Monday, 8 December 2014
Second Production Meeting 08/12/14
Thursday, 4 December 2014
How to film a thriller
There are multiple ways to record a thriller, due to the fact that there are multiple conventions in use currently. These conventions set it out as a separate dynamic genre on its own.
The main video in which is being conveyed was of a way in which it was an annotated example of what is being conveyed within the video
The things in which are conveyed within this video and/or what is involved in a thriller are: POV, Ambience/Ominous music, Dark lighting inside, various sounds, Enigmas to convey a sense of mystery within the film or the short example, an extreme close up. Quick cuts are there to convey a sense of panic and fear, tracking shot from left to right, and never had broken the 180 degree rule, high angle to connote a sense of powerlessness and the person being weak. The handheld camera shot/POV, diagetic sounds which are not edited, there is the deep one note music to give a sense of tension within the clip, shot reverse shot to show the camera showing the said person and then what that person sees. A Establishing shot to show us where the film is set, cross dissolving to show us where it is later set within for the interest of time, back light to give the silhouette effect of that character, low angle to show that the person is powerful and strong. The Dutch/canted angle is also another way to show tension and uneasiness, long shot, a left to right of the character in which also does not break the 180 degree area, the wide and tilt angle to show us where the character is and where they are going. The framing shot of an open area gives the perspective that there is a hidden watcher within the premise, the detail closeup to give a sense of what is within the area, the deep focus, sinister sound effect to show us that there is something lurking, parallel editing to show us two perspectives, one inside the fort and one outside. A close up reaction shot to show us how the character is currently feeling, the fast pace editing to increase the tension, the fast threatening music to also heighten the tension involved. Editing action shot is also, involving the way how the action is shown, the wormeye is the very low angle shot to show the perspective from the ground, the faded music to show that the eventual threat has disappeared.
The main video in which is being conveyed was of a way in which it was an annotated example of what is being conveyed within the video
The things in which are conveyed within this video and/or what is involved in a thriller are: POV, Ambience/Ominous music, Dark lighting inside, various sounds, Enigmas to convey a sense of mystery within the film or the short example, an extreme close up. Quick cuts are there to convey a sense of panic and fear, tracking shot from left to right, and never had broken the 180 degree rule, high angle to connote a sense of powerlessness and the person being weak. The handheld camera shot/POV, diagetic sounds which are not edited, there is the deep one note music to give a sense of tension within the clip, shot reverse shot to show the camera showing the said person and then what that person sees. A Establishing shot to show us where the film is set, cross dissolving to show us where it is later set within for the interest of time, back light to give the silhouette effect of that character, low angle to show that the person is powerful and strong. The Dutch/canted angle is also another way to show tension and uneasiness, long shot, a left to right of the character in which also does not break the 180 degree area, the wide and tilt angle to show us where the character is and where they are going. The framing shot of an open area gives the perspective that there is a hidden watcher within the premise, the detail closeup to give a sense of what is within the area, the deep focus, sinister sound effect to show us that there is something lurking, parallel editing to show us two perspectives, one inside the fort and one outside. A close up reaction shot to show us how the character is currently feeling, the fast pace editing to increase the tension, the fast threatening music to also heighten the tension involved. Editing action shot is also, involving the way how the action is shown, the wormeye is the very low angle shot to show the perspective from the ground, the faded music to show that the eventual threat has disappeared.
Monday, 1 December 2014
First Production Meeting. 01/12/14
Today, on Monday 1st December 2014, we had our first production meeting about our thriller. T'was about what our ideas for our thriller convention were about. The people who are in our group are Joshua Collier, Samuel Hannigan, Carly Laslett and me, Michal Cendrowski. For our next meeting, we will plan about what to do with out thriller opening, and what angles shall we use for our cameras, and where we will set this out.
