Friday, 14 May 2010
Tuesday, 8 December 2009
Evaluation
Are opening of are thriller uses and challenges forms and conventions of a real thriller films. We used a black and white effect over are film this is a typical effect in thriller films such as Sin City and Casablanca, this effect is used as it instantly creates a mysterious aura. Conventions we have challenged is the music, we have used music which isn't a typical modern thriller music it doesn't have fast beats and disorted electronic sounds. The music we have used is more relaxing and creates a surreal feel to our film. (Jack Ware)
Our film is about a young man who assasinates people for money, like a hitman. This means that our film is representative of young men, which suggests that alot of young men may have certain problems, such as family problems and also financial problems. The reasons behind these problems may be that the young man has just finished university and cannot pay his fees or he may be feeding an addiction such as an alcohol problem or a drug addiction.(Lee Ervine)
With our film finished we could use many ways to distribute it to the public and our target audience for example, we can upload it to online video services such as youtube or vimeo, these websites would be great for publicity as they are known for generate great views and trafic towards their sites. A more profesional way would be to give our film to a british film company who would distribute it over wide formats, starting with local cinema. A more comercial way would be releasing Above suspicion on DVD/BlueRay disk formats, And release them in local shops and even try and get a deal with household known shops and online eCommerce websites this would give us more of a ease of access for people to get hold of our film. We could also give our film to a Rental store who could feature Above Suspicion in there lineup. (Harry Newsome)
Our media films audience is for older mature people. We have set our film for this range of audience because our film is very complex and hard to understand for a younger audience. A younger audience would find our film hard to follow because you have to take notice of every detail and younger people seem to lose interest quickly. Also, our film relates to violence and we dont want a younger audience to view this because they mite find it scary or disturbing. (Tommy Guiver)
When we received the answer's from the participants in our questionnaire. We used these answer's to use aspects of what people would accept in thriller's in our media film to attract a audience. The first aspect we included in our film was character types. Even though this was varied the majority of people would expect an anti-hero and a detective. Our film is based around assassion and why he has to kill so we won't the audience feel connected to the character and feel his pain. The second aspect we used was type of setting in our film. Most people preffered to see an isolated setting, straight from the start of our film you see the assassion livivng alone in a broken down derelict warehouse. We feel we caputured the isolating setting well but it also links into how he is alone and never can get close to anyone. The last aspect we used was a black and white effect over our film, the results from our questionnaire showed that high majority of people would see black and white. At the intial planning we were going to use this effect as it is a very typical aspect in thriller films the questionnaire just helped us confirm our decision. (Jack Ware)
What our group learned from making our film was how to film certain camera shots such as, a tracking shot, a closeup shot and we also learned the 180 degree rule. Our group also used the premier pro editing software provided on the apple macs. We have learned how to use this software and it has helped us greatly in making our film, from adding the soundtrack down to cutting each scene precisely to fit the opening credits that we added in. We also used an internet website which downloads music and places it automatically onto itunes which we could then export into premier pro. (Lee Ervine)
While making our film from beginning to end, we feel that our group has learnt many things, covering a wide boundary, from filming techniques to editing. (Harry Newsome)
Before being able to start filming our group, just like any other group, had to have a decent and stable storyboard and a planned out sequence so we was able to produce a decent quality amount of raw footage which we could cut down to leave us with the best of our footage. Our storyboard had our final ideas and shots we would aim to perfect while filming, we used it as a sheet we could go back to and review the shots we did. (Harry Newsome)
When we first began filming we tried to use involve shots that we haven’t tried before, and a few of us have barely even used to a video camera to this extent, so a fair amount of our work we wanted to redo to make it perfect as we had more experience and expertise. We tried involving shots like long-shot, tracking and over the shoulder. (Harry Newsome)
Our film is about a young man who assasinates people for money, like a hitman. This means that our film is representative of young men, which suggests that alot of young men may have certain problems, such as family problems and also financial problems. The reasons behind these problems may be that the young man has just finished university and cannot pay his fees or he may be feeding an addiction such as an alcohol problem or a drug addiction.(Lee Ervine)
