our first piece of coursework: the prelim task. In my group, there was four persons: Gabe, Zella, Indie and myself.

Here is the video we created:

This is the storyboard in which we structured our filming. Gabe and myself were the main actors in the shoot, and Indie and Zella worked the camera. But we later changed so we all had a thorough go using the camera. 



Pre-filming

 Before we started filming, as a group we quickly and precisely selected the order of filming, which would mean we would be the most efficient and productive as possible. Additionally, we were quick to learn our lines, and we put our white tape markers on the set so Gabe and I knew where to stand, to keep our continuity as similar as possible. Finally, I asked our Assistant Director, Matt, for a gun prop to use, as it suited our storyline that we wanted to use. 

Filming

We filmed our first interpretation of the scene using a wide angle shot. This was to get the entire set into the shot, and to get Gabe's and myself's whole body. This enables the audience to gather an understand of how we are feeling about the situation. Afterwards, we did an over-the-shoulder mid-shot of Gabe's face, taking into account the 180 degree rule. As a group, we disagreed at first where to setup the camera to make sure we stayed correct position wise. After a group discussion, we came to the correct of conclusion of where it should be placed. We then swapped the camera's position, to do an over-the-top mid shot on myself. The over-the-top shot is a great method to demonstrate to the audience that a conversation is going on between characters.  Then we did some close up shots on both Gabe and I, too emphasise our emotions which we were trying to portray in the scene.

Extra filming


As a group, we decided that we wanted an extreme close up of both my finger pulling the trigger, and of my eyes; to emphasise the emotion of sadness and isolationism. We struggled with these shots, because it was hard to place my finger exactly in the centre of the lens every time, as when using an extreme close up, there is no margin for error. But we eventually got the shots we wanted, after some help. Additionally, we wanted a shot of Gabe leaving the room as he turned around and said 'I can't wait for you...I won't wait for you'. We wanted this in to convey how serious he is, and to end Gabe's camera time with a powerful impact on the audience. To ensure that the girls weren't the only ones using the camera, they decided to be part of an extra scene we did, which meant Gabe and I had an opportunity to have a go on the camera. Gabe filmed a wide shot of Zella, Indie and I lying on the floor and on the sofa. Then after that, we wanted an extreme close up of Indie's hand, which has a large significance in our sequence. I bubbled the camera, focused it and zoomed into on the hand. Using instructions 'Standby, Rolling, Action', I filmed that scene. I then filmed a tilt shot of Gabe's feet, then travelling up his body. This was to symbolise his power of the other characters, an to portray that he was the villain. Then, we decided to do a low angle shot of Gabe. Zella and Indie adjusted the tripod, and I setup the camera's lens to a low angle. We finished the low angle shot by Gabe slowly lifting up the gun, and pointing it and the camera, but didn't pull the trigger. This was our intention as we wanted to end the sequence on a cliffhanger. 

Post filming

After we finished filming, we watched and went through our footage. We didn't do this as we went along, as this would have been too time consuming. Additionally  Matt gave us advice on how we could've improved, such as scenes we should have and shouldn't have included. which is greatly appreciated. 

I had a crazy amount of fun, and I cannot wait to start editing it and finishing the project.  



 Editing the Prelim Task


  What did you learn/cover? 

Our main tip given was tip choose which shots to use, and to name each one. If we didn't do this, we would have 12 minutes of unorganized and mainly useless material. 
 

•What software did you use?

After having finished our filming, we then went to edit our prelim task using Adobe Premier, which is a new editing software.

   This is the Adobe Premier logo and what it looks like when opened.

•What important rules were you shown?

We were shown how to link our shots with mostly match-on-action. This is when you cut from shot to shot when the character is performing an actin such as opening a door, or drinking a cup of tea. 

•What elements did you feel worked well

I enjoyed how we came up with the idea of having longer, tense shots of the eye close ups, as it gave the sequence a lot of tension and suspense. 
 

•What would you focus on improving next time?

I think we could have been more precise with our editing, as there are lots of noticeable errors, such as the character speaking in a shot for a tiny amount of time, then hearing it slightly in the next shot. Also, I think when we finished, we tried to go back and alter our work too much, and I think it would have been best to just stick with our original piece and leave it alone.

•Are there any skills you can take forward to your production group?
  
I think that when I get going, my ideas about how to shoot something can be quite exciting, but I will need lots of support from my fellow members. But also I think I am quite good and reassuring people about their ideas, and encouraging them to put their ideas forward. 

•How did you find the task?

Overall, I loved the prelim task as it was my first real attempt at filming a sequence and editing it, which was highly enjoyable and a great experience. 
 

Textual Analysis of Alien Poster

There is no doubt that the Alien films are one of the most popular and successful films of all time. But how did it become so big? It all started with its original poster, which is a recognisable masterpiece in the film industry- priceless and precise. 


The first thing to draw your eye is the glowing, daunting green mist which is being released from the egg. Through the use of this specific green colour, the audience is immediately told that whatever lies within the egg is unfriendly and most likely dangerous. This adds mystery and an urge to find out whatever it is that's inside the egg. 

Additionally, the designers have included a tagline which states "IN SPACE NO ONE CAN HEAR YOU SCREAM". This is absolutely terrifying to the audience as they are told that in the film, many people are going to inevitably and brutally be killed by, with some logical speculation because of the green mist, whatever is inside the egg. Also, the us of a tagline sets the tone and genre of the film. In this poster, the tagline emphasises that the film be a horror film, which is a great example of the target audience the film producers are aiming for-young adults who enjoy being petrified. 

After studying the egg in the middle and the tagline, the audience is then drawn to the title of the film. In the poster, the title is spread out across the majority of the poster, with large spaces in between each letter. I personally believe this is to outline the isolationism which exists in the vast landscape of space, which is to freak out the audience and make them feel uncomfortable. 

To emphasise the use of colour in the poster, the majority of the poster is nothing but pitch black. This is used to yet again portray the danger and isolationism of space. I also think it is to relate to the tagline, because in a way the blackness proves that no one can hear your cries for help if you need it. 


At the bottom of the poster, is a sort of net. Although I'm not completely sure, I think that is there to once again show that there is no escape if you encounter the extra-terrestrial creature whom lies within the egg. 





At the bottom of the poster in a different coloured section, is the list of actors and actresses who took part in the film. The font size is smaller as that information is not seen as important in this poster, and additionally I think they are placed there because the designer of the poster wants to keep the poster as scary as possible, and having the actors' name large would take away this factor.   






To finish, this poster is, in my opinion, the most iconic and successful film poster created. It clearly highlights the intended genre and audience target of the film creators, and I highly recommend this film to any film fanatic. 

Camera Lesson 2

Creating a Sequence

On the 25th of September, our media studies class had our second practical camera lesson, in which we learnt how to create a sequence. In order to create a successful sequence, it takes many takes performing the same action e.g putting on a coat, using a variety of camera angles. First of, film the scene with a Wideshot, then a mid-shot, a close-up and an extreme close-up. Despite being out of the frame in some scenes, we were told that if you edit these shots together, we could create an interesting and unique scene using a collection of different shots. 

On top of this, our class learnt the 180 degree rule. This was when one can film anywhere along a straight line, to make sure the shot made sense. For example, filming a car driving from left to right will look totally different if you film passed the line, as it will look like its going from right to left. To finish off, we were told to never watch a recorded clip back on set before filming that scene has finished, as it would be a huge waste of time and money.