Evaluation Question Seven (Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?)

Evaluation Question Six (What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?)

I have learned how to edit using the editing software Final Cut Pro, the camera shots and angles I need to use to create an effective shot. I also found out how to use After Effects and Garage Band.
 

 

This shows a printscreen of the software we used, this shows the open application Final Cut Express.From this software I learnt how to cut scene together and make them look professional by using fade in or out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We used a HD video camera to shoot our thriller opening, because the video has better quality than a normal video camera. I learnt how to 'rig' and 'de-rig' a camera from the tripod. some techniques i learnt whilst shooting was how to zoom in and out and panning (also actually learning how to just basically operate the camera)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had to use blogger to post our work. I learned how to improve and edit stuff on my blogger.

Evaluation Question Five (How did you attract/address your audience?)

Evaluation Question Four (Who would be the audience for your media product?)

Evaluation Question Three (What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?)

Evaluation Question Two (How does your media product represent particular social groups?) Presentation 1

Evaluation Question One (In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?)

1). Image 1 shows the title of the film opening. We chose the font colour to be red, because red signifies evil, gore/blood and anger. We decided to have a black background, because it fits the conventions of thriller genre (i.e. eerie, death, mystery). We wanted the title to have a potent impact, so we chose the colour red and made it bold.

2). Image 2 shows the setting and plot of where we had filmed, we chose this location because we used a car (without permission) which we had to use to shoot one of our scenes. We think if we ware to re-shoot we would have chosen a woodland, cemetery area.

3). Image 3 shows the costumes we used. in this image you can see a person with a balaclava on, this was used to comply with the mystery convention of thrillers (as the victim's identity could not be seen or revealed).

4). Image 4 shows the editing software we used, we used Final Cut Pro to cut and edit our thriller opening. Examples of editing we used include jump cuts, fade in and fade out.

5). Image 5 shows the effect software we used, we used After Effects to make our tiles and credits. we used After Effects, because it is a professional effect software. We were not fully satisfied with the credits, as we did not have enough time to improve the credits we had to use 20th Century Fox's historic production sequence.

6). Image 6 shows how the thriller sets up. We chose to add a 20th Century Fox's production sequence, to make our opening look more professional (although we are aware that we will not gain any marks for this).

7). Image 7 shows character prop and costumes. this shows the main character holding a gun and wearing thug like clothing which represent him as a thug and the gun complies with certain conventions of the thriller genre.

8). Image 8 shows our production logo. I put this in the opening, because we had done a lot of thriller opening research and found out that they pretty much always have a production logo at the commencement of the film.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary task

Continuity Editing- The techniques used to eliminate interruptions in the story-line of a film. Cuts made during the editing process are masked or covered-up with smooth tranisitions and direct overlaps so that motion, action, dialogue and locations appear realistically with little or no psychological effect.

The Three Camera Shot Rules - 180 degree rule, match on action, shot/reverse shot.

For our preliminary task we had to make a short interview with two or more characters, and we had to use the three rules listed above and below:

- 180 degree rule- The 180° rule is a basic guideline in film making that states that two characters  in the same scene should always have the same left/right relationship to each other. If the camera passes over the imaginary axis connecting the two subjects, it is called crossing the line. The new shot, from the opposite side, is known as a reverse angle. If you crossed the line it make the footage less professional and will confuse the audience, so it is necessary that you think about every shot you are taking.

- Match on Action shot- A match on action shot is when some action occurring before the temporarily questionable cut is picked up where the cut left it by the shot immediately following. For example a person walking through a door. the first shot is a long shot of the subject walking throught the door, and using match on action shot, we place the camera insde that room to show the subject walking into the room through the door. 