With our film finished we could use many ways to distribute it to the public and our target audience for example, we can upload it to online video services such as youtube or vimeo, these websites would be great for publicity as they are known for generate great views and trafic towards their sites. A more profesional way would be to give our film to a british film company who would distribute it over wide formats, starting with local cinema. A more comercial way would be releasing Above suspicion on DVD/BlueRay disk formats, And release them in local shops and even try and get a deal with household known shops and online eCommerce websites this would give us more of a ease of access for people to get hold of our film. We could also give our film to a Rental store who could feature Above Suspicion in there lineup. (Harry Newsome)
Our media films audience is for older mature people. We have set our film for this range of audience because our film is very complex and hard to understand for a younger audience. A younger audience would find our film hard to follow because you have to take notice of every detail and younger people seem to lose interest quickly. Also, our film relates to violence and we dont want a younger audience to view this because they mite find it scary or disturbing. (Tommy Guiver)
When we received the answer's from the participants in our questionnaire. We used these answer's to use aspects of what people would accept in thriller's in our media film to attract a audience. The first aspect we included in our film was character types. Even though this was varied the majority of people would expect an anti-hero and a detective. Our film is based around assassion and why he has to kill so we won't the audience feel connected to the character and feel his pain. The second aspect we used was type of setting in our film. Most people preffered to see an isolated setting, straight from the start of our film you see the assassion livivng alone in a broken down derelict warehouse. We feel we caputured the isolating setting well but it also links into how he is alone and never can get close to anyone. The last aspect we used was a black and white effect over our film, the results from our questionnaire showed that high majority of people would see black and white. At the intial planning we were going to use this effect as it is a very typical aspect in thriller films the questionnaire just helped us confirm our decision. (Jack Ware)
What our group learned from making our film was how to film certain camera shots such as, a tracking shot, a closeup shot and we also learned the 180 degree rule. Our group also used the premier pro editing software provided on the apple macs. We have learned how to use this software and it has helped us greatly in making our film, from adding the soundtrack down to cutting each scene precisely to fit the opening credits that we added in. We also used an internet website which downloads music and places it automatically onto itunes which we could then export into premier pro. (Lee Ervine)
While making our film from beginning to end, we feel that our group has learnt many things, covering a wide boundary, from filming techniques to editing. (Harry Newsome)
Before being able to start filming our group, just like any other group, had to have a decent and stable storyboard and a planned out sequence so we was able to produce a decent quality amount of raw footage which we could cut down to leave us with the best of our footage. Our storyboard had our final ideas and shots we would aim to perfect while filming, we used it as a sheet we could go back to and review the shots we did. (Harry Newsome)
When we first began filming we tried to use involve shots that we haven’t tried before, and a few of us have barely even used to a video camera to this extent, so a fair amount of our work we wanted to redo to make it perfect as we had more experience and expertise. We tried involving shots like long-shot, tracking and over the shoulder. (Harry Newsome)
Friday, 4 December 2009
Editing
With all the filming finshed, we have uploaded the film to the computers were we will edit it down to a short opening scene of two minutes. From all the footage we have filmed we have edited it down to our inital ideas from our storyboard as well as adding new shots. (Jack Ware)
We started with our original footage and began to cut it down and edit. Firstly we added a black and white effect over our whole film, we wanted to have black and white from the start of when we was planning, this is beacause it instantly creates a mysterious aura and is a typical aspect of a thriller film, many film makers use this in there films such as Sin City. (Jack Ware)
Secondly we created our opening credits, we added an effect at the start where our names appeared, we did this using the premier pro editing software. Our names are also in black and white. We decided to keep the credits in black and white to go with the rest of the film and also we didn't want them to stand out too much, we wanted the credits to be subtle, so as they didn't immediatley draw the viewers eye. (Lee Ervine)
Who edited what parts...
