Production meeting 2

  In this we were producing our storyboard as we are in our 2nd production meeting.

First production meeting

In this blog i will be speaking about our groups which is currently me (Billy Martin) and Ufuk Ozgul.

This was out first production meeting in our group. We spoke about the each others ideas on how we are going to the first 2 minutes of the thriller, spoke about what we agree on as a group and where we could improve on each others ideas. What this allowed the group to do was think of different ideas which can be used in the thriller. What we then did was speak about how we were going to implement things like camera shots and mise-en-secene. This allowed me and the rest of the group to think about the setting of the opening of our thriller, the colouring, if there will be any dialogue and how we are going to implement a introduction sequence. This was our first meeting which was very interesting because we have been able to give each other ideas which will help for the next meeting we have.

Initial ideas

What we first had in mind for making our thriller opening is having a character walking into a warehouse and find a body on the floor. We want to use lots of high angle shots on the person which has walked into the warehouse, the reason for this is because we want the audience to see that he cant do nothing and that he is venerable. We also want to use tilt shots to show confusion of the character. As a group we changed our mind about using a warehouse, the reason for this is because there was no way we had access to a warehouse, so we made our choice of using the back of a shop, where it looks dull and darkish, this is so it has the thrill feel. We also decided to start of with the character standing by the body to make it look like he killed the person on the floor. This is so we can get the audience to ask questions like, how was it done, why was it done?

introducing our group

Introducing our group

This is our group who are working together for our media product, it consist of me to the right and Ufuk to the left. We was never apart of a big group as we felt we would get our media product created and finished successfully with just us two people. However, it became a bit of a struggle towards the end of the thriller opening as it was tough only being a group of two. Nevertheless in the end we managed to get everything done to a high standard as we tried our very best.

How to film a thriller

When filming a it usually involves using plenty of different editing techniques. As well as using different styles of sound and certain shot angles. When using different transitions between shots it helps the audience. This is because it gives the audience an understanding of what is going on and this allows the thriller to be smooth and following. Also, depending on the sound that is used the sound is able to create suspense, danger or even so relief within the thriller this is depending on weather it is parallel and matches with the scene. Furthermore, the shot types that are used within the thriller can help the thriller develop considering that the angle of the camera is used efficiently. As well as different uses of the camera angle make the character seem useless and vulnerable.




This is an example of a thriller opening. Within this thriller opening we are able to see all of the key elements and features that make up the thriller. From the start of the short thriller clip we see a efficiently used cross dissolve and this is used to take away a part of the journey. This makes the characters journey shorter so that we don't have to see too much of the character walking as this would be boring for the audience. Furthermore, sound is a major element within a thriller. As you can see this short modern thriller opening portrays the accurate use of it very effectively. Additionally, at the beginning of the clip where there is no danger there is the sound of nature which indicates peace and quietness. Nonetheless, once the man goes into the strangely, abandoned stone building all of this peaceful and upbeat music stops immediately. The cinematography that is used for this clip is used efficiently as it accurately portrays a thriller movie. Likewise, as the majority of thrillers will contain one of the shots which are present within this modern thriller clip, the most obvious shot which is in the clip is the close up as many of them are used to portray the key characters feelings at the time and to show that he feels he is in trouble without actually saying anything or doing anything outright the close up on the facial expression is enough to convey to the audiences feelings of the character that he feels as if he is in trouble with some dangerous movement.

