Evaluation questions

Evaluation Questions

The following questions must be answered in your evaluation PowerPoint:

1. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

2. How does your media product represent particular social groups?

3. What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

4. Who would be the audience for your media product?

5. How did you attract/address your audience?

6. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

7. Looking back to your preliminary task, what do you feel that you have learnt in the progression from it to the full produc

Audience

We decided that our film would have to be a 15 because it has themes of murder, but there are no guns, or sex, these are the normal guidelines for a 15

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory

language or behavior.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not

promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily

accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example,

aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic

or sexualised.

Imitable behavior

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and

self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be

copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorized.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example,

‘fuck’). The strongest terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be

acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated

use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without

strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a

non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail.

There may be strong verbal references to sexual behavior,

but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable

unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is

sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is

appropriate for 15 year old.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction

of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to

be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also

unlikely to be acceptable.

There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence

but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and

have a strong contextual justification.

Comparing characters

The main character in our opening is much like the main character in Donnie Darko he has gone a little insane and hears the voice of "Frank" the bunny, in our opening the main character hears the voice of his dead daughter.

The victim in our opening follows some of the conventions of the character e.g. He is wearing white which shows purity and innocence, you don't see that he has done anything wrong so it leaves you wondering why he is being attacked. Our victim is male which contrasts to the stereotypical damsel in distress by changing it from female to male.

• We thought that you held the shots steadily all the way through were appropriate.
• We liked the way you did different angles during the scenes in the church and and the way you did closer ups and different distance shots.
  
• We thought your thriller material contained a lot of thriller conventions and we liked the way you used them in your footage.
  
• We really liked the fact you made your flashback footage in black and white, it really went with the theme of a thriller with a hint of eerieness. The footage is all in a good light and sets the atmosphere well.
  
• The cuts were in good places and the scenes weren't too long which kept us interested.
  
• The sound was good, helped with the atmopshere, was a bit repetitive, but good. We thought the little girls voice was a bit creepy, but also a bit horror like.
  
• The title was a bit a random, but then we didn't really understand what the narrative was clearly. The beginning title and the end title... the ends were cut off, didnt understand why?
  

Final on Youtube

A coffee in the morning analysis

Overall we are pleased with our final product, there was not much to change after our rough cut, it was mostly the music and extension/speed/colour of the shots. We also changed the music so the contrapuntal music was taken out completely, and the music is made to blend into the situation more. We also removed the environmental sounds of the flashbacks, as the birds in the background do not go with the dark feeling of the scene. At first you could hardly hear the voiceover, so we decided to make the background music lower and the voiceover louder, although it is still not totally audible it is better.

A coffee in the morning-Screen shots

Final

Feedback for our thrillers

Mise en scene.

-Appropriate locations

-Very spooky

-Good editing on the location, black and white.

-Psychological parts created by repeated scenes of ascending church

Camerawork

-Good close ups, Makes the audience want to know more, Pans of church gives good sense of location

-The punch was good with front and back views.

Sound

-Music cuts, Scary music goes with stereotypical thriller location

-Music is varied to much, goes from intense to normal

-Unclear voices, music randomly changes.

Editing

-Good how the production title comes up at the beginning.

The black and white parts bring a nice contrast.

-Good white fade

Rough cut

Photoshop saving

Photoshop
Save as web and devices
PNG 24
Tick transparency

4/3/10 Editing

Today we edited a majority of our thriller opening sequence, we edited for 15 minute intervals one at a time. Each having ago at cutting, colour correcting and putting our sequence into a recognizable order. We had flash backs in our piece so we changed the colour of them and the present.

Audio Laugh

This is the audio for the little child's laugh, we filmed it in a quiet location, and then cut the video to keep just the audio. We will be using this laugh as the voiceover for thriller, to give the main character a creepy psyche.