Lee Ervine-part of the opening credits, the flashback, the cutting of the seperate scenes, the soundtrack and diegetic sound.
Jack Ware-the ordering of the scenes (where each part we filmed fitted into the movie, the music in the flashback.
Harry Newsome-part of the opening credits, the film title at the end.
Tommy Guiver-cutting of the different scenes, adding the soundtrack.
We started with our original footage and began to cut it down and edit. Firstly we added a black and white effect over our whole film, we wanted to have black and white from the start of when we was planning, this is beacause it instantly creates a mysterious aura and is a typical aspect of a thriller film, many film makers use this in there films such as Sin City. (Jack Ware)
Secondly we created our opening credits, we added an effect at the start where our names appeared, we did this using the premier pro editing software. Our names are also in black and white. We decided to keep the credits in black and white to go with the rest of the film and also we didn't want them to stand out too much, we wanted the credits to be subtle, so as they didn't immediatley draw the viewers eye. (Lee Ervine)
Who edited what parts...
Lee Ervine-part of the opening credits, the flashback, the cutting of the seperate scenes, the soundtrack and diegetic sound.
Jack Ware-the ordering of the scenes (where each part we filmed fitted into the movie, the music in the flashback.
Harry Newsome-part of the opening credits, the film title at the end.
Tommy Guiver-cutting of the different scenes, adding the soundtrack.
Tuesday, 24 November 2009
Filming
We have succesfully finished our filming. Our first shot was the first flashback this was the easiest scene to film as we were able to do this during lesson time. To film this shot it took over over two hours as we tried to get all different types of angles and lighting as well as just filming the same shot over and over to find the best one. We had originally filmed this scene in daytime and tried to black out the room however this didn't work too well because in the background there was still light shining through. Also the shot looked very grainy and was hard to see, To overcome this we filmed this at night after school we also had a fire going which adds a great effect. (Jack Ware and Lee Ervine)
The second Flashback of a man tied up in chair was also a easy shot to film as this could be filmed in lesson time and at school. This scene was inspired by the film Léon where a person is unaware that he is about to be killed. This scene helps to show of what a person the assassion is and his skills when killing. We didn't add this to are final media film as it seemed rushed and the lighting was poor and really unable to see this scene. Also it would go over the limt of being a two minute long opening of a thriller film. (Jack Ware and Lee Ervine)
To film the next scene we had to take time outside of school as we had to film in a village near to Hedingham Ridgewell. The location of the scene was an abandoned barn which worked well for an assasins hideout. The fliming overall was very successful we filmed all of our initail shots from the storyboard, some we had to change due to unable to film at certain locations and the intial idea was to complex and some we had to tweak a little to fit in with the environment. We used the environment well to our advantage and got some really nice shots for example long distance shots through a field. (Jack Ware and Lee Ervine)
Also some of the shots that we used were tracking shots. These shots were difficult to shoot at first because of the location. The Floor of the abandoned barn was covered with bent pieces of metal and bent corregated iron, these features went well with the setting, but made it difficult to film the tracking shots because the person filming would have to' tread carefully and have very steady hands so as there wasn't any shakey movement. (Jack Ware and Lee Ervine)
By Jack Ware and Lee Ervine
The second Flashback of a man tied up in chair was also a easy shot to film as this could be filmed in lesson time and at school. This scene was inspired by the film Léon where a person is unaware that he is about to be killed. This scene helps to show of what a person the assassion is and his skills when killing. We didn't add this to are final media film as it seemed rushed and the lighting was poor and really unable to see this scene. Also it would go over the limt of being a two minute long opening of a thriller film. (Jack Ware and Lee Ervine)
To film the next scene we had to take time outside of school as we had to film in a village near to Hedingham Ridgewell. The location of the scene was an abandoned barn which worked well for an assasins hideout. The fliming overall was very successful we filmed all of our initail shots from the storyboard, some we had to change due to unable to film at certain locations and the intial idea was to complex and some we had to tweak a little to fit in with the environment. We used the environment well to our advantage and got some really nice shots for example long distance shots through a field. (Jack Ware and Lee Ervine)
Also some of the shots that we used were tracking shots. These shots were difficult to shoot at first because of the location. The Floor of the abandoned barn was covered with bent pieces of metal and bent corregated iron, these features went well with the setting, but made it difficult to film the tracking shots because the person filming would have to' tread carefully and have very steady hands so as there wasn't any shakey movement. (Jack Ware and Lee Ervine)
By Jack Ware and Lee Ervine
Storyboard
This is are initial draft for are filming, however we have changed some of the scene's as well as cuting out some scene's.
