Filming Main Task- Evaluation

Media coursework evaluation

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Conventions of genre that we tryed to include

Theme
We got the theme of our work from the film “Se7en”, all the people in my group really was fascinated by the opening when we watched it in class and thought why not use that as our film. Of course we knew we couldn’t copy this, but we wanted to use features that it used, because they was so effective on us as an audience.
Camerawork
We tried to add as many shots as we could into our thriller, in some of our shots we had the camera hand held, but this was to create effect, when we got the film back and uploaded it onto the iMac we realized we may just of over done the shakiness of the camera but we still thought it worked well with the character.
Editing
While editing we decided to use a lot of jump cuts, we did this because we looked at Se7en and realized that the jump cuts seemed to increase the pace and tempo a bit more that a cross dissolve or something like that. We also tried to ad some non-digetic sound at the end with the hand banging against the window, we all thought that that was necessary to create the last bit of tension and mystery.
Lighting
We had a problem with the lighting at first because it was either to light in the room or to dark. We covered the big window at the front with a dust sheet that we was using for a prop so that solve that problem. The lights in the middle of the room were still too bright so we took three of the four bulbs out and got someone to stand there holding newspaper about 15cm away from the bulb to block the light, this worked so we could carry on filming.
Sound/music
We found the music on a site which was http://www.newgrounds.com/ , we was just browsing the web and luckily come across this site, it had the perfect music for our film and most of the filming fitting in straight away with the music which was great. We didn’t have any dialog in our thriller because non of us were good actors so we may of ruined the work by speaking.

Honour The Vanquished- Thriller Opening Sequence

This is our groups thriller opening. We based most of it around the opening of the film Se7en.

Fimlimg Main Task- Introduction

My group started our initial filming on the 19th of March. However not all went as planned and one group member forgot to bring the storyboard which led to us not knowing what to do with our film. We needed a newspaper to be used for our props so we could use to cut out specific words that would be appropriate to our story plot. We arranged our set and placed our props to our needs and to improve our mise-en-scene.
Settings:

Disturbing looking shed
Disorganised/organised room
Strange markings on walls
Almost looks abandoned
Graveyard setting

Props we want to use:
Stanley Blade
Newspper cut outs
Cloths
Paint
Flick knife
Screwdriver
Photos
Pieces of paper with writing

Filming- Day 2

We did most of our filming on this one day which was really good. The only shoot we have left to do is the shot of someone walking through a grave yard. While we was filming we said that we would like to do that shot in black and white. This is because it is going to be like a flashback so we are going to use that effect to emphasis it being in the past. We also had another problem with the lighting while filming on this day but not due to the lights in the room. The problem was that the window in the shed was letting to much light through as it was daytime and only about half past two in the afternoon. As you will see in our opening we used dust sheets to cover everything up in the shed so we decided to hang one of them up on the window to block the light from coming in, thankfully this worked and we could carry on filming. We took a picture of this to prove what we did, as we you can see on the right.
I have also said in the past that Mike was doing the little amount of acting that was needed in the opening, but on the day I found myself doing the acting while Mike was sorting out all the props and some of the camera angles.
This was a more sucessful day than day one, we now have some evidence of work and have some film to edit for the next lesson.

Filming- Day 1

On the first day of filming in Ryan's shed it was not the most productive day because we had to set up the set of the film and make sure that everything was inch perfect before turning on the camera and start the filming side of it. We had to do things in the set like block out certain light within the location because it was making the pictures to bright so we had to think of certain ways to block out the light so that it would make the images more dark and mysterious and spooky. When we set up the lighting and the other props in the setting of our thriller we began to film and it came out quite well.

Filming Main Task- Risk Assessment

To ensure our health and safety is secure we needed to create a risk assessment. By looking at certain features of our settings and the props we use in our thriller we needed to access how dangerous they were and the potential hazards that surrounded us.


I have drawn a graph to highlight the risks and the risk level.

This graph represents my risk assessment for our filming task. I split the risks into four areas which are; the furniture, this includes all chairs tables and worktops within the location. Also the paint we used for one of our main scenes, the props we used in our film and lastly the camera equipment and how much of a risk they were.

I have assessed the risks into three areas: severity, danger and resolvability.

