Thursday 25 June 2009
Friday 27 March 2009
Thriller Evaluation
Our thriller was c
reated through different ideas; some were through thrillers that we had recently seen, such as The Bourne Identity (2002) and some were through ideas that we had in mind from watching students’ previous thrillers. The ideas that we took out of The Bourne Identity was a scene where the main character, James Bourne, is looking for an intruder and ends up finding him somewhere else. The scene shows a false innuendo, where the audience thinks that the intruder is going to come out at that time but he comes out later when the audience was least expecting it.
Our thriller represents two different social groups; white lower-class British teenage girls, and Asian higher working-class young men. This is because of the characters we chose to include in our thriller. In our thriller, the two female students are shown wearing a school uniform and are seen having a hot chocolate during the day. This shows that the girls either are on the lunch break or are missing lessons; truancy is a common issue among young children living in London. However, this is not an important issue in our thriller therefore, we chose not to dwell on the subject. The other main character is a young Asian man who is higher working-class. This is shown by the clothes which he wears and his surroundings and possessions; the man is seen wearing a smart black suit and is driving a black BMW 1-Series M Sport 5-door with dark tinted windows. This is ironic as the man is a well-reserved character who likes to keep things hidden.
Momentum Pictures will release our thriller, which is a British, ‘Alliance Films’ company. It is set up in the U.K. and often shows British films like ‘Lesbian Vampire Killers’, however they also show non-British films such as ‘Milk’, which is an American movie. We chose to release our thriller with Momentum Pictures as they also work with smaller independent film companies that are released in the U.K.; they tend to show a wide range of films and have come to be very popular with the British public. We will also release our thriller on DVD; this depends on how well our thriller does in the cinema rankings. We chose not to release our thriller on the internet for many different reasons. Firstly, we would lose profits, as this would be easy for many illegal websites to gain access from. Secondly, by releasing our thriller onto smaller cinema screens, this would allow us to profit from any takings of the cinema firms.
The audience for our thriller will be a wide variety as our thriller revolves around issues that a wider range of people can relate to; the main issue in our thriller is ‘kidnapping’, which is a topic that appears in many thrillers . However, our main audience would be those that can relate to the characters within our thriller. This means that our audience would British lower-class females of an age range of 15-40; this would include students, mothers, middle-aged women etc. Our audience could also contain British working-class young women, whose hobbies include going to the cinema. Our male audience would consist of young British males, from the ages of 15-30, such as students and also working-class middle-aged men. A typical person who would fit our target audience would be a young British woman, who works in a small office and whose hobbies include going to independent cinemas and galleries.
We plan to attract our audience with advertisement. We plan to advertise our thriller using small advertisement companies, which will allow us to advertise our thriller in different methods while still costing smaller amounts; we plan to advertise our thriller on posters, on T.V. and online. As we do not have many funds, we will seek out sponsors that will help us with the financial side of our thriller. We will try to advertise our thriller in small posters in different areas around London and through a mini trailer, that will be shown on certain channels such as BBC 1; our trailers would be show during the least popular hour, due to our small budget. We would also try to advertise our thriller in cheap advertisement websites, as our target audience would most likely have access to the internet and would be regular surfers of the internet.
Through the production of our thriller, we have learnt several different things about both the filming side and the editing side of our thriller. We used a digital camcorder, similar to the Canon DM-XM2 Professional MiniDV Camcorder throughout the time we spent filming. We also used a tripod often, as this allowed us to film steady shots, high-angled shots and low-angled shots without the need of using other props such as chairs. As we did not have a dolly to use, we had to film handheld shots whenever we needed to move the camera at a steady pace. The effect that this gave some of our shots was the feeling of someone being followed when the camera filmed behind the person. We also learnt about the uses of the different buttons that were located on the camera itself. For the editing of our shots, we used a programme called Final Cut Pro, which is a built in programme that can be found on Apple Macs. We used Final Cut Pro to put all our chosen shots together and create a short film that came to be as our thriller. We had a few tutorials on the different uses of Final Cut Pro and this allowed us to use similar techniques in the making of our thriller. We learnt the basics first, such as how to upload all our footage from the camera onto Final Cut Pro. We learnt how to cut and paste different shots to create one long shot of filming. We then learnt how to add extras such as transitions, which were placed between two different clips, and music, which could be added to the whole of our edited film. For the soundtrack of our thriller, we had to compose our own music as we were not allowed to use other music tracks for copyright purposes. We composed our soundtrack on another programme, found on Apple Macs, called Soundtrack Pro. This programme had various types of sounds such as different instruments and mixes put together by the programme itself. Soundtrack Pro allowed us to add different instruments and sounds to result in one long soundtrack that would be played throughout the whole of our thriller. We learnt how to lengthen and shorten numerous types of sound to create a unique mix. For our thriller we had a simple base that played through the whole of our thriller opening; this gradually faded near to the end of the thriller. In addition we had two different sounds that helped to create the effect of idealism (what the audience think is going on) and realism (what is actually going on). This was shown through the switching of the two different atmospheres; the two girls sitting happily outside a café, switching to a man sitting silently in his parked car. For the scene involving the two girls, we placed some city sounds in the background, and for the scene involving the man, we placed an eerie sound that created an uneasy atmosphere. This gradually got louder when both worlds collided as the man had caught the young girl. All the sound elements then went off as soon as the car boot was shut. This created a sense of lost hope, as it seemed that there was no way out for the young girl!
As well as the filming and editing of our thriller opening, we have also used the internet, where we have ‘blogged’ our lessons and progression in a website called www.blogger.com. We have recorded our weekly progress, also mentioning tasks we had to do during class hours and also our achievements and flaws within the time we had to create our thriller opening. This has allowed us to keep track of what we had left to do and what we had to avoid doing in the later stages.
Overall, I think that we have progressed within our media project and that we have gained new techniques in the making of our thriller openings. I believe that there is a visible change from the preliminary task that we did in class, at the beginning of the topic, to our final thriller openings. We started with a storyboard, which contained many shots that we were planning to use. Some of these shots were kept and some were taken off in our final thriller opening. From our match-cut exercise, which we did in class at the beginning of the topic, we learnt how to do match-cuts and because of this, we were able to create a few very good match-cuts in our thriller opening. We have also learnt different techniques in filming, such as different shot angles and others ways of creating effective filming. We have learnt a lot in editing and putting together our thriller openings. Lastly, we have experienced many different things in the process of creating a thriller opening; we have learnt about the time it takes to film certain shots and the effort that needs to be put in, from every member of the group, in order to have a decent thriller opening. I believe that each member of our thriller group has progressed in our own way and that we have learnt a lot about the world of filming!
The scene with the two girls sitting in a cafe
The scene where the ‘two worlds collide’
reated through different ideas; some were through thrillers that we had recently seen, such as The Bourne Identity (2002) and some were through ideas that we had in mind from watching students’ previous thrillers. The ideas that we took out of The Bourne Identity was a scene where the main character, James Bourne, is looking for an intruder and ends up finding him somewhere else. The scene shows a false innuendo, where the audience thinks that the intruder is going to come out at that time but he comes out later when the audience was least expecting it.Our thriller represents two different social groups; white lower-class British teenage girls, and Asian higher working-class young men. This is because of the characters we chose to include in our thriller. In our thriller, the two female students are shown wearing a school uniform and are seen having a hot chocolate during the day. This shows that the girls either are on the lunch break or are missing lessons; truancy is a common issue among young children living in London. However, this is not an important issue in our thriller therefore, we chose not to dwell on the subject. The other main character is a young Asian man who is higher working-class. This is shown by the clothes which he wears and his surroundings and possessions; the man is seen wearing a smart black suit and is driving a black BMW 1-Series M Sport 5-door with dark tinted windows. This is ironic as the man is a well-reserved character who likes to keep things hidden.
Momentum Pictures will release our thriller, which is a British, ‘Alliance Films’ company. It is set up in the U.K. and often shows British films like ‘Lesbian Vampire Killers’, however they also show non-British films such as ‘Milk’, which is an American movie. We chose to release our thriller with Momentum Pictures as they also work with smaller independent film companies that are released in the U.K.; they tend to show a wide range of films and have come to be very popular with the British public. We will also release our thriller on DVD; this depends on how well our thriller does in the cinema rankings. We chose not to release our thriller on the internet for many different reasons. Firstly, we would lose profits, as this would be easy for many illegal websites to gain access from. Secondly, by releasing our thriller onto smaller cinema screens, this would allow us to profit from any takings of the cinema firms.
The audience for our thriller will be a wide variety as our thriller revolves around issues that a wider range of people can relate to; the main issue in our thriller is ‘kidnapping’, which is a topic that appears in many thrillers . However, our main audience would be those that can relate to the characters within our thriller. This means that our audience would British lower-class females of an age range of 15-40; this would include students, mothers, middle-aged women etc. Our audience could also contain British working-class young women, whose hobbies include going to the cinema. Our male audience would consist of young British males, from the ages of 15-30, such as students and also working-class middle-aged men. A typical person who would fit our target audience would be a young British woman, who works in a small office and whose hobbies include going to independent cinemas and galleries.
We plan to attract our audience with advertisement. We plan to advertise our thriller using small advertisement companies, which will allow us to advertise our thriller in different methods while still costing smaller amounts; we plan to advertise our thriller on posters, on T.V. and online. As we do not have many funds, we will seek out sponsors that will help us with the financial side of our thriller. We will try to advertise our thriller in small posters in different areas around London and through a mini trailer, that will be shown on certain channels such as BBC 1; our trailers would be show during the least popular hour, due to our small budget. We would also try to advertise our thriller in cheap advertisement websites, as our target audience would most likely have access to the internet and would be regular surfers of the internet.