Monday, 24 November 2014
Blog 1: Thriller Conventions
There are various types of thriller conventions that may be incorporated. It mainly is fast paced, there is frequent action, a protagonist/hero who has tot sop the villain from doing something which may use his influence to dominate or to destroy the world and an antagonist who drives the story along. The major conventions that are involved within the story of a thriller are cliffhangers, in which are unresolved segments of the story, suspense is when the audience has a sense of tension incorporated within the story to create a sense of suspension. A red herring is when the audience is tricked for a certain way,if the audience had thought that a side character is working for the antagonist, then the red herring to that situation would be that the side character is working undercover. The genre of thriller can be flexible, as it can be able to get multiple genres at one and combine them to make a film.
There are various ways in which thrillers use a set convention to try to give a dynamic style to it, one example is of lighting, if the place is dark and very dimly lit, there something is about to happen, in which would cause a issue within the story, a sense of disruption being incorporated, tense music, in which if an orchestra is used, then they would stress the music, giving it a sense of dread, a bit of a darker atmosphere in which is involved. The protagonist in the mercy of the antagonist, in which is the person has someone who is either kidnapped, then they would want to beg the antagonist to not to kill or hurt that said person that was kidnapped/taken. At the same time, there are often a montage of shots that are being involved, to try to give the scope of the area, in which also tries to convey that there is a sense of panic in which is being shown within the part.
The characters in which being conveyed, is also, a very crucial part of the film, because if the characters are very paper thin, then the movie will not work, and the plot will fall apart with the poor and sloppy development, the protagonist tries to become of a brave person throughout the film, they try to seek a new equilibrium and to also stop the antagonist. Whereas the antagonist within the beginning of the film, keeps an unknown identity in which the audience of the film tries to guess who the person is, within the main reason why the person act like this, it may be because of an past event in which had led them to their downfall of their positive and led to act like this.
The story in which is being incorporated within the film, tries to make the audience think that the thing that it could happen to them will happen, in which case, this will lead for the people to feel scared. The cinematography is very important, to try to make its audience to feel as if they are on edge, just like the main protagonist. There will be close ups and extreme close ups within the shots of the main character, this is mainly used to try to convey the emotions that they are feeling within the particular segment, and to also focus on the narrative. There will quick cuts and fast shots for the antagonist to try to keep their animosity, if it is a more longer shot, they it will mainly be the shadow or the silhouette of them.
The editing will be fast, there is a huge sense of jump cuts within the film, it will consist of fast editing, as there will be many things that will happen in which the audience watching it will not understand, as it will not make sense. There is cross cutting involved, to try to convey a sense of suspense within the thriller, at the same time, continue editing is also conveyed to try to give the audience a better understanding of what is currently happening.
Music is also very essential, as if the wrong type of music is being coveyed, then there is a lack of suspense being involved within the film. The right music being involved, whether if it is diagetic or non diagetic, will create a mood for that set character that is being involved, it starts off slow to try to get it started, then it will increase the speed to match the shots being shown, to try to heighten the tension involved.
There is also mise-en-scene being shown within, there is more often than not, a low key type of lighting, the film type is often within various types, black or white, colour, sepia or grainy. Costumes are very important to try to mainly convey what type of person or character wears these set of clothes.
There are various ways in which thrillers use a set convention to try to give a dynamic style to it, one example is of lighting, if the place is dark and very dimly lit, there something is about to happen, in which would cause a issue within the story, a sense of disruption being incorporated, tense music, in which if an orchestra is used, then they would stress the music, giving it a sense of dread, a bit of a darker atmosphere in which is involved. The protagonist in the mercy of the antagonist, in which is the person has someone who is either kidnapped, then they would want to beg the antagonist to not to kill or hurt that said person that was kidnapped/taken. At the same time, there are often a montage of shots that are being involved, to try to give the scope of the area, in which also tries to convey that there is a sense of panic in which is being shown within the part.
The characters in which being conveyed, is also, a very crucial part of the film, because if the characters are very paper thin, then the movie will not work, and the plot will fall apart with the poor and sloppy development, the protagonist tries to become of a brave person throughout the film, they try to seek a new equilibrium and to also stop the antagonist. Whereas the antagonist within the beginning of the film, keeps an unknown identity in which the audience of the film tries to guess who the person is, within the main reason why the person act like this, it may be because of an past event in which had led them to their downfall of their positive and led to act like this.