Character-line

Ideas

At first we wanted to do a neo noir film but we decided that with the amount of time we had it would not be feasible. We have decided that we will film in colour and have the flashbacks in black and white.

Hev's script

Some of the things the voice will say during the opening.

What are you doing here, your not a religious man.

Don't go any further

You'll regret it

You did it

It is your fault

You let me die

Costumes

Girlfriend, normal top and jeans

Chris, dark jeans and white shirt.

Luke, Black hood and black trousers

Influence

As we are focusing on psychological side of thrillers there and certain films that have influenced us.

Donnie Darko - The main character is manipulated by his imaginary friend and makes him do things he wouldn't normally do. In our film the daughter of the main character has died but still "talks" to him through his subconscious mind.

Identity - Plays with the mind/personalities

Taking Lives - The main character has multiple identities.

Butterfly Effect - The main character goes back to his past. In ours they are done in flashbacks.

Age classification

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory

language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not

promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily

accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example,

aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic

or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and

self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be

copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language but not excessive or unnecessary. Aggressive or repeated

use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without

strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a

non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail.

There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour,

but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable

unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is

sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is

appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction

of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to

be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also

unlikely to be acceptable.

There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence

but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and

have a strong contextual justification.

Saul Bass

Saul Bass (May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996) was an American graphic designer and Academy Award-winning filmmaker, but he is best known for his design on animated motion picture title sequences.

During his 40-year career he worked for some of Hollywood's greatest filmmakers, including most notably Alfred Hitchcock, Otto Preminger, Stanley Kubrick and Martin Scorsese. Amongst his most famous title sequences are the animated paper cut-out of a heroin addict's arm for Preminger's The Man with the Golden Arm, the text racing up and down what eventually becomes a high-angle shot of the United Nations building in Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, and the disjointed text that raced together and was pulled apart for Psycho (1960).

Testing Editing techniques

This is our test footage, we wanted to explore different editing techniques for a flashback. We used final cut and filmed a small amount of footage to test different techniques, we first used invert however this made the character too light, and gave them a ghostly effect. So we used just black and white, but it wasn't that different to normal footage, so we increased the darkness with colour corrector. This was really useful because it wasn't just one colour effect but we could warp the colours to suit the mood of the scene in a range of different ways.

Props pictures

Directing notes

Props:
Candles
Knife
Blood

Costume:
Hood
Black Trousers, white shirt

Characters
Villain
Victim
Girlfriend


Set/Location
Church
Forest/Bridge


Editing:
Fast cuts
Flash backs black and white


Sound:
Voice over or giggling
Diegetic sound of atmosphere
Non diegetic, Soundtrack but not all the way through
Sound breaks

Location moodboard

This is the location of our location, and where we are going to film. This is the church in a village near Sawston.

We intend to film on the weekend 26th - 30th

Our thriller title and Opening credits

Thriller opening sequence creditsWe will use one of these in our opening sequence as our thrillers name

Directing notes

Cinematography:

Close ups

Tracking shot

Shot reverse shot

Over shoulder shot

Reaction shot

Establishing shot

Here are some of the shots we will use taken from the classic Clockwork orange.

Mood board of other thrillers and pictures representing our thriller

Story Board

Shot List

Shot 1: Technically not a shot, but the screen will be blank, and a loud creak of a door opening will initiate the start of the opening as the movie fades in. It will fade into a high angle shot of a man entering a church. It will also show the length of the church.
Shot 2: Then there will be a close up of the back of the mans head as he removes the hood.
Shot 3: This will then revert to the same shot as the first, as he walks towards the alter. The voice will then giggle softly, almost out of earshot.
Shot 4: Will be at an angle from the mans face, and slightly tilted up. This is when the voice will start to talk to the man "What are you doing here, your not a religious man" The man will then twitch.
Shot 5: There will then be a tracking shot which will follow him along the aisle, behind the pillars.
Shot 6: The first flashback will be a shot of the man standing with a knife in his hand. With an over the shoulder mid shot. this will last only a second and another flash will initiate the end.
Shot 7: The man will stumble slightly and move into a quicker pace towards the alter with another tracking shot. During this the voice will say "Don't go any further..."
Shot 8: There will then be 4 flashbacks one after the other, the first will be of the man's first assassination, the first shot will be an over the shoulder shot of the man and his target.
Shot 9: The next flashback will be the target turning and seeing the murderer.
Shot 10: The man will stumble more powerfully before, touching his hand to the ground. This will be a mid shot.