- Shot Reverse Shot- A film technique where one character is shown looking at another character , and then the other character is shown looking back at the first character. Since the characters are shown facing in opposite directions, the viewer assumes that they are looking at each other

Student Film Research

Strengths of this opening sequence

- The opening sequence is very good. It is almost professional quality, it is very impressive.
- The film has a twisted opening sequence
- The voice over was a nice feature to add to the film, it gives it slightly more emphasis.
- The rapid change of shots is not very common but for this film it works very well, It just makes the opening sequence that bit longer.

Weaknesses of this opening sequence

- Although the music used is very good, especially the second one used (Chase & Status ft. Plan B), it is not their own music, so it is not original.
- As I have mentioned before, the film is twisted but that can also be a bad thing as some people will lose track and will perhaps be confused.
- The opening sequence mostly consists of seeing the names of the people involved. I would say that this takes up at least 3/4s of the running time.

Conclusion

However the drawbacks bear no weight in contrast to the strengths. Make no mistake about it. This film is quality, it is genuinely interesting, and if I didn't know better, I would suggest that a professional made this. All in all, a very good film.

Camera Shot List

Extreme Long Shot

This can be taken from as much as a quarter of a mile away, and is generally used as a scene-setting, establishing shot. Normally shows an exterior eg the outside of a building, or a landscape, and is often used to show scenes of thrilling action eg in a war film or disaster movie. There will be very little detail visible in the shot, it's meant to give a general impression rather than specific information.

 Long Shot

This is the most difficult to categorise precisely, but is generally one which shows the image as approximately "life" size ie corresponding to the real distance between the audience and the screen in a cinema (the figure of a man would appear as six feet tall). This category includes the full shot showing the entire human body, with the head near the top of the frame and the feet near the bottom. While the focus is on characters, plenty of background detail still emerges.

Medium Shot

Contains a figure from the knees/waist up and is normally used for dialogue scenes, or to show some detail of action. Variations on this include the two shot (containing two figures from the waist up) and the three shot (contains 3 figures...). Any more than three figures and the shot tends to become a long shot. Background detail is minimal, probably because location has been established earlier in the scene - the audience already know where they are and now want to focus on dialogue and character interation. Another variation in this category is the over-the-shoulder-shot, which positions the camera behind one figure, revealing the other figure, and part of the first figure's back, head and shoulder.

Close-Up

This shows very little background, and concentrates on either a face, or a specific detail of mise en scène. Everything else is just a blur in the background. This shot magnifies the object and shows the importance of things, be it words written on paper, or the expression on someone's face. The close-up takes us into the mind of a character. Usually a close up of a face is a very intimate shot. A film-maker may use this to make us feel extra comfortable or extremely uncomfortable about a character, and usually uses a zoom lens in order to get the required framing.

Extreme Close-Up

As its name states, an extreme version of the close up, generally magnifying beyond what the human eye would experience in reality. An extreme close-up of a face, for instance, would show only the mouth or eyes, with no background detail at all. This is a very artificial shot, which can be used for dramatic effect. The tight focus required means that extra care must be taken when setting up and lighting the shot - the slightest camera shake or error in focal length is very noticeable.

Props Used In Film

Balaclava: We wanted to use a balaclava to conceal and hide the identity of the victim from the viewers, it helps add to the mysterious nature of the film. The fact that the victim is wearing a balaclava could mean that all is not what it seem (i.e. the victim is actually the bad guy).

Gun: This prop will be used to empower the enemy and make the 'bad guy' seem much more efective. The gun will be key in the perpatrator of the crime taking charge of the situation in which he kills the victim

Mercedes Benz C-Class: The car will be an integral part of the storyline. This is where the murder will take place, and where the victim will be thrown into the boot.

Cigarette: The murderer will be smoking a cigarette after he commits the atrocity that has been aforementioned.

Analysis of Questionnaire 2/Target Audience Research

I can conclude from my questionnaire that everyone I handed out the questionnaire to have some sort of linking of thriller films. To be honest they only had two choices and only one would allow them to complete the questionnaire but I'll come to that later. When asked about their personal favourite thriller film I found that the film with the most admirers was 'Pulp Fiction', and this film was closely followed by 'The Godfather'. Overall the choices chosen were very diverse, some people put down films that were not on the list, they did this in the space that I provided. Some of the other choices included the likes of 'Collateral', 'Strangers on a Train' and 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'.