The story in which is being incorporated within the film, tries to make the audience think that the thing that it could happen to them will happen, in which case, this will lead for the people to feel scared. The cinematography is very important, to try to make its audience to feel as if they are on edge, just like the main protagonist. There will be close ups and extreme close ups within the shots of the main character, this is mainly used to try to convey the emotions that they are feeling within the particular segment, and to also focus on the narrative. There will quick cuts and fast shots for the antagonist to try to keep their animosity, if it is a more longer shot, they it will mainly be the shadow or the silhouette of them.
The editing will be fast, there is a huge sense of jump cuts within the film, it will consist of fast editing, as there will be many things that will happen in which the audience watching it will not understand, as it will not make sense. There is cross cutting involved, to try to convey a sense of suspense within the thriller, at the same time, continue editing is also conveyed to try to give the audience a better understanding of what is currently happening.
Music is also very essential, as if the wrong type of music is being coveyed, then there is a lack of suspense being involved within the film. The right music being involved, whether if it is diagetic or non diagetic, will create a mood for that set character that is being involved, it starts off slow to try to get it started, then it will increase the speed to match the shots being shown, to try to heighten the tension involved.
There is also mise-en-scene being shown within, there is more often than not, a low key type of lighting, the film type is often within various types, black or white, colour, sepia or grainy. Costumes are very important to try to mainly convey what type of person or character wears these set of clothes.
North by Northwest (AS Media Studies)
The Trailer:
The reason why the trailer/ film appeals to the audience is they way how it is developed, set up and what the critics have said, since it mainly contains a lot of positive statements about this movie, since if critics say positive things about the movie, then many people would be willing to watch the movie for the sense of having fun and to enjoy this film as a thriller to be excited with the plot twists, the intense action segment and the cliche, yet intriguing story that the director Alfred Hitchcock has created.
The reason why the trailer/ film appeals to the audience is they way how it is developed, set up and what the critics have said, since it mainly contains a lot of positive statements about this movie, since if critics say positive things about the movie, then many people would be willing to watch the movie for the sense of having fun and to enjoy this film as a thriller to be excited with the plot twists, the intense action segment and the cliche, yet intriguing story that the director Alfred Hitchcock has created.
The Thriller Conventions of this movie:
There is tense music to set the atmosphere and how it is meant to be created into, the next convention that this movie has is the sense of enigmas, in which is the main mystery of the movie, the protagonist is trying to restore the equilibrium in which has been destroyed and ruined by the main antagonist who is trying to stop him, along with that, the antagonist at the beginning has no identity to go by, or he may go by a false alias to try to keep his true identity hidden from the protagonist trying to stop them. There are closeups involved, in order to focus on some props to aid the viewer watching the movie, and to also convey emotions within the dialogue, if the close up is used within that said dialogue that is being conveyed.
Is: “resourceful
heroes who
must thwart the plans of more powerful and better equipped villains.” true for North by Northwest?
In a way that it is being conveyed, it is true, due to the way that the antagonist is being portrayed, the antagonist is always a step or two ahead of the protagonist, in which case, yeah, however, it may be also false, due to the fact that they are more or less identically equipped. In which case, they may be identically equipped, in which have equal strength to collide with one another in the main showdown against one another, in which case, it all eventually leads up to the battle of the wits, who outsmarts who in the battle to the death against each other.
What theories apply to the film?
The Three Act Structure, it is a very typical Hollywood narrative, the set up, in which starts off the film, slowly, in a mild paced style, that is the first quarter of the film.. The Confrontation in which is the second and third quarter of the film, to try to show us who the main villain is and how does he do this to convey his sense of evil, and the final quarter is the climax, it is the last segment of the film, in which is the confrontation with the main character and the antagonist and the resolution.
The next segment is the Character Type in which Vladimir Propp had created, Cary Grant's character is the hero, Eve Marie Saint's character is the helper to Cary Grant and in a way, within the last segment, the princess, in which needs to be saved. James Mason's character is the villain, and Martin Landau as the villain's helper.