Shot 11: The next flashback will be a struggle, as a close up.
Shot 12: The final flashback will be him dragging the body away. From a long shot.
Shot 13: This will then be a close up of his face, as the voice says "You'll regret it..."
Shot 14: The next tracking shot he will basically be in a jog, using a tracking shot through the pillars. he will pass a man praying.

Shot 15: This will initiate more flashbacks of gravestones.

Shot 16: Now back as the man he will run to the alter, then at the alter

Shot 17: this will initiate all the flashbacks in quick succession, and the man will collapse

Shot 18: The man will collapse and wake up in a new location and a POV shot towards the past.

Thrillers that relate to our thriller

The DaVinci Code is a psychological thriller and relates to our project in that we have a character seeking answers.


Although this is a video game, it does relate to our thriller, as in this game you are playing through someones memory, however at the end this god talks to the person playing the puppet. So this is like the voice in ours.

Donnie Darko is another example (See below)

Location moodboard

Smile

This student thriller has the same setting as our thriller idea, however we will make our music less repetitive and more reflective of the mood. There was not much of a hint towards the narrative, and there was no real reason for the tourist to go into pursuit of the crazed man. However this has some similarities as the priest guy was slightly crazy, and there is another sub character who is confused by his actions.

Pitch Feedback from Andrea

Your idea is really interesting and is clearly a psychological thriller. I would recommend you have a discussion about how you can communicate to the viewer that this person is psychologically disturbed, camerawork and sound will definitely play a part in this process.
Your black and white flashbacks need some detailed planning.
Also ensure you seek permission from the vicar to use the church.
Also, take a look at U2-67 Smile, a previous student thriller with a similar location and concept.

Great work so far, keep going guys.

Our Logo

Our Logo is called Anarchy-Inc and the name was made by Hev and Luke, and the actual putting together of it was done by Chris.

Blog advice from Andrea

Your blog is designed to evidence the research and planning you have done before you start filming your thriller.
A blog in the 'excellent' category could include some of the following detail:

1. Analysis of student thriller
2. More than one detailed analysis of real thriller openings
3. Practise soundtrack for your thriller
4. Practise soundtrack for Taking Lives intro
5. Production company logo
6. Definition of thriller, outline of different sub-genres and hybrids
7. Analysis of examples of political, psychological, action thriller and crime thriller
8. Initial ideas post
9. Final idea post - for pitch
10. Influences and the thriller generic conventions you intend to explore
11. Mood board
12. Research into other films of similar sub-genres
13. Props list - with illustrations
14. Details of costumes - with illustrations
15. Location report - where you intend to film, if it is a public place then you need to consider the logistics of filming there. If it is private property you must seek permission from the owner.
16. Complete shot list
17. Completed storyboard
18. Test footage with a full explanation as to the technique you were testing and how successful the test was.
19. Details of when you intend to film (dates, times and places), who is responsible for bringing what props etc, what actors are needed and who is in charge of ensuring the actors are informed of times and locations.
20. Practise titles, consider the job titles and the names you wish to include. Do some research into titles. Look at Saul Bass as an industry expert in title sequences.

Why Thrillers Thrive

“Why Thrillers Thrive”

A thriller is a genre of film that is characterized by fast pacing, frequent action and resourceful heroes, who must thwart the plans of more powerful and better-equipped villains. There aim is to leave you with mystery and wonder, to put you one the edge of your seat and make your heart race but with your conscience knowing that you are safe.