Through the production of our thriller, we have learnt several different things about both the filming side and the editing side of our thriller. We used a digital camcorder, similar to the Canon DM-XM2 Professional MiniDV Camcorder throughout the time we spent filming. We also used a tripod often, as this allowed us to film steady shots, high-angled shots and low-angled shots without the need of using other props such as chairs. As we did not have a dolly to use, we had to film handheld shots whenever we needed to move the camera at a steady pace. The effect that this gave some of our shots was the feeling of someone being followed when the camera filmed behind the person. We also learnt about the uses of the different buttons that were located on the camera itself. For the editing of our shots, we used a programme called Final Cut Pro, which is a built in programme that can be found on Apple Macs. We used Final Cut Pro to put all our chosen shots together and create a short film that came to be as our thriller. We had a few tutorials on the different uses of Final Cut Pro and this allowed us to use similar techniques in the making of our thriller. We learnt the basics first, such as how to upload all our footage from the camera onto Final Cut Pro. We learnt how to cut and paste different shots to create one long shot of filming. We then learnt how to add extras such as transitions, which were placed between two different clips, and music, which could be added to the whole of our edited film. For the soundtrack of our thriller, we had to compose our own music as we were not allowed to use other music tracks for copyright purposes. We composed our soundtrack on another programme, found on Apple Macs, called Soundtrack Pro. This programme had various types of sounds such as different instruments and mixes put together by the programme itself. Soundtrack Pro allowed us to add different instruments and sounds to result in one long soundtrack that would be played throughout the whole of our thriller. We learnt how to lengthen and shorten numerous types of sound to create a unique mix. For our thriller we had a simple base that played through the whole of our thriller opening; this gradually faded near to the end of the thriller. In addition we had two different sounds that helped to create the effect of idealism (what the audience think is going on) and realism (what is actually going on). This was shown through the switching of the two different atmospheres; the two girls sitting happily outside a café, switching to a man sitting silently in his parked car. For the scene involving the two girls, we placed some city sounds in the background, and for the scene involving the man, we placed an eerie sound that created an uneasy atmosphere. This gradually got louder when both worlds collided as the man had caught the young girl. All the sound elements then went off as soon as the car boot was shut. This created a sense of lost hope, as it seemed that there was no way out for the young girl!
As well as the filming and editing of our thriller opening, we have also used the internet, where we have ‘blogged’ our lessons and progression in a website called www.blogger.com. We have recorded our weekly progress, also mentioning tasks we had to do during class hours and also our achievements and flaws within the time we had to create our thriller opening. This has allowed us to keep track of what we had left to do and what we had to avoid doing in the later stages.
Overall, I think that we have progressed within our media project and that we have gained new techniques in the making of our thriller openings. I believe that there is a visible change from the preliminary task that we did in class, at the beginning of the topic, to our final thriller openings. We started with a storyboard, which contained many shots that we were planning to use. Some of these shots were kept and some were taken off in our final thriller opening. From our match-cut exercise, which we did in class at the beginning of the topic, we learnt how to do match-cuts and because of this, we were able to create a few very good match-cuts in our thriller opening. We have also learnt different techniques in filming, such as different shot angles and others ways of creating effective filming. We have learnt a lot in editing and putting together our thriller openings. Lastly, we have experienced many different things in the process of creating a thriller opening; we have learnt about the time it takes to film certain shots and the effort that needs to be put in, from every member of the group, in order to have a decent thriller opening. I believe that each member of our thriller group has progressed in our own way and that we have learnt a lot about the world of filming!
The scene with the two girls sitting in a cafe The scene with the man sitting in his parked car
The scene where the ‘two worlds collide’
Thriller: a suspenseful adventure story or play or movie
How our thriller idea came around was from a practical that we done in class a few weeks ago. When we started our thrillers, we had to list different types of thriller, within the thriller genre, such as; spy thrillers, crime and we also discussed the difference between horrors and thrillers. In doing this activity in class, I learnt the very close meaning of a thriller and a horror. Also, preliminary tasks that were done in class also inspired me and my group to continue filming something like a thriller. My group and I decided that we wanted to do a thriller that required a lot of investigation within it, somewhat like a crime thriller. This concept can be used in various ways, such as, leaving an open ending and (considering that this is a thriller opening) whether or not the rest of the film will show the whereabouts of the girl that was kidnapped. We then explored different types of crime thrillers and then we came up with the concept of someone being kidnapped.
We also looked for types of thrillers that can be similar to ours. In doing so, we watched The Bourne Identity. Also to establish shots similar to ours, we took shots from The Shining, where the young boy is being followed along the corridor, and we are behind him constantly. My thriller has the impact of a sort of “who don’t it” situation. However, in terms of gender groups, you could stereotype my thriller by stating that, as a society we usually associate females to be prone to things such as kidnapping and rape, reasons being we are seen to be quite delicate and vulnerable. Also, in terms of age, it is not really a representation on a particular social group or particular religious groups.
In the editing process of my thriller, my group and I decided to use a lot of transitions and cuts to establish time difference between the person who is being kidnapped to the person who is kidnapping. This was also done to create suspense and tension, in order for the audience to feel slightly uneasy. My group also established the use of a still image once we get to identify the kidnapper. Also, in the very start of our opening, when the coffee cup is continuously stirring, my group decided to slow down the speed, which also affects the sound, causing it to be much slower and to make it seem more eerie.
During the sound process, we decided to add a continuous beat underneath the eerie tones of high pitch violins. We then came up with a jazz bass, which was altered at points whenever the kidnapper was viewed on screen and on the other hand increased the sound of the eerie tones to symbolise that something is not quite right.
In terms of camera angles that were used, when the actual kidnapper, seizes the victim, my group and I decided to get the action at three different angles, which was all shown at a very quick pace. Besides this, very basic camera angles were used in other parts of my thriller. Such as, actors walking out of frame and into frame, as well as, shots from behind the victim.
My thriller does not specifically represent a particular social group. Although, based on schoolgirls, it can be relatable to anyone, for example, a mother that may have had her daughter kidnapped, a friend, etc. However, this does not mean that these kind of people will watch this kind of film, as it will remind them of times which they’d rather forget. Although, people that might watch it will be people that are interested in stories that require a lot of thinking as the story unravels, the whole of the thriller
In terms of media institution and media distribution, my thriller will seem more powerful within a small UK ‘arthouse; cinema and via the Internet. Reasons being, I feel that the content of my thriller is not as strong as other films that distributed by big Hollywood blockbusters. However, such films as ‘Kidulthood’, which were also distributed within small cinemas have done exceptionally well under a low budget, which could invariably be similar to my thriller. Other distributors, such as Working Title, will also be able to spread out my thriller. Reasons being, they are use to distributing a lot of British films. As well as being a British distributor, they are in partnership with Warner Bros, this could also help with the distribution, over seas, meaning it can be distributed in America and in Europe. We have also chosen, Momentum as a distributor, reasons being they distribute a variety of films and British Films. Also, considering that Momentum is one of the leading UK distributor and sell and average of 20 films a year.
In terms of the technology that I have used in processing my thriller project, such as Final Cut Pro, LiveType and Soundtrack Pro. I have learnt a lot from these programmes, in terms of how to edit and credits. How my group devised responsibilities of who is to do what in terms of the editing process, I was given the responsibility of sound. When placing the jazz base on the thriller, as something that is continuous, I found it difficult in the beginning, as I was told that my original base had too much rhythm, meaning. As a technical aspect, it had a continuous up beat then low beat; this would make the audience, to unconsciously move to the beat. After considering this factor, I looked for another base that was not that jumpy, and more one beat. I then wanted to establish, a difference between, the two characters, in doing this I added on eerie tones, whenever the kidnapper was shown on screen. I have also learnt that the process of making and editing a film is not as easy as it seems. Software such as Final Cut Pro, took me quite long to get use to, however, in the end it got easier.
EVALUATION!
Thriller Evaluation
In thriller, there are many aspects, which transform the scene into a theme of suspense, by the use of camera work, sound and editing. We as a group used many of these aspects to make our own thriller an effective clip to create suspense. Suspense is a main convention of a thriller opening. Overall, it includes character in a jeopardising situation and posing questions to the audience as well as the narrative opening up as it goes along. As the thriller goes on the false resolution pops up and people are no longer in harm’s way and questions finally get answered in a logical way.
Many clips personally inspired me. The editing and match-cuts in ‘slum dog millionaire’ was to a high standard, so from that I had got inspired and got some ideas. From that movie I talked about some of the ideas to my group from the part when he is answering question on the show. We tried doing the same type of edits when at the coffee shop with the two school girls talking to each other, but without dialogue. , we didn’t really use the director’s techniques but it helped us with that particular scene.
The two girls in our scene are meant to be shown aged 13/15 young school girls. They represent children after school and when walking home. It’s a symbolic message that is conveyed to the target audience who are teen’s aged 13 – 16+. It’s not meant to be vivid and if the target audience don’t recognise it, it’s not the main concern.
The kidnapper in the car in meant to create even more suspense as it works with the camera shots. The shot of looking in the car side mirror. The mise-on-scene is all black. From the car to gloves, the colour of someone trying to be discrete yet, stands out like a thorn to the audience. This helps the audience categorise the characters. (Girls in school uniform and guy dresses in black smart clothing and black car.)