Todorov's theory is also incorporated, in the beginning there is a sense of equilibrium, some sort of balance being conveyed, in which case, Grant's main character is just in the city, working and is living a good life, then all of a sudden the disruption is being connoted, in which case, Mason's antagonist, sent a couple of his goons to take him away, and to take him to his place, in which he gets drunk and sent to his death by a car driving off the road, and letting him drown, then the police get involved. In which at a new segment, there is a new sense of acknowledgement that the main antagonist is causing havoc within the place or places that they are within and that they will need to try to find a way to stop them. Next is the resolution, in which they are going to stop the people in which are trying to create the disruption one way or another, and once they have found a resolution to the problem, then there is a sense of a new equilibrium, in which case the balance has been restore or in this case, re-created.
Barthes' theory of text being a complex bundle of meaning is mainly incorporated, in this case, there is a sense of resolution at the end, in which case, the text is a closed one.
Strauss' binary opposition has been incorporated, the hero and the villain, in which is Grant and Mason.
What theories apply to the film?
The Three Act Structure, it is a very typical Hollywood narrative, the set up, in which starts off the film, slowly, in a mild paced style, that is the first quarter of the film.. The Confrontation in which is the second and third quarter of the film, to try to show us who the main villain is and how does he do this to convey his sense of evil, and the final quarter is the climax, it is the last segment of the film, in which is the confrontation with the main character and the antagonist and the resolution.
The next segment is the Character Type in which Vladimir Propp had created, Cary Grant's character is the hero, Eve Marie Saint's character is the helper to Cary Grant and in a way, within the last segment, the princess, in which needs to be saved. James Mason's character is the villain, and Martin Landau as the villain's helper.
Todorov's theory is also incorporated, in the beginning there is a sense of equilibrium, some sort of balance being conveyed, in which case, Grant's main character is just in the city, working and is living a good life, then all of a sudden the disruption is being connoted, in which case, Mason's antagonist, sent a couple of his goons to take him away, and to take him to his place, in which he gets drunk and sent to his death by a car driving off the road, and letting him drown, then the police get involved. In which at a new segment, there is a new sense of acknowledgement that the main antagonist is causing havoc within the place or places that they are within and that they will need to try to find a way to stop them. Next is the resolution, in which they are going to stop the people in which are trying to create the disruption one way or another, and once they have found a resolution to the problem, then there is a sense of a new equilibrium, in which case the balance has been restore or in this case, re-created.
Barthes' theory of text being a complex bundle of meaning is mainly incorporated, in this case, there is a sense of resolution at the end, in which case, the text is a closed one.
Strauss' binary opposition has been incorporated, the hero and the villain, in which is Grant and Mason.
Monday, 17 November 2014
Modern Thriller
With the thrillers turning into a modern perspective, there is a specific way that they create it, specifically, the opening. There were 4 examples that we have seen, and they were Brick, Zodiac, A History of Violence and No Country for Old Men.
'Brick'- The film is a 2005 American Neo-Noir thriller in which was directed by Rian Johnson and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The film had started very ominously, in which at the very start, you do not know what is going on, however, once it delves further into the segment in which is shown, it then reveals further in, however, you still do not have a full clue with what it is, but you do get a better image of it, a murder has happened. The colour blue shows a more sombre and cold imagery.
'Zodiac'- In the beginning of the movie, the music being played within the car is optimistic, it is set within the nearby city, in a more of a suburbia styled town, there is a jumpscare element being shown within the beginning, giving some kind of horror involved. However, later on within the beginning of the film, the mood and the atmosphere instantly changes from the happy and cheery tone, all the way to a more darker atmosphere, including the music. Eventually, the atmosphere takes a more darker twist, when eventually, a murder has appened, the foreboding, yet foreshadowing atmosphere gives the film an instant misdirection of the atmosphere it presents earlier on.
