MORE IDEAS.

Another idea which I have been thinking may be good for our thriller is one shot, like a reverse zoom. The reverse zoom would come from something interesting and as it zoomed out interesting things would be around that one starting object. This would make the opening sequence interesting and mysterious.
For this idea I got inspired by the opening sequence of 'A Clockwork Orange':
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04un4-DOyA0



I found this opening sequence interesting due to:

• the fact that there is only one camera shot - extreme close up followed by a reverse zoom.
• the mise-en-scene in the way that the bar is set out. It is not like a normal bar and there is something strange and bizzare about it.
• The sound: it starts off with eerie, strange music which gets more bizzare until the end where there is a non-diegetic voice over, creating more madness.

All these things make the sequence bizarre and strange which together make the whole atmosphere quite creepy.

Another idea which has crossed my mind would be doing the whole opening sequence backwards. Starting off with something that has happened and maybe going back to how this happened. A good thriller which uses this technique is momentum:

GROUP MEETING

 

When we met originally to discuss our Thriller idea's in our group we chose to develop this idea:

• a small girl in a park on a swing
• a woman watching her
• flashback of woman pushing her daughter on the swing
• woman looking at photo of her daughter (we realise daughter has died)
• woman putting 'wanted poster' through the little girl's letter box
• little girl turns up at womans house and we see that woman is going to kidnapp her.

However, we then realised that this may have been a bad idea to develop. First of all, it is very long and would not fit into a 2 minute sequence. It also does would have told most of the story in the opening sequence and would not leave much to be discovered or developed. The final problem was how we were going to get a little girl to be in the sequence.

After thinking a lot, we decided on a completely different idea. This idea was based around the myths that you hear about which explain how people wake up in baths full of ice with organs missing and writing on the wall saying 'Call 999' as people have drugged them, cut out their organs and gone to sell them in another country. This is what we came to:

• There is an extreme close-up of a girls eyes. We see them open as she gasps.
• There is then a reverse zoom so we can see that she is in her underwear in a bath full of ice; she has a shocked/confused expression.
• There is then an eyeline match of her looking in the mirror. We see that there is something written on the mirror. The rest of the mirror goes out of focus and allows us to read what is written in red lipstick: 'call 0800......( a phone number)'
• The girl looks around and sees a phone lying next to her. She slowly types in the number and we see a close-up of the phone with the diegetic noises of her typing in the numbers.
• she puts the phone to her ear, but we don't hear what the person is saying on the other line. She has an extremely shocked expression and slowly lets go of the phone in fear.
• There is then a flashback. We see her dancing in the club holding a drink, she moves over to dance with a guy and when she's not looking there is a close up of him spiking her drink. We then see him dragging her into his car or something similar to this to show that she is the victim and he is the bad guy.
• It then cuts back to reality and she is in the bath. We are looking at her through the mirror. She looks down looks back up at herself in the mirror and screams.
• The screen goes black and the title comes up whilst she is still screaming.

HORROR/THRILLER IDEAS.

1. Guy alone in a room in a mental asylem. Show's his unstableness, and when people come to find him he has dissapeared.

2. Someone with a handheld camera which is set in night vision mode. Shows us the horrible things they see and then camera switches offf.

3. Freaky killer child who has killed all her own family; there would be a process in which we would figure this out.

4. A man who obsesses over young girls and we see him plotting his next attack.

My main chosen idea is idea 4. It would start off with a close-up of a wall in an empty room and on the wall would be pictures of little girls and articles of girls who have gone missing along with pictures of little girl's bedroom's and other items to do with youg girls. There would be a reverse zoom and then diegetic sounds of a door opening and footsteps of a guy walking into the room. You will see his fingers running along the pictures. As he looks at his 'work' of pictures and runs his fingers against them, there will be non-diegetic eerie music that builds tension. However, throughout the whole of the clip you wont see his face This is to create suspense and keep people hanging. There will then be quick cuts of the guy sitting at a desk looking at information about a new little girl and planning his attack. There will be cuts of him packing certain items into a bag and things like that. As he packs his bag there will be diegetic sounds of him singing a nursery rhyme in a scary way. Right before the clip ends there will be a shot of something which gives away what he is doing with these little girls, but i am still undecided on what this will be.

Horror Movie Conventions - SCREAM

themes & mood.

- It is set at night.