The severity means the consequences that may be faced after having an accident with these risks. The furniture has a low rating because they were old, not wanted pieces of furniture and they would not have been missed if broken and they did not pose a threat if we decided to climb on them. The paint had a slightly higher rating because there is alot of risk if the paint spilled or if it managed to get into one of our eyes. Our props have a very high severity rating because dealing with heavy and sharp objects could cause severe cuts or worst case scenario lose a finger. Lastly the camera equipment had a high severity rating because the equipment is not ours and is owned by the school. This means that we are liable for them and would need to pay them back so we took extra care with our equipment.

Danger means how much of a threat to our physical and/or mental health these risks could be. Furniture has a low danger rating because they are not sharp or in a dangerous place. The only major danger risk was when Ryan had to step onto a ladder to paint the wall or when Andrew and myself had to hold the curtains on top of a step. The paint had a slightly higher rating because of the same reasons for severity. The props had the highest rating again because of how hazardous the objects were to our physical bodies. Finally the camera equipment had a high danger rating because of how easily damaged the equipment could get. Also the log legs of the tripod could be dangerous if not folded up properly or not carried properly.

Resolvability is how easily the risk was sorted out and the steps taken necessary to deal with the issue. The furniture and paint had very high resolvability ratings because they could have easily been moved, put away or covered up which would have sorted out the risk. The props were difficult to resolve because they ere needed during filming and some had to even be used while filming. This was resolved by taking extra measures to ensure we were safe and knew what we were doing. Unfortunately the camera equipment was the most difficult to resolve because it took up alot of space and was easily broken.

Location

The location for a film is very important considering it is a thriller. When we was considering all the places for our thriller to be filmed we had to make sure that it was quiet so that there was no interruptions, was dark and quite spooky or scary for the audience's sake it seem scary, also had to think about the mystery part of it to make sure that it looks like a place were people would not expect things to happen like they will in our film. When we came to a conclusion of where to film our thriller we decided to do it in Ryan Honey's shed. This was because it was at the back of his garden out the way of everything like the distractions etc, we chose Ryan's shed because the lighting was dark and not open so it was quite dark and spooky in there so it was perfect for the lighting side of the filming.

Cast, Props, and Costumes

Cast

The cast that we have selected for our film is basically the people in our media group are in the film. Also in our film you never actually see the actors face only the back of their head and their ear so using different actors would have been pointless so we just used the people in our group. It will also be easier for the people in our group get what is happening in our film and act it out better than just any random person so using people in our group will be a lot easier for us. So Mike Jones is the one in our group that will be doing the acting.

Props

In one of our shots we have about five tools leaned up against a table so that the audience can clearly see what the weapons are. They are a sledge hammer, screw driver, stanley knife blade, a flip up knife, a smaller sledge hammer, and a chain. We also used dust sheets to cover the area that we are filming in because we did not want to give anything away about the setting. We were using the stanley knife blades to cut out the letters and images from a newspaper to show what is happening before the film even starts to try and draw the audience in.

Costumes

The actor, Mike Jones, will be wearing shirt and tie with trousers and shoes. This is so that the audience will think that he is a normal working man so they should not suspect him of anything.

Shutter Island-2010-Martin Scorsese

I recently went to see the new thriller out called Shutter Island. It was directed by Martin Scorsese. It is a psychological mystery thriller, and is set in 1954 around a US Marshall Teddy Daniel's, played by Leonardo Di Caprio, and his partner Chuck Aule, who is played by Mark Ruffalo. The film is based on a best selling 2003 novel by writer Dennis Lehane. The film starts with Teddy Daniel's with his partner on a boat on there way to Asahecliff Hospital on Shutter Island, which is a hospital and prison for the criminally insane. They are called to the island because of the disappearance of a woman called Rachel Solando, who suspiciously disappeared from a locked room.

When Daniel's and Chuck begin the search with the guards of Shutter Island they soon start to uncover certain things about the disappearance. There are certain things that are said and done within the hospital that makes everyone of certain suspicion to Daniel's and Chuck, like how she escaped from a door that was locked fro the outside and can only ever be opened from the outside, and how a note was left which seemed to be directed at Daniel's and Chuck, they are also suspicious of how nobody knows how she left with no shoes no sign of breaking out or anything. When Daniel's asks to see the personal files of all of the people who have ever been at Shutter Island he refuses, then we meet a man who brings even more suspicion into the frame of the film. His name is Dr. Jeremiah Naehring, and is a German man who tries to cover up his accent but with Daniel's being ex military who fought the German's spotted it straight away.