'A History of Violence'- The crickets at the beginning gives it a more awkward atmosphere to it, the olden music involved plays, it then all of a sudden stops. The setting in which is being shown is within a motel, yet it is a bright day, similar to another opening, the conversation can be seen as normal, but then the story becomes more mysterious, as low angle of the legs of one of the men eventually see what happened, as a murder happened, in which then a close up of a silenced pistol is seen with the little girl being shot, and it then it is shown that it was a nightmare. The darker atmosphere in which is being conveyed gives the perspective in which they are the not exactly in the right side of the law, in which it is revealed within the scene that they are murderers, who rob people in which make them criminals.
'Brick'- The film is a 2005 American Neo-Noir thriller in which was directed by Rian Johnson and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt. The film had started very ominously, in which at the very start, you do not know what is going on, however, once it delves further into the segment in which is shown, it then reveals further in, however, you still do not have a full clue with what it is, but you do get a better image of it, a murder has happened. The colour blue shows a more sombre and cold imagery.
'Zodiac'- In the beginning of the movie, the music being played within the car is optimistic, it is set within the nearby city, in a more of a suburbia styled town, there is a jumpscare element being shown within the beginning, giving some kind of horror involved. However, later on within the beginning of the film, the mood and the atmosphere instantly changes from the happy and cheery tone, all the way to a more darker atmosphere, including the music. Eventually, the atmosphere takes a more darker twist, when eventually, a murder has appened, the foreboding, yet foreshadowing atmosphere gives the film an instant misdirection of the atmosphere it presents earlier on.
'A History of Violence'- The crickets at the beginning gives it a more awkward atmosphere to it, the olden music involved plays, it then all of a sudden stops. The setting in which is being shown is within a motel, yet it is a bright day, similar to another opening, the conversation can be seen as normal, but then the story becomes more mysterious, as low angle of the legs of one of the men eventually see what happened, as a murder happened, in which then a close up of a silenced pistol is seen with the little girl being shot, and it then it is shown that it was a nightmare. The darker atmosphere in which is being conveyed gives the perspective in which they are the not exactly in the right side of the law, in which it is revealed within the scene that they are murderers, who rob people in which make them criminals.
Tuesday, 11 November 2014
The Birds
The Birds is a 1963 thriller created by Alfred Hitchcock, in which it was loosely based on the book with the same title by Daphne du Maurier, in which was created in 1952. This was a debut for Tippi Hedren, along with that, it is also starred by Rod Taylor, Jessica Tandy, Suzanne Pleshette and Veronica Cartwright. What Hitchcock would've wanted from the film was to develop brand new characters from the original book and to also keep the unexpected bird attacks in the movie. It is a MacGuffin, it mainly helps the story progresses, it is a major plot device, it conveys little to no narrative needed to explain it.
The main external threat of the whole movie is nature, mainly, about birds, animals in which look like they have been tormented for far too long and that they have wanted to get their revenge on people who would've wanted to kill them and use them or consume them. In the main segment, there is nowhere to hide, no matter where you are, they can come from anywhere, from the chimney, the windows.
There are fast paced segments within the film, such as when the students are running away from the birds, as it conveys that the students are running way from that certain danger in which may hurt them in the process. Another segment is when they are trying to defend their home from the birds once they are holed in their own home, it is a very frantic scene to try to block off every single pathway to avoid the birds from entering the home and endangering their own lives.
The main external threat of the whole movie is nature, mainly, about birds, animals in which look like they have been tormented for far too long and that they have wanted to get their revenge on people who would've wanted to kill them and use them or consume them. In the main segment, there is nowhere to hide, no matter where you are, they can come from anywhere, from the chimney, the windows.
There are fast paced segments within the film, such as when the students are running away from the birds, as it conveys that the students are running way from that certain danger in which may hurt them in the process. Another segment is when they are trying to defend their home from the birds once they are holed in their own home, it is a very frantic scene to try to block off every single pathway to avoid the birds from entering the home and endangering their own lives.
Friday, 10 October 2014
Introducing our group
This is the media group that I am present with, the people that I am with are people I know personally, myself, Joshua Collier, Samuel Hannigan and Carly Laslett. All four of us are from the same school, so we stuck with each other and have made it work.
