Thursday 25 February 2010

Music Practise




This is a practise for the opening to our scene. We have tried to make it go with what we think our film will be like.
We used special effects that will create a mood within our finished film, we hope to create a tense mood and eery atmosphere to make our film into an action thriller.
The upbeat part of our music shows the element of action and will hopefully help to create suspense for the audience.
It starts slowly as at the start of our film we will have a pan of the car park flashing backwards and forwards to the victims who will be tied up.
We tried to make the music as dramatic as possible as we are not using dialogue as we think it would be more effective without it.

Tuesday 23 February 2010

Call sheet for planned filming

When we are going to film: Friday 26th Feb
9.00 till 2.40
Scarlett, Kate and Maria are going to take the camera into town on the bus and then Scarlett will bring it back and return it at 2.40

We are going to film at the Grand Arcade car park (level 6) as it is the top level so therefore are not many cars there. It also adds tension as it is high up and makes it scary. We are getting to the location by bus as it leads to the centre of town where Grand Arcade is. It is a public location but there are not many people there thats why we chose to film as we will not get any interruptions however we still need to take health & safety into consideration, for example keeping away from the edges and not carrying fake weapons.

Lighting: As we are filming during the day we will not need to take lights with us. Ideally we would like the weather to be cloudy but not raining so it gives an eerie atmosphere which we would like to create. If not when editing we will change the lighting on final cut to give us the same effect.

Actors: Our whole group (Kate, Scarlett and Maria) and then we are using Jed as an extra character.
Scarlett- Victim 1 (Jessica)
Maria- Victim 2 (Emma)
Kate- Kidnapper 1 (Pavlo)
Jed- Kidnapper 2 (Limbado)

We will not have sound that it is spoken in our opening, Scarlett is going to scream at one point but there will not be a script for our piece. We think it will be more effective like this.

Film Crew: The people that are not needed in the scene being filmed will be behind the camera. This means everyone will get an equal opportunity to film.

Props: Rope, Masking tape (coloured in black) and a balaclava.
Scarlet will bring the masking tape. Kate will bring the balaclava and Maria will bring the rope.

If the weather disrupts our filming we will use level 5, although it may not be as effective as using the outside area it will still give the same eery effect, as we are still in a car park that is quite secluded.

We are capture as much as we can in this filming slot so that we can get started with the editing and see if there is more filming that needs to be done. We will not be using lots of diegetic sound, therefor we will not need to worry about the sound during our filming session.


Thursday 11 February 2010

Analysis of an antagonist and a protagonist

Protagonist
The antagonist i have chosen to analyze is 'Spider Man'.
He is well known as comic character but after the spider man trilogy he has become a well known hollywood hero.

What makes him an protagonist is that he uses his 'super powers' to save society. This is one of his famous traits and is what makes him recognizable to an audience. His 'web-shooters' ability to jump and climb up and around buildings make him 'in-human' and is the reason why he can save people.

However this is his alter ego as he only wears a costume. The read and blue costume has also been the same and is usually only associated with spiderman. The costume gives him the powers as in his everyday life he is a normal average person known as 'Peter Parker' who is presented as being quite shy and unsociable. This gives the audience a privilege as they known his other identity, it is almost like they are in on the secret, also as he is an everyday person he is relatable and understood by the audience.

What also makes him relatable is that he has a love interest, (Mary Jane Watson). The audience can relate to his feelings and it pushes are want for him to succeed in saving people but with his relationship as well. It also adds a feeling of suspense as for a while she does not know his alter ego 'Spider Man' and the audience are waiting for her to find out and are curious to know when and if she does.

'Spider Man' can also sometimes be quite comical, which gives him the likability aspect and is one of the man reasons he is so popular. It also takes an edge away from the violence.

This is an old clip of the original 'Spider Man' cartoon.



This is a comparison to the new 'Spiderman 3' which is more dark and sinister, it doesnt have
as much of a light hearted edge. The in the trailer the music is dramatic which darkens the mood and makes it almost scary.