- She plays with knives

- She's alone

- There is a swing in the garden

- The popcorn is burning

- She locks the doors to show that danger is impending

- The lights are off

- There is a big empty house which shows there is more places for the killer to hide

- The telephone

- The house is in the middle of nowhere thus making it scarier as help is further away

characters.

- She conforms to the stereotype of stupid blonde bimbo's that always get killed at the beginning of thriller's.

- She is inoccent & stupid.

music & sounds.

(diegetic)

- There are dogs barking

- Popcorn crackling

- Locking of doors

- Ringing of phone

- Creaking swing

- Breeze

 ALL THESE CREATE FEAR & TENSION

(non-diegetic)

- strings

ADDED TO REINFORCE FEAR AND TELL US WHEN TO BE SCARED

shot choices.

- Tracking shots

- Counted shot

- Pan

- Close up zoom in when he says 'let me know who i'm looking at'

Narrative and character in a thriller.

Every thriller film has 5 parts to the narrative that come in an order. These are (in this order):

Equilibrium -> disruption -> complication -> resolution -> new equilibrium

For example, in the movie Jaw's, these would be:

Equilibrium = everyone is happy on a beach, preparing for the 4th of july festival.

Disruption = A dead body is found which has been eaten by a shark.

Complication = do they close the beach? keep it open? is it a shark? are there more deaths to come? Another person dies.

Resolution = They decide to catch and kill the shark - so keep the beach open.

New equilibrium = shark is killed and shark hunter dies - everything goes back to normal, but relationships have changed so it is a NEW equilibrium.

Every film usually has 5 common characters too:

• The hero - the one on the quest and the one who saves the day
• The villain - the evil one who causes the disruption.
• The helper - The person who helps the hero on the quest ( the sidekick)
• The victim - The one at the mercy of the villain.
• The donor - Someone who has something special which will help the hero.  

An example of this is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban:

The hero: Harry Potter

The villain: Voldemort

The helper(s): Hermione & Ron

The victim: Serious Black

The donor: Dumbledor

Conventions of horror/thriller's.

Today in lesson we wrote down all the things we expect to see in horror's and thriller's. This is what I came up with:

1. Blood
2. Death
3. Hero
4. Villain
5. Protagonist
6. Screaming
7. Ghosts
8. Poltergeists
9. Knives
10. Weapons
11. Darkness
12. Water
13. Contrapuntal sounds
14. Eerie music
15. Violence
16. Freaky children
17. Animals (spiders, snakes)
18. Echoes
19. Creaking of doors
20. Good-looking person
21. Phones
22. Videos
23. Masks
24. TV's
25. Blinding headlights
26. Radio's
27. Kidnapping
28. Basements
29. Hanging rope
30. Doors
31. Fog
32. Floods
33. Floorboards
34. Attics
35. Mirror's
36. Bathrooms
37. Sinks
38. Flashbacks
39. Shower's
40. Bath's
41. Kitchen's (Knives)
42. Alleys
43. Glass
44. Forests
45. Door locks
46. Trees
47. Hiding
48. Dark box
49. Isolation
50. Dolls
51. Clowns
52. Hooks
53. Demons
54. Zombies
55. Gore
56. Vampires
57. Witches
58. Possession
59. Abandoned house's
60. Murder
61. Dodgy locations
62. Paranoia
63. Owls
64. Sacrifice
65. Chlostrophobia
66. Traps
67. Guns
68. Dogs
69. Graveyards
70. Coffins
71. Churches
72. Flashing lights
73. Lamps/Candles
74. Dark hair
75. Pale skin
76. Numbers
77. Red -> danger/death
78. SILENCE
79. Closets
80. Storms
81. Raining -> bad weather
82. Full moon
83. Car accidents
84. Derelict
85. Power cuts

Denotation & connotation of thriller images.

In todays lesson, we were given some still pictures from different thriller films. We then had to decide what the denotations and connotations of each image were. This is what I decided:

SCREAM

DENOTATION: A person in a scary mask behind a window, dressed in black. A blonde woman looking through the window. Both are on phones and it looks as if one of them is holding a knife.

CONNOTATION: The fact that scream is dressed in black along with the darkness outside shows the fear. The knife symbolises death. The woman is blonde which conforms to the stereotype in thrillers where the typical stupid girl at the beginning of the movie always gets killed.

PSYCHO

DENOTATION: Naked girl in a shower who is soaking wet. She has a shocked facial expression.
CONNOTATION: She has seen something which scares her. Shower's can be dangerous. Her face shows impending danger and her vulnerability.