Studio Idents

Studio Idents

Every film has a Studio Ident or a productive film company. A Studio Ident or a productive film company are best used to advertise themselves as well as productively show themselves to viewers and fans of the film. Additionally, a Studio Ident is a company that specializes in creating and helping to produce films. Therefore they are also known as production companies. Nevertheless, within this blog we are focusing more on when a Studio Ident or multiple Idents help the movies director to produce their film through special funding. As well as, advertisement or propaganda, this would be for the use of the movie. An example of this could be television advertisements and transportation advertisement. These are used to advertise there product which would clearly be a brand new film coming out. There is a very wide range of Studio Idents that are very well known and these will always be shown before the start of a film and this will run through the opening of a film. Studio Idents that are shown through the opening of a scene will use unique opening sequences and they look very attractive. By using these techniques it makes the audience feel very welcome and it gives them a view on how good the film will be. If the film's Studio Ident is very popular people will believe that the film is going to be interesting and good for example: As Universal Studio's are one of the most well known Studio Idents when they are used for the opening of a film some people feel as if the film is going to be good. The following Studio Idents are very popular and have been around for many of years now: Universal Studio's, Walt Disney, 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers. These have backed up some of the most interesting and best films of all time for example: The Simpson's Movie, The Matrix, Titanic, Toy Story 1, 2 and 3 and Harry Potter.

Thriller titles

Thriller titles:

This thriller title is a fantastic example of a modern thriller opening. This is because it is mysterious, spooky and dark title opening. As well as, this does not tell the audience a lot about the official film itself. However, it goes you enough information about the film to keep you interested and this well make the audience want to view more of the film. Furthermore, all we see during the opening of this film is a two people that well most likely be the main characters and a hand with a Stanley blade init. Also, we see a hand with a needle and cotton and someone is sowing something together. Nevertheless, at the end you see a man get out of bed and his with a women who could be his wife/girl friend.

In addition, the opening seems to be based around numerical numbers and personal information such as in books, on paper and in articles. Also, the audience will want to continue watching this to find out what the film is based on or what is is about. Due to the fact that the man crosses out specific words within his book this could be a key part of the film. This indicates that the title of the film and the tailer are tasters of the film that make the audience want to watch the film.

Finally, the title sequence has successfully done its job at making sure the audience are very attracted to this film as they will be wondering and watching without giving away too much detail or information as this could be putting the film at risk of driving the audience away and this could make people want to forget about watching the film because it could be very doll or boring.

Past students thrillers

Hunter:




This thriller opening is a good idea. However it hasn't efficiently carried out it's correct mise-en-scene for example: the setting of the play is in a school and it is clear that it is in a school. As well as, it contains some of the key elements of a thriller. One of the great key elements in which they have performed within a thriller is that they have used the correct music with the scenery. Nevertheless, the audience have a very clear idea of what is happening due to the fact that it is about a school teacher who is a murderer. Therefore, i feel as if they could have made this better by not showing who the murderer is. This is because it will make the audience want to see more of this as they would like to find out who the murderer really is. Furthermore, this thriller opening is full of bright colours and this shows feelings to the audience that it wont be about danger and death. Nonetheless, it was which in this case is very unusual.

After eight:



I feel that this thriller opening was filmed particularly well and that it was successful i all key elements of a thriller opening. This thriller opening keeps the audience aware of what this could be about. This is a thriller opening where you cannot tell what is going on. People will see this and ask themselves what is this about? However, we can clearly see that at the beginning of the scene the man has come home from work as he looks smart but is wearing black clothes to show the great use of mise-en-scene and that the women is most likely a house wife. The music which is played in the background has been used efficiently as it fits perfectly in time with the movement of both characters and the audio gets more upbeat when the scene becomes more dramatic. Additionally, the scene enforces the sense of mysteriousness and trouble and the reason for this is because we are not able to see what it is that the women in cooking until the very end. Both the people in the scene must be cannibals as it is a hand that they are cooking for dinner. Correspondingly, the editing of this thriller opening has been done in a good manner although the transition that was used was straight cuts. Nevertheless, it worked very well within this clip as it helped to build suspense.

Preliminary task and evaluation

In this scene me and Ufuk had a fight. The fight was over money between an Irish traveller and a Turkish man using. There were certain techniques that were used to make this scene efficient.

Firstly within this scene we had created a preliminary task and we used the following techniques for this which where 'Match on Action', 'Eye line match', 'Shot reverse shot' and 180 degrees shot.