(Jack Ware, Tommy Guiver, Lee Ervine, Harry Newsome)
Friday, 23 October 2009
Questionnaire
Shake and Bake Produtions Questionnaire
We have divised a series of questions to help us find out what are the best aspects of thrillers we can use for are opening film. In lesson we were given a hand out about collecting primary data, this hand out gave us ideas ranging from questions such as open ended or closed. Also how to administrate either from structured interviews, unstructured or semi structured. We drafted are questionnaire couple of times to create the right questions we needed to give us a good understanding of people's views on thrillers. Once we had the the final draft we piloted six out to other students in are class, we received positive feedback and constructive criticism such as the wording of a question and spelling. We have handed out twenty questionnaires containing nine questions ranging from the gender to there favourite thriller. This is what we found. (Jack Ware and Tommy Guiver)
Every one gave their opininon on their favourite thriller movie and the results we for this question varied from the likes of 'Taxi Driver' to 'The dark Knight' we have come to the conclusion that the age of the person filling in the questionnaire has a link with how modern their favourite thriller was. (Harry Newsome and Lee Ervine)
The character types that people would expect to see in a thriller film also varied, but the majority of people would expect an anti-hero and a detective. Another question that was in our questionnaire was 'would a violent opening scene put you off a thriller film?' The majority of answers that we got for this question was 'no' a violent opening scene would not put the viewer off the movie. This result is what we were hoping for because we wanted a fairly violent opening scene to our movie. (Harry Newsome and Lee Ervine)
We also asked our audience which type of setting they would prefer to see in our thriller, we asked them this question because we were indecisive on where to set our opening, the results came in that most people would prefer a more isolated setting, so therefore we have decided to set our opening in a desolate isolated setting. (Harry Newsome and Lee Ervine)
Another key aspect of thriller movies is the music, this varied from slow tension to fast beat sounds. Once again we were indecisive in the type of music to use, so we asked the question in our questionnaire 'What music would you expect to be in a thriller?' The results we found were mostly tension music, yet we are still indecisive on what style to use. (Harry Newsome and Lee Ervine)
Our results that we recieved have helped us improve and build on our initial ideas and have also contributed to our storyboarding. (Harry Newsome and Lee Ervine)
We have divised a series of questions to help us find out what are the best aspects of thrillers we can use for are opening film. In lesson we were given a hand out about collecting primary data, this hand out gave us ideas ranging from questions such as open ended or closed. Also how to administrate either from structured interviews, unstructured or semi structured. We drafted are questionnaire couple of times to create the right questions we needed to give us a good understanding of people's views on thrillers. Once we had the the final draft we piloted six out to other students in are class, we received positive feedback and constructive criticism such as the wording of a question and spelling. We have handed out twenty questionnaires containing nine questions ranging from the gender to there favourite thriller. This is what we found. (Jack Ware and Tommy Guiver)
Every one gave their opininon on their favourite thriller movie and the results we for this question varied from the likes of 'Taxi Driver' to 'The dark Knight' we have come to the conclusion that the age of the person filling in the questionnaire has a link with how modern their favourite thriller was. (Harry Newsome and Lee Ervine)
The character types that people would expect to see in a thriller film also varied, but the majority of people would expect an anti-hero and a detective. Another question that was in our questionnaire was 'would a violent opening scene put you off a thriller film?' The majority of answers that we got for this question was 'no' a violent opening scene would not put the viewer off the movie. This result is what we were hoping for because we wanted a fairly violent opening scene to our movie. (Harry Newsome and Lee Ervine)
We also asked our audience which type of setting they would prefer to see in our thriller, we asked them this question because we were indecisive on where to set our opening, the results came in that most people would prefer a more isolated setting, so therefore we have decided to set our opening in a desolate isolated setting. (Harry Newsome and Lee Ervine)