The company that will be distributing our media product will be Momentum Pictures. We had chosen them because they distribute a variety of films and we thought as a group to choose them because this is a British film. And our theme (kidnapping) can relate to British viewers, due to the crime of today in Briton. Our group did research and found out, that company is an alliance company who releases roughly 20 films a year and is one of the leading distributers in the UK. Also if fitted this particular description
The audience of my media production would most likely be not of the mainstream but not of the niche audience either. Somewhere in-between, because it appeals to a lot of people in U.K however it is not good enough to compete in the mainstream and expect it to make money. It would be nice to target it at the mainstream of the youth age but that way is less likely to be a successful, and is leading to a risky path. This is due to the youth are attracted to Hollywood, mainstream, highly budgeted, SFX films instead of the U.K films.
To get people to come see our film and to advertise it i thought to be more specific on the target audience. As we are aiming at the youth it is better as well as cheaper to advertise it online, possibly ‘face book’ or ‘my space’. Which are two of the main attractions to the youth on the net today. However, we would also get people who did the acting to go to individual secondary and colleges to hand out leaflets and information and basically to create awareness of our production. A billboard would be good and more profession but still it is expensive and we are it ending to make a profit out of it than a loss. Also i personally would like to do a little of cross-marketing and have our film advertised on busses and mc Donald’s boxes. This will be direct to the youth and will be a great advantage to out advertisement result.
Before we started doing out thriller, we had gotten a preliminary task in using final pro cut. I learnt how to use it a lot. Also, I do film studies so I am use to the functions already, so when it came to our thriller editing, it was a piece of cake. Even when we needed help, we asked the teachers so there was no problem there. Final cut pro was easy to use too. The transition and cuts were basic for us. In the preliminary task we used many match-cuts were we learnt to use in our thriller so it was a helpful technique to learn. The transitions worked well with the perfect timing of cuts. All this helped create the suspicion and tension. We learned this from a film called ‘Bourne identity’
As a thriller movie the film should grab your attention at the beginning and the opening clip must lead the viewer into the movie as fluently as possible.
On the other hand, the use of internet was great too. Blogging was very simple. We had to write what we did every lesson and when filming and editing. Simple. But from time to time I would forget to blog and that’s when it piles up. It was also simple to upload out clip onto the internet too. Thought to upload it onto YouTube, But other members in my group didn’t agree with it.
My skills developed mainly when it came to the beginning of the thriller and we had to take everything we learned into action. Choosing location to timing and schedule of filming. From camera work and timing. It all came back to me when in the process of filming the thriller. The camera work especially, the angle had to be right and the space above the head had to be just right.
Overall, I was happy how our clip turned out. When we went to the cinema to watch it, we had gotten a lot of positive feedback. The freed back was mainly base on our mise-en-scene, match-cut and the editing overall. If have more time, I would of worked on more filming (more different angles) and the soundtrack could have been worked on too.
In thriller, there are many aspects, which transform the scene into a theme of suspense, by the use of camera work, sound and editing. We as a group used many of these aspects to make our own thriller an effective clip to create suspense. Suspense is a main convention of a thriller opening. Overall, it includes character in a jeopardising situation and posing questions to the audience as well as the narrative opening up as it goes along. As the thriller goes on the false resolution pops up and people are no longer in harm’s way and questions finally get answered in a logical way.
Many clips personally inspired me. The editing and match-cuts in ‘slum dog millionaire’ was to a high standard, so from that I had got inspired and got some ideas. From that movie I talked about some of the ideas to my group from the part when he is answering question on the show. We tried doing the same type of edits when at the coffee shop with the two school girls talking to each other, but without dialogue. , we didn’t really use the director’s techniques but it helped us with that particular scene.
The two girls in our scene are meant to be shown aged 13/15 young school girls. They represent children after school and when walking home. It’s a symbolic message that is conveyed to the target audience who are teen’s aged 13 – 16+. It’s not meant to be vivid and if the target audience don’t recognise it, it’s not the main concern.
The kidnapper in the car in meant to create even more suspense as it works with the camera shots. The shot of looking in the car side mirror. The mise-on-scene is all black. From the car to gloves, the colour of someone trying to be discrete yet, stands out like a thorn to the audience. This helps the audience categorise the characters. (Girls in school uniform and guy dresses in black smart clothing and black car.)
The company that will be distributing our media product will be Momentum Pictures. We had chosen them because they distribute a variety of films and we thought as a group to choose them because this is a British film. And our theme (kidnapping) can relate to British viewers, due to the crime of today in Briton. Our group did research and found out, that company is an alliance company who releases roughly 20 films a year and is one of the leading distributers in the UK. Also if fitted this particular description
The audience of my media production would most likely be not of the mainstream but not of the niche audience either. Somewhere in-between, because it appeals to a lot of people in U.K however it is not good enough to compete in the mainstream and expect it to make money. It would be nice to target it at the mainstream of the youth age but that way is less likely to be a successful, and is leading to a risky path. This is due to the youth are attracted to Hollywood, mainstream, highly budgeted, SFX films instead of the U.K films.
To get people to come see our film and to advertise it i thought to be more specific on the target audience. As we are aiming at the youth it is better as well as cheaper to advertise it online, possibly ‘face book’ or ‘my space’. Which are two of the main attractions to the youth on the net today. However, we would also get people who did the acting to go to individual secondary and colleges to hand out leaflets and information and basically to create awareness of our production. A billboard would be good and more profession but still it is expensive and we are it ending to make a profit out of it than a loss. Also i personally would like to do a little of cross-marketing and have our film advertised on busses and mc Donald’s boxes. This will be direct to the youth and will be a great advantage to out advertisement result.
Before we started doing out thriller, we had gotten a preliminary task in using final pro cut. I learnt how to use it a lot. Also, I do film studies so I am use to the functions already, so when it came to our thriller editing, it was a piece of cake. Even when we needed help, we asked the teachers so there was no problem there. Final cut pro was easy to use too. The transition and cuts were basic for us. In the preliminary task we used many match-cuts were we learnt to use in our thriller so it was a helpful technique to learn. The transitions worked well with the perfect timing of cuts. All this helped create the suspicion and tension. We learned this from a film called ‘Bourne identity’
As a thriller movie the film should grab your attention at the beginning and the opening clip must lead the viewer into the movie as fluently as possible.
On the other hand, the use of internet was great too. Blogging was very simple. We had to write what we did every lesson and when filming and editing. Simple. But from time to time I would forget to blog and that’s when it piles up. It was also simple to upload out clip onto the internet too. Thought to upload it onto YouTube, But other members in my group didn’t agree with it.
My skills developed mainly when it came to the beginning of the thriller and we had to take everything we learned into action. Choosing location to timing and schedule of filming. From camera work and timing. It all came back to me when in the process of filming the thriller. The camera work especially, the angle had to be right and the space above the head had to be just right.
Overall, I was happy how our clip turned out. When we went to the cinema to watch it, we had gotten a lot of positive feedback. The freed back was mainly base on our mise-en-scene, match-cut and the editing overall. If have more time, I would of worked on more filming (more different angles) and the soundtrack could have been worked on too.
Wednesday 25 March 2009
AS Thriller Evaluation
Our task was to create an opening for a thriller film. Different film genres have forms and conventions that make it typical to that genre. It was therefore important that we had a good understanding of the thriller genre and aspects that were very important to the genre in order to make an effective opening.
At the beginning of this project we had to look into different thriller film openings to familiarise ourselves with the forms and conventions of real media products. The thriller genre has many different sub-genres for example psychological thrillers, crime thrillers and political thrillers to name but a few. As a class we looked at the openings of a variety of famous thrillers including 28 Days Later, Arlington Road, Collateral, and The Shining. We were analysed and described aspects such as how the camera work creates suspense and found that elements such as setting and lighting also play a major role in creating a thrilling feeling. Each sub-genre has its way of using certain techniques to emphasise the thrilling experience for example the opening to 28 Days Later, directed by Danny Boyle, particularly focuses on location to create a deserted feeling as the film opens with a man waking up alone in a deserted place which then cuts to a view of a completely empty central London which is usually known to be densely populated. In comparison, ‘The Shining’ which is a physiological thriller directed by Stanley Kubrick, creates suspense mainly through camerawork and sound. A loud sound opens the scene which is then followed by a high pitched non digetic edgy sound. An example of the impressive camera work is the hand-held camera effect that follows the little boy riding his bike. A lot of suspense is built as the camera is at the same level as the boy and following him directly which means that the audience only see what he sees adding great suspense particularly as he turns around corners. The non-digetic background music adds to this uneasy feeling as well as the long unedited and slow pace shot.
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In my own time, I watched some thrillers for inspiration including ''Passenger 57 (1992),' 'Con Air (1997),' 'Breach (2007),' 'Taken (2008).' I was mainly inspired by the film ‘Taken.’
‘Taken’ directed by Pierre Morel is a film about a former spy who relies on his old skills to save his kidnapped daughter who has been forced into the sex trafficking trade. This film personally influenced my input into the group discussion about what sub-genre we should do. After watching this film, I was very determined to do a crime thriller as I particularly liked the story line, the great amount of suspense built up throughout the film from editing and sound creating a ‘jumpy’ feeling and a lot of the action involved. I did some research on this film including looking at the trailer where I came across the heartbeat sound effect. I found this very effective in creating suspense and we decided to use it in our soundtrack towards the end on our thriller opening.