Match on Action/cutting on action:
Match on action refers to film editing and video editing techniques where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action. Although the two shots may have actually been shot hours apart from each other, cutting on action gives the impression of continues time when watching the edited film. Also, by having a subject begin an action in one shot and carry it through to completion in the next, the editor creates a visual bridge, which distracts the viewer from nothing the cut or nothing any slight continuity issue between the two shots. Additionally, a variant of cutting on action is a cut in which the subject exits the frame in the first shot and then enters the frame in the subsequent shot. However, the entrance in the second shot must match the screen direction and motive rhythm of the exit in the first shot.

Eye line match:
An eye line match is a film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the premise that the audience will want to see what the character on-screen is seeing. As you can see this women is focused on the picture.

    
Shot reverse shot:
Shot reverse shot, also know as shot/countershot is a film technique where one character is shown looking at another character (often off-screen) and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character

180 degree:
In film making, the 180-degree rule is a basic guideline regarding the on-screen spatial relationship between a character and another character or object within a scene.

All of the continuity in our video was successful. However, i feel that we could of improved this video by adding sound effects in especially when it cam to the fight scene. For example: diegetic and non diegetic sounds would have made the video appear better to others because it would be more entrainment.  

I believe we used certain techniques effectively and efficiently for example: We used a wide shot for the fighting scene to get a full view of the fight. However, to ensure that the scene was more tense, towards the end of the fight we had a close up shot on there faces due to the fact that it gives the audience more of a view of there anger and emotions. Also, another technique that i feel we had used accurately was the match on action shot when changing from person to person. Nonetheless, i felt that the only mistakes that were made were not using our time efficiently because we didn't have enough time to make the scene more tense for the audience. Therefore i feel that next time we could spend more time filming than editing.

Overall, i feel that the best thing that we done during the film was the use of cinematography. We used a different range of shots. For example: we used a wide shot to show the two people fighting. Also, we used a medium shot on the two people. As well as, we used extreme close up shots on both the people's faces to show the tension between the two people before the both go to fight each other. Consequently, i believe that the improvements that should be made is the use of mise-en-scene. In a scene like that you would use a range of props, colour and setting.    

Mise-en-scene

What is the meaning for "Mise-en-scene"

Mise-en-scene is a French term meaning for "In the scene or frame". Also, the elements of mise-en-scene are;
1) settings and props
2) costume, hair and make-up
3) facial expressions and body language
4) lighting and colour
5) positioning of characters and objects in the frame

First of all, colour within the scene plays a massive and a main part as it shows denotation and connotation.
Denotation is the literal description of an idea, concept or an object. Also, connotation means that the audience is associated with a particular idea, concept or an idea. Likewise, colour works on the subconscious mind to create mood.

Additionally, an example of denotation and connotation is from this film called resident evil one. As you can see there is a particular wavelength of the electromagnetic spectrum as the front of the cover is the colour red with faded black in the back round. Also, the bold text with the title "Resident Evil" is in white and the small text below it is in red. As red is the main colour of this front cover it shows that this film could be about several things because the colour red could mean danger, evil, love, romance, anger, blood, ETC, therefore the film is going to have a horrific story to it. However, the audience will take one look at this front and have an idea that this film is a horror because it is has the colours red and black on it and it has the word in a big bold font saying "Evil" this suggests that the film is related to some sort of danger and blood. The colour black shows darkness, light-less, scariness, dampness ETC.


Finally, another great example of denotation and connotation being used in a film called 'the wizard of OZ'. Denotation is used in this specifically at the beginning of the film as it is based on a little girl who's best friend is a dog and she lives on a gigantic barn with her family, however the film is based in a far away land that is owned by the wicked witch and the little girl who is the main character is caught up in a hurricane in her house but specifically her room with her dog whilst her family are safe away in the barn and they both get took in this extremely large hurricane and they end of hugging each other tight on a bed and then the house lands and they appear in a strange unknown mysterious land and all of a sudden the colour changes. The colours are bright and wonderful at this point and Dorothy being the little girl is confused as to were she is and her dog gets really excited. At the begging of this film it starts of in black and white, along side denotation the colour black shows darkness and lifeless. Consequently, white shows emptiness but on the other hand it could show brightness and happiness. However, when they both leave the house once it has landed the colours that appear are blue, green, red, purple, light blue ETC. All of these colours show brightness, happiness, joy, water, green land ETC. Also, there are a pare of shoes that are the colour red and the colour red represents many things such as: danger, blood, death, evil, however it could show love and romance.  