In the morning, they interview patients from Rachel’s group therapy sessions, one of whom passes Teddy a warning to run. Teddy explains to Chuck the real reason he took the case: after being transferred to Ashecliff, Andrew Laeddis disappeared. When Teddy investigated, he met a former patient who claimed that the facility was performing human experiments. Rachel is finally found near the lighthouse but she is unresponsive to Teddy’s questioning. He eventually finds George Noyce, the man who told him about the experiments. George says that the whole situation is a game for Teddy’s benefit and that he is afraid of being taken to the lighthouse.

Teddy tries to reach the lighthouse and discovers a cave where the real Rachel Solando is hiding. She was a doctor at Ashecliff until she found out about the experiments and was committed as a patient. She explains that the hospital is using psychotropic mediaction in an attempt to master mind control, with the goal of creating sleeper agents for use in the Cold War. She says that Teddy has been similarly drugged since he arrived on the island.
Teddy finally makes it to the lighthouse and finds Cawley waiting at the top. The doctor reveals that Teddy is actually Andrew Laeddis. He murdered his manic depressive wife after she drowned their three children, and then created a fantasy where he was a hero to cope with the pain. He invented Rachel Solando as part of his delusion. He has been under the care of Dr. Sheehan, the man he thought was Chuck, for two years. Sheehan and Cawley decided to try a role play experiment, allowing Andrew to live out his delusions in an attempt to bring him back to reality.

Andrew’s memory comes back and he makes peace with his past, but later he appears to have a relapse and Cawley is forced to lobotomize him. Before the surgery is performed, Andrew asks Dr. Sheehan if he thinks it would be worse to live as a monster or die as a good man, leaving it unclear whether he had a relapse or is feigning delusion in order to have a permanent escape from reality. The film ends with an ambiguous shot of the lighthouse.

Our Groups Animatic

This was my groups animatic of what our thriller will consist of. We had to make a storyboard with different pictures and other things that will show what will be in our media thriller when we start filming soon. The animatic consits of everything that will be going into our thriller opening sequence. The sort of stuff that will be in the animatic will be things like the people walking across the screen, the camera panning across the room and a lot more stuff to do with the 2 minute opening of our thriller.

Preliminary Exercise Video

Me and the people in my group made a preliminary video for a media coursework before we go off and film our thriller. it was the first time that we had used a camera and tried a variety of different shots and other things that we have been learning in class to try and show that we was ready for the task of creating a thriller opening. In our video i was using the camera to watch and observe a conversation between Mike and Ryan whilst Andrew said what would look good in different shots by observing the conversation with me, there was a number of different shots, the consists of close ups, long shots, extreme close ups, point of view shot, over the shoulder shot and a couple more. We then had to upload the video into iMovie HD and edit and capture a final video. we had to do different types of cuts from shot to shot, like a jump cut from Mike walking to Ryan to then leaning on him and looking over his shoulder at the work. another cut was a fade out from the end where Mike is walking away and then it fades out into a black screen for the finish. These different types of cuts showed many different things that we needed for our video.

Target Audiences of A Thriller

When creating a thriller movie the director and everyone to do with the film will have to come up with ideas about who they want this film to interest and who they want to come see it. This would mean doing things like research into what people would want to see. Another target would be age. This would be important when selecting a target audience because of if you was to select the wrong type of film for the wrong sort of age then it will not be good for the film. Selecting the age would be important because looking at the age ratings of U, PG, 12A, 15, and 18 you should only usually select to do thrillers for the ages of 12A and above, with the 12A thriller it should not be confusing or like gory/gruesome in any way because that may get a bad review and put people off coming to see that sort of film by a certain director. When selecting the age range of 15 the thriller can be a more of a gruesome and harder because of the age that will be watching it. It can also then spread out a wide range of possibilities of the different things that could be included into the thriller film. Finally, when selecting the 18 age there are some any different things that can be included in this age range of thriller. There could be any type of thriller like, psychological thriller, conspiracy thriller, there can also be a lot more scary parts, that would possibly widen the range of people that would come and see it because they might like that sort of film. So when selecting target audiences of a thriller there are many different things that you should think about when doing all of this.

