Final thriller opening

Photos for Final Evaluation

Pictures for Evaluation

not finished.

Evaluations

Our previous project of the childrens film opening, we believe wasn't as successful as we had hoped however with this in mind we made sure we were 100% focused on making our thriller opening better. The evaluation I made from last time wasn't as detailed as it could have been therefore now that i have another opportunity to do this, I'm going to try and make it better than the first.

Finish.

Working together we were able to complete our thriller opening before the final deadline of 12pm Friday the 19th March. We feel this is a great achievement as it encourages good teamwork and cooperation.

10 Seconds Short.

Due to our feedback given last week, we made sure that we cut some of the filming in the bedroom scene to make sure it didn't drag on too long making our audience loose interest. This unfortunately has left us 10 seconds short on footage meaning 10 seconds less than the two minutes. We were told this would not decrease our overall marks, however to us this is disappointing as we planned on not having enough footage making a new storyboard leading to over 2 minutes.
To fill the nine seconds we decided to make the ident longer, this was a piece of our feedback from the class stating that our ident was successful however it wasn't shown off enough.

Feedback

Our original idea for our thriller opening was to have a tape recorder in the background of every scene (except the one's where Ben is talking) to add effect and produce clear sound to the audience. Having had feedback from the class, it was said that the tape recorder was needed as the sound produced by Ben was very quiet. As we didn't have time to add in the sound for the tape recorder we didn't have this in our rough cut draft however it is an essential feature to our film and therefore will be included before Friday's final day.
On Tuesday 9th March - we discovered that their was an element of sound missing from our thriller opening from around 2minutes 10 - 2 minutes 40. This was important because we had limited time to add it in and it was important for adding effect, therefore Eloise and I made sure we completed it in this time on Tuesday for the rough cut on Friday. We managed to produce some sound however we discussed it as a group and decided that it wasn't the right genre type to add in for our final deadline, therefore we again, had to change it. Over all, from now, I feel our thriller opening is coming together leaving us just enough time to make the ideal changes it takes for a better outcome.

Feedback on Roughcut Thriller

Overall, we got good feedback on our thriller opening, including on our Camera angles, Music, Makeup and Location and Shots.
Things that we need to work on are, Our title, Dialogue, The length of the room scene and Diegetic Sound.
Our title was said to have been a bit random coming into the shot because it was too quick so we are going to improve this by extending it to be being longer however we're going to be keeping it in the same position. The dialogue needs to be louder as you cannot hear the speech from Ben clearly therefore we are planning on him saying it on a tape recorder and replacing the original sound. The indent that we created needs to be on screen for a bit longer as it was considered really good but disappeared too quickly, we also need to position it into the movie more than we have already, maybe introduce a transition. The length of the room scene was said to be too long, so therefore we are going to crop it to reduce it. This will be positive to the movie introduction as it will cut down the time of it over all. At the beginning of the opening,the sound consists of a certain noise that appears to be a bowling bowl, the feedback we got with this is that it doesnt work with the genre of the film and therefore we are going to either remove it or cut it from the sound clip on final cut.
Having got all this feedback we now know how to work on improving our thriller opening so that it is more engaging to our directed audience.

Roughcut thriller

Change Of plans 2

We had to change the location in the 'Garage scene' to Eloises room, as her garage is currently occupied by some family items.
We have also changed some plans on how we are going to film it, but they are only minor changes. The changes were that we were not using the 360 degree spin at the beginning, Instead we were replacing this with an extreme close up on the mask Ben holds in the scene, the close up will last around 20seconds to avoid the audience missing a crucial part of the film opening.

24th February

I had a white jacket which I thought if we made it damp along with the ends of my hair the overal look would be more interesting. I decided against the MDF board because I fet there was no place for it, instead i moved everything out the bathroom to give impact to the whiteness of the room. I filled the bath with water and put red facepaint in there to make it look like blood. We squirted tomatoe ketchup on me to make it look like blood.

I had the idea that the victim wore a mask with the murderers riddle written across it to make the murder look more visually interesting and so the detective has something towards the reason why the murder has taken place. I painted the mask using acrylic paint and attatched fake eyelashes to the mask to make it look more freaky. I originally made the mask a while ago so for this project I only added the writing.

Abby was the camera person, she attatched the tripod to a skateboard using black tape so the tracking shot at the begining would be smooth.

Fiona used red face paint and was hoping to give the effect of blood from the murderers hand.

Using my facepaint Abby and Fiona created the scratches on my arm and leg and gave me a bruised neck to give the sense I had been strangled. This is because other cultures label 'the legend of the sphinx' as 'the strangler' I thought the final act of the murderer could be to strangle their victims.

Fiona created the outfit to have a grungy ripped looked which looked quite effective on film.

Here are some images of the bruised neck.

For fiona as the scientist we used my mask, goggles and white apron from art, she wore a white top and black leggings with her hair tied back. We used a green bag full of plastic sachets and tweasers and bottles etc to give a few props to add to her character.

Call sheet for planning filming.

When and Where: We are going to film on the 24th of Feb and 3rd of March at Cambourne.