There are many different types of thriller. Some are supernatural, for example, centering on mystical antagonists. Others are scientific or medical in nature, forcing their protagonists to contend with biological agents or mysterious scientific happenings. Some are simply straight mysteries with clever or horrific antagonists, while others be focused on the inner workings of the legal system, environmental threats, technology, or natural disasters. One long-established thriller genre is the spy thriller, featuring an often heroic and dashing spy who must confront whichever enemy happens to be popular at the moment.

Thrillers have been around for a long time, One of the earliest 'thrillers' was Harold Lloyd's comic Safety Last (1923). Yet it’s 2010 and thrillers are still a popular genre, Why do a majority of people really enjoy thrillers as a genre over the years?

The article ‘Why Thrillers Thrive’ picks up on a really good point, seeing things that ‘consists of emotional disturbance’ that ‘we don’t experience ourselves’ in reality, gives us excitement and the trill of something being able to upset your homeostasis in an environment where you are completely safe. It gets your heart beating faster, and your mind off of other things. ‘We are safe secure, sitting in an armchair and looking at the struggle and turmoil of life through a window, as it were” Here the essay is stating that your conscience knows you are in a safe environment, you are watching an actor who is in no harm and it isn’t real. This is why people watch thrillers, because they can go through emotional journeys such as your own fears by watching them on a screen while knowing they are safe. It is also ‘thrilling’ and sensation seeking to watch other people deal with your fears, traumas and horrific situations but knowing they are safe at the same time, fright and disgust are enjoyable feelings in the framework of fiction.

Another reason why thrillers thrive stated in this article is where “some characters who have won the audiences sympathy is involved in danger” As a human being you may go through your life without someone you like or sympathies go through something traumatic, so some people may enjoy thrillers because they feel emotions they may not come across in real life. For example wanting a character to escape or wanting the traditional ‘truth seeker’ to find out the truth. Or maybe they are experiences you have been through your self, again such as the truth seeker trying to find out the truth but are far exaggerated than your own experiences, which will make feel the emotional journey that character is going throughout the film. This would intrigue the audience and really play on their emotions. Thriller is a genre that can have a plot that is very like real life, it may be far fetched but the audience can really relate to it.

So over all, this article is telling me that people enjoy thrillers for the emotional empathetic journey and the fact they can really understand what is going on, the audience can compare and relate the thriller to real life. 

Thriller opening in more detail

The first shot the screen will be pitch black, and the faint whispering and giggling of the little girl, then a creak of a church door, as it fades in to the scene of the hooded figure walking into the church. This will then go to a close up of the man removing his hood. There will than be a high angle shot and the as he walks closer to the alter and the voice will ask him "What are you doing here? Your not a religious man." he will then twitch to show that this voice is a pain to him, as he twitches the camera will get close to show this. This will then be tracked along the aisle as you see him walking closer to the alter. The closer he gets a flashback will pop up, the first one will be a long-shot still of the assassin with his hood up and a knife in his hand from behind. and he will flinch, "You can't escape..." he will then walk a bit further then two flashbacks will happen in quick succession, a person alive and happy, and then a dead person on the floor, with blood trailing out. the image will then be back to present as he stumbles slightly and the voice will say "...I'm part of you now..." he will then pass a lone man praying and again more flashbacks will appear of his past murders. This will then show his face as he is starting to sweat from the strain as this happens the voice will still taunt him asking him to "remember his past, and all he has done wrong", as he shouts "SHUT UP" The man praying will then look up confused. There will then be a shot of the assassin running up to the alter, so you can see the door behind and how far he has traveled in the church. when he gets to it he will collapse to his knees, and a close up of his face as he shivers, eyes closed and he presses his hands to his face to prey. The voice will then show a quick succession of flashbacks of murders and deaths, some from the earlier flashbacks and some new ones, with the voice constantly taunting "remember, you did this because of me!". The final shot in the flashback montage will be the assassin with a female, this will then zoom out from the assassins eyes as he collapses, it will then fade to black as the assassin passes out. The voice quietly announcing "She is dead because of US!" The title 'voices' will then appear across the screen, initiating the beginning of the film.