Styles of editing/continuity editing

Styles of editing/continuity editing
There are many different styles of editing when it comes to films and movie producing. As well as there are many different types of transitions/cuts throughout the whole of a film.

Dissolves:

A dissolve is when a shot fades off screen whilst another shot fades within the screen and takes jumps in its place. The reason in which this is done is because the audience will be able to see both shots on the screen at one time during the midpoint of the dissolve. This type of transition is usually used if the director of the film wants to show a communication/connection between two objects, characters or places.

Straight cut:

A straight cut is the most standard form of transition. As well as, editing which can occur in all films. Additionally a straight cut is when one shot moves instantaneously to another without attracting the audiences attention, straight cuts are not visible to the audience as people do not generally spot when there on the screen. Likewise the audience don't worry about straight cuts. This is because they just keep an eye on the movie which is typical. Nevertheless this helps to maintain reality for the audience.

Fade:

The fade shot is when the screen starts darkening or whitening. As well as the image starts to get lighter or darker until it gradually becomes full black or full white. However, one shot will only fade until there is absolutely nothing that can is visible apart from the colour in it which faded to. The fade shot is often included to show how time goes by within a movie or a film.

Wipes:

The definition of a wipe is when one image is token off screen by another image. Furthermore, the image can be pulled off screen this could be to the left or to the right. However it is more likely to be pulled off screen to the left side of the screen due to the fact that this is better associated with time increasing.








Jump cut:

The jump cut transition is when the audiences attention is grabbed and took onto something unusually and then it jumps to the object. It then appears like apart of the film has been missing.









Graphic Match:


A graphic match is when the maker of the film decides to choose to place a shot in a certain order one by one. This is done like this to create a fine visual transfer from one object straight to another. The two key objects that have all the attention appear to look similar as this invents smooth transaction. As you can see within this video one thing is going straight through to another.

Sound exercise

Sound Exercise/Media Studies

In this sound exercise we have worked on diegetic and non-diegetic sounds and how to fit in these sounds with the type of scenery that we are associating with. Diegetic sounds are often used within the world of text this is shown by having music played within a source of text or a radio. Non-Diegetic refers to everything that is outside of the world of text and this could relate to a voice over or a voice cover.

However, this could also include a soundtrack in the back round for example: the camera is being used from behind a window and there is music being played this is used for the introduction and the people that are outside the world have no clue that the music is being played therefore this is Non-Diegetic. Furthermore, Diegetic sound has been used when the gunshot had been fired as the people involved in the scene can her the gunshot and also Diegetic sound is used when the two characters can here the police sirens.

cinematography filming exercise

Firstly, this is a short clip that is a piece of cinematography filming exercise. During this cinematography filming exercise we used a different variety of shots. The different types of shots that we used are over the shoulder shot, close up, medium shot, low angle shot, high angle shot, and wide shot. The shot that was used the most was the over the shoulder shot. However, the over the shoulder shot should the effect of there being an argument within this scene and we used the over the should shot so that the audience will understand the scenery and what is going on within the film.


Moreover, we used plenty of shot reverse shots and over the shoulder shots to show that there is a conversation going on between the two people and we also used a close up shot on the women's eyes as they where angry, this shows the audience that there is some hate going on between the two people. Furthermore, the body language of both these people is expressed within the conversation for example: when the women has her hand in the air with her two fingers pointing towards the other character and just by looking at both of the characters body language it is showing what the scene is about. This shows there they are both having an argument as one person is being rude to the other person. Likewise, at the very start of the cinematography filming exercise


Finally, the denotation of this film scene is an argument between two friends at a school and the audience will not be able to tell how it is going to end; as one of the characters being the boy is wearing black and white colours, the black colour showing sadness and the colour white showing emptiness as the male character could be felling upset and empty in side. Consequently the female character is wearing a mix of beautiful bright colours and the dress is similar to rainbow. Nevertheless, on the dress the colour that stands out the most is pink, pink shows the symbol of a female and gives a connotation of a flower but as the dress has plenty of other colours on it the flower has not got its original colour to it and it may have been destroyed just like the friendship between these two characters. Also, as the scene is set in a school it shows they that are in school and a problem has happened between them.