Thursday, 18 September 2014
Cinematography
Some of the parts in which had new scenes, had some awkward transitions, so one moment it could be in the corridor and in the next, it could be then within the outside, in which creates a very weird feel and unprofessional. When we were trying to create the movie, it was an accident which we were rolling with, the comedy bit was a bit of a mistake at first, but once we were recording more, we decided to roll with the comedy bit and tried to make the scenes hilarious to watch, in which we have tried to envelop the sense of comedy in our demonstration with also the music that we have used, as we have incorporated music into the video to try to increase the comedy that is involved within the video.
We have attempted to try to add as many camera shots as possible, all in different styles, the low and high angle shots, the pan, zooms and all the other various styles, in which I have tried to incorporate, the editing was a bit, off. It could've been a bit more cleaner, one in which could've put a little more care into the video, as there were some jagged editing within the first few scenes that we have incorporated within, they could've been shot to support the full transition of a clean form within the film.
Wednesday, 10 September 2014
Genre
What is a genre?
A genre is essentially a category for films in which would mainly depend on the content that is has altogether.
Examples of Genres: Crime, Action, Thriller, Sci-Fi. Horror, Comedy, Romance, Drama and Fantasy.
How to categorise a film in a genre: As explained, this is mainly dependent on the content that the film has, if the film has more lighter tones in which can make people laugh, it is a Comedy, if the content is that the film has a setting within the near or far future, if it uses advanced technology or science, then it is a Sci-Fi, if is has a scary and tense atmosphere, suspenseful music, then it is classified into Horror.
Films in their genre: Crime- Pulp Fiction, Scarface, The Godfather, Sin City, The Wolf of Wall Street.
Action- Kick Ass, Guardians of the Galaxy, Sucker Punch, The Avengers.
Thriller- Before I Go To Sleep, The Dark Knight, Se7en.
Sci-Fi- Total Recall, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Star Wars.
Horror- Aliens, Nightmare on Elm Street, Evil Dead, Friday the 13th.
Comedy-Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Anchorman, Shawn of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim VS the World, American Psycho.
Romance-Her, The Fault in our Stars, Titanic, Forest Gump.
Fantasy- The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Jumanji.
A genre is essentially a category for films in which would mainly depend on the content that is has altogether.
Examples of Genres: Crime, Action, Thriller, Sci-Fi. Horror, Comedy, Romance, Drama and Fantasy.
How to categorise a film in a genre: As explained, this is mainly dependent on the content that the film has, if the film has more lighter tones in which can make people laugh, it is a Comedy, if the content is that the film has a setting within the near or far future, if it uses advanced technology or science, then it is a Sci-Fi, if is has a scary and tense atmosphere, suspenseful music, then it is classified into Horror.
Films in their genre: Crime- Pulp Fiction, Scarface, The Godfather, Sin City, The Wolf of Wall Street.
Action- Kick Ass, Guardians of the Galaxy, Sucker Punch, The Avengers.
Thriller- Before I Go To Sleep, The Dark Knight, Se7en.
Sci-Fi- Total Recall, Star Trek: Into Darkness, Star Wars.
Horror- Aliens, Nightmare on Elm Street, Evil Dead, Friday the 13th.
Comedy-Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Anchorman, Shawn of the Dead, Scott Pilgrim VS the World, American Psycho.
Romance-Her, The Fault in our Stars, Titanic, Forest Gump.
Fantasy- The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Jumanji.
Tuesday, 9 September 2014
The Brief
Foundation Portfolio: The Brief
You have been asked to produce the titles and opening sequence of a new fiction film in thethriller genre.
The sequence should last a maximum of two minutes.
You may work in a group of 2 - 4 students.
As acting is not assessed you are free to use actors that are not members of your group.
The film is worth 60% of your coursework grade.
The accompanying blog is worth 40% of your coursework grade
Together the Foundation Portfolio is worth 50% of the overall AS Level.
Monday, 8 September 2014
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