Antagonist




The protagonist i have chosen to analyze is 'The Joker' from who is the arch enemy of the well known protagonist 'Batman'

The joker is portrayed as an ultra evil master criminal, who is a violent psychopath who uses clever tricks and jokes to trap and try and catch out 'Batman'

He has white skin, green hair and big red lips. He almost resembles a clown. Which is a lot like his character with a twist as he has a sadistic sense of humour. His costume, mainly his mouth makes him look scary and the audience can relate to 'Batman' the antagonist as they almost want 'Batman' to over power him. The fear of clowns is also a quite common fear among regular people, this adds to the scar factor

Also in the new films his costume is specially made for him and he wears a bright purple coat with a flower on it, which fits the look of a clown however it is unusual for the villain to wear bright colours as they are usually associated with dark colours to fit there evil persona.

The joker torments the other villains so that he can get what he wants, he uses black mail. His character is quite unrealistic by wanting to kill the batman, however has realistic qualities as he gives them his card. He threatens the other villain holding a knife to him while at the same time telling a scary story from his childhood. This makes him seem more threatening as it explains how hard it was for him growing up and gives the reasons for why he is so mentally unstable. The way that he explains his scars is said in such a way that the audience is not sure what he is going to do, as his tone of voice is very sadistic. The Joker also has the ability to go from killing someone to laughing and acting as if nothing happened.

Tuesday 9 February 2010

Test Footage



This is a video of all the shots we are going to use in our opening.
We have used (In order)
-A panning shot
-Close-up
-Long shot
-Mid shot
-Extreme close-up
-Zoom

We didnt use a tracking shot as we could not get access to a dolly, but hopefully for our actual shoot we will get to use one.

The shots looked how we hoped they would look. We filmed in the college car park so it was like our real location. It gave us a real feel to what our actual film is going to look like. It also gave us an insight into what we need to be careful of when actually filming, for example sun exposure which distorts the view through the camera and also keeping the camera steady, for example when panning or zooming.

We also had a go at editing our footage and we cut out things that were not necessary in our shot and we also added a fade in between the shots to make it look less jumpy and smooth like a professional film

Top Tips for Filming

-Have a clear idea of what filming and what we want to achieve
- Continuity
- Have back up plan
- Keep the camera steady - tripod
- Always capture extra footage
- Capture variety of shots
- Beware of your surroundings
- Get consent of public
- Make sure the tape is in correct place
- Don't do anything that a passer by may be offended by
- Don't film in a dangerous place
- No swearing
- No weapons in a public place
- Be respectful to the public

Friday 5 February 2010

FINAL IDEAS

First there will be a 10 second pan of the top of the car park, this will be the establishing shot so it will be a long shot showing the whole location.

Next will be a flash of Scarlett the (victim) running across the car park. This will just be a quick flash and will last only 2 seconds it will be a tracking shot.

Then there will be a cut back to the kidnapper (Jed) who will be wearing a balaclava who jumps up and the camera will freeze and his name will come up. This is be a semi-mid shot.

Next we will show a clip of Maria tied up and the attacker (Kate) will be putting masking tape, that looks like duct tape over her mouth. This will last for 4 seconds and it will freeze and our names will come up. We will use a medium shot and then a close up of Maria's mouth.

Mid shot of Scarlett looking back at Jed who is now catching up with her. At this point Scarlett will be frozen and her name will come up. It will then go back to the action and Jed grabs her arm. This will be a close up of Jed's hand on her arm.
A flash of Maria's hands which are tied up will be an extreme close-up and will last only 2 seconds.

It will then cut back to an empty car park with a scream over it. Then there will be a mid shot of Scarlett who is struggling against Jed, she punches him in the face and then there will be a long shot, to show Scarlett scrambling away.

