PLANNING - Locations

We will need two different location for our opening, firstly there is the palace and path that the mysterious man will be walking up and towards.

We have found an idea location for this which we are very excited to use as the path goes up a hill and leads directly to the mansion. It is called Alexandra Palace and luckily it is very near to where we all live so it will be a convenient as well as effective location to use.

Some pictures we have taken of this location:

This is the path we initially planned to use for the man to walk up, however there might be cars driving on it depending on the time we film and there is a road to cross inbetween it and the building which could interfere  with our shots so we have found a smaller path as a back up which we could also use.

The back up path

A few shots of the actual building which is meant to be deceiving as it looks like a castle from outside but is actually derelict and dangerous inside.

A few scenic shots of trees we will use in the opening establishing shot

Our second location is the basement style room for inside the building, we found the perfect location in college it is full of scrap wood and metal materials with concrete floors, brick walls it looks just like a warehouse:

Where we are planning to have the girl tied up

We might have the man enter from this direction

The dim lighting in here is perfect

PLANNING - Initial Ideas

Since we started researching in to Thriller openings we've been pretty sure that we want to go the theme of somebody being held hostage in a room incorporating the themes of dark violence and distress

Here is a mood board of our initial thoughts and visions for our idea:

The outline of our thriller opening:

A horror themed opening focusing on two scenes which are continuously cross cut between one and other. One of these scenes being of a mysterious figure of a man walking up a long path towards a massive castle like building. The other will be of a woman trapped and tied up in a dangerous dark and dingy basement looking room which is actually inside this deceiving mansion.

The pace of the opening will build up as the editing becomes faster, we will incorporate some flashbacks of how the girl ended up where she is near to the peak of the action. Suspense will be built up through the editing, mis-en-scene, camera work, sound and over all pace of the opening to the moment when the mysterious man is revealed and he enters the room where he is holding the girl hostage.

Preliminary Excersize - My evaluation

Planing (draft at home, need to copy onto here)

Preliminary exercise - what have I learned?

The prelimiary excercise we did in Marissas lesson has gave me a genuine insight into filming our actual project. Firstly, it isnt as easy it sounds. A few things i have learned at listed below. - having a variety of shots helps spice things up, we had to go and refilm the 'money exchange' scene becasue we had a normal shot instead of a close up which would of been much more effective. - If you are going for a office based hitman scene, you must try your best to get a similar setting so therefore i believe location is essential into making the perfect thriller. we used the canteeen and this proved not to be as effective as it looked more casual than s serious scene.

Quick Storyboard draft

A quick draft I did of the storyboard just to note down the shots for the digital storyboard so we know what to do when we take the pictures!

(Rubbish drawing, probably doesn't make sense but it's just a draft)

4th page is shots that I missed out (I numbered them all anyway)

Conventional Thriller Opening

1.            Production company

2.            Distribution company

3.            Actor (star)

4.            Actor (star)

5.            Film Title

6.            Actor

7.            Actor

8.            Casting by 

9.            Costume by 

10.        Music Supervisor

11.        Music by

12.        Edited by

13.        Production Designer

14.        Director of photography

15.        Executive producer 

16.        Written by

17.        Director

Conventional order of title sequences. 

This is the thriller titles opening we will be using on in our thriller.

this is also the conventional order for the majority of thriller openings.

Preliminary exercise - what have I learned?

The preliminary exercise has really helped to improve my media skills and organisation for the real thing.

A few things I've learned:

1. The location is KEY - it must look professional and exactly like the environment it is meant to be set in
2. Even the slightest background disruption and movement makes the filming look unprofessional
3. The outcome would have been more effective if we had included a few more shot types e.g an eyeline match shot, shot from a low angle etc
4. MOST importantly - How to use the 180 degree rule!

Arlington Road Sound

During the lesson we were introduced to the concept of foley sound and adding a soundtrack using Soundtrack Pro.

After experimenting with foley sound we decided that this sequence would work better with a soundtrack to build up the tension.

We used three pieces of music and carefully edited them together to create this piece which we think works really well with the Arlington Road opening it consists of:

1. an up tempo melody as the boy walks down the road and we haven't seen his missing hand - creates a sense that something mysterious is going on but we don't yet know what this is
2. A buzzing broken radio like sound when the extreme close ups of the boy's face are shown - this confirms that there is something very wrong 
3. A tension building orchestral dramatic piece as the man runs out of the car to the boy

We didn't play music right until the end as we think it would be best if the man's voice is heard from when the music stops.

