Q1-12 : THRILLER PROJECT 2008/9

Evaluation Of Thriller Project (Draft)

2008-11-07T14:59:00.007Z

1. When you think of the Thriller genre, the main features you associate with it are things like fast paced action, a lot of suspense and at first some kind of mystery and sometimes fear.
Our thriller opening sequence is based on the idea of a chase sequence in which the audience doesn't know who the runners are or why they are running which brings the mystery into the film. We used the Bourne Trilogy of films as inspiration as it uses the idea of fast paced action sequences and scenes of chasing.

2. The opening sequence that we have produced doesn't really address the idea of social groups but what you can pick out is quite casual clothes that you wouldn't see from either a very wealthy or poor background.

3. We would be aiming for any kind of media institution to back our film and idea. The most well-known ones would be Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures and many more. these companies have had experience of supporting very successful movies such as the Bourne films which i mentioned earlier.

4. Honestly, when we made the sequence we were hoping that it would be aimed at anybody and everybody that wanted to see a thriller. We are, however, expecting the film to be most popular with the early teens to the late twenties.

5. We therefore made it meet some of the conventions of a thriller to please and impress those thriller fans. These include things like suspense and "edge of your seat" action. We heavily based the sequence on making it fast and as if your heart is beating fast and as though the viewer is chasing the character as well.

6. Since starting the thriller project i have learned how to produce shots in a way that fits into a certain genre, in this case the thriller genre. These methods include running with the camera without a tripod to seem like the camera is what another person would see. This way you can show that someone is following someone without giving away their identity which again supports the mystery criteria of the genre.
I have also learned how to fluently use FinalCut Pro software to produce the product i planned for. Things like importing and capturing video into the browser and then Timeline are now simple practice. I can also now; add titles; make a video clip black and white; add a soundtrack; trim a clip and many other features. I actually produced the soundtrack to the sequence using GarageBand and i got used to finding appropriate music to the genre form the library on the programme and merging them together seamlessly for smoothed editing.

7. I feel like i have improved a lot since the preliminary task because i know what i can do on the software which means that i can come up with ideas and make them happen using the knowledge i have gained since starting the Media course. I also take less time doing activities and tasks as i have experience and almost do things naturally now. This means i can work more efficiently and complete tasks within their deadlines.

Feedback for Alex's Draft Evaluation

2008-11-07T14:27:00.002Z

The substance of most of your answers is largely fine, but you must proof read carefully and spell check before the final submission. Try and use more media specific terminology (e.g. tracking shots instead of following shots), and generally add a bit more detail to each of your answers so that you are well over the minimum word count, which is 1000 words.

Feedback for Keeley's Draft Evaluation

2008-11-07T14:24:00.003Z

Keeley, the content of your answers for each of the questions is mostly fine, but you need to proof read carefully as there are a number of errors at the moment. Also, your answer to question 7 seems like lies, considering you had not completed the preliminary task at the time you made this blog post. So, you might want to rethink that one. Also, try and flesh it out with a little bit more detail so that you are over the minimum word count (1000).

Rough Cut Thriller Sequence

2008-11-05T09:06:00.003Z

Keeley's Evaluation Questions Rough Copy

2008-11-03T09:33:00.005Z

1. In the thriller Genre there are many different convention in which the audience would be able to tell that the genre is thriller, after looking at these convention and thriller genre movies we decided that our thriller was going to be about a man on the run (containing a good and bad guy, a chase sequence. In our sequence there are 2 men, one man is chasing the other man, you do not know the reason he is chasing him or why the other man is running away, we also made one characters dress fairly casual but one slightly smarter than the other (one wearing a hoody and the other a jacket) so you can only tell that the man doing the chasing is dressed smarter than the man being chased, not who the good guy is and who the bad guy is. This gives our thriller an unknown factor which is commonly used within thrillers to make sure that the audience always want to watch more to find out (in this case) why the man is being chased and why the other man is running away. This opening sequence does not include very common thriller conventions like explosions or weapons this is because we wanted the chase scene to feel like it had happened by an accident and was not planned by either character, apart from this we have tried to stick to the conventions of a thriller. We looked at the thriller movie Bourne Identity closely before we created our sequence and this is where we got our idea from.

2. Our thriller has 2 male characters both of around the same age but one is dressed a bit smarter than the other and he is doing the chasing this makes us believe that he is in control of the situation and his clothes make us believe that he is more wealthy than the other so that he is of a higher social class. The man running away is not dressed as smart so this immediately makes us think that he is of a lower class and since he is running away this make us believe that he is not in control of the situation.

3. Universal Pictures would be the kind of distributer that would distribute our thriller because they have distributed lots of thriller genre movies like the Bourne Identity. Universal Pictures are well known for distributing popular movies, of not just the thriller genre but others like action and comedy as well. Distributers have the important job of advertising as well as distributing the movie, it would be important to have a well known and wealthy company to be your distributer because advertising costs allot of money to do successfully.