From the research into thriller openings we identified conventions that are typical in all or most thrillers. The main convention of a thriller opening is a suspense sequence that is usually followed. This includes posing questions to the audience, characters in jeopardy, and the unfolding of the narrative. Later on in the film these are followed by complications, false resolution, questions answered and people no longer in jeopardy. For example in ‘Taken,’ the main character’s identity (the dad) is unknown to the audience who want answers then his daughter is taken and the storyline begins to unfold. In our thriller opening which we titled ‘Captive’ we posed questions to the audience by firstly cutting between the two young girls having lunch at the cafe and the kidnapper in his car. At the first thought, the man in his car has no relation with the two girls until a little while into the opening he stares at his watch which connotes a stalker type of feeling as the man could now be identified as having something to do with the two girls but not quite sure what. There is a false resolution when one of the girls walks into the cafe to pay for the hot chocolate we almost expect the other girl to be taken. The two separate scenes then come together when the man in the car is looking at the girl in his side view mirror.
Throughout the opening, we restrict the view of the kidnappers face showing only parts of his face or body or through a blurred vision point of view shot. This is quite usual of thriller films to often hide the identity of the criminal or bad character.
One way in which we challenged the forms and conventions of a typical thriller is our opening shot. Rather than having an establishing shot we started off with the action of somebody stirring a cup of hot chocolate in slow motion. We did not want to use an ordinary beginning and wanted to pose some confusion to begin with which is then answered by the shot of the two girls at a cafe.
The main characters in ‘Captive’ are two 15 year old white, London born school girls and a middle aged Asian male kidnapper. Our thriller in some ways represents a particular social group for example when discussing as a group who the characters will be, we stereotypically chose the kidnapper to be played by a male suggesting that in a most likely real case, the kidnapper would be a male. This is a view based on the stereotypes in the media. The mise-en-scene, particularly the clothing of the school girls was an identifiable trait. We chose to wear a ‘school uniform’ which was basically black and white formal clothing, however, we portrayed the school girls in a more innocent way than what is often identified as a typical teenage school girl. For example, the media often represent a typical 15 year old London school girl to wear a mini skirt with knee high socks and lots of makeup. We put across a more realistic view of two young vulnerable girls also wearing appropriate clothing such as trousers and jackets. In terms of religion and race we did not chose specific characters based to represent these types of social groups, it was more to do we gender and age. Finally, we commented on class once again through the mise-en-scene. We particularly wanted the kidnapper to be seen as a higher class male but infact if the film was to continue, he is actually of working class but comes by his money illegally. To show this idea of wealth we panned the up market BMW car, showed the man looking at his expensive watch and having him dressed in a black suit.
If our media product was to be distributed, I think it would be distributed by a media institution that is mainly for U.K mainstream cinema viewers. The reason for this is because I think that the type of thriller that it is is based on a surreal storyline of London and occurrences involving kidnapping of young school girls. This would possibly make more of a thrilling impact on a U.K audience who can identify with such crimes of today. When researching media institutions, one that fit this particular description was Momentum Pictures [www.momentumpictures.co.uk], an alliance film company, who release approximately 20 films a year and is one of the leading companies in the UK.
The target audience for our media product would be a mainstream U.K audience. I would expect that it would attract more males than females due to it being a crime/action thriller however; many females also enjoy this genre therefore attracting a mass market. The age rating would be 15+ due to the violence involved and I think it would appeal to 15 to middle aged people. An example of the type of audience that would watch ‘Captive’ would be ‘Jenny, 19 years old currently in education, enjoys going to the cinema and watching films based around the harsh reality of life whilst also being entertained.’
The success of a film is not just based on the film itself but marketing also plays a major role. It is important that the film is marketed in a way that attracts the target audience. Being a British produced and distributed film, the filming budget would be quite low for ‘Captive’ and as it will only be broadcasted to a U.K audience it is very important that we target our customers effectively yet trying not to over-do the marketing costs. Trailers are a brilliant way to promote a new film and from personal experiences I have found that a lot of the time all the ‘best bits’ are shown in the trailer yet the actual film expresses disappointment. Trailers seize people in a persuasive way to make them want to watch the film by showing off the stars, the genre and narrative. Especially due to our sub-genre being crime/action, a lot of the action and thrilling parts of the film can be shown in the trailer. I also personally find that billboards, television and the internet are ways in which I am attracted to watch a certain film and as I am an example of the type of audience that this media product is targeted at, I think these promotional mediums would best suit our thriller. The internet has widened the potential audience for our media product and would therefore be easier to appeal to the right target audience by advertising on particular websites that they are likely to use. The good thing about billboards is that they generally catch your eyes when travelling in either a vehicle or just walking. It is unlikely that there would be a big premier due to the fact that there are no well-known ‘stars’ in Captive and also due to expenses.
This project has widely expanded my knowledge of certain technology. Firstly, using an Apple Mac was new to me as I am only really familiar with Windows PC which leads on to the programmes on the Apple. Final Cut pro was my favourite program to use. It gave me a great insight into professional editing and the amount of different effects and transitions available to use. Sound track Pro was also a good and interesting programme to use to make our own background music and add sound effects to make the action more believable. LiveType enabled us to add motion credits to the thriller. Learning to use the camcorders properly meant that it was easier to get the right framing and made the process quicker. Another form of technology that was frequently used was the internet. We continuously blogged the filming and editing process and used the internet for research. I used You Tube [www.youtube.com] to look at other film openings particularly when I needed a reminder of what was in the opening credits.
The preliminary tasks played a major role in the final outcome of our thriller opening. Making our ‘mini film’ meant we had to plan, storyboard, film and edit just like our final media product. Each stage from the planning to editing was just as important as each other and proved that each part relies on each other for example bad planning will most likely produce a bad outcome and vise-versa. From this task we learnt improved camerawork techniques such as hand-held and static to match-cuts and framing. The preliminary also enabled us to become familiar with using editing and sound programmes. We can say that we definitely learnt from our mistakes such as the continuity of mise-en-scene and very bad framing. When filming our final piece we made sure that our framing was absolutely perfect for each shot and always had the same props and clothing with us. Another thing that we learnt from the preliminary task was the ‘match-cutting exercise.’ This was an extremely useful exercise as we did end up using quite a few match-cuts which I personally did not know what a match-cut was until the preliminary task. In addition to the preliminary, when we first begun filming we forgot all about reflections as this wasn’t obvious on the small camera screen but noticeable after which we then re-shot.
Overall, I am very pleased the final outcome of my media product. The feedback we received was very positive and reflects that of a real media product. We were credited for the mise-en-scene, framing, match-cuts, clear narrative, continuity and overall editing. If I could have spent more time on this project, I would have liked to spend more time on sound effects and trying to create a more intense soundtrack as this could have been improved.
Saturday 28 February 2009
Complete! (#17)
Yesterday was our deadline and after attending workshops throughout the whole week, we have finally completed our thriller opening.
From Monday we completed the editing which meant with only Thursday's lesson left, we were all committed to attending workshops. At first we split up into pairs with me and Akash doing the opening credits on LiveType and Ana and Laura making the Soundtrack. Luckily they were able to continue on from my 'experimenting' with Sound Track Pro as it actually did work well with our final piece. With the credits, we wanted to keep them quite simple so used a consistent font and effect throughout apart from the 'Cala productions' and the title 'Captive' as these were what we wanted to stand out more. Also with the credits we randomly selected each others names for each category for example although it said Directed by Laura or Edited By Akash and Cristina; we actually all took part in each aspect of the filming, editing, credits, sounds etc. We worked very well as a group and despite being slightly anxious that we were not going to complete it by the deadline, we all put in a great effort and did.
From Monday we completed the editing which meant with only Thursday's lesson left, we were all committed to attending workshops. At first we split up into pairs with me and Akash doing the opening credits on LiveType and Ana and Laura making the Soundtrack. Luckily they were able to continue on from my 'experimenting' with Sound Track Pro as it actually did work well with our final piece. With the credits, we wanted to keep them quite simple so used a consistent font and effect throughout apart from the 'Cala productions' and the title 'Captive' as these were what we wanted to stand out more. Also with the credits we randomly selected each others names for each category for example although it said Directed by Laura or Edited By Akash and Cristina; we actually all took part in each aspect of the filming, editing, credits, sounds etc. We worked very well as a group and despite being slightly anxious that we were not going to complete it by the deadline, we all put in a great effort and did.
Monday 23 February 2009
Filming and Editing 3 (#16)
Today the group was reunited after the half-term and other commitments before the holidays. This meant that we could finally complete the filming and focus entirely on editing. Luckily the weather was also good so we went out and filmed our remaining shots.
After we came back, we uploaded what we filmed and were quite happy with it. Me and Akash worked on the editing and Laura and Ana worked on the credits using LiveType.
After the lesson, me and Akash stayed back to continue editing and we made a completed piece that we both liked but feel it would be much better when we add the music as it does not seem very thrilling at the moment. We also timed how long it was as it has to be a maximum of 2 minutes. Our thriller opening was 1 minute 48 seconds which means we have extra time for our credits. When the group are next together again (most likely tomorrow in work-shop) we are going to see if anybody would like to change anything and also work on ways of cutting 'unnecessary' filming down as this makes the opening seem boring.
After we came back, we uploaded what we filmed and were quite happy with it. Me and Akash worked on the editing and Laura and Ana worked on the credits using LiveType.
After the lesson, me and Akash stayed back to continue editing and we made a completed piece that we both liked but feel it would be much better when we add the music as it does not seem very thrilling at the moment. We also timed how long it was as it has to be a maximum of 2 minutes. Our thriller opening was 1 minute 48 seconds which means we have extra time for our credits. When the group are next together again (most likely tomorrow in work-shop) we are going to see if anybody would like to change anything and also work on ways of cutting 'unnecessary' filming down as this makes the opening seem boring.
Tuesday 10 February 2009
Editing2 (#15)
In the lesson yesterday we came across a bit of a problem. We wanted to focus on editing this week however, we have not fully completed a few last shots with filming due to the weather conditions last week and now Ana and Akash are unable to attend the media lessons this week (including this Thursday's lesson). Because of this we have decided that the week we return to college, we will spend as many lunch times as we can in work-shop.