Seven-1995

I watched the opening title sequence and was using this to use for the opening title sequence of my thriller. The opening sequence was one of very weird and disturbing openings. It starts with the flicking through of pages and then some weird pictures of what seems to be deceased people. It then goes to what appears to be a man cutting or slicing off his fingertips, which is a weird thing to have in an opening sequence because it shows us not in depth but give the audience an insight of what the mind of both the protagonist and antagonist will be like in there mental state. The opening sequence then goes to what appears to be the man cutting out snip lets out of a Bible, a magazine, a newspaper, and what appears to being cut out is the seven deadly sins, like wrath, avarice, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony. then there is some highlighting of different words, the use of distorted/scary music and sounds makes all of this work together and make it a better opening and will get the audience sucked in to make them want to watch more of it after the opening is finished.

No Country For Old Men- 2007

No country for old men is a film about a man who gets arrested in the middle of nowhere and gets taken back to the police station, and whilst the officer is on the phone the main character goes behind the officer and kills him. he then takes a police car and goes off away and pulls over a man then kills him whilst road side.there is then a separate scene where a man is hunting and is in the middle of the desert trying to catch a deer but when he misses the shot the man follows a trail of blood to what appears to be a scene of mass murder. But after examining the scene he finds out that it was a drug deal gone wrong. So he then follows the trail even further and finds a dead man with a suitcase full of money. This was as far as I got in the film but wish to watch it further on.

The Conversation- 1974

I started to watch the opening sequence of the film The Conversation which was made in 1974 by Francis Ford Coppola. It is a film about a team of people who are after a man and his wife. However we have no idea form the opening scenes why they after this man, we are left asking what has he done? The team have two men up high in buildings and behind bulletins, however one man is set the task of following them, but unfortunately for them their plan goes wrong when the man's wife spots the man "with the wire in his ear" and they hear this and realise they need to back off.

Thriller Conventions

There are many different types of conventions within thriller, they are as follwoed;

1. A crime is at the core of the narrative, (often, murder, but not always)
2. A complex narrative structure, with false paths, clues and resoulutuioins.
3. A narrative pattern of establishing enigmas (problems) which the viwer expects to be resolved.
4. A protagonist who is systematically, disempowered and drawn into a complete web of intruge by an antagonist.
5. Extraordinary events happening in ordinary situations.
6. Themes of identity
7. Themes of mirroring
8. Themes of voyeurism
9. Protangonist with a "flaw" which is exploited by the antagonist
10. Titles often refledct an aspect of the protagonist/antagonist's psychological state
11. there is often a scene near the end of the film in which teh protangonist is in peril.

The Manchurian Candidate- (2004)

We have recently been watching this film in our media class for our coursework watching and observing what happens and different aspects and how differnet directors do different things during a thriller film.
Maj. Bennett "Ben" Marco (Denzel Washington) is a war veteran who begins to doubt what is commonly known about his famous army unit. During Operation Desert Storm, Sergeant First Class Raymond Shaw (Liev Schreiber) supposedly rescued all but two members in his unit, of which Marco was the commanding officer. While this made Shaw a war hero, gained him the Medal of Honor, and launched him into a career in politics, Marco and other members of the troop feel that while they remember that Shaw did rescue them, they do not actually remember him doing it.

The Manchurian Candidate- John Frankenheimer (1962)

Captain Bennett Marco, Sergeant Raymond Shaw, and the rest of their infantry platoon are kidnapped during the Korean War in 1952. They are taken to Manchuria, and are brainwashed to believe that Sgt. Shaw saved their lives in combat — for which Congress awards him the Medal of Honor.

Years after the war, Marco, now back in the United States working as an intelligence officer, begins suffering the recurring nightmare of Raymond Shaw murdering two of his comrades, all clinically observed by Chinese and Russian intelligence officials. When Marco learns that another soldier from the platoon also has been suffering the same nightmare, he sets to uncovering the mystery and its meaning.