Who is going to be picking up and taking back the camera: On the 24th of Feb Abby and Fiona are going to be picking up the camera however Eloise is going to bring it back before 9am on Thurs 25th Feb.

Where and Why have we chosen our Location?: Cambourne because it is the easiest location for us to get to and the places we want to use in the house are appropriate to our thriller film. Also, the quality of filming will hopefully be better because of the certain lighting and colours (the bathroom being white etc.)

How we will get to the location: We're going to be walking to Hills Road to catch the uni 4 bus together. We will then we getting the Citi 4 at the Fitzwilliam Museum. Altogether this journey should take around 1 and 1/2 hours.

Is it a public location?: No, it is a private location.

Are we Filming in the day or night?: We are filming in the afternoon and due to the weather conditions and the season we believe it shall be rather dark however it may work to our advantage shortly. We will have lights with us and torches and lamps to illuminate the scene if needed.

Actors: We are hoping to use Eloise's brother Ross or boyfriend Ben Cook who will be playing the detective he wont need to learn a script but we will have to run actions through with him. Eloise is playing the role of the dead girl and the voice of the recording and will not have to learn a script for the role of the dead girl however will have to learn a script of the recording of the riddle and the conversation, Fiona is playing the role of the Forensic scientist, for this she won't have to learn a script.

Film Crew: Who will do what on the day?: On the 24th of Feb, we are planning to film the whole of the bathroom scene. Due to this Eloise will be acting as the dead girl and be in charge of the tape recorder. Abby is not acting in this scene therefore she will be in control of the camera. Fiona will be playing the part of the Forensic scientist and photographer therefore in charge of equipment. Also, Eloise will be in charge of the setting and backgrounds for example the MDF board. Abby will be in charge of the makeup in the scenes and Fiona will be in charge of the costumes.
On the 3rd of March We believe that we shall all have the same roles depending on whether Abby is becoming the detective.
We will all be participating in directing our thriller , all playing an equal part.

Props: What do they need to take with them?: On the day, Abby will be bringing some makeup, Eloise will be providing the backdrops and setting props and Fiona will be bringing the costumes.

Backup plan for filming depending on weather conditions?: As our filming is in inside it doesn't matter about the weather therefore we haven't discussed a back up plan. We did however make a backup plan on the timings.

Shots: We didn't include enough shots in our last piece of the children's film, therefore we have made sure we have included enough shots for our thriller to cover the time.

Sound: Sound has been planned ahead so it allows it to be a vast amount, both diegetic and non diegetic. We have decided together that we are going to be playing the tape recording onto the computer therefore we wont get any other unwanted background noise.

Changes

Originally we discussed shooting our video footage on Wednesday the 24th February due to that being the only day we were all free together to travel to Cambourne, however, it has come to our attention that the garage we were going to use is being occupied by a family member this means we are now going to film the garage scene the week after. This date being the 3rd of March.
Our plan was to film all the footage on the 24th February but now were planning to film the bathroom scene first on the 24th and the garage scene on the 3rd to meet our deadline on the 8th.

Extras, Leading to 2 minutes

We Feel that the time when recording our opening sequence will extend when filming, but just in case we are going to create an extra set of ideas leading up to the two minutes. these ideas have been expanded from the 1 minute 10 secs mark above and onwards.

1 minute - 1 minute 10 secs - Mid shot. Detective is turning the pages of the book and sticking the recent picture of the death into it. - Music - Tape recorder (rewind) and non diegetic sound - Props: The book, photo, tape recorder, pen, desk and chair and desk objects.

1 minute 10 secs - 1 minute 20 secs - Flash back shot / Mid - long shot. Recorder is now playing the riddle. Flash back Mid/long shot of the recent death showing the dead girl on the floor again. Just the recorder playing, no dialogue. Music - Tape recorder. Props - Recorder and backdrops.

1 minute 20 secs - 1 minute 30 secs - Long shot. The shot is of a man taking a picture of the dead girl inside the bathroom. He's going to be dressed in all black with a hat (to create a professional look). Music - Non diegetic with the recorder still playing the riddle. Props - Camera, Bathroom backdrops.

1 minute 30 secs - 1 minute 40 secs - long shot / mid shot (continues from the last shot, 20 - 30 secs) zoom. Long shot of the scientists taking samples from the body present. Zoom on to the scientist taking the sample. Music - non diegetic and tape recorder. Props - sample tubes, camera, people, backdrops, plastic gloves and tape recorder.

1 minute 40 secs - 1 minute 50 secs - Flash shot / long shot. Flash shot in and out of the book that detective is looking at. Mid/Long shot of scientist putting a plastic bag over the body as proof of death and more photographs. This scene as well as 1 minute 20 - 30 secs, will be in black and white to draw attention and add effect. At the point where we get a flashback into the book will return the scene back into colour. Music - non diegetic sound and tape recorder (no dialogue). Props - Plastic bag, backdrop, plastic gloves and tape recorder.

1 minute 50 secs - 2 minutes - reaction shot of the detective finding out the answer to one of the riddles. This then moves into a close up of the detective writing the riddle down to show the audience. Suddenly the room goes silent and the phone rings. Music - non diegetic sound and tape recorder. Props - pen, desk, book, desk objects, chair.