For my next question I wanted to find out a general personal opinion from everyone who completed the questionnaire on what they thought was the most famous thriller film of all time. The verdict was pretty much unanimous, almost every single person went for 'The Godfather', however three people went for 'The Shining' and one person gave their own suggestion of 'The Third Man'.

For the next question I gave the public six key conventions that are usually seen in thrillers. The options were: Murder, Robbery, Violence, Romance, Criminals and Heroes. The most ticked boxes were murder,violence, criminals and heroes, all with eight ticks respectively. Choices such as robbery, and romance were not as popular, but not by much.

For the next question I asked about famous thriller directors in order for me to find out their reputation and how widespread it is. I was not surprised by the feedback that I received as absolutely everyone knew Steven Spielberg and Quentin Tarantino. Also really well known were Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese. The least well known film director was Michael Mann, I found this quite surprising as I fell that he has made one of the best thrillers ever made in 'Collateral'.

For my final question I asked the public for their opinion of what they thought was the best thriller film of the decade (2000-2010). The choices that they were given were: Gladiator, Donnie Darko, I-Robot, Million Dollar Baby, The Bourne Supremacy or Kill Bill Vol.1 & 2. The most chosen option was 'The Bourne Supremacy', and feedback for this film icluded "A good and accurate representation of the book". I left a line for the public to write any films that they felt were the best, only one person chose to use this line and the film that they wrote down was 'The Good Shepherd'. Looking at the answers for my questionnaire, Donnie Darko seems particularly popular as well. Also someone else chose 'The Departed', stating in the process that "Was an immense movie - Scorsese at his best with a massive cast (until they all died). The Dark Knight is a popular choice but Departed much more my cup of tea"

Possible Drawbacks of the Questionnaire

Unfortunately my questionnaire has been critically panned. There are many reasons to this. It has been claimed that I did not indicate whether the respondants could select more than one option to the question that they were required to answer. It also was not clear as to whether the answer to the first question was 'no' whether the respondants needed to answer any other questions throughout the questionnaire. Some of my questions were considered to be subjected and were based on my own personal opinions. I was criticised  vocally for my views on what is seen as a 'thriller' differed to other people. An example of this criticism "I'm not sure I'd call any of these 'thrillers' (In reference to my sixth and final question) but that is just a personal view". The final criticism was for my listed conventions of the thriller genre. There were apparently not enough options available, I agree with this as I should have include a thriller technique such as suspense, as without suspense a 'thriller' would not be a 'thriller'.

Production and Shooting Scheduling

Saturday 20th November

We will start shooting our film, we know that we are late but this is where we begin to catch up. We will film in Croydon Crematorium, which is just past Thornton Heath Pond. we chose this location because it helps to fit the fundamental codes and conventions of the thriller genre, for example mystery and death.

Questionnaire 2

1) Do you like thriller films?

Yes

No

2) If so, what is your favourite thriller film?

The Silence of the Lambs

Psycho

         Fight Club

The Godfather

Pulp Fiction

The Dark Knight

Any Others

3) Which thriller film do you consider to be the most famous?

The Godfather

Se7en

Terminator 2

The Shining

Inglorious Basterds

Die Hard

Any Others

4) In a thriller what would you expect to see?

Murder

Robbery

Violence

Romance

Criminals

Hero

5) Which of these famous thriller directors do you know?

Alfred Hitchcock

Michael Mann

Steven Spielberg

Quentin Tarantino

Martin Scorsese

6) What is the best thriller film of the decade?

Gladiator

Donnie Darko

I – Robot

Million Dollar Baby

The Bourne Supremacy

Kill Bill Vol.1 & 2