Me and Laura looked at ways we could improve the editing that we had done on Thursday and made quite a few changes to make it better such as by using transitions and altering the speed of certain shots. After we had done some work on the editing we started to look at different fonts and effects on LiveType that we will use for our opening credits. Before we started making our thriller openings we were told that in the past a lot of people "throw in the credits at the end" without much thought to it. That is why we decided as a group that we don't want to just 'throw in' the credits as we would like to find ways in which it might make the thriller opening even better. After doing a bit of experimenting, we saved a couple of the ones that we might consider using but we would like to wait for the opinion of the rest of our group first.
As I had some spare time after the lesson, I decided to get a bit more practise using SoundTrack Pro so I had a play around with sound effects to see what could work. I will share my thoughts with the rest of my group when we come to making our soundtrack.
Me and Laura looked at ways we could improve the editing that we had done on Thursday and made quite a few changes to make it better such as by using transitions and altering the speed of certain shots. After we had done some work on the editing we started to look at different fonts and effects on LiveType that we will use for our opening credits. Before we started making our thriller openings we were told that in the past a lot of people "throw in the credits at the end" without much thought to it. That is why we decided as a group that we don't want to just 'throw in' the credits as we would like to find ways in which it might make the thriller opening even better. After doing a bit of experimenting, we saved a couple of the ones that we might consider using but we would like to wait for the opinion of the rest of our group first.
As I had some spare time after the lesson, I decided to get a bit more practise using SoundTrack Pro so I had a play around with sound effects to see what could work. I will share my thoughts with the rest of my group when we come to making our soundtrack.
Thursday 5 February 2009
editing part 1
We had to stop filming for a little while due to the weather conditions. The area were we normally film, was covered in snow so we decided to give the camera work a rest and begin editing properly. We did edit the very ending well, Due to the good match-cuts and timing when recording. The beginning was tricky to do but managed to cut and paste it together. All was missing now was the middle because the ending and start was perfect. We worked well together when editing. Neither arguments nor complaints. We thought of the music and titles coming up but still was not sure on it.
Editing (#14)
College was closed on Monday due to the adverse weather conditions and today we could not film because the location where we were filming was covered in snow which would be a major problem when it comes to the continuity of the mise-en-scene as we originally filmed in dry conditions. Instead of filming, we began to edit what we had. We looked through each clip individually and renamed them. We edited parts of the thriller opening but not necessarily in order as we still need more footage. We also done quite a few good match-cuts. Overall, we were very happy with the shots we got so far as the framing was good and we avoided the mistakes that we had originally made in the beginning.
Thursday 29 January 2009
Day 2 and 3 of Filming (#13)
On Tuesday, we continued the second part of our filming. We asked a friend to borrow his car for our filming which meant that we all had to arrange an out-of-lesson time that everyone would be able to attend filming. Eventually we argreed on Tuesday afternoon which meant we would only have around 1.30mins to do the filming and a lot of time was then wasted by trying to find the right location. We got various shots that we needed and tryed to cram in a few more at the end however, these might have to be re-taken as we would ideally like to have spent a bit more time on this part.
Today, we done more filming. We completely re-shot all of the footage that we took on day one of filming as we had more time and also had access to the outside of Ana's mum's cafe without feeling that we were being disturbing (which we have no idea why we never thought of that in the first place.) The filming we did on Tuesday was in dry weather unlike last Thursday's filiming which was raining and today the weather was also dry meaning that the continuity would also be better. After uploading the footage from today, we feel that slightly more filming on the 'kidnapping action' should be done before we start editing, other then that, the shots were successful.
Today, we done more filming. We completely re-shot all of the footage that we took on day one of filming as we had more time and also had access to the outside of Ana's mum's cafe without feeling that we were being disturbing (which we have no idea why we never thought of that in the first place.) The filming we did on Tuesday was in dry weather unlike last Thursday's filiming which was raining and today the weather was also dry meaning that the continuity would also be better. After uploading the footage from today, we feel that slightly more filming on the 'kidnapping action' should be done before we start editing, other then that, the shots were successful.
Monday 26 January 2009
filming part 1
When we began our filming, we decided to use a local cafe to do the opening first shots.
I, myself use to go there a lot so I thought the people who worked there, would be ok with it and they were. We thought as a group to film outside, since it won’t disturb the people inside. When we started filming, it didn’t go quite smooth. Since it was outside a cafe, some people kept walking by with a grin saying sorry. It did get annoying after a while. Maybe the problem was that we decided to film at peak hour for cafes, but we managed to get the shots we needed done. We also did have some difficulties when acting too, as we are not that professional and laughter is a main theme when a mistake is occurred. As a result we had to do more shots to get it right.
I wanted to do lots of different angled shots when the actors were doing the same thing, to get some good match-cuts when editing so, me and Laura did a couple of them.
The next lesson we didn’t do any filming due to the time we had, but decided to see what we had got and how to improve. Some shots were alright but some had to be done again, because of the framing and mise-on-scene. We found out it is important to keep the costumes the same and not to change anything in the period when filming. We improved our skills on the programme we used to create our opening sequence clip. It was tricky to use, but the main functions had gotten mastered.
On the second part of the filming we got all of the shots that didn’t look right and re-did them. Also i had asked a good friend if we could use his car. This was adding realism and we thought, it would look good if we had a 1 series BMW in our opening sequence. My friend let us use it, but even with that we had limited time so we got a lot of shots done in no time. We got some good shots too, when the camera was looking in the side mirrors as the girl walked passed. It was a P.O.V shot and worked well. Overall, I think that the time with the car was rushed because we spent more time looking for another good location with the car instead of doing actual planned filming. However the shots that we did, worked well.
I, myself use to go there a lot so I thought the people who worked there, would be ok with it and they were. We thought as a group to film outside, since it won’t disturb the people inside. When we started filming, it didn’t go quite smooth. Since it was outside a cafe, some people kept walking by with a grin saying sorry. It did get annoying after a while. Maybe the problem was that we decided to film at peak hour for cafes, but we managed to get the shots we needed done. We also did have some difficulties when acting too, as we are not that professional and laughter is a main theme when a mistake is occurred. As a result we had to do more shots to get it right.
I wanted to do lots of different angled shots when the actors were doing the same thing, to get some good match-cuts when editing so, me and Laura did a couple of them.
The next lesson we didn’t do any filming due to the time we had, but decided to see what we had got and how to improve. Some shots were alright but some had to be done again, because of the framing and mise-on-scene. We found out it is important to keep the costumes the same and not to change anything in the period when filming. We improved our skills on the programme we used to create our opening sequence clip. It was tricky to use, but the main functions had gotten mastered.
On the second part of the filming we got all of the shots that didn’t look right and re-did them. Also i had asked a good friend if we could use his car. This was adding realism and we thought, it would look good if we had a 1 series BMW in our opening sequence. My friend let us use it, but even with that we had limited time so we got a lot of shots done in no time. We got some good shots too, when the camera was looking in the side mirrors as the girl walked passed. It was a P.O.V shot and worked well. Overall, I think that the time with the car was rushed because we spent more time looking for another good location with the car instead of doing actual planned filming. However the shots that we did, worked well.
Improving filming and Using LiveType (#12)
In today's lesson we decided not to do any filming due to the time we had and some props we didn't have. Instead we decided to look at the footage we had already uploaded and what we might have to film again and what we need to do next. We noticed a few mistakes which means we might have to re-film them such as one shot with bad framing and another shot where a member of a group was accidentally seen on camera in a reflection.
We arranged the days that we will be filming and booked our equipment. After this we began experimenting with how to use LiveType. This is the program that we will use to create our opening credits so we experimented with different fonts and effects that we may possibly use.
We arranged the days that we will be filming and booked our equipment. After this we began experimenting with how to use LiveType. This is the program that we will use to create our opening credits so we experimented with different fonts and effects that we may possibly use.
Thursday 22 January 2009
Day 1 of Filming (#11)
We begun our filming today. We went to a cafe for our opening shot and asked them for permission to use there premises for filming. As we didn't want to be too disturbing we decided to film outside the cafe instead. The filming went well however we had to do quite a few re-takes due to small things such as public getting in the way or just general acting mistakes. We repeated the same shots from different angles so we could do match-cuts when editing.
Me and Ana, were playing the school girl characters so the mise-en-scene was important. We dressed in clothes that looked like school uniforms.
After filming, I went to workshop, we uploaded what we had filmed and started to edit it. Not a lot could be done at this point as we did not have a lot of footage and also we noticed a few things that we wanted to change.
Me and Ana, were playing the school girl characters so the mise-en-scene was important. We dressed in clothes that looked like school uniforms.
After filming, I went to workshop, we uploaded what we had filmed and started to edit it. Not a lot could be done at this point as we did not have a lot of footage and also we noticed a few things that we wanted to change.
Day 1 of filming thriller
In todays lesson, my group and i went to a cafe located on the back roads of Angel.
Monday 19 January 2009
Sound Demo (#10)
In the lesson today, we had a little interactive sound tutorial and exercise to do based around the film 'Casino Royale.' Firstly we had to work our way through the little tasks and the eventually the main exercise was a sound sequence task. We had to choose a sequence from the film and using the sound clips given, we had to add the sound to it so that it firstly made sense to the action taking place and secondly, it was effective.
After this, we were shown how to use Soundtrack Pro to add music to our preliminary exercise. As some people in my group had already produced a soundtrack for it, we just experimented using the program rather then create another one.