Evaluating Feedback

After reading through the comments we found that the level of gore that came up within the comments have concerned us, therefore when producing our thriller we shall try and reduce the level so we don't end up moving towards the horror genre.
Not knowing how long each section is going to take when filming, its difficult to estimate how long they will be, therefore we may have over or under estimated the time limits. After filming our previous task of the children film we made the mistake of not planning our time well, however this time round we won't repeat the mistake so we will make an extra storyboard just in-case we run under our time limit.
Also in our feedback comments, a group suggested that using a skateboard for the tracking shot may damage the camera and to take precautions, we feel this is a fair omment and that we shal protect the camera at all times.

Finalised Ideas

0 - 10 secs -Establishing/ long shot/ over the shoulder shot/ Tracking shot of detective drawing closer to the door/ mid shot of detective opening door - Tape recorder begins to play right from the start, we can hear the murderers smooth calm voice and the screaming of the victim. This gives illusion the Detective is about to walk in on the murder. Towards the 10 secs mark the screaming increases in sound. - Eloise's house, corridor leading to upstairs main bathroom. - Props: Tripod on skateboard to use tracking shot and make it smooth, and recorder off set.

10 - 20 secs - Long shot/ zoom on mid shot/ long shot/ flash shot on credits - The recorder after the door is opened starts playing the murderer's riddle it continues throughout. - zoom on dead body in bathroom covered in blood and the bath is also filled with blood - First credit appears with flash shot of one of our names and roles in the production on a black background. The music here continues with the tape recorder but non diegetic sound distantly plays. - Props: fake blood, MDF board for the background, tape recorder.

20 - 30 secs - High angle mid/long shot /flash shot/ high angle mid/close up shot - Dead body, second credit of another persons name and role, dead body for final shot in 30 seconds. - Props: fake blood, MDF board for the background, tape recorder.

30 - 40 secs - Flash shot/ long shot/ mid shot - The Last credit of the last persons name and role then flash into a long shot of the Detective in a dark room looking through evidence in the book and the title 'Legend of the Spinx' is shown on his left hand side of the desk. Mid shot of the detective looking through the book. - Props: Garage, the book and tape recorder on his desk, Desk and chair and books (desk items).

40 - 50 secs - Panning shot 360 degrees around the detective/ a further 180 degrees panning shot /zoom - After the 180 degrees panning shot we mid shot/slight zoom onto the detective's book when he is slowly looking through it then close up on the book so the audience can read the text. Props: recorder/ Desk and chair/ Desk props/The book with text and pictures.- music - when we do a panning shot round the detective he rewinds the recorder to create a fast sense with the music and action. The music increases when looking through the book.

50 - 1 minute secs - Flash shot of photo/ zoom shot of book/ flash shot of second photo/ mid shot- Flash of 1st picture and the zooms onto book, further close up on riddle in the book and then zoom out on book. The detective reads the ridde aloud. Sudden flash to the second picture which is girl after death. Mid shot of detective answering the riddle in the book. - music - Tape recorder very faint whilst detectives talking and non diegetic music increases. - Props: The book, tape recorder, photos, desk and chair and desk objects.

Analysis of Panic Room

In the opening clip of Panic Room, the credits are produced in an effective way across New York City, with both 3D and Bold, Flat writing.
The text for the credits is large and shown in particular angles to the buildings around the area of NY. The colour of the text is reasonably light as it blends in with the background images. Insight of many of the credits, the audience is shown them in both a downward angle and an upward angle, this suggests that there may be an antagonist and a protagonist due to camera angles. Previously, camera angles show that if they point downwards the person higher up is more inferior.
The last name on the credits is shown as fading away as if the film and music is about to end, therefore the audience knows this before it even happens suggesting they can get a head start into the film.
We thought that the credits were interesting and engaging but we have decided on having our credits flash our names with a scratchy font style because we feel that would fit better with our opening scene.

Analysis of Six Feet Under Credits

In the opening credits of six feet under, the first name listed as a credit appears in the skies. This suggests that the film could either consist of a form of fairytale or death. Knowing what the narrative of the film contains, we know that it's about death. With this the titles are cleverly written. As the first credit is in the sky, it suggests a heavenly feeling.
The next shot is a sudden departure of two hands, this again implies that death has come between two people. The music begins slow but tragic and appears to be the same all through up until after the mourning and the death of the person, here it turns to being somewhat brighter.
The way the credits are written is all relevant to the storyline of the film. The family run a funeral home therefore deal with deaths a lot and so when we see the credit of the foot labelled with "Matthew St Patrick" it creates a certain effect for the audience.
The scene is then changed to a hospital where a body is being pushed into the light. This suggests that the person on the bed is dying and the light represents the well-known saying of "don't go into the light" created around death. The credits are produced all through this being placed both in the light and in the darkness afterwards.
Towards the end we see the last of the credits produced onto a gravestone therefore implying that the person shown throughout the opening sequence has died. We also know this through the fact that a close up shot of a coffin in shown.