FINAL Preliminary video

Our Initial Ideas

Update!

Preliminary Excersize - My evaluation

Planning

Over all the planning went well however there were a few things that we should have done differently:

• Included more shots to buiold up tension - I thought that the story board should have been slightly longer than it was
• As there were only two group members in on this day and we failed to find voulenteers to be in the pictures, we weren't able to take the photos ourselves and that is why they are not taken by a media student which means they lacked accuracy from a media perspective
• between the first two shots a filler shot is needed :

pictures to animation

 

• The shot - reverse shot needs to be taken from the same position each time to follow the 180 degree rule

make a gif picture

This process has helped me to understand the 180 degree rule and I applied the skills learned from this exercise when filming

Filming

Filming went well - all shots were taken correctly and in the right order (we used the 180 degree rule correctlty this time) but...

• Initially we thought the location we filmed in (the canteen in college) would work better than the one we used for the storyboard (which we realised didn't have enough room to film in) BUT there was too many distractions in the background and it didn't exactly look like an office

• Shot - reverse shot could have included a few more shots to build tension
• The noise in the background from the canteen caused the dialogue to be distorted

Editing

After reviewing the editing of the prelim I have come to the conclusion that it could have been edited to a much better standard. Finally only one of us contributed to the editing of the prelim and it could have been done to a much better standard if we all worked together. We should have experimented with different transitons e.g fade, dissolve, fast paced and rough cuts etc. The titles were poorly placed on the screen which effected the viewing quality and although we did follow a conventional title sequence, three names were repeated for a number of roles when we should have made up different names to make it seen more realistic.

RESEARCH - Intertextuality

Intertextuality is when a basic principle or idea from one project is used in other projects. In movies intertextuality is used when a particular idea from one movie appears in another.

A very common example of intertextuality is from the shower scene in the movie 'Psycho'. The principle of being murdered in a bath tub and left there is used in other movies such as 'The stepfather' and 'fatal attraction'.

RESEARCH - Film audience

Different genres have different audiences. People prefer some movie types over other others. For example, i enjoy action movies and dislike horror. This may be the complete opposite for others. Age, gender and ethnicity play huge roles when it comes to target audiences. For example, disney movies are generally targeted for children rather than adults.

A thriller has many aspects which makes it more suitable for some people to watch rather than others. The presence of murder, abuse and various other disturbing acenes might suggest that the movie is aimed at adults rather than children. Even though gender isnt a huge aspect in the target audience for thrillers, stereotypically it would seem that male's are more interested in these types of movies rather than females.

Different types of film openings

A discrete title sequence various shots and images that stand apart from the titles and may contain elements of the actual film to give away a very bried idea of the plot and mood of the movie. Elements of a discrete title sequence consists of fast paced editing, jump cuts, non-diagetic sound and sound that hints the genre.

Stand alone titles are very badic and old-fashioned as they are only white titles over a black screen. This method usually leads into the opening of the film.

A narrative opening is when titles run throughout the opening. They are either super imposed or intercut.

RESEARCH: Genre & Sub Genre

The genre of a movie indicates the mood of the movie. Comedies are funny, thrillers create suspense and horror movies are used to frighten the audience.

Movies often have sub genres. Having a sub genre widens the target audience of a movie. For example the movie Limitless creates a mysterious feeling along with a bit of comedy.

Limitless is a thriller comedy. This film in particular has many twists but the thrill is still there. The film is able to maintain its main genre but also brings along sub genres to increase its like-ability.

The thriller aspect of the film helps maintain my attention, the continious twists in the movie keeps me entertained and makes me want to see more. The comedy side of the movie makes sure that i dont get the sense of boredom because of the over-load of the 'thriller' aspect of the movie.

The Killers - My Experience

We have finally finished our remake of the killers. It was out first oppurtunity to work with a camera and differents software to produce a video. I believe we have made a decent first attempt .

1- As we were filming in winter it got dark very quickly. As we were trying to film a particular scene from more than one shot, there was a contrast in lighting.

2- Even though it may seem as if it isnt important, saying 'cut' or 'action' is vital as it makes editing the movie much easier. By saying cut or edit you are giving yourself time to cut and edit each clip so the video as a whole seems natural.

3- We was not able to get the original soundtrack of Killers so we added oir own by Jason Mraz. In my oppinion the song Lucky by Jason Mraz fits in perfectly with the theme and motion of our video.