After this, we were shown how to use Soundtrack Pro to add music to our preliminary exercise. As some people in my group had already produced a soundtrack for it, we just experimented using the program rather then create another one.
Meant to be posted on Thursday 15th January 09
On Thursday's lesson the majority of our media class had to there pitch in front one and other. The homework that was set for that week, was for members of our group to be allocated fields of film, such as lighting, camerawork, music, etc. and then pitch it to the class. I was allocated the field of camerawork. Other members of my group, such as, Akash that was set the task of describing key images and icons, and describing the setting and location for where our thriller will be held. Cristina was given the task of music. Ana was given the task of the type of lighting that will be used as well as what audience type were we filming for. When Thursdays lesson came around, we were told to bring in our homework and then present in a visual way, this is in the form of sugar paper etc. When we had finished the main parts of our pitch and the parts for when people will be speaking next; we decided to create our story board as a group. After this, we pitch our idea to class and to the teacher, we were graded on this pitch.
Sunday 18 January 2009
10. Thursday 15th January 2009
In the first half of the lesson, we continued with our pitch. We also watched some other students' past work for ideas on what worked and what didn't work. In the second part of the lesson we finished off our pitches and each group got up in front of the class and presented their pitch ideas.
9. Monday 12th January 2009
Today we began to think of ideas for our thriller. Our group had to think of things such as the settings and locations that we were going to use, the lighting and the camerawork. We started to put our ideas onto our group pitch which we were to present to the class the following lesson.
Thursday 15 January 2009
Pitch and Idea development (#9)
Today we done our pitch. Following on from the homework set last lesson, each member of our group put together their notes on the category they were allocated. Akash had to describe key images and icons and the setting and location where we will be filming each part of the thriller. Ana had to describe the type of lighting that will be used and our target audience. Laura had to describe the types of shots and camera work involved and finally, I had to describe the sounds and music we will create.
Once we put our notes together, we spoke about any changes we would like to make and then produced a storyboard which was needed for the pitch.
Our synopsis is:
' Character A and B are two school girls who are having a hot-chocolate at a cafe. Character C is a man whose face remains unidentified throughout the thriller opening. Character A and B leave the cafe together and part to go home seperate ways. Character A walks slowly on her way home unaware of character C who has been waiting for her in his car. He quickly creeps up behind her and fiercefully attacks her and throws her into the boot of his car.'
We was given positive feedback from our teacher for our pitch.
Once we put our notes together, we spoke about any changes we would like to make and then produced a storyboard which was needed for the pitch.
Our synopsis is:
' Character A and B are two school girls who are having a hot-chocolate at a cafe. Character C is a man whose face remains unidentified throughout the thriller opening. Character A and B leave the cafe together and part to go home seperate ways. Character A walks slowly on her way home unaware of character C who has been waiting for her in his car. He quickly creeps up behind her and fiercefully attacks her and throws her into the boot of his car.'
We was given positive feedback from our teacher for our pitch.
Monday 12 January 2009
Thriller Practical ideas to pitch (#8)
In the lesson today we began the first steps towards the planning of our thriller opening. We were told that in Thursday's lesson, we would have to pitch our ideas like a real media/film institution would have to.
The first thing that we did was came up with the sub-genre of our thriller. During the research parts of this unit, we had brainstormed sub-genres for thrillers and found quite a variety that we could use. We decided that we would like to make the opening to a crime thriller. I was happy that we chose this as a lot of the thrillers I have been watching for inspiration falls under this category. Some of the films I have watched include 'Kindergarten Cop (1990),''Passenger 57 (1992),' 'Con Air (1997),' 'Breach (2007),' 'Taken (2008).' All of these thriller films contained a lot of crime and action as well as some featuring elements of comedy. The main storylines featured involved spy, kidnap, security, FBI, government and a lot of fighting.
We decided to go ahead with a kidnapping scene as our opening to a thriller. The reason why we chose this was because it is a simple narrative that can look very effective with the use of great camera work and editing. The storyline is typical of a crime thriller and can also make a very suspenseful opening to a film which is what we are aiming to achieve.
After we created our synopsis, we allocated different parts of what needs to be included in our pitch for Thursday. The area I will focus on is music/sound.
The first thing that we did was came up with the sub-genre of our thriller. During the research parts of this unit, we had brainstormed sub-genres for thrillers and found quite a variety that we could use. We decided that we would like to make the opening to a crime thriller. I was happy that we chose this as a lot of the thrillers I have been watching for inspiration falls under this category. Some of the films I have watched include 'Kindergarten Cop (1990),''Passenger 57 (1992),' 'Con Air (1997),' 'Breach (2007),' 'Taken (2008).' All of these thriller films contained a lot of crime and action as well as some featuring elements of comedy. The main storylines featured involved spy, kidnap, security, FBI, government and a lot of fighting.
We decided to go ahead with a kidnapping scene as our opening to a thriller. The reason why we chose this was because it is a simple narrative that can look very effective with the use of great camera work and editing. The storyline is typical of a crime thriller and can also make a very suspenseful opening to a film which is what we are aiming to achieve.
After we created our synopsis, we allocated different parts of what needs to be included in our pitch for Thursday. The area I will focus on is music/sound.
Ideas to pitch
when we made our pitch idea we had the basic story and shots, but as it went on we adusted it and improved some shots even more before we pitched it. i think our whole group gave great ideas but some were contradicted and some were imposible to do, plus it wouldnt make sense.
my group was the first to present our pitch. i thought our's differed to others. i personally didnt do much speaking becasue i got stage fright for some reason but, i have the same input as everyone else in my group. We talked about the idea of your story and talked about types of camera angels. Which kind will help reinforce the meaning of the shot.
my group was the first to present our pitch. i thought our's differed to others. i personally didnt do much speaking becasue i got stage fright for some reason but, i have the same input as everyone else in my group. We talked about the idea of your story and talked about types of camera angels. Which kind will help reinforce the meaning of the shot.
Friday 9 January 2009
8. Thursday 8th January 2009
For the first half of the lesson, we filmed our second mini-thriller and for the second half we uploaded our footage and then edited our shots so that they ran smoothly into one another. We also had a few match-cuts.
7. Monday 5th January 2009
We had a mini tutorial on 'match-cuts', which is a technique in editing where two different shots run smoothly into each other. For example, if a man is filmed from the front while he is walking, then the match-cut would then be the man being filmed from the side, while walking. This is an example of a match-cut because the man is seen continuously walking in both shots.
Thursday 8 January 2009
Preliminary Task - Match Cut (#7)
Following on from Monday's lesson, today we had to continue our preliminary exercise. The task was continuity task involving filming and editing two characters engaged in some basic 'thrilling' action as described in the synopsis on Monday's blog. Our storyboard consisted of character A walking into a room with a bag. Uncomfortably greeted by character B spinning around on her office chair telling character B to "Take a seat." Character B sits down and hands character A the bag. Character A begins to open the bag before Character B quickly snatches it back stating "That's not what I had in mind." This was our last shot as we decided to leave our thrilling action with a cliffhanger.
We began the filming making sure to allow 5 seconds before and after each shot. To begin with was a tracking shot involving following character A's feet. We placed a camera on a chair with wheels to create this effect however the filming looked very unsteady. We repeated the shot using hand-held technique and to our surprise, it looked much better and how we were hoping it would turn out. This was one lesson learnt from our practise task.
Another thing that we learnt from this task was continuity of mise-en-scene. As we approached the end of the filming we realised that our first few shots did not contain the most important prop (the bag). Unfortunately we did not have enough time to re-shoot these few shots and as a result of this, we knew that it would pose a problem during editing. This was definitely a major lesson learnt and next time we film it would be a good idea to rewind and play each shot after we have filmed it rather then wait to the end to spot our mistakes.
During the uploading of our footage we came across another mistake that we had not noticed during the filming. In a few of our shots we had very bad frame work. The type of shots such as over the shoulder shots worked well however, the way in which the camera was positioned showed a lot of surrounding space that was not needed to be seen. We did not pay enough attention to the framing due to time that we had but, again, this was a major fault that we will have to spend more time on during our thriller openings.
Other then the frame work, mise-en-scene and continuity issues, the overall editing went very well. We produced some very good match-cuts and despite the props problem, it still made sense. We managed to create an element of suspense by the narrative, camera work and the background music.
The feedback from our teacher was quite positive although they picked up on the bad framing instantly which shows that this is something we will have to think about on our final piece. On the other hand, we were told that our match-cuts were very good which is also something we were pleased about.
To conclude, I personally feel that this preliminary task was very valuable in terms of understanding our strengths and weaknesses and how we will avoid our mistakes in our thriller opening. I learnt a lot from this exercise and also found it very enjoyable. Whilst filming, me and my group had fun and cooperated well which is always nice when working with others. This is now the second practise task that we have completed and I feel that I am starting to become more confident with using Final Cut Pro to edit as well as using the camera to film. I have not yet done any acting which is something I might consider in the final piece. Overall, I am happy with what we have produced but I am more excited to know what our thriller opening will be like now that we have picked up on our mistakes and I am sure we could produce something much better.
We began the filming making sure to allow 5 seconds before and after each shot. To begin with was a tracking shot involving following character A's feet. We placed a camera on a chair with wheels to create this effect however the filming looked very unsteady. We repeated the shot using hand-held technique and to our surprise, it looked much better and how we were hoping it would turn out. This was one lesson learnt from our practise task.
Another thing that we learnt from this task was continuity of mise-en-scene. As we approached the end of the filming we realised that our first few shots did not contain the most important prop (the bag). Unfortunately we did not have enough time to re-shoot these few shots and as a result of this, we knew that it would pose a problem during editing. This was definitely a major lesson learnt and next time we film it would be a good idea to rewind and play each shot after we have filmed it rather then wait to the end to spot our mistakes.