Genre

Thriller is a genre of Literature, film and television programming that uses suspense, tension and excitement as its key elements. All thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror. Most films that are involved in this genre always contain the emotion of an adrenaline rush and contain rousing and fast paced tension.

Additionally, a thriller will always provide the sudden rush of emotions, excitement and exhilaration that drive the narrative, most times subtly with peaks and lulls. As well as, at a constant breakneck pace. This keeps the audience on the "edge of their seats", akin to a sensation of hanging from a cliff, as the plot builds towards a climax. Also, a thriller is usually a villain-driven plot, whereby he or she presents obstacles that the protagonist must overcome.

Furthermore, the common sub-genres are the following; psychological thrillers, erotic thrillers, crime thrillers and mystery thrillers. Likewise, another common sub-genre of thriller is the spy genre which deals with fictional espionage. Some of the following are examples of thrillers are the films of Alfred Hitchcock. Equally, the horror and action genres often overlap with the thriller. Nevertheless, thrillers will contain scenes of and tend to be psychological, threatening, mysterious and at times contains large-scale villainy such as espionage, terrorism and conspiracy. Consequently, there are some popular genres in the world of media which are comedy, action, sci-fi, fantasy, horror and thriller.

A certain genre can inform someone of what is going to be involved in a piece of music or film. An example of this can be, movies that keep you on the edge of your seat and make you get scared by having "Jump scares" or give you that "Want to look away" felling, would be categorised into the genre of horror. Nonetheless, movies that get to your emotions are listed as romantic films.

The brief

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.  

Welcome post

Hello, welcome to my AS media blog. I am Billy Martin aged 17 i live in Barking and Dagenham and i currently study at Robert Clack Sixth form. I thoroughly enjoy media lessons and i find them really interesting.

Modern Thriller Openings

Unknown

First of all, Unknown is a film that comes under the category of a modern thriller and this happened to be published in 2011. Additionally, the film is about a man who wakes up from a long coma, that he ended up in from an incident from a car accident, to only discover that his life, his wife, his everything had been taken by someone else that he doesn't know. As well as, no one believes him and that is including his wife, with the help of a young woman, he sets out to prove who is, yet he finds out a terrible truth about himself that he forgot.

Secondly, the director of this film is Jaume Collet-Serra. Not to mention the writers of the film were Stephen and Oliver Butcher, who just so happened to have worked on the screenplay of the movie. Last but not lest the stars of the film are Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger and January Jones.

Thirdly, the trailer of the thriller "Unknown" is used to give the fans and the viewers a little taster of what the film is going to be about. Also, this trailer is used to show people who the people are that are going to be acting in it for example: Liam Neeson being the main character will make the fans and viewers think that the film is going to be interesting because he is a very well known actor. Furthermore, in the trailer we see plenty of technical skills used that give the audience a thrilling effect. Also, at first we see the start of the trailer with Liam Neeson and his wife arriving in Berlin, Germany, then there has been a use of fast paced editing to show that there is action and a strong use of danger. There is also a part of the trailer with an effective use of a rolling shot to show the confusion between the two characters, and as the trailer progresses we see there has been more use of fast editing to show us the dangerous uses and the action used within this film.


In addition, this film has efficient characteristics which happens to make it an interesting thriller, this is due to that fact that of the moments of such highly used tension and drama. A great and useful example of this is the scene that is set at the hospital when Liam Neeson is trying to grab the scissors to get himself out of the stabs on the hospital bed as well as leading to him murdering the evil doctor. Fast and effective editing was used to show that there is a scenes of danger and a limit of time that he must get the scissors to escapes before the murder comes in.