  GOTHIKA

DENOTATION: Girl staring at blood on wall which reads 'Not One'. She has dark hair. We can't see her face.
CONNOTATION: The writing could say 'Not Alone', showing that someone is there and there is danger. The blood signifies death. Her scared body position shows something is going to happen. It is very mysterious but we know there is an importance in the writing.

FRIDAY 13TH

DENOTATION: blonde woman in black coat looking at another person in black coat across empty carpark. Something red in bottom corner.

CONNOTATION: Red signifies danger, and the black coats suggest something scary. The deserted car park shows noone can help.

THE EXORCIST

DENOTATION: There is a very pale ginger girl. Her eyes look dead and she has cuts all over her face. She is wearing an innoccent looking dress but there is blood all over it. She has horrible teeth. There is a black background.
CONNOTATION: Her face suggests she's dead/ possessed. She is smiling yet she's clearly hurt so this show's she dangerous. Her dress shows she was once an inoccent girl.

THE RING

DENOTATION: A girl sat on a chair in a room with tiles on the wall. Everything is white apart from her long black hair and black shoes. There is some kind of wire/plug at her feet.
CONNOTATION: The white suggests innocence/ purity which juxtaposes against her hair, making her look evil. Her concentrated face suggests she's ill.

OMEN

DENOTATION: there is a small boy in a suit in a graveyard with his hands on his hips. The suit is black and the gravestones are white.
CONNOTATION: His stance gives him confidence and power. The contrast of black and white show's him to be evil which juxtaposes against the white gravestones which signify purity.

IT

DENOTATION: There is a clown with fangs, and its mouth is open with its pointy teeth showing. It has green eyes and red hair. There is a black background.
CONNOTATION: The dominant colours of red and black signify darkness, death and danger. Its mouth is open as if it's ready to bite something.

HALLOWEEN

DENOTATION: There is a low angle shot looking up at a man with a mask who's holding a knife. He is on a staircase/ stair balcony.

CONNOTATION: The low angle shot gives him superiority showing his control and power.The knife show's danger and gives us the idea that he is in somebody elses house. The stair balcony acts as a barrier against him showing he is dangerous.

H20

DENOTATION: There  man with a white face looking through a porthole at a women who is terrified. There is a dark blue background.
CONNOTATION: The blue baground and porthole suggests water and that they are on a boat. His skin compared to hers gives us the idea that he is dead.



Editing of preliminary task.

We had done the filming part of the preliminary task which I talked about in my previous post, so now we started with the editing.

We started off by saving all our files into a 'rush bin' which meant they would still be there incase something went wrong. We decided which shots were no good, and which ones we were going to need. The useful ones were saved in the 'log bin' and from there were dragged into the editing programme.

There were two different screens on the editing programme, one used to watch the original clips and the other to see the result of what had been edited together.

Here is a link on how to use the programme: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UK8TbsAAtfY

We decided which shots and angles should go where and why and made sure the whole group agreed on it. We also added in a bit at the beginning and the end of our clip which was not originally in the script but followed the story. We were a bit short for time, but when we were asked to show the clip at the end of the lesson I think we were all satisfied with what we had managed to do.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task Evaluation

The location I filmed my preliminary task in was the Studio. This worked very well as a location because we were able to re-arrange the objects in the studio which were chairs, a table and draws. We put the draws and the table in the corner of the 'room' (area we were filming) to make it look a bit like an office, and then had one chair situated infront, and the other along the side which was then going to be pulled over by one of the characters. I wasn't the director or directly behind the camera however I took a very active role in filming. I checked that the boy who was behind the camera was doing the correct thing and had things in the correct places, and it was often that he didn't so I told him where it should be and we discussed what looked best.



The thoughts towards lighting that we had was that we wanted quite a light set to film on so we could see the actors in detail. We therefore had a big bright light coming from the right corner onto the actors. This was important to the scene as it focused on two people who we needed to see clearly and in detail. It also showed that they were in a normal office and let us see the objects in the room and thus distinguish that they were in an office. This was effective as it made sure that every part of the set was light and there were not some bits lighter than others. However, there was one point where it would have been better to have an extra light as we were filming in a different part of the studio. This turned out to be fine though as we just situated the original light in a different place.