During the uploading of our footage we came across another mistake that we had not noticed during the filming. In a few of our shots we had very bad frame work. The type of shots such as over the shoulder shots worked well however, the way in which the camera was positioned showed a lot of surrounding space that was not needed to be seen. We did not pay enough attention to the framing due to time that we had but, again, this was a major fault that we will have to spend more time on during our thriller openings.
Other then the frame work, mise-en-scene and continuity issues, the overall editing went very well. We produced some very good match-cuts and despite the props problem, it still made sense. We managed to create an element of suspense by the narrative, camera work and the background music.
The feedback from our teacher was quite positive although they picked up on the bad framing instantly which shows that this is something we will have to think about on our final piece. On the other hand, we were told that our match-cuts were very good which is also something we were pleased about.
To conclude, I personally feel that this preliminary task was very valuable in terms of understanding our strengths and weaknesses and how we will avoid our mistakes in our thriller opening. I learnt a lot from this exercise and also found it very enjoyable. Whilst filming, me and my group had fun and cooperated well which is always nice when working with others. This is now the second practise task that we have completed and I feel that I am starting to become more confident with using Final Cut Pro to edit as well as using the camera to film. I have not yet done any acting which is something I might consider in the final piece. Overall, I am happy with what we have produced but I am more excited to know what our thriller opening will be like now that we have picked up on our mistakes and I am sure we could produce something much better.
Preliminary Filming Task on the usage of Match Cut
In today's lesson my group started to film and edit out Preliminary task on how to use Match Cut. Akash, Ana, Cristina and I used the guidance of our storyboard sheet and a sheet that limited us to a minimum of 16 shots.
We started filming our clip, by adapting as a group we wanted to have various shots, however given the impression that the subject is simply walking. In doing this, we had to make Akash walk numerous times, while Cristina, shot this action in different angles, such as, him walking towards the camera and the camera following behind him. We then had to establish, how Akash would enter the room, when we decided, we came to the conclusion of a continuous shot of Akash walking and then we will cut until he enters the room. From this point, we had to then film within the room, here was the major match cut. Where we had to cut between, Akash walking down the corridor, to him entering the room. After this point, was the dialogue, it was kept to a minimum. Here we filed the whole dialogue from a distance, and then we filmed it again from over the shoulder of both, Akash and Ana. So the duration of the editing process, we can have various cuts during the dialogue.
During the editing process. we found it relatively hard to have fluidity of each shot as we didnt leave 5 seconds at the end, or we left too much at the end.
As a whole, we have learnt as a group, the amount of space taken up on a frame, for example during the dialogue, there was a waste of about 50%, as we did not allow the heads of Akash and Ana to touch the top of the frame. We have also learnt the rule of allowing 5 seconds after each piece of footage, as this is very important during the editing process. What i have learnt from this task compared to the previous task, is the importance of the 5 second rule. I do not think that as a group we have formed a clip, that is similar to a fill, for we were very limited, in the case of lighting, mise-en-scene. However, in fields of narrative it can be very strong no matter if you asre working with a lot of money or hardly any, for narrative can be very simplitic, depending on how you come across.
We started filming our clip, by adapting as a group we wanted to have various shots, however given the impression that the subject is simply walking. In doing this, we had to make Akash walk numerous times, while Cristina, shot this action in different angles, such as, him walking towards the camera and the camera following behind him. We then had to establish, how Akash would enter the room, when we decided, we came to the conclusion of a continuous shot of Akash walking and then we will cut until he enters the room. From this point, we had to then film within the room, here was the major match cut. Where we had to cut between, Akash walking down the corridor, to him entering the room. After this point, was the dialogue, it was kept to a minimum. Here we filed the whole dialogue from a distance, and then we filmed it again from over the shoulder of both, Akash and Ana. So the duration of the editing process, we can have various cuts during the dialogue.
During the editing process. we found it relatively hard to have fluidity of each shot as we didnt leave 5 seconds at the end, or we left too much at the end.
As a whole, we have learnt as a group, the amount of space taken up on a frame, for example during the dialogue, there was a waste of about 50%, as we did not allow the heads of Akash and Ana to touch the top of the frame. We have also learnt the rule of allowing 5 seconds after each piece of footage, as this is very important during the editing process. What i have learnt from this task compared to the previous task, is the importance of the 5 second rule. I do not think that as a group we have formed a clip, that is similar to a fill, for we were very limited, in the case of lighting, mise-en-scene. However, in fields of narrative it can be very strong no matter if you asre working with a lot of money or hardly any, for narrative can be very simplitic, depending on how you come across.
Preliminary Task on match-cut
In the lesson for our premliminary task we were given a assingment to create a short clip, with a little dialogue between two characters, a package being given, but mainly focusing on match-cuts. Previously we was shown a clip on some good shots of match-cuts, to get ideas from it. In our groups, we had created a shot list of 20 shots to get our idea in were the matches was going to take place. After, we started to do the practical an put our camera work skills to practice once again.
I think, when we were filming the shots was perfect, we just had to get use to the functions a little bit more. when it came to the acting and the characters dialogue, we had to re-do the shot because there was so much laughter and mistakes. i guess as well as camera work and editing, you do need some acting skills. However, overall we enjoyed our task given and i think produced a good short clip.
The difficult part was when it came to editing, to get the match right. We worked as a group and took in all the input from each member, on which cut suited. i personally think when it came to the dialogue bit, we got the match cut right and did well in making it a continuity edit.
I think, when we were filming the shots was perfect, we just had to get use to the functions a little bit more. when it came to the acting and the characters dialogue, we had to re-do the shot because there was so much laughter and mistakes. i guess as well as camera work and editing, you do need some acting skills. However, overall we enjoyed our task given and i think produced a good short clip.
The difficult part was when it came to editing, to get the match right. We worked as a group and took in all the input from each member, on which cut suited. i personally think when it came to the dialogue bit, we got the match cut right and did well in making it a continuity edit.
Meant to be posted on Monday 5th January 09
On Mondays lesson, we were shown, a clip as inspiration on how to do out thrillers. This clip simply consisted of a man at a computer East London around 3pm. He seems to be doing something illegal, as the camera pans up to an MI5 website. He then goes to a table to write something on an envelope that he will later post. At this point there is a major match cut and we were told to look out for the match cut. Afer this part of the clip, the man then walks to the post box and here, there is another match cut as, we are in front of him , when hes walking and then we go across the road, however it appears as a continous shot. The point of showing this clip to the class is, the overal scenario of the clip is very simple however, used in a very complex way.
Tuesday 6 January 2009
match-cut
In this lesson we looked at match-cut and learned that it is a good technique to use in editing. We were showed a clip, that the college staff made themselves and was told to take notes. After we watched it 3-4 more times to identify the mise en scene and match cuts that took place. After a small discussion were went back to our real thriller groups and was set a task. We was told to write synopsis and told to write up a storyboard, which could only consist of 20 shots. Next lesson we was going to actually film it and edit it. I’m interested in how my groups clip turns out. I think this is were we prove that we know how to do match-cut.
Monday 5 January 2009
Match-Cut exercise (#6)
In today's lesson we focused on match-cuts. The first task we were given was to create a shot list on a given synopsis. The synopsis was 'East London. 3pm. A man chain-smokes as he sits at his home PC. He copies confidential computer files and plans to a CD. He packages them and is seen posting them.' From this synopsis, in pairs we had to create 20 shots stating the shot number, interior/exterior shot, shot type, action and shot description. The main idea of this shot-list was to include match-cuts. On completion of this task, we were shown a video that the staff had made as an example and we had to identify any shots we used and the match-cuts.
Following on from this tutorial, we were then given another synopsis, ' Character A opens the door and enters a room and sits in the chair opposite character B. Character A and B exchange a couple of lines of dialogue.' Like the first task, we were then given a shot list consisting of 16 shots. We completed this in our thriller practical groups and then allocated 4 shots to each person to draw up on a storyboard for homework due for the next lesson where we would film our idea.
Following on from this tutorial, we were then given another synopsis, ' Character A opens the door and enters a room and sits in the chair opposite character B. Character A and B exchange a couple of lines of dialogue.' Like the first task, we were then given a shot list consisting of 16 shots. We completed this in our thriller practical groups and then allocated 4 shots to each person to draw up on a storyboard for homework due for the next lesson where we would film our idea.
Sunday 4 January 2009
what i'v done in the past lessons
In the past few lesson we have been doing a lot of analysis on thriller in general and other aspects got to do with it.
In one of the lessons we watched a movie called ‘the Bourne Identity’. this film was a action, spy, thriller which was about a man called Jason Bourne. who does remember who he is of were he came from after a tragic accident which the director does not show. Overall, it is about the main character looking for his identity. I learnt a lot from watching this film. It helped me get a idea of how I want my own thriller to be. I learnt some tips on how to create suspense and other thriller elements.
And I think the week after that lesson we started to do a practice run. We made out own 5 minute clip thriller. All we got told was the scene has to be about reading the newspaper and the jist of it was to add suspense to it, to see our camera work and editing skills. Our clip that we created, which took 2 whole lessons was alright but we learnt as a group, how music and positioning of cuts are vital to create suspense.
The disappointing thing I found was that, we had to make our own soundtrack for the ’real’ thriller. Even though the teacher said it will be simple to use and you will learn more. At first my ideal plan was to take a soundtrack from a song, as in getting the instrumental. But I guess making our own sound will make it more original.
