Preliminary task review

When we originally set out for our preliminary task we were in a large group of six. We stayed in this group for filming but broke off into a smaller group with Gemma for editing. We had never used iMovie before and admittedly struggled at first with it, but after a tutorial we got used to it and realised it is a very simple program to use. We spent a while editing the preliminary project but unfortunately when opened towards the end of the time given to complete the task we found that a lot of our editing had been undone and only the project itself was left without editing. We did not have time to add sounds or a lot of other features we had originally put in and so we felt it was incomplete.

When set the task we told we were to set it in real time so there was continuous motion of film with no breaks of time. I think we did this well and kept the film flowing smoothly with a few little jumps but nothing majorly recognisable. Light differences was a key issue with out prelim because we filmed two different times using the same room, but the second time was much brighter than the first. We tried to fix the light variation but even though less visible the difference in light was still rather noticeable. The lack of sound also took away a lot of the tension and suspense we desired to be in our prelim.

Although our preliminary task was a bit of a failure we learnt a lot from the mistakes we made and this will be shown in our future work.

Progress

We managed to get some filming done in yesterdays lesson (thank god I can drive!) We have now got majority of our filming done now, we just need to get a few more shots including the girl handing out flyers. This might be a bit more difficult for us as my friend (who is playing the girl) seems to be busy all the time at the moment. We could change who plays the girl, but we have already done some of the filming, now its a question whether we want to re-film the whole scene or the just wait... This waiting game is not fun! The deadlines getting closer and I'm getting more stressed.

We plan to do some more filming one night after school this week, but with the fog thats around at the moment and how early the nights pull in.. It doesn't seem very likely (unless we want the shots to be completely different- crossing between day and night).

Preliminary task review

Progress

Charlie and I planned to do the last of our filming over the weekend but the fog was too thick!! This means it will delay our editing, lets hope we can get everything done in time now!
We plan to reschedule for during the week, probably tomorrow, lets hope that the fog is gone soon!

Progress...

Tuesday night we went to Great Barton to begin filming of the final section of our thriller opening. In total we shot around 40 minutes of footage and have only used around a second and a half of it. This is rather worrying seen as we have a lot more footage to shoot and we don't know how much of it we will use in the end. This may have been that we were not 100% prepared for filming on tuesday night.
Gemma and I plan to do the other majority of our filming some time next week and we hope that we will be prepared to get more footage that we will actually use for our final project.
When we uploaded our footage, we decided that we were going to use final cut for our editing. At first it seemed like a very confusing program compared to the simple Imovie and struggled at first with the software, but after Miss Hill's help, it has become much easier and simpler to use.
Overall our first go at filming and editing of our final thriller project has been a bit of a catastrophe, but we have learnt from it and will be more prepared when filming next time and now know how to use final cut, hopefully only going up from here on.

Progress report

Last night Charlie and I done some of our filming! we managed to get majority of the footage for the last part of our opening, now all we need to get is the start. We somehow managed to get 19 minutes worth of footage and only used 2 seconds of it.. This is not good!

We only needed this much footage but it seemed like such a waste of filming time! We are now a bit worried about getting the rest of the footage.. Seriously, how much footage are we going to go through before getting our final piece all done and together?!

Looking through the footage we realised the lighting wasn't how we wanted it to be, trying to edit it using final cut really confused us but we have finally got the shot looking how we want it to!

The Prestige

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Our final thriller plan.

Up until this point we were still not 100% sure of what we wanted in our thriller. We finally agreed on the narrative and other components of our thriller and decided to do a video blog on what our final idea now is. It was difficult to decide on what we want but now we've got it pegged we can begin filming without worrying about what is going to happen as well as all the aspects of Mise-en-scene.

Past thriller openings.

The prestige

Director Research - Quentin Tarantino

Quentin Tarantino
Tarantino is a famous American born director and producer. Some of his most famous work includes classics such as Pulp fiction and Reservoir dogs which are widely renowned. His work is both incredible as well as controversial, as in the case of his most recent release Django unchained which covers the controversial topic of slavery in America. He is considered as one of the greatest and most influential directors of his generation.

His most credited piece, Pulp fiction, is a neo-noir crime thriller film set in Los Angeles. With its non linear storyline it covers the storylines of mobsters, fringe players, small time criminals and the one mysterious briefcase. Although not seen by many as a total thriller film, it contains many conventions and aspects of that of a thriller. Narrative retardation features heavily with the non chronological sequence of the film. For example the opening of the film before the opening credits we see the ending scene of the film, but if put the film into chronological order we see that this scene must be earlier on in the sequence due to a main character being in this scene after being killed. This leaves the audience confused and works effectively.
The Mysterious briefcase is a large part of the film because one of the four storylines follows its delivery. We never find out what is in the briefcase but the way in which it is presented makes it very desirable. We know that what is in the briefcase is valuable because Jules and Vince put their lives on the line to protect it as we see in the last scene. Because we never find out what is in the briefcase it keeps its mystery adding to the thriller conventions.