Pitch

Title: Voices.

Idea: We are going to develop Chris's idea about the assassin who hears voices that make him do things he is ignorant to.

Actors: Luke Swann, Hev Oglesby

Location: Shadowy, We will use strong colour filters to bring out the darkness in the shadows. Church

Mise-en-scene: Shadow,Enclosed Space, Hitman(Suit)/Assassin(Hood), Candles (possibly), Flashbacks with quick cuts B&W,

Camerawork: Close ups predominantly, Long shots, establishing shot, High Angle shots, CCTV Feel for paranoid ambiance.

Soundtrack for Taking Lives

We made a soundtrack for a film called Taking lives.

We found it very difficult because we didn't have any dialogue and there had to be some sound throughout the whole opening title sequence. We had to make everything from scratch using garage band, this was also quite difficult because we were limited in the sounds we could use, for example we used a 'concrete jungle' background sound for the bus and train station rather than an actual background sound, but it surprisingly sounded like a background bus sound.

We used different diegetic sounds at important parts in the opening sequence such as when the wheel comes off the car and when the bus breaks down, for the rest of the time we used a Non-diegetic soundtrack.

Thriller Idea

My thriller idea is also quite a simple one, passengers are on a train traveling through a mountain (or any place really) with a policeman transporting a prisoner from one prison to another, the prisoner has been convicted for murder, the train then breaks down while traveling though a place in the middle of nowhere the prisoner seizes there chance, kills the policeman and escapes but doesn't leave the immediate area leaving the remaining passengers trying to find there way back while the prisoner is loose around them. I am willing to accept criticism for this and would also like feedback from you guys on what you think and also what you think we should or could change about it for the opening.

Thriller Idea

My thriller idea is about assassins/hitman(or women, or is it the same for both genders?), that has killed so many that he/she feels as if their soul is slowly dieing with each life he/she takes. This will lead the killer to flee from his guild to set up his own life in secret. However due to the guilds beliefs the only escape from their work is death, otherwise their secrets and tricks could be let loose onto the public. This leads the guild to send out their highest killers to take down the protagonist. Plot twists could be that the people told to kill the lead had no idea who they were after, and this could be revealed by one of the protagonists long lost friends with a knife to their throat, only to realise their identity.

Another idea i had (also about assassin/hitman sort of things) is about the protagonist hearing a voice inside of his/her head which plays with the protagonists mind, for example with one of the most powerfulgang leaders in their grasp the spirit inside lets out a highpitched squeal forcing the protagonist to collapse in pain, allowing the target to escape, but helping as in warning of a attack from the left allowing the protagonist to move out of the way and counter the punch. Also the voice can communicate much more clearly through the protagonists dreams, and has slight control of their body. I think i got this idea from a video game Assassins Creed, as this relys ona puppet system giving them complete control of his ancestors, but this will also help to set up a lot of mystery onto who the voice is.

I think i may have thought too much into this... :)

Thriller Idea

My idea is simple but i think it would work well for an opening to a thriller, basically there is a woman/man walking into a church to prey/light a candle, and the use of a handheld camera and how it is edited could be like someone is watching them, and this carries on whilst the person goes about their normal everyday life, and maybe watches them undress in their home. So you feel creeped out that someone is following this person and has somehow got into their house.

I didn't really get inspiration from any films that I watched, I just thought it up, I like the use of the church because it symbolizes sanctity and safety from evil things. I like using things that you think are good and turning them against people, like the waxwork figures in House of wax, they are something people go and see, not realising there are actual people trapped inside the wax unable to move or get out.