The Opening Credits in this sequence are produced in a highly credible way, this is because they start as if an accident must have taken place and explain a story afterward about a persons death.


Six Feet Under, Main Title Sequence
Uploaded by numerof. - Arts and animation videos.

Indent

Eloise created our indent as she understood photoshop more than the other two in our group. Eloise and Fiona decided on the name for the indent by breaking up all three of our names, first and last, and putting them together to make new names we took the letters Eloise Mitchell, Abby Tucker, Fiona Stern from our names and created 'East'. Which we felt was simple, memorable and Eloise designed it so the letters look closer and further away from the viewer so that its eye catching and interesting to look at. We have a little guy trying to pull the leaver to make the hand point in the opposite direction and a woman dangling onto the hand as if to keep trying to have the hand pointing forwards. If we were to animate this we would have had the little guy successfully move the hand to face the right direction and the little lady fly off. Mechanics in the background would spin round and the words will all come bold and closer to the front.

Plan of Film day.

We plan to do our thriller before half term on Wednesday the 10th of February. At 1:30 we plan to leave college to film our piece in Cambourne. We chose this location because it was the closest area to each of our homes. Also, we thought to use a white bathroom and garage for our thriller therefore, as Eloise's home consists of this stuff we descided to do it there.
Having spoken about the dates and timings of us filming our piece, we've now changed date to the 24th February, after half term. The 24th is a Wednesday because this is the only day in which all three if us have avaliable.

Legend of the Sphinx story board

The Legend of the Sphinx story board

In the establishing shot we are going to begin with an over the shoulder long shot while the tape recorder plays in the background of the murderer smoothly talking to the victim while the victim is screaming for mercy. This opening section gives the impression that the detective/ audience is about to walk in on the murder taking place. However once the door is open the detective walk in on the the dead body and the audience realize that the murder has already happened. As soon as the door is open the riddle starts playing and while viewing the body from a distance each of our names with a black background flash on screen.

After our names have all come up flashing in between viewing the body, once the final name appears we flash to a long shot of the detective and the title appear. We then have the detective looking through the book with all the murders and information in with flashes of victims and the detective working out the riddles.

Eloise created the storyboard while Abbey wrote out the list of shot types.

The shot type list clearly states the action of the characters in the scene e.g. Detective drawing closer to the door. The shot type for the action e.g, tracking shot. There is further information for the shot scene telling the viewer the location and props and costumes and further details, e.g. Camera on skateboard for tracking shot, digetic lighting, upstairs corridor of Eloise's house.

The Mise-en-Scene of our thriller.

Micro element, Mise-en-scene is all the things that are in the frame for the audience to see. The majority of the time, the mise-en-scene allows an audience to get a feel for the film or dramas setting, location, characters and genre.
In our thriller piece, "The legend of the Sphinx" the mise-en-scene is deep, dark and what an audience would expect a typical thriller to be like. Here is an example of a thriller opening that we've found that we believe is similar to the effect were going for however it doesn't provide the audience with the right storyline of the death of a young female.


At the beginning of the film, we're showing an over the shoulder shot from the detectives point of view into the bathroom in which girl, Aquanetta is lying dead on the floor. To have a more effective look were using darker and more bloody makeup (Done by Abby Tucker.) Were also using a more effective wardrobe (styled by Fiona Sterne) this will include, a torn white or cream t-shirt to show the violence without seeing it on screen.
The location of the death scene will be in a white bathroom covered in blood, we liked this idea due to the fact the colours will be contrasting.







Further into the 2 minute clip, the shot appears into the location of a dark garage. This is where we see the detective in a long shot wearing formal clothes with natural makeup. The feel we were going for here is danger and darkness something which the detective is not afraid of.
The props included in this scene are a scrap book (which the detective will look through) pictures and a tape recorder (which will be playing a constant riddle throughout the 2 minutes.)

The sound within the clip is both diegetic and non-diegetic. We chose both of these because we felt they brought a different feel for a thriller. The non-diegetic sound includes sound effects which we will be creating ourselves on garageband and it will be playing at the beginning.
The diegetic sound we will be using is going to be heard though a tape recorder which will be playing a riddle throughout the entire 2minutes. We felt this is will bring a certain effect that will prove the genre to be a psycological thriller.













The lighting throughout the opening of "The legend of the Sphinx" will be mainly diegetic as we want to create a natural feeling for the audience to be engaged into it, however as the genre is thriller, we may want the lighting to remain dark for the whole two minutes. With a dark effect we hope to build tension for the audience and create a good typical thriller.

Our mise-en-scene will be very similar to the opening of the film, se7en starring brad pitt. This film was an inspiration to us therefore we felt it would be good to include it into our piece.

Comparisons of antagonist and protagonist.

Protagonist - the good character who tries to solve a crime at a race against the clock. In our thriller, "The legend of the Sphinx," the protagonist is the detective played by Henry Jones. His character is trying to discover the murderer of young girl, Aquanetta Stream. She was violently killed after not being able to answer the riddle provided by the killer. In relation to this, in the film "The Da Vinci Code" there is also a protagonist similar to ours as he is racing against the clock and is in need of finding clues leading up to the answer of his problems.