Another key aspect of thriller movies is the music, this varied from slow tension to fast beat sounds. Once again we were indecisive in the type of music to use, so we asked the question in our questionnaire 'What music would you expect to be in a thriller?' The results we found were mostly tension music, yet we are still indecisive on what style to use. (Harry Newsome and Lee Ervine)
Our results that we recieved have helped us improve and build on our initial ideas and have also contributed to our storyboarding. (Harry Newsome and Lee Ervine)
Wednesday, 30 September 2009
Initial ideas
Our initial ideas
Before we looked at our own ideas, we looked at thriller movies, such as...
-Casablanca
-Sin City
-Resevoir Dogs
-Se7en
-Raging Bull
-Heat
-Taxi Driver
-Blade Runner
All of these films contain typical aspects of a thriller movie, such as the opening of 'Taxi Driver' which is set in New York at night time with rain pouring down on the taxi. The effect of rain in a thriller movie ceates a mysterious and gloomy setting. Also in the film 'Casablanca' from the very start there is a shooting, murder is an aspect of a thriller and keeps the viewer interested and also it creates mystery because if there is a murder at the very beginning it easily sets the plot for the rest of the movie. In film noir movies there is always a femme fatale, a woman character with blonde hair and red lips and pale skin, who dresses in powerful authoritive clothing. The femme fatale is a dangerous woman who seduces the male protagonist. (Lee Ervine and Jack Ware)
The music that is used in the opening of the thriller movies is used to create suspense and tension in the audience or to create a certain opening atmosphere. Such as in 'Resevoir Dogs' at the beginning the sound track is 'little green bag' by George baker. This creates a cool, slick opening to the movie and almost gives the viewer a false sense of security. In are movie we have decided what background music we will feature the song is called I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire by the ink spots. This type of genre of music goes well with the time period that the film is set, this song as well goes well with the motive of the character and why he does what he does. (Lee Ervine and Jack Ware)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBRqVaOOLPQ
Old style detectives and gangsters. This gives an image of the date in which the movie is set and also makes the characters look darker and mysterious, because if they were wearing a heavy trench coat then it could suggest that they are hiding something from everyone and also creating alot more mystery about the charcter. (Lee Ervine and Jack Ware)
The setting of thrillers are usually gloomy and in the majority of the opening scenes that we have watched it is raining. The rainy setting is included in 'Sin City' and also 'Taxi Driver'. The rain creates a more sinister and dark effect to the film and also creates a very atmospheric opening. Although another thriller opening that we looked at was 'Se7en'. The opening to this is set in two different parts. In the very first part Morgan Freeman's character is looking around a house, even though the house is mostly dark, he is in a rural area, after this short scene the credits start, the non-diagetic sound that is being played during the credits almost sounds like a grinding type noise, like that of a rusty chainsaw or buzz saw. After these credits Morgan Freeman's character is in a taxi, at night and it is raining, the bright lights of the city at night along with the rain creates a sense of confusion. In our movie we probably wont be using a two part opening, simply down to the fact that we only have two minutes and if we try to split it into two parts it will seem rushed. (Lee Ervine and Jack Ware)
In our own movie we are trying to aim for a 1940s detective thriller or a modern day assassin film to achieve this style of film. We are considering having it in black and white, we were first struck with the idea of using black and white by the film 'Casablanca' and also 'Sin City'. We think that this will be effective because it also creates a dark mysterious setting and is a typical aspect of film noir. Another idea we may use from the film 'Sin City' is to use the red which in 'Sin City' signifies anger, passion, secretive, and lust. However in are film we will use it to key highlight parts in are opening of are movie. To add this effect we will edit it in when we have finished all are filiming we are not sure we will be able to add this effect due to the editing equipment. (Lee Ervine and Jack Ware)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm4YTs_Mr5M&feature=related
Before we looked at our own ideas, we looked at thriller movies, such as...