There will be a flash of Maria and Scarlett both tied up, then a quick flash back to the fight between Scarlett and Jed, then cut back to an extreme close-up of Maria and Scarlett's eyes, which we will put on a split screen


Then back to a long shot of Scarlett running and then being caught by Jed.

Then end shot will be of Maria and Scarlett with duct tape over their mouths tied up, this will be a close-up to show their facial expressions.

All the way through fast paced music will be playing which we will create on Garage Band. It will start off eerie to create a tense atmosphere then it will pick up when all the action happens, until the freezes happen then the music will stop and there will wind sound to make the mood mysterious.

Analyze credits.

Analyzing credits in 'Panic Room' and 'Six Feet Under.'

The credits in 'Six Feet Under' are unusual because instead of filming the opening credits they use a selection of photographs. This shows time passing and makes us think that the program is about death. The use of contrapuntal sound is effective, as the music is quite upbeat it gives the impression that the program is not all about death which is typical of a TV drama, as there is usually more than one story line.

The images in the opening credits show parts of dead bodies, such as the foot, but also shows people washing their hands, which could imply that the program is about murder.

The font is quite plain and simple, this contrasts to the images behind it, making the audience focus on the photos behind it and not on the font.

Panic Room

The credits in 'Panic Room' are unusual as they do not really relate to the film, or give an insight into what it is about. However, the shots of the big buildings show that the film is set in the city, which is typical for a thriller genre. The lighting gives the impression that it is the morning and that the story happens over one day, which means the story line would be action packed.

The music started of eerie and then build up and became really dramatic, this could be a reflection of the actual film.

Storyboards and shot lists

Storyboards and Shot Lists


The storyboards hold information about what each scene will contain and what kind of camera shot/camera angle is in it. It will help us on the day because it will show us what the shot will contain. This will help it all run smoothly and the filming will then be quicker because we will all know what we have to film. Doing the shot list has helped us know what props and costume we will need for each shot.
In the first two shots we don't need any props as it is only panning the car park and victim 2 (Scarlett) running.
Shot three is Victim 1 (Maria) being tied up and in this shot we will need a rope, masking tape (to put over the victim's mouth) and a balaclava for the Villain 1 (Kate.)
Shot four is just the kidnapper chasing victim so the only thing really needed in the shot is the kidnapper's balaclava.
The rest of the shots have the same props in.

Thursday 4 February 2010

Analysing professional idents



This is the ident for Disney. The castle is recognizable as it it a real place known by children and adults. The castle looks magical which refelcts the genre of most Disney films which is fantasy.
It only uses two colours blue and white. This is effective as it makes the writing stand out, and is simple and easily recognizable. The colour blue also generally symbolizes peacefulness which is a message they want to give to the children. Light blue is also known as a mixed gender colour, so it appeals to a wider target audience of children.

The music uses different chimes which again gives the feel of fantasy and magic. It slowly builds up and becomes louder with the more instruments added, creating excitement for the viewer. This is important as it engaging the viewer and sets the mood for the rest of the film.

From all age groups the Disney ident is recognized and from all these things as they have always been the same since Disney began, which was a long time ago. For adults it will bring back memories and may even make them feel nostalgic.

Tuesday 2 February 2010

Why we think Thriller's thrive.

According to the article people go to the cinema because it provides them with a sense of security while watching something that is exciting and dangerous. "The cinema can leave the spectator with a subconscious assurance of absolute safety and yet, surprise his imagination into playing tricks on him"

The audience can also relate to the character and put themselves into that particular role, so they can enjoy something that is not an everyday experience. Because of the diversity of the thrillers the audience never really sees two films which are identically alike. "In order to appreciate what the characters on the stage are going through, we have to project ourselves into their consciousness... Watching a well-made film, we don't sit by as spectators; we participate."

The typical characters in a thriller, always capture the audience's inner hero. And at some point come close to peril. Which adds the thrill element and the audience can put themselves in the position and experience it artificially in a safe, secure environment.