We set up the camera correctly by bubbling the tripod to make sure it was stable, and then locking in the camera. We then zoomed in on a part of the wall and set the white balance correctly. We made sure the exposure, focus and zoom were all in the right places. We checked the tripod was level in each shot and made sure the bubble was still in the centre. We checked the shot was framed correctly each time, and if we had doubt then we filmed it again just incase. We moved the lighting and camera equipment to make sure it was not in the shot, and one time when we changed the position of the camera a light came in that was not there before. We then had to move it before we took the shot to make sure that there was not objects that were just appearing. We chose appropriate angles for the shots, and made sure that the whole of the actors bodies were in the shots at all times. Therefore, we did a straight on shot of them when they are sat down but for the over the shoulder shot, it was harder to get their bodies in and we therefore filmed it from a much higher angle to make this possible. We filmed the shots using practical planning. We started off with the wide shot and filmed the whole thing a couple of times to be on the safe side. We then filmed the whole sequence as an over the shoulder shot, followed by a close up of that person as we only needed to zoom in and not move the camera. We did this the same on the other side and then went on to film the very beginning and very end, when we had one of our actors coming in and out of a door. There was no need to film a medium shot, as this was not involved in the sequence. We made sure to conform to the 180 degree rule and were constantly thinking about it especially when we had to move from one over the shoulder shot to another. I often imagined an imaginary line at 180 degrees to stop us breaking it. We used appropriate terminology on set. Our director would start of by saying 'stand by' to which we would all reply 'standing by' once we were in our places. She would then go on to say 'roll' and the camera man would say 'rolling' once he had started recording. After this she would say 'action' and the actors would start the scene. Once the scene had finished, she would say 'cut' and the camera man would wait around 5 seconds before stopping the recording.

Camera skills, camera operating and filming.

Before filming, we had learnt about camera shot types and movement as well as framing and composition. Here is a short clip about camera shot types:

We also learnt about the rule of thirds which is one of the most popular 'rules' in photography. It works like this: Imaginary lines are drawn dividing the image into thirds both horizontally and vertically. You place important elements of your composition where these lines intersect. As well as using the intersections you can arrange areas into bands occupying a third or place things along the imaginary lines. Good places to put things: third of the way up, third of the way in from the left. Bad places to put things: right in the middle, right at the top, right at the bottom, away in the corner. Another rule in media is the 180 degree rule. This means that there is a sort of imaginary 180 degree line which you cannot cross, and must stay on either one side or the other. If you break the rule, and cross the line, the characters will look like they are facing the same direction. If you want to break the rule, you must show the camera movement.



We had learnt before hand about the timecode of the camera. This showed the hours and minutes it had been filming for but it also showed a number which was moving a lot of faster. We learnt that this was the number of frames per second, of which there are 25 frames.

Today in media, we were put in groups of 4 and asked to film a short story. This was a practice for our preliminary shoot. To start off, we had to set up the camera in the tripod like we had been tought and we then bubbled the tripod. The benefit of using a tripod is that the camera is not going to move out of the position you have it in, and so will look more realistic. However, if you are wanting an effect of someone holding the camera, or a shaky effect, then it is best to use the camera handheld. After that, we zoomed in on a white wall and set the white balance, and then focused the camera and got it to the right point so that you could see the whole of the actors bodies. We then filmed the whole thing in wide shot, then again in an over-the-shoulder shot, then again in a close up and over-the-shoulder shot and close up on the other side.We realised afterwards when we looked at the filming that we had forgotten to focus on one of the shots so when it came to the real thing, we made sure to focus all the time.



There was some terminology that we had to use when doing our preliminary task. The director would say 'stand by' and we would all have to reply 'standing by' to show that we are in position for the take. The director would then say 'roll' and the camera man would say 'rolling' once he had started recording. The director would then say 'action' to let the actors know that they should start acting now. After the take has finished, the director would say 'cut' and the camera man would wait 5 seconds before finishing recording.

I enjoyed the experience of using the video camera because it was the first time I had used a professional one like that and was very fun. However it was also quite stressful because we had so much to think about and not that much time.