RESEARCH - Timeline of title sequence

1. Production company
2. Distribution company
3. Actor (star)
4. Actor (star)
5. Film Title
6. Actor
7. Actor
8. Casting by 
9. Costume by 
10. Music Supervisor
11. Music by
12. Edited by
13. Production Designer
14. Director of photography
15. Executive producer 
16. Written by
17. Director

Conventional order of title sequences. 

Most movies follow a similar criteria for its title sequence.

This is the opening of 'The taking of Pelham'. This movie has a smilier title sequence to the one shown above.

RESEARCH - Health and safety tutorial

In the first lesson of filming we were given the oppurtunity to work with the specialist media equipment. We found this very benificial as it enabled us to use the skills we have learned into our own project.

Before we started filming we were given a professional video camera and a tripod. Once we was able to use the camera properly and effectively we were given the chance to film a parody for a thriller.

During class we have learned how to:
-Fit a camera in place on the tripod so that it was stable once we started filming
-Zoom in and out
-Focus the lens
-Use the appropriate buttons when necassery
-Adjust shooting modes for different settings and lighting.

Preliminary Match Cut Excersize - Planning

In preparation for the preliminary filming we storyboarded the scene in pictures so we could refer back to it when filming...

The plot of our clip was that a woman goes to hire a assassin to kill her father, they exchange a few words before the assassin asks for money and it is handed over. 

For the clip to be successful we knew we had to set it in an office type environment which will be the assassin's office, so we took the pictures  in a room which looks like an office. 

The only prop we thought we needed was money - it would have been fitting to have a computer to have a desk inbetween the two charaters as well as some paper so we will make sure we use these when we film the scene. 

Technical Problems?

We also realised that we should use a close up shot of the money exchange - we will include this in the filming.

Preliminary Match Cut Excersize - Filming (behind the scenes)

 We took a few pictures on set to keep a record of our progress

(We only had two of our group members today so we had borrow Einas from group 11 - Einas plays the customer and Can plays the assassin) 

Leila and Einas setting up the camera for the shot-reverse shots

Inserting the memory card so we can get started

                                        

Taking a few practice shots

                                       

  

 

After we took a few shots with the characters in these positions we decided to switch their positions around as it fit better with the direction Einas is entering the room from for Can to see her enter and for the whole shooting positions to work.

RESEARCH: Titles

This is my arlington road intro which includes all 18 titles in a structured order, which tends to be a typical one nowadays for big movies, where big named stars are usually after the IDENT in order to ensure the target audience are aware of their presence in the movie. after the big named stars the film titles appear.

In the lesson with Marissa learnt learnt how to add text to my clips, i decided to go on a text on blank screen because with music this would raise some sort of tension as this is a thriller and this will have constant cuts from the main storyline which will engage the audience to also read the titles as they are short and snappy

Editing - Titles (Without Soundtrack)

In our last lesson we went over the sequence of film openings as a class. We came across various trends in the order of titles, from the distribution company and major actors to directors and names of the members of the cast. I tried my best to get the order of each of the scenes right, even though I have never seen the movie 'Arlington Road' myself.

It would appear that the big stars in the movie are usually introduced straight after the IDENT, this is to attract viewers and attention. The rest of the actors, producers and other less valuable people are generally introduced after the film title.

RESEARCH - Arlington road Title Sequence

I have learned how to add titles to a sequence using final cut pro, this will be a key element of making our final thriller opening.

I chose the font 'ring bearer' for the titles as it suits the theme of the film.

I inter-cut the titles in to the sequence because I prefer this technique to using  blank screen for the titles and it looks much more effective.

Putting on the titles...

When actors names have been added...

'Arlington Road' the name of the film in a slightly bigger font and stays on the screen for longer to make it clear that it is the title. 

This is my final product!

RESEARCH - Timeline of title sequences

CONVENTIONAL ORDER OF TITLE SEQUENCES

1. Production company
2. Distribution company
3. Actor (star)
4. Actor (star)
5. Film Title
6. Actor
7. Actor
8. Casting by 
9. Costume by 
10. Music Supervisor
11. Music by
12. Edited by
13. Production Designer
14. Director of photography
15. Executive producer 
16. Written by
17. Director

THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123

This follows the conventional order of title sequences very closely. The film uses a discrete title sequences, however has points in which the titles stop and a piece of the narrative is shown. This is why there are some large gaps where no titles are showing.