The Antagonist is the bad character, in thrillers, that normally commits a murder that the protagonist is determined to find in order to solve the crime.
In our Thriller, the antagonist is unknown throughout, this is due to the different factors that aren't easy to solve. The voice cannot be detected and the face is left unseen. Similarly, in the thriller 24, the murderer throughout the episode is not found for a few weeks. This keeps the tension high as the audience is trying to figure out the murderer themselves too.

Planning for Thriller.

Sub genre-
Psychological thriller. Because the idea is to guess the murderer's riddle that will be continuously played throughout the 2 minute introduction. We chose this because it links with the riddles, which is sort of like mind games, making it a psychological thriller.

Location:
Eloise's house. All white bathroom therefore the effects would look good when we put makeup and blood over the walls and the body. Also, we will be using her garage to produce a scary look suitable for a thriller.

Narrative:
- tape recorder constantly on play of the murder and the riddle.
- tracking shot towards door playing screams and cries.
- cantered angle and close up of the body in the white bathroom with blood.
- sudden change to the detective in the garage with the book.
- flashes of the dead body pictures will then be shown.

Plot:

A girl is dead on the bathroom floor, we see the girl, and the detective walks in and See's the body, but we don't see the detective. It cuts to a scene of the detective in a dark room, looking through the killers scrapbook, we see a picture of the dead body which flashes into a full screen flash of the photo, the detective is flicking through the book where we see lots of close ups photos and riddles.

Credits:
Black background with a white creepy font, then if we can flashes at the sound of a lightning background noise. Roughly every 15 seconds they should appear.

Actors and Characters:
- Camera control - Fiona and Abby
- Dead girl - Eloise
- Detective - Henry Jones
- Backup Detective - Abby

Costume's and Makeup:
- Dead Girl will be wearing a light coloured t-shirt that's been ripped up with natural makeup mixed with purples and reds to show bruising and blood.
- The detective will be wearing either a suit or formal clothing to show the status of his personality. The makeup will be natural and fine.




Intertexuality:
Brad Pitt's Se7en and Identity inspired our idea to use a body, tape recorder, detective and scrap book.

Music and Shots
Music - Garage band. Dark drones that builds tension to the audience, played very quietly in the background so the audience hardly hears it, and non diagetic sounds, for example, the doors opening, pages turning e.c.t
Sounds - Tape recorder plays riddle throughout the scenes, this links with the title "The Legend of the Sphinx"= The legend of the Sphinx is that the creature devours those who can't answer the riddle. Therefore we will use this idea for our murderer who asks the victim a riddle and the victim dies if it is UN-answered.
Shots - The main shots involved in our two minute sequence are a tracking shot. close up, long shot and cantered angle. We agreed that we all thought these would be good when trying to build tension to draw in an audience.

Riddle for the recorder:
- Riddle: "Which creature in the morning goes on four legs, on midday on two, and in the evening upon three, and the more legs it has, the weaker it be?"
- Answer: "Man-who crawls on all fours as a baby, then walks on two feet as an adult, and then walks with a cane in old age."

Riddle for the book:
- Riddle: "There are two sisters: one gives birth to the other and she, in turn gives birth to the first."
- Answer: "Day and Night" (because both words are feminine in Greek."

Certificate:
15: because the certificate guild lines suggest that in a 12 no harm or injuries, death or violence can be shown therefore because of the dead body and the photos of the victim we are labelling "The Legend of the Sphinx" as a 15.






Findings:
- from searching on google, we found that the "Sphinx" was also named the "Strangler" in ancient Greece, therefore we thought that it would be a good idea to show the victim having been murdered by being strangled.

Props:
- MDF Board created to look vaguely violent.
- Scrap Book

-Photo's

- Fake blood

- Makeup

- Tape Recorder

- Clothes (see costumes and makeup)

Feedback of our idea:
The questions we got asked when we described our idea to our fellow class mates were:
- how long do you think it'll take to film?
- why is it a psychological thriller?

The answers we gave to these questions were:
- Considering we are only using one location to film our thriller, we believe it will only take us one afternoon/evening. As we can only take the camera for two days and because we're hopefully going to be filming on a weekday, we feel that we only have one day.
- The reason why its a psychological thriller, is because we believe that the riddles introduce the audience to mind games. Asking them to suggest who they believe the murderer is and what they believe the answer to the riddle is.

Sound Terms.

• Diegetic sound

We can see it coming and the noise can be watched e.g. the noise from transport, dialouge and radio/TV.

• Non Diegetic sound

The sound effects used added afterwards and soundtracks.

• Sound Bridges
  

Links two scenes together with a smooth transformation.

• Character themes

Same music for certain characters e.g. western movies (good verses evil)

• Asynchronus Sound

Sound contradicts the scene.

• Narrator
  

The narrator sets the scene and tells the story throughout the movie.

• Ambient sound

Natural background noise from the setting/location.