Overall, in these lessons, I learnt how to use a camera which was extremely helpful, what type of shots are more effective than others and why and I have gathers information on films, clips and other sound material to get a idea on what I want to do for the thriller, so I can contribute my ideas to my group when the time comes.
In one of the lessons we watched a movie called ‘the Bourne Identity’. this film was a action, spy, thriller which was about a man called Jason Bourne. who does remember who he is of were he came from after a tragic accident which the director does not show. Overall, it is about the main character looking for his identity. I learnt a lot from watching this film. It helped me get a idea of how I want my own thriller to be. I learnt some tips on how to create suspense and other thriller elements.
And I think the week after that lesson we started to do a practice run. We made out own 5 minute clip thriller. All we got told was the scene has to be about reading the newspaper and the jist of it was to add suspense to it, to see our camera work and editing skills. Our clip that we created, which took 2 whole lessons was alright but we learnt as a group, how music and positioning of cuts are vital to create suspense.
The disappointing thing I found was that, we had to make our own soundtrack for the ’real’ thriller. Even though the teacher said it will be simple to use and you will learn more. At first my ideal plan was to take a soundtrack from a song, as in getting the instrumental. But I guess making our own sound will make it more original.
Overall, in these lessons, I learnt how to use a camera which was extremely helpful, what type of shots are more effective than others and why and I have gathers information on films, clips and other sound material to get a idea on what I want to do for the thriller, so I can contribute my ideas to my group when the time comes.
Analysing Thriller Openings (#5)
During our lesson before the Christmas holidays, we watched the opening sequence to a variety of famous thrillers including 28 Days Later, Arlington Street, Collateral, The Shining. After looking at these film openings we were asked to write an analysis of one of them, describing aspects such as how the camera work creates suspense. the film i chose to write about is 'The Shining.'
‘The Shining’ begins by setting the scene with an establishing shot. The location used creates an eerie feeling as the lighting is very gloomy showing, what seems like, an isolated house surrounded by trees and a mountain in the background. This shows the importance of location and setting when trying to create a particular atmosphere. There is then a cut straight to inside this ‘house’ and it becomes clearer that it is actually a hotel. We know this by the mise-en-scene of long corridors and many hotel room doors facing opposite each other. The camera is located behind a young, small boy on his tricycle and begins tracking the boy as he rides along the long corridors. The camera appears to have a hand-held effect as if we, as an audience, are also riding a bike behind the little boy. A lot of suspense is built as the camera is at the same level as the boy and following him directly which means that we can only see what he sees, this idea is emphasised particularly as he turns around the corner because we are expecting something to happen. The non-digetic background music adds to this uneasy feeling as well as the long unedited and slow pace shot.
The little boy stops by a door and looks up at it. There is a low angle shot looking up at the door from his level emphasising his vulnerability. He continues to stare at the door numbered ‘237’ suggesting that this is possibly a relevant number used later on in the film. Next, there is a clear close-up of the little boy’s face which is made clearer due to the surrounding background being out of focus. It then cuts back to the previous low angle shot showing the door number and then to a medium shot of the boy looking back at the door. The slow editing pace is continued which again, really builds up the suspense as ‘the scary part’ that we are all expecting is very unpredictable. The boy then stands up and walks towards the door as the camera pans his movement and he edges forward and puts out his hand to open the door then takes his hand away and looks up. The camera then quickly cuts to two little girls standing there and then straight back to the little boy who gets back onto his tricycle and rides off quickly along the corridor whilst the camera, this time, does not track him and remains static.
The fact that the little boy is riding along an isolated corridor on his own and the feeling of emptiness in the hotel seems quite strange however, I think that the music plays a major role in building tension as when the same clip is played without the music, the two twin girls just appear to be normal little girls who in fact, are not scary at all and the little boy just seems to be riding around on his bike.
This opening is overall very effective. So much suspense was built up slowly making a quick shot of two little girls appear to be very scary. I personally like the idea of having the camera behind the main walking/moving subject as it gives the impression that you are there with the character and only know as much as what the character does.
‘The Shining’ begins by setting the scene with an establishing shot. The location used creates an eerie feeling as the lighting is very gloomy showing, what seems like, an isolated house surrounded by trees and a mountain in the background. This shows the importance of location and setting when trying to create a particular atmosphere. There is then a cut straight to inside this ‘house’ and it becomes clearer that it is actually a hotel. We know this by the mise-en-scene of long corridors and many hotel room doors facing opposite each other. The camera is located behind a young, small boy on his tricycle and begins tracking the boy as he rides along the long corridors. The camera appears to have a hand-held effect as if we, as an audience, are also riding a bike behind the little boy. A lot of suspense is built as the camera is at the same level as the boy and following him directly which means that we can only see what he sees, this idea is emphasised particularly as he turns around the corner because we are expecting something to happen. The non-digetic background music adds to this uneasy feeling as well as the long unedited and slow pace shot.
The little boy stops by a door and looks up at it. There is a low angle shot looking up at the door from his level emphasising his vulnerability. He continues to stare at the door numbered ‘237’ suggesting that this is possibly a relevant number used later on in the film. Next, there is a clear close-up of the little boy’s face which is made clearer due to the surrounding background being out of focus. It then cuts back to the previous low angle shot showing the door number and then to a medium shot of the boy looking back at the door. The slow editing pace is continued which again, really builds up the suspense as ‘the scary part’ that we are all expecting is very unpredictable. The boy then stands up and walks towards the door as the camera pans his movement and he edges forward and puts out his hand to open the door then takes his hand away and looks up. The camera then quickly cuts to two little girls standing there and then straight back to the little boy who gets back onto his tricycle and rides off quickly along the corridor whilst the camera, this time, does not track him and remains static.
The fact that the little boy is riding along an isolated corridor on his own and the feeling of emptiness in the hotel seems quite strange however, I think that the music plays a major role in building tension as when the same clip is played without the music, the two twin girls just appear to be normal little girls who in fact, are not scary at all and the little boy just seems to be riding around on his bike.
This opening is overall very effective. So much suspense was built up slowly making a quick shot of two little girls appear to be very scary. I personally like the idea of having the camera behind the main walking/moving subject as it gives the impression that you are there with the character and only know as much as what the character does.
Saturday 3 January 2009
6. Thursday 18th December 2008
We watched past examples of students' thrillers. For each one, we wrote a few lines on the settings and locations, the camera work, the editing and our own overall opinions. We then discussed each one together as a class and we learnt some tips that are useful to remember for when we go to film our thrillers.
5. Monday 15th December 2008
Today we watched a group of thriller openings of different films such as 'Arlington Road', 'The Shining', 'What Lies Beneath', '28 Days Later'. We compared each one and said what we liked and disliked about each opening.
4. Thursday 11th December 2008
In this lesson, we watched ‘Bourne Identity’, which is a spy thriller. After watching the film, we discussed some interesting scenes, talking about the camera shots and other edited parts.
3. Monday 8th December 2008
For this lesson we finished off our filming and then edited our uploaded footage on the final cut pro programe, we then added some dramatic music to our thriller.
2. Thursday 4th December 2008
In the first half of the lesson, we had a tutorial on how to use the video cameras, which we would later be using. We were taught the basics first: how to put and remove the battery, how to turn the camera on and off and how to use the main buttons on the camera. We were then taught some tips on the best way to hold the camera, how to use the camera stand and lastly some Do’s and Don’ts that we should always remember. Some of these included: Before you continue to film, Do always remember to fast forward the camera to the end of your filming, other wise you may record over your filming; and Don’t ever touch the lens of the camera as it will leave a mark! This tutorial was very useful as we learnt the basics on how to use the cameras and we also learnt some good filming techniques and how to film different angled shots.
In the second half of the lesson, we got back into our groups and continued our preliminary exercise. We placed the still shots, which we took the previous lesson, onto our storyboard. We numbered each shot and wrote a brief description under each one. We then began the filming of our preliminary exercise.
In the second half of the lesson, we got back into our groups and continued our preliminary exercise. We placed the still shots, which we took the previous lesson, onto our storyboard. We numbered each shot and wrote a brief description under each one. We then began the filming of our preliminary exercise.
1. Monday 1st December 2008
This was our first lesson back, where we started on a new topic: Thrillers. Part of our coursework is to create an opening of a thriller. We would later be put into group and we would then have to work together to complete our own thriller opening. In this lesson, we had a mini tutorial on editing. We were taught the basics of editing, such as cutting up different shots and placing them in different orders, using the timeline on the screen. The program we to practise editing was ’Final Cut Pro’, which is simple to use once you know the basics. To finish of the editing tutorial we had to do a task, which was to arrange and put different shots together to create a short film, where the scenes linked into each other. This tutorial was very helpful to me as I had never used ’Final Cut Pro’ before and I was able to learn new techniques from it!
After we had finished our task, we were then put into our groups which we would be working with for the rest of the term. I was put into a group with Akash, Cristina and Laura and I was pleased because I know that they are reliable, hard-working and I am able to work with them. Our next task was a preliminary exercise; we had to get together with our group, and create a 'mini thriller', using one important prop: a newspaper. We were then told to take still photographs of different shots, showing our story. This would later be put onto our ‘mini thriller’ storyboard and we would then use it as a guide when it came to filming.
After we had finished our task, we were then put into our groups which we would be working with for the rest of the term. I was put into a group with Akash, Cristina and Laura and I was pleased because I know that they are reliable, hard-working and I am able to work with them. Our next task was a preliminary exercise; we had to get together with our group, and create a 'mini thriller', using one important prop: a newspaper. We were then told to take still photographs of different shots, showing our story. This would later be put onto our ‘mini thriller’ storyboard and we would then use it as a guide when it came to filming.
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