4. Our Thriller movies target audience would be from early teens to late twenties, we chose this target audience because going to the cinema and watching movies is a popular pass time for people of this age group and the thriller genre is also very popular for this age group. The majority of our audience would be male because the thriller genre is generally found to be more popular in men than women.

5. The main way we attract our audience is by immediately creating the sense of the mysterious unknown, the audience is attracted by this because humans naturally want to investigate and solve questions. We also made fast cuts to make sure that our thriller is fast pace, so that you know that you are watching a scene full of action. We did this because to start a movie with action will get the audience interested faster than if you started with a scene that is very slow and doesn’t have any action in it.

6. From creating this thriller project I have learnt more about and improved my skills with the movie editing programmer Final Cut and the, I have learnt how to manipulate the colouring and lighting effects of different movie clips and I also learnt how to create titles to much better effect on Final Cut so we didn’t have create them on Photoshop and import them into Final Cut. I already knew how to do basic editing on final cut from the preliminary task we have done, but this helped me improve them by being able to edit faster and make less mistakes. We also used Garage Band to create the sound track for our thriller which we had previously also learnt the basics of, but while creating the sound track I learnt that you can change the instrument of any of the music passages to get the best and most effect sounds to fit together well. From filming this thriller I have learnt how difficult it is to get everything into place and make a shot exactly how you need it to be, think perhaps if we had had more filming time in our location we would have been able to do this a lot more effectively.

7. Since I had done the preliminary task to the end of the thriller task I have learnt a lot of different shot types and rules that are effect and make sure that our sequence is not confusing and you can tell exactly what is going on, I learnt a lot about the importance of planning your project so that you know exactly what you need and do not miss important scenes or forget the angles or moving directions of shots, planning also can make sure that you have enough time and do not film unnecessary footage.

rough copy of evaluasion (alex)

2008-11-01T15:00:00.011Z

1. The thriller genre has many distinctive conventions which an audience would expect when they are watching one, we have looked at these conventions and we decided that are film was going to be a man on the run being chased. We used of close ups to give suspense and not to give the plot away, these are used in other thrillers.we had a good guy and a bad guy but dint tell the audience which was which and why he was running away from him an example of this would be the bourne identity where the audience and the character don't know who the main character this gave us the idea for are thriller.Thrillers always have some one that is in control and someone that isn't and this is usually shown in the chase scenes which are in many thrillers. there are also always good guys and bad guys usually involving the government, there are usually weapons and explosions involved as well. We have tryed to keep to the main thriller conventions but we haven't used any weapons in are thriller as it wouldn't go with the theme.

2.Are thriller has two males one in a Hood and one dressed smarter we have two social groups middle class and higher class people which the higher class is doing the chasing and the middle id doing the running.They are also males not females this is usually the case in thrillers, that the main characters are males and that there is the one with money and all the power and the victim who has no control over the situation and is helpless. Are thriller doesn't have any women in but if it did the woman would be vulnerable and would probably be saved by the man this is shown in many other thrillers. We set are thriller in a city which shows wealth and seems to fit the chaser but not the runner it makes the audience feel that he is intimidated.

3.Are thriller would probably be distributed by a big Hollywood film production as many thrillers are made by, this is because these companies have millions of pounds to spend on them making the film all the special effects all the advertising for example the trailer which all need a lot of money and wouldn't be feasible with a smaller film producer, there have been a couple of films made by smaller company's such as "Stranglers of Bombay" a black and white film. but the bigger firms always have the most success like American physcho and the saw films.

4.The audience for are thriller would be teens up to early thirty's we chose this age groups to aim at as these is the age group that goes to the cinema the most and watches this kind f film genre. We made is fast pace and action packed with fast shots so it doesn't get boring i think this is well suited for are target audience. The gender would be males as is has a lot of action which a lot of women don't like i think it would be hard to make a thriller with just women in mind for an audience that having men for you're target audience, I think all people will enjoy the film but are target Will enjoy it the most.

5.We made are film fast and action packed for are audience we tryed to involve them in the film as much as possible by having following shots, this makes the audience feel there themselves are the character. We also have the mystery of the two characters so the audience feel they have to solve who the people are for example if they are good or bad which helps them interact with the film.

6.I have learnt a lot from doing this task i have learnt to use the programme final cut for example the cut tool so you can get rid of all the boring bits you don't need also fading shots in and out so you don't get a harsh change using the pen tool. Another programme i used was garage band i learnt how to create the right sound track to go with are film and the last programme is photoshop which is very complicated when you first start but is very use full to create titles for your film.

I also learnt a lot of new shots which made are thriller action packed and edgy, such as long shot, mid shot, close up, shot reverse shot on the 180 degree rule and the action shot, i learnt all these shots from the preliminary task but went into more depth with them in the thriller task. Without all these new things i have learnt are thriller project would be dull and boring.