I saw you... HECTOR

Last week in our media lesson we were split up into groups of 4 and were told to go off and take pictures which we would then edit into a film poster or something similar. Our group went to the theatre department and managed to get hold of some props like a saw and a hammer which we then used for the pictures. I got many pictures taken of me next to or behind a tree with a saw, which i had the idea of then making into a horror movie poster. With these pictures, i chose 4 of the best ones and opened them in photoshop. I then cut three of the pictures out and pasted them into another picture. I used blur and the clone stamp, and by doing this made it look like there was 4 trees with 4 version's of me standing behind them. I then pasted in a picture of dripping blood from google and used effects to make it look as realistic as possible and then scaled it and placed it on the bottom of my lip to make it seem as if blood was dripping off my lip. I wrote 'I SAW YOU' at the top of the poster in bright red, and planned to have some blood dripping off that too but did not have the time. It looks a bit unfinished but...

Exterminate

Introduction to concept of editing film:

• Hollywood Narrative prioritises Narrative over Form (in essence, the story is the most important factor, not the look)
• The majority of editing decisions are based on this factor - choice of shot is dictated by necessity to narrative.
• Editing also dictates the PACE of the film, the faster the shots are cut together, the more tense or exciting a sequence becomes.
• Editing also maniplulates Time and Space - the ellipsis of the film-world (or DIEGESIS) we only see events necessary to the time of the narrative which are cut together to speed up or slow down the events depending on the needs of that narrative.
• Juxtaposition and meaning:
  Shots in sequence create meaning for audiences
  From exterior shots to set, audience is encouraged to believe the events they see are immediately sequential
• The Kuleshov Effect
  Audiences interpreted emotional responses on the actor’s face based on the juxtaposition of images.

To practice our editing skills, we were required to make a doctor who video using a website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/trailermaker/view/7iaqx4

What is a thriller?

A thriller is a film which usually includes violence, murder, criminals, death and mystery. A twist in a plot, hidden identity and mystery's waiting to be solved are common of a thriller film.



Over the past few weeks, we have been looking at the thriller 'The Usual Suspects'. We started off analysing the poster, including writing a list of all the denotations and connotations. We then went on to analyse the opening scene, again talking about denotation and connotation but also discussing mise-en-scene, camera work and angles, editing and sound, in great detail. We were then assigned an essay which basically put all of this analysing together.

Photography and image manipulation

Photography brings a visual language that is universal in understanding. We must then understand its vocabulary which consists of shapes, textures, patterns, lines, colours, shade of light to dark and sharp to blurry images. Just as we must learn to arrange words in a coherent order in order to make sense when we write or speak, so too must we put visual elements together in an organized manner if our photographs are to convey their meaning clearly and vividly.

Composition means arrangement: the orderly putting together of parts to make a unified whole; composition through a personal, intuitive act. However, there are basic principles that govern the way visual elements behave and interact when you combine them inside the four borders of a photograph. Once we have sharpened our vision and grasped these basic ideas of principles, then we will have the potential for making our photographs more exciting and effective than ever before.


Over the last 2 weeks we have been learning Photoshop. We have learnt how to cut part's out of pictures and stick them onto other pictures, including scaling the image. We were showed how to change the colours of the image to make it look like it is part of the picture. The most advanced piece of Photoshop work we have done so far would be having to create a persons reflection underneath them after they have been edited to make them stand on water. I found this very hard because it took me a while to be work out that we had to copy the image, rotate it, and then use effects to make it look like a reflection. Here is my piece of photoshop work involving a reflection:

 Another example is when we cut out the face of the man in the film 'Up' and stuck it on the body of Jet Lee in a poster of 'The Expendables'. We then scaled the face so it was the right size for his body, and rotated it so he was looking straight forward. We then changed the colours and saturation to make it look like it was part of the picture, we also had to make the face black and white as the poster of 'The Expendables' was in black and white. I found using photoshop hard at first because I did not know where to find all the tools, but once I had searched around a bit and got the hang of it, it was fairly easy. I think being able to use photoshop is very important in creating Media Products because it is a quick and efficient way of designing posters or DVD covers.

Here is a piece of work I created when I was playing around with the 'lasso' tool:

 

About Myself

WHADDUP
My name is Izzy. I was born in Nottingham but I have lived in Barcelona since I was 6 so you probably wont know the school I went to before this but incase you do it was called 'The British School Of Barcelona' (original). I chose to study Media Studies because I like to edit pictures, videos, and make short movies. I like most types of movies, but I'm not too keen on rom com's and didn't cry in Toy Story 3 which apparently makes me heartless. I've watched School of Rock more times than I can remember and I can recite every word. Basically I'm very weird. My favourite band are Kings of Leon, but I also love Biffy Clyro and many other bands, especially Mumford and Sons.