Friday 29 January 2010

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.

Tuesday 26 January 2010

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.

Friday 22 January 2010

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.

Thursday 21 January 2010

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

Tuesday 19 January 2010

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

Friday 15 January 2010

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.

Wednesday 13 January 2010

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.

Tuesday 12 January 2010

'Seven' Film Opening Sequence Analysis



Se7en:

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.

Monday 11 January 2010

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.

Friday 8 January 2010

Preliminary Task, Thriller Project.



This is our finished version of our preliminary task for the thriller project. We altered the order of our shots as the long shot was presented first included within the establishing shot. Apart from these changes the rest of the sequence is as we planned in our storyboard which we made earlier.

Tuesday 5 January 2010

Preliminary Task


In the pre-lim task we have to create a short clip to show we understand the 6 shots included. These are: establishing shot, close up shot, match and action shot, reaction shot, long shot and filming a conversation (shot reverse shot.
During the clip we have decided that Fiona will be doing the filming therefore using the camera and Abby and Eloise will be doing the acting within the movie. The location of our task will be long road. The opening to the media block and inside it.

This is our story board of the task.

Pre-Lim Shot Research.



Having researched establishing shots, we found out that the importance of the it is to introduce the scenes setting. In this clip it is very effective because it draws us into the space in which we follow the camera that produces a pan shot.



Within the first few seconds of this clip, you discover a close up shot of someone ringing the doorbell. This shows how a close up is used to allow the audience to see exactly what is being done and allows them to be part of the action.



Match on action shot is used in this milky way advert to show two cars beginning a race. This is effective because it continues the flow of the scene, leaving out the parts that are unnecessary.




Here we have a reaction shot of 'will smith' entering a car of people. Th reaction shot is important because it shows the facial expressions they have and how they feel about the person. This gives the audience an opinion of certain characters.



here we chose a video slip of a music video pro-formed by lady gaga. at the beginning of this, it shows a long shot of her body. This is effective because it allows the audience to see hr costumes therefore understand her personality and character. With this the audience can then tell alot more about her.



This is a conversation between two people showing their mid-shot bodies and facial features. This is effective because you can see both of their reactions and clothing allowing the audience to see what sort of people they are and what is going on around them.