What characters do you find scary?

We asked 30 people about which age and gender they felt had the best impact on a thriller film. We asked them which character they would find 'scarier'/ creepy, when watching a thriller film.

The Third Man- still shots.

Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg- Director study.

Stephen Spielberg is a well known American film director. Born December 18th 1946, his career has crossed 4 decades! Not only is Spielberg a well known director he's also a screen writer, producer and studio entrepreneur.

He is known for many thriller films such as:

• Falling skies
• Eagle eye
• Jaws. 

Here are a few links to opening scenes and trailers he has done:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7acI5z9vyok

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuyEfUDSUXg

Target audience

The comfortable full nesters- conformative people that have a daily routine, that live ‘normally’.

18-30 year olds.

Twitter, bloggers, intagram- social networkers. Watch late night tv. Youtube

Media knowledge- high.

To show them not everything is what it seems- take them out of their comfort zone.  It will make them question their lives, as it will show them that the comfort that they know and feel, may not always be what they think. 

We decided to aim our thriller at people in this age group, preferably female as most people within this age category could relate to a child going missing. Whether they have a child or younger siblings. Female normally have a motherly instinct meaning the audience can connect with the characters. 

Generally, most of the people in our target audience use a broad range of media, such as social networking sites (Twitter, Facebook, etc) T.v, Youtube, Mobiles and the Radio. They also read newspaper articles just not regularly. 
We are going to have an old person as our main 'bad' guy. This is because we done a survey and most people said that they thought older people were slightly more creepy then other characters. 

Se7en

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Preliminary Task

Shutter Island Opening

What does the set up reveal to the audience about setting?
The scene begins with the two marshals on a ferry heading towards what we are told is an island of the coast of Boston. The ferry they are on looks old and disused which gives the impression that it is not used regularly and so emphasises the entrapment around the island. When they arrive at the facility they see barbed walls and electrified fences which makes us feel as though this is more of a prison than a treatment centre. They arrive and are told the dock is the only way on or off the island and this increases the feel of being trapped.
What does the set up reveal to the audience about characters?
When we first meet the 'legend' Teddy Daniels it is on the ferry to Shutter island where we find him with his head down the toilet and learn that he is sea sick and scared of water. This gives clues of to what happens further on into the film. We learn that Teddy's partner was recently transferred but has history within being a marshall. This is tested when they arrive at the gates to Ashcliffe and are asked to remove their weapons and he struggles to remove his, it raises suspicions as to whether he is who he says he is. From this point on you are suspicious of him throughout the rest of the scene and film.
What does the set up reveal to the audience about interrelationship between characters?
When teddy and his partner are walking through Ashcliffe, there is a patient that smiles and waves at teddy and it seems as though they have met before. This begins questions as to who she is and how could she possibly know Teddy? We also get clues throughout the opening scene as to what happened to Teddy's wife. He tells his partner that she died in a fire but from the offset the audience is questioning whether thats actually what happened and makes us suspicious as to whether there is a different reason as to why Teddy has come to Shutter island.
How does this film opening fit with the codes and conventions of Thrillers?
The opening introduces many Thriller conventions, one of which is a Femme Fatale. Teddy's wife is introduced as the Femme Fatale. Dark lighting and low set music features heavily in the opening of Shutter island to create a tense and eerie atmosphere surrounding Shutter island. The typical characters of a thriller, law enforcement, convicts and psychotic characters. The plot is typical of a Thriller with a threatening situation and a time limit onto how long they have to capture the escaped convict. There is also many red herrings and misdirection.

Final Idea.

Progress report

Initially, when we decided groups for our thriller project I volunteered to go into a group by myself. This was because there was an odd number of us and I wasn't bothered about working alone. This was until we did our preliminary task and Lennart joined the group. When we did our preliminary task I realised that it was going to be difficult to do my final thriller project alone. At the same time Lennart joined the group so now there were more people to go around. This is when Gemma volunteered to go into a group with me for our final thriller project. This was a good decision because I think I would have been stuffed alone.

Thriller Idea Feedback

Overall feedback

• The general consensus of the feedback was that our idea was too complex for an opening and would confuse the audience too much. 
• The narrative of our thriller opening had good feedback but for the time we had to fit it into would make it crammed and confusing.
•  It was also said that our idea wasn't much of an opening but more of the whole film. 
• Our idea was on the edge of being a thriller and very close to being a horror. 
• it was pointed out that there were flaws in our plot.

after our feedback we decided that we were going to change our idea all together to a less complex, more understandable and shorter.

Original Thriller Idea

Shutter Island- Set up

Shutter Island-  Set up: How is it used in this film?

What does the set up reveal to the audience about setting?

We first meet Teddy with his head down the toilet, then he walks out onto a boat which is when we first get the idea that he is in/on the way to an isolated location. We then see a shot of ‘Shutter island’ which shows the island covered in trees, with only one dock- the only way on or off the Island. This shows the audience that there is something important going on, on the island.

What does the set up reveal to the audience about characters?