-Casablanca
-Sin City
-Resevoir Dogs
-Se7en
-Raging Bull
-Heat
-Taxi Driver
-Blade Runner
All of these films contain typical aspects of a thriller movie, such as the opening of 'Taxi Driver' which is set in New York at night time with rain pouring down on the taxi. The effect of rain in a thriller movie ceates a mysterious and gloomy setting. Also in the film 'Casablanca' from the very start there is a shooting, murder is an aspect of a thriller and keeps the viewer interested and also it creates mystery because if there is a murder at the very beginning it easily sets the plot for the rest of the movie. In film noir movies there is always a femme fatale, a woman character with blonde hair and red lips and pale skin, who dresses in powerful authoritive clothing. The femme fatale is a dangerous woman who seduces the male protagonist. (Lee Ervine and Jack Ware)
The music that is used in the opening of the thriller movies is used to create suspense and tension in the audience or to create a certain opening atmosphere. Such as in 'Resevoir Dogs' at the beginning the sound track is 'little green bag' by George baker. This creates a cool, slick opening to the movie and almost gives the viewer a false sense of security. In are movie we have decided what background music we will feature the song is called I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire by the ink spots. This type of genre of music goes well with the time period that the film is set, this song as well goes well with the motive of the character and why he does what he does. (Lee Ervine and Jack Ware)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBRqVaOOLPQ
Old style detectives and gangsters. This gives an image of the date in which the movie is set and also makes the characters look darker and mysterious, because if they were wearing a heavy trench coat then it could suggest that they are hiding something from everyone and also creating alot more mystery about the charcter. (Lee Ervine and Jack Ware)
The setting of thrillers are usually gloomy and in the majority of the opening scenes that we have watched it is raining. The rainy setting is included in 'Sin City' and also 'Taxi Driver'. The rain creates a more sinister and dark effect to the film and also creates a very atmospheric opening. Although another thriller opening that we looked at was 'Se7en'. The opening to this is set in two different parts. In the very first part Morgan Freeman's character is looking around a house, even though the house is mostly dark, he is in a rural area, after this short scene the credits start, the non-diagetic sound that is being played during the credits almost sounds like a grinding type noise, like that of a rusty chainsaw or buzz saw. After these credits Morgan Freeman's character is in a taxi, at night and it is raining, the bright lights of the city at night along with the rain creates a sense of confusion. In our movie we probably wont be using a two part opening, simply down to the fact that we only have two minutes and if we try to split it into two parts it will seem rushed. (Lee Ervine and Jack Ware)
In our own movie we are trying to aim for a 1940s detective thriller or a modern day assassin film to achieve this style of film. We are considering having it in black and white, we were first struck with the idea of using black and white by the film 'Casablanca' and also 'Sin City'. We think that this will be effective because it also creates a dark mysterious setting and is a typical aspect of film noir. Another idea we may use from the film 'Sin City' is to use the red which in 'Sin City' signifies anger, passion, secretive, and lust. However in are film we will use it to key highlight parts in are opening of are movie. To add this effect we will edit it in when we have finished all are filiming we are not sure we will be able to add this effect due to the editing equipment. (Lee Ervine and Jack Ware)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bm4YTs_Mr5M&feature=related
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