DEAD CALM

This use titles over a blank screen, so the titles are more consistent and less far apart.

There is a strict order in which names and jobs appear because it  is all about selling the film, firstly the director must be credited because they are the main creator of the film. If very famous actors are involved they will then be credited to draw more attention to the film. Followed by many different roles which normally follow the conventional title sequence.

RESEARCH: The Structure of Film Openings

there are three main types of film openings, the majority of films will follow one of the three structures detailed below to introduce the film/opening title.

Narrative Opening: in my example i used the film 'Limitless'
(only trailer here as it has a voice over similar to the opening, the actual opening will be added soon)
A narrative opening is when there is a character (usually the main character) who speaks over scenes which are shown in a film, these scenes can be present or it tends to be a few shots from the end of the film and then they cut back to the beginning to explain how it all happend.

Discrete title sequence: This is where the titles are seperate from the actual shots, they are unique from the story line and do not contribute to the story itself.

Titles over blank screen:

RESEARCH: Previous Student Film Opening

i was generally impressed with this student opening as they incorporated a majority of thriller opening conventions into their clip. Such as tense/mysterious music straight from the beginning, to build tension as soon as the audience is engaged into the clip to keep the audience wondering whats next.



The screen shot below demonstrates a few points i have made above.

1. - Black is a mysterious colour, in this shot both characters are wearing black. Furthermore we cannot see their faces to identify them, giving us just an over shoulder shot to signify that this mysterious individual is waiting for someone while sitting on a bench.

2. - The titles have come up on the shot, not on a separate blank title screen.

3. - The constant convention of mysteriousness comes into play again successfully as the students still have not shown the face of this character

 This short scene the camera is held in point of view manner to give the audience a similar effect as if they were their themselves, this increases the intensity of the tension.

This close up shot delibretly showing the recipients name 'Monica' and the message 'Where are you' leaves the audience wondering who and what are they talking about? this is similar to a cliffhanger which is a primary aspect of a thriller type film

RESEARCH - Analyse a Thriller film

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999)

The Thomas Crown affair is a Romantic Thriller based around the events that unfold after a very expensive painting goes missing from a gallery and the female detective on the case falls in love with the main suspect.

What conventions of Thriller films does this film use?

• eye-line match shot of the criminals (makes the viewer wonder who they are, what they are doing etc)
• Cut away from main narrative to an object (the painting) connoting that this will be a main part/cause of the action that is to come.
• Extreme facial close ups of characters during tense points in the film to give an insight in to what they are thinking/feeling and create maximum tension.
• non diagetic sound (music) slowly builds up throughout a scene, reaching the fastest paced and most dramatic sounding at the climax of the events
• Low angle shot from the villain's point of view which creates a sense of fear whilst highlighting the character's status
• Colour is used to add to the atmosphere - in this film a group of men walk past wearing red blazers, this is effective because red connotes danger and action, moreover it is a hint that something is about to happen 
• Two scenes that will eventually meet at the climax of the film are repeatedly cross cut from one to the other, this creates a feeling that they are linked which creates tension for the viewer as they await the upcoming action
• A wide shot of the scene is shown alongside the diagetic sound from the scene, however we can not clearly see what is going on due to the shot type, this creates suspense about what is happening
• Camera tracks a moving object which will be a main source of the later action (the car the main characters are in at the beginning of the film)
• A number of different shot types are quickly edited together during the action 
•  Pathetic fallacy is used - the weather tends to build up, getting worse and is at its peak at the 'moment of realisation' in the film (When they realise that the painting has been there all along)

RESEARCH - Analyse film opening (The Others 2001)

THE OTHERS (2001)

This is quite a simply put together opening for a thriller film. It is another discrete title sequence however it is much less complex to the sequence of 'Coraline'. It is composed of shots of drawings of scenes from the film, I think that this is a clever technique as it makes the viewer inquisitive about the events of the film that are to come encouraging them to piece together the pictures. 

The images are shown in dull lighting which is probably candlelit, creating a sense of the setting (as the film is mainly shot indoors in dull lighting). The camera zooms in and out of the pictures as if it is an eye-line match of a person looking at them and examining them, again creating confusion for the viewer and hooking them making them want to watch the whole film to discover what is going on. 

Each shot fades in to the next slowly. This creates a slow feeling, alongside the  non - diagetic, quite calming however creepy violin music. This feeling is accompanied by suspense and the sense that something will soon happen to disrupt this calm.