Teddy Daniels is a Marshall sent to investigate/find a missing patient, this could confuse the audience as there is only one way off of the island and that was by the dock. The other characters act on edge around Teddy, the ‘legend’ as called by his new work colleague, as if they were afraid of what his actions might be. This gives the audience the idea that he is not here for the reasons he thinks he is. The police officers all had their riffles out, ready to shoot if had to be when Teddy was the very first character to be seen in the opening, which suggests he has great importance in the film, which we find out to be true throughout the film. When he first meets his colleague he addresses him as ‘the great Teddy Daniels’ this also suggests that he is an important character, that holds power, that’s takes his job very seriously.

What does the set up reveal to the audience about interrelationship between characters?

When Teddy and his partner walk through the psychiatric facility garden one patient smiled directly as teddy and waved, giving the image that they know each other, giving the question have they met before? If so where? We also do not find very much out about Teddy’s partner, only that he knows of Teddy, calling him ‘the legend Teddy Daniels’ this creates suspicion not only for the audience but it also seems as if Teddy is suspicious, how could this person that he has only just met know so much about him? Teddy tells his partner that his wife was killed in a fire; he wasn’t surprised when he found out, as if he already knew. This is important later on in the film, as Teddy has to accept what really happened to his wife, he killed her.

What is this world like?

Shutter Island gives off a very tense vibe. As if it is a very dangerous place. This is shown by the amount of police officers, guards and the way the psychiatric facility is laid out, with high walls, barbed wired fences and what looks like cages within the building. Also the way the sailor on the boat tries to usher Teddy and his partner off the boat quickly, giving off the vibe that he doesn’t want to be stuck on the island with them, especially when the storm hits. The storm could also mean that bad things are going to happen on the island, it gives off a negative view on the island when we first see it, as it is dark and shows little sign of ‘life’.

How does this film opening fit with the codes and conventions of Thriller films?

Shutter Island fits in to the thriller genre as it has some main codes and conventions that most thriller films contain. Such as a red herring. Shutter Island uses an old ‘mental’ lady that hushes Teddy, she not only looks as if she knows Teddy, but she also contains many wounds, such as a mark around her neck as if she has tried to hang herself. The audience sees this woman and instantly thinks she is a key part in the film with great significance, but in fact is just a simple red herring to put the audience off of what is really going on. Also as most other thriller films, Shutter Island has a deadline. The storm acts as a deadline, as if the Marshalls have to be off of the Island before the storm comes in, Deadlines are a common code and convention for thrillers.

Progress

So originally Charlie and I wasn't paired up together. 

There was five of us: Charlie, Robbie, Calum, Joe and I. This became a very tricky situation for us very fast, considering the maximum for a group is four.This became a big dilemma as no-one really wanted to part from the group. Charlie- being the good sport he is decided he wouldn't mind being alone.

This didn't last long when we were joined by a new student, a student that knew nobody, being nice welcoming students we befriended him, welcoming him into our group. 

Then we realised... There is too many of us again. 

This is when I decided  would man up and ask Charlie if i could join him, of course he said yes.

This means that being in a smaller group we both get more input into the ideas and planning of the project. As when filming our preliminary (which we done as a 5, half way through joined by another student so ended up being a 6) we found that not everyone got a say in things. 

Filming and editing became dominated by others. So Charlie and I decided that we would do the editing to the preliminary by ourselves, so that the two groups used the same footage but chose to do different things with it. 

In the end our Preliminary final didn't turn out the way we had expected it to, considering Charlie hasn't done media before and the last time I had was a year or so ago, we done well for a first time. 

Working with Charlie has gone off to a good start, neither of us are too domineering and neither slacking. We are both putting in as much effort into the ideas as each other, as I'm quite a quiet girl, my ideas might not have been put forward as much in a larger group. 

Charlie and I live about 2 minutes away from each other and being able to drive means that getting to locations to films or to just in general meet up and go over ideas together isn't hard for the pair of us. 

I think that in a larger group, getting everyone in the same place at the same time would be quite challenging, which is great news that there is only two of us. 

On the other hand, being a pair means that if one person cannot make the filming or editing we don't have a second opinion. Hopefully this won't cause too much trouble and we can arrange times that we can get together. 

Codes and conventions of a Thriller

Thriller Ideas

Thriller Ideas

Thriller Conventions

Narratives

• Tends to provides thrills and keeps the audience on a cliff hanger and sitting on the edge of their seats.
• Tension, threatening situations, mystery, danger, suspense, narrative retardation, plot twists, red herrings, miss direction, multiple lines of action, deadlines and enigma codes.

Themes

• Psychological mind games 
• Crime 
• Spies/ detectives
• Chase
• Suspense
• Political conspiracy
• supernatural events

Typical Characters

• Convicts
• Soldiers
• Spies
• Stalkers
• Law enforcement officers
• Criminals
• Assassins
• Psychotic characters
• Innocent citizens- get dragged into dangerous scenarios
• Morally complex