It is revealed that the Communists have been using Raymond Shaw as a sleeper agent, a guiltless assassin subconsciously activated by seeing the “Queen of Diamonds” playing card while playing solitaire. As such, he obeys orders, which he then forgets. Raymond Shaw’s Soviet secret service controller is his domineering mother, Eleanor, a ruthless power broker working with the Communists to execute a "palace coup d’état" and quietly overthrow the U.S. Government with the "Manchurian Candidate": her husband, McCarthy-esque Senator Johnny Iselin.

In the end, Raymond is provided with a sniper's rifle and is assigned to shoot a leading presidential candidate during his acceptance speech at a national convention. At the last moment, a remarkable plot-twist foils the plan.

North By Northwest-1959

North By Northwest is a thriller directed by Alfred Hitchcock. Recently we have been watching this film and observing as part of our media coursework.
North By Northwest is a simple film about mistaken identity with innocent advertising man Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant) is mistaken for someone who was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time and is follwed and hunted across the USA for things that he did not do and being huted by people who are after the completely wrong person. This is one of Hicthcocks signature MacGuffin. Thornhill is a Madison advertising executive and is mistaken for a Mr Kaplan and when the gang find Mr Kaplan/Thornhill he is kidnaped and is then taken to the house of leader Lester Townsend.

Example of Thriller Films

There are so many different types of thriller films made by a lot of different directors some well known directors and films some are not as known.
Taken
North By Northwest
The Dark Knight
Final Destination
Paranormal Activity
Prom Night
Mirrors
No Country For Old Men
The Bodyguard
Scream
Munich
Premonition
The Nanny
These are but a mere few types of thriller films that there are out and many more that may not have been produced or shown because of difficulty within the film business with producing and showing a film.

Genre's

A genre is a category of type of film that will have many different aspects depending on the type of film. The many types of genre's of films are:
Acion
Romance
Thriller
Comedy
Sci-Fi
Fantasy
Drama
Horror
Western
Adventure
Musical
Rom/Com

Types of Thrillers

There are many different types of thrillers:
Spy Thriller
Political Thriller
Legal Thriller
Conspiracy Thriller
Drama Thriller
Psychology Thriller
Crime Thriller
Disaster Thriller
Medical Thriller
Erotic Thriller
Religious Thriller

Alfred Hitchcock KBE: Master of Suspense

Sir Alfred Joesph Hitchcock, born August 13th 1899, died April 29th 1980. He was a British director who was known commonly for his work within the thriller genre mainly. He was a man who pioneered many techniques in suspense and psychology thrillers. Hitchcock was known for making more than fifty feature films within his 60 year career. He is still one of the most popular and most recognised filmmakers with most of his work still popular even today.
I am now going to add a list of some of Hitchcock's films that made him so famous.
The Lodger (1926)
The Ring (1927)
Easy Virtue (1927)
The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)
The 39 Steps (1935)
Foreign Correspondent (1940)
Mr & Mrs Smith (1941)
The Wrong Man (1956)
Vertigo (1958)
North By Northwest (1959)
Psycho (1960)
Frenzy (1972)
Family Plot (1976)
There is a list of 13 films that Alfred Hitchcock directed and there was so many more with his first film being shown in 1926 and his last one being made in 1976.

What is a Thriller/Aspects of a Thriller.

A Thriller is a well known genre of a film that was the forte of director Alfred Hitchcock who later on I will be going into detail on.
A thriller will have many different aspects when shown. One of the main ones will be that there will also be a mystery or conspiracy within the film, there will also be an aspect of terror and suspense within the film so that there will be something for the audience to not expect or see happening that will happen unexpectedly. There will also be an important sub-genre within the film and will be characterized by fast pacing, frequent action. Another aspect within a thriller will be that the main/central protagonist (main character/hero) will always be identified by the audience very early on in the film and will have good qualities and be liked by everyone in and out of a film. The central/main protagonist (bad guy) will have all the bad qualities and may not always be known to the audience but eventually will reveal throughout the film. The main protagonist will also be intriguing and interesting to the audience. Often the killer will usually be revealed at the end or revealed at the start or during the film so that they will often know more than the antagonist and protagonist. Also the antagonist will usually win the battle and walk away with everything whether it be the girl, the money or anything else that they was after during the film. A few more main aspects of a thriller will be shock moments and always elements of danger, violence and possibly death. Also there will usually be a race against time and the villain will always be better equipped that the antagonist. Thrillers are often taken in an exotic setting such as Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, Barbados etc.