15 Certificate Homework

If you wanted to buy a ticket to the cinema or buy a DVD you have to be 15 or over to buy it.
The film itself cannot contain discriminative language or behaviour.
Drugs can be shown in a 15 certificate however it must not encourage the use/purchase of them.
No self harm, suicide, and harm to the body may not be used.
Nudity may be used but not in strong detail.
Sex can be talked about but actually showing sexual behaviour is not allowed.
You can show violence but must not dwell on death or injures.

12 Certificate Homework

A certificate is given to a film in order to illiminate harm and distress to viewers watching a film.
The classification guidelines for a 12 certificate are
1. the person watching and/or buying a 12 film must be at the age of 12 or over
2. there must not be any foul/bad language by the actors on screen
3. there should not be drugs in the film however if they're are they must be minimal
4. no detail of self harm or abuse should be seen
5. sexual activity should be breifly displayed if not no sex should be included.
. violence should be low and nothing that may be seen in an over 12 action or horror film should be included.

Thriller homework How a film determines whether it is an 18

How a film determines it is an 18

Firstly, a film with an 18 label on it means that the film is only suitable for adults. Anyone under 18 are not permitted to see any film in the cinema labelled 18. They are unable to buy or rent 18 films.

In some cases 18 films are unable to be released or viewed as they have broken the following rules:

1. If the film is against the law

2. The film appears to the BBCF (The BBCF judges whether a film is suitable to be viewed) as harmful to the individual through society. For example, the film encourages sexual assualt, illegal drug use, violent or dangerous acts or anything thatcould cause harm to public health or morals.

3. Where there is graphic images of sexual activity that isn't right. The BBCF only tolerate such behaviour if it genuinly seeks to inform or educate viewers. Anything other than that is rated R18 and can only be seen in specially liscensed cinemas and films supplied in licensed sex shops.

To make an 18 film the film might contain:

• Sexual scenes
• Violence/ Gore
• Strong Language
• Torture
• Drug use
• Scenes which may cause Psychological distress

Thriller Homework - Taking Lives.

Film : Taking Lives
Action, Crime Thriller.
Cinematography

• mid shots
• long shots
• close up
• point of view shots
• pan angle shot
  
• tracking shot

Editting

• cross cuts
• continuity
  
• linear editting

as the clip i chose is at the end of the film, taing lives, linear editting is obvious as the story is followed.

• no transtions as its a film

I believe the film ad alot of funding as it's a popular film with good actors, including angelina jolie.

Mise-en-scene
characters:

• Angelina Jolie
  

- Dress and cardigan to show motherhood as she is pregnant
- Long straight air
- natural makeup to try and show a natural glow.

• Male character

- cold makeup to show an antagonist look
- dark clothing, brown jacket.
- deep voice to show tension

Location is far away in the hills to build tension so the audience can tell someone will be arriving uninvited and cause trouble.

There are many props involved in the last scene as she is determine to kill the male character. Theres also probs within the house that are general items of furnishing. She uses, scissors to kill him however she also comes in contact with a mug, a sharp metal object (to strangle her).

The shots identify their facial expressions, for example, a close up was used when angelina jolie was being strangled to allow the audience to feel what she feels and to see the pain he's causing so when he finally dies the audience are at ease.

• Lighting
  
• Natural, misty but clear enough to see people and expressions.
  

No obvious special effects used.

The dialogue is natural so the audience can relate to the characters as a feel of being in the situation.

Seven analysis

We are analysing the opening sequence from the film 'Seven' we are doing this because we should experience other idea's for a opening sequence to a thriller before making our own.
Immediately the audience is drawn into the suspence by the music and the flickering montage. The music is dark, deep and has the occasional cringe worthy chalkboard effect, which increases the tension right from the beginning. The title fits with the music and the action in the sequence, this is because the mise-en-scene is shown as the typical thriller genre.
The text showing the credits of the opening sequence, blends with the background which looks as though a crime is needing to be solved. Theres a good use of colour including black white and red, these are the typical colours an audience would expect when watching a thriller. Theres a use of a shadow effect which again builds tension in time for the music to build up toward the end of the sequence.

Analyzing past thriller projects

Two Minds - Long-road Media Students Last Year.

This piece has a variety of shots, which include long shots, (when boy is going into the toilets) mid shots, transitions of merging from one boy to the next

close up on the montage of shots and a extreme close up of the boys eyes at the beginning.

Looking in the mirror and coming out as someone different could have been improved, if the snap from one clip to the other was smoother, and if the lighting

wasn't so dark, so we could seen the reflection of the other persons face in the mirror better.

The montage of shots, was very effective because it almost gave reason behind the establishing shot of the boy on the bench. Also the montage gave

very thriller feel, as it had jump cuts, which kept us engaged, and also made us want to watch more of the clip.

The music was quite calm which was appropriate to the thriller conventions because the live action mixed well with the music, which made the clip seem very

strange, and aery, it gave a sort of mystery behind the clip.

The titles blended in with the action so it didn't really stand out, however the title two minds at the end, it was in a spray painted font was effective and

memorable.

Curiosity- Long Road Media Students Last year.