7.since the preliminary we have learnt a lot about the programmes and the planing and the shooting of films, We have learnt a lot of techniques, in the preliminary task we didn't have as much time so we couldn't plan as well and also shot a lot o things we didn't need and we didn't have enough but in the thriller task we planed very well and when it got round to shooting wen new exactly what we wanted.also wen had practises all the shots we were going to use in the preliminary task so we were better at shooting hem and they looked more professional.We also got feedback from the groups on are preliminary task so we new what to improve on and how we could do that, this was very helpful for the thriller task.

Feedback For Our Animatic Storyboard

2008-10-15T09:38:00.005+01:00

Are animatic storyboard was shown to the whole group this is the feedback we had from the class;

Some of the pictures were unclear
Some people didn't know what the heart was
They said the music was good
They said you could sense the panic
Good presence
Good dramatic scenes
Very effective scenes
Good use of arrows to show were the camera is going to be
It was hard to see

We have taken all these into consideration but all the bad points were because of are drawing skill so we cant do anything to change it.

Location

2008-10-14T12:14:00.008+01:00

Location: We have chosen to film at the Cineworld complex near the travel lodge because it is easy to get to and has lots of bus routes pass it so we could easily get the shots of buses we needed. We also chose this location because it had some tall buildings with glass fronts which we needed for our opening shot. Finally we chose this location because it had lots of people and busy roads nearby which helped give the impression of a busy city.

Shooting Schedule

2008-10-14T11:55:00.008+01:00

We have booked the camera for Thursday after college (16:10) until Friday (9:00)
We are going to be filming at Cambridge Cineworld complex.
We will be starting filming around 17:00 and:

Shot 1 = 6mins
Shot 2 = 6mins
Shot 3 = 11mins
Shot 4 = 4mins
Shot 5 = N/A
Shot 6 = 6mins
Shot 7 = 6mins
Shot 8 = 10mins
Shot 9 = N/A
Shot 10 = 5mins
Shot 11 = 6mins
Shot 12 = 4mins
Shot 13 = 6mins
Shot 14 = 3mins
Shot 15 = 6mins
Shot 16 = 2mins
Shot 17 = 1min
Shot 18 = 3mins

Shot List

2008-10-14T11:06:00.001+01:00

*Long Shot
*Medium Shot
*Close Up
*Panning Shot
*Tracking Shot
*Low angle pointing up at there heads
*Point of view shot

Animatic Storyboard

2008-10-10T15:53:00.000+01:00

The Bourne Ultimatum

2008-10-08T09:40:00.000+01:00

We were inspired by Bourne Ultimatum to create our thriller opening about a man on the run because it worked effectively and created a lot of suspense within the movie.

Props and costumes

2008-10-08T09:12:00.004+01:00

These are the props we are going to need for are thriller project:

Character One

Bag for Man: came straight from school

Hoody: its cold outside and it is casual wear, he doesn't want to stand out

Jeans: casual everyday wear, he doesn't want to stand out

Black Shoes: trying to be inconspicuous

Animatic

2008-10-07T11:37:00.000+01:00

Watch this space for our amazing Animatic showing the shots of the thriller coming soon to a cinema near you.

Heart

2008-10-07T11:29:00.001+01:00

This is the heart which is the main CGI in our thriller sequence.

Original Ideas of Thriller Sequence

2008-10-03T15:45:00.000+01:00

Steps
Heartbeat Increases Pace
Reflection in window of crowd
Camera goes through crowd finds Character 1
Fast paced
Credit Sequence - on surroundings e.g walls etc

Analysis of Student Thriller Opening Sequence

2008-10-01T10:23:00.000+01:00

We were impressed with the creators of the thriller, Easy Target for their use of music to create very good suspense throughout the sequence. heavy bass and gradual building up of pace and volume lead the listener to think that they are building up to something and want to know what is going to happen as they are left at the edge of their seats. In terms of video, they use fading and focusing in order to maintain subtle and smooth transitions as well as more interesting shots. They have also used good clear titles e.g directed by..
The storyline also has good features of a thriller opening in that it leaves the viewer with questions such as, who is the person and why is he cleaning his gun. The sequence cleverly uses a blackout when the gun shot goes off to suggest that the girl is being shot.
Overall, it is a very strong piece of video and audio work that ticks many of the thriller boxes to good effect and it gave us a few ideas for our own thriller.

by Group Q1-12

Analysis of Real Thriller Opening - Se7en

2008-10-01T09:58:00.000+01:00

The opening sequence of Se7en uses many techniques found typically in the thriller genre. It has been edited so that there are very quick and rapid transitions between shots which gives the viewer a feel of unsteady pace and as if they are out of control of what is happening. The majority of the shots are close ups that leave the viewer wondering what they are watching, where it is happening and who it is.
The use of sound is also key to the mood and effect that the clip has on the viewer. They use crescendo to vary the pace and feel of the music from low to high tempo and volume in order to add suspense and tension.
Overall, we believe that this is a very effective opening sequence to a thriller movie as it uses the correct techniques to manipulate the feelings of the viewer.

2008-10-01T07:45:00.001+01:00

This is the poster for Silence Of The Lambs- a Real Thriller!!:)

Welcome

2008-09-15T11:41:00.001+01:00