Engaging crumpled paper effects at the beginning to introduce the title. Black and white very contrasted grainy effect, for the establishing shot, introduces

the main character. When zooming in on the girls picture, the red effect made it very effective, and makes it clear to the audience who the victim may be,

there is a blurry transition of pictures and the lower half of the man with the knife, when introducing the knife they made an effect to make it shine in the light

it was effective as it makes the knife look alot more important than it is

The calm music contrasts with the act that the audience will be lead to believe is to follow.

The music was very effective, i thought it was very good and well made.

The variety of camera angles Mid shots, of glimmering knife, zoom on the girls picture, a mid shot at the beginning of the main character and when he is looking through

the pictures.

Achieving a Top Grade

Marking criteria - level 4 - 48/60
Demonstrate excellence in the following:

• Holding a shot steady
• Framing a shot, including or excluding elements as appropriate
• Using a variety of shot distances
  
• Shooting material appropriate to the task - THRILLER CONVENTIONS.
• Selecting mise-en-scene appropriatly
  
• Editting so the meaning is apparent to the viewer
  
• Using varied shot transitions and effects (final cut stage - smooth continuety)
• Using sound with images (garage band)
• Using titles appropriatly

1. Introduce main characters
2. Revealing the themes of the film (style - murder, stalker)
3. Introducing the setting or location of the film
4. We should have an idea of the narrative structure (e.g. flashbacks)
5. The music should indicate the genre of the film.
   
6. Characters personalities
   

Action Thriller Conventions

Action Thriller:

• Obvious antagonist
  - find out through mise-en-scene e.g. costumes.
  
• Race against the clock scenario
• Features more violence than other sub genres
• Disruption to equilibrium requires the protagonist.
  - use action to solve the problem.
  - protagonist must be physically fit or athletic.
  
• Usually involves characters of the opposite sex to drive the narrative e.g. rescue a female by a male/or the other way around.
  
• Their loyalty will be questioned (the partner or the opposite sex to the lead character)
  

Examples of Action Thrillers:
- Iron Man
- Hostage
- Equilibrium
- Double Jeopardy
- Taken
- Blood Diamond.



Taken is an action film from 2009 and we know this from the race against time to find a mans daughter before she gets killed by the people who took her.
We immediately know who is the good in this movie and the bad. The protagonist is Liam Neeson playing the girls father and the bad is not played in the trailer clip however they do appear later in the movie.
A popular phrase from the film is:
"I don't know who you are, I don't know what you want, if you are looking for a ransom, I can tell you i don't have money, but what i do have, are a very particular set of skills, skills that i have acquired from a very long career, skills that make me a nightmare for people like you.
I will look for you,
I will find you,
and I will kill you."
The drama from this phrase allows the audience to identify with the characters.
We know that this is an action film because the message in this phrase can automatically tell the audience that Liam Neeson will fight and kill anyone necessary to have his daughter returned. To fight the bad people, the protagonist must be pysically fit and athletic.
Liam neeson is the protaginist and his loyalty is questioned by his wife in the film as they are divorced and she doesn't believe he can find her. This is unusual because he is the main character.

Crime thriller coventions and analysis

Crime thriller conventions

• suspenseful account succeful or failed crimes
• features murders/ robberies/ shoot outs / double cross
• can glorify the rise and full of a criminal
• often based on real people
• Set in large crowded cities to provide the viewer with an insight into a secret world
• Characters have an ambitious desire for success or recognition
• Rivalry between opposite character is strong
• Many locations have a seedy interior setting

Murder by Numbers trailer

The clips from the movie are shown fast pace, and at the beginning of the trailor, there is a fast montage flashed on the clip. This shows evidence of the crime thriller as well as the fact sandra bullock is solving a murder.

Political Coventions.
- Threat is set against a back drop of political power struggle.
- Plots are designed to give political power to someone.
- Opponent characters are set up to try and prevent people recieving power.
- 2 sets of characters with 2 different roles or ranks. e.g. James Bond.



At the beginning of this clip there is an obvious link to politics, in America. The political threat that the film is representing is bombings. The problem of the bombings is realistic to real life, therefore the thriller itself is good for the people to relate to. The film is automatically seen as a political subgenre of a thriller as it begins with narrations of a man setting the scene as if he were a member of parliment, this leads the audience to know straight away.
Opponent characters are shown within the first scene of the film as the president gets shot. This suggests that the film has been created to excite the audience as well as have an interest in politics. The good character is also shown in this clip as Thomas Barnes. (Dennis Quaid) He is linked to the politics as he is a bodyguard to the president before and after he gets shot. We know Thomas is a good character as he is portrayed as heroic through the audience watching a clip of him taking a bullet for the president.
The threat shown in this film is revealed quickly as they want the audience to get into the storyline/narrative therefore they get into the politics of it quickly aswell.

Psychological conventions and film analysis

• Drama/ mystery
• Danger is on a mental level rather that physical initially
• 2 or more characters preying on each others mind to create conflict, or one solitary character in mental conflict.
• Characters try and discover their purpose
• Characters often have a fear or fascination with death
• Narrative - confusion over what is real.

'The sixth sense'

This movie especially links with the fear and fascination of death as the main character (the boy) can see the dead and that works with the audience as in scenes the camera lets the audience see what he see's so they can relate to him, also this grabs the audiences attention for if they are interested in life after death or what happens when you die this movie feeds their fascination.

There is a tracking shot at the beginning of the scene leading up to the car where the main characters are. This lets the audience witness the action and then find the main characters to hear their thoughts on the situation.

There is a mid shot of the two characters in the car, the camera is directed towards the main character (the boy) so the 2nd characters face (his mum) can only be seen side on. This lets the audience establish the main character and focus on the main character while being able to see the second persons reaction.

The boy is telling his mother something important, having no music in the background makes sure the audiences attention is focused on what the boy is saying.

There is a shot reverse shot on the mothers reaction to the boys secret and when back to the boy we can see the spirit outside the boys window. This is so that the audience can see the characters reactions and see the scene from different points of views. This is so the audience feel like they can relate to the characters and feel apart of the drama.

'Seven' Film Opening Sequence Analysis

mise-en-scene =

lighting:

• Diegetic lighting, so in some places the light appears quite dim, for example when he is looking at the murder scene. This is classic in a thriller film to have dark lighting to build tension and draw the audience in.

Colour:

• The colours black, brown and cream appear to be common colours throughout this clip. This gives a dark approach to the clip and compliments the digetic lighting in achieveing an mysterious approach. The colours and lighting also help the audience establish what genre of film they are watching, for example, if the colours were primary colours and the lighting was non digetic then the audience will get the sense its a happy upbeat film, if the colours are dark and dismal then that also reflects to the audience that this film will probably be full of mystery or action.

Costumes:

• Their are two men, the older man is shown wearing very smart clothes and presenting himself as wise and well-dressed. The younger man is portrayed as wearing smart clothes but not as smart as the older man and not so bothered about his appearence.

props:

• The older man is shown with props such as a pocket watch, knife, jacket and metrognome.
• There are props used in the opening credits sequence, a book, someone writing and sewing and things being marked in a book that look like evidence.

Setting:

• Bedroom in an apartment
• street
• apartment with the murder victim

Special effects:

• Flashes within openning credits to make them more interesting.
• Scratchy font to engage audience with titles being more effective.

Analysis of opening scene 'Vertigo'

We watched the opening scene of 'Vertigo' - Alfred Hitch-cock. We are seeing if it meets the conventions of thriller.
First thing that we realized is that it had very dramatic aery music which engaged the audience to feel part of the action. Like many other thrillers it was very fast paced, and it cut from the protagonist to the antagonist quite often.



At the beginning of the opening sequence there is a close up on the ladder bar and then we see a hand clasp the bar. This come to a surprise to the audience and gives a element of confusion, its only until we notice that it is a ladder and people climbing up it do we understand what is going on. The confusion engages the audience which is common in a thriller film.

There is a mid shot of the character looking down and then the camera does a point of view shot so that the audience follows the characters gaze down. The audience seeing the characters reaction then having the point of view shot makes them relate to the character. This is common in a thriller to help the audience feel a part of what is going on and relate to the characters.

The scene is very dark, this is a convention of a thriller.

The antagonist got away, leaving the protagonist with a unsolved crime, which will set the scene for the rest of the film, also this leaves the audience feeling engaged, and gripped for the rest of the film.

Thriller film analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-rkpgchJOA&feature=related

Here is the URL as the Embed says its been 'Ebbeding disabled by request.'

There is a tracking shot to the 1st character then shot reverse shot with the 2nd character. The audience feel that the 1st character is a victim when pointed a gun at however the audiences opinion is switched when the 2nd character cleverly sabatages the 1st. The switch of point of view for the audience represents the shock element within a thriller genre and how things don't always go the way the audience think it does.

The sound is a gentle drum beat in the background which leads up to the man on the floor gasping for breath catching the 2nd characters attention. The sound leads up to the moment the mask is revealed o be the joker and the starting of the bus engine where its silent for a couple of seconds to emphasis the clang of the gas bomb. The sound keeps the audience intreagued and sensing something is about to happen. This is a classic in the thriller genre yo build the tension using sound and keep the audience engaged.

The close up of the Joker putting something oer the guys mouth leading to a shot reverse shot of the mask revealing the Joker, then back to the man in shock from seeing the joker and realising he is going to die. The close up engages the audience by making them feel apart of the action and fascinated by the 2nd character as his back is facing the audience. The back to the audience creates mystery and then the shot reverse shot smoothly links in for the audience o see the mask being revealed as the joker. This grabs the audience's attention by being surprised to see the charcter and as said above feeling apart of the action. Within the thriller genre they usually try to make the audience feel apart of the action so they are engaged and alert for whats going to happen next.

Using Masks as props brings a sense of mystery to the characters and engages the audience when time leads up to the mask being revealed, it brings a surprise element to the audience. Within the thriller genre props are usually used as a good way to grad the audiences attention as it brings a sense of mystery and fear as the characters are concealed and the audience can't see their face. Usually the audience like to see the enemy so they know what they are facing so having a mask brings in the feeling of the unknown which can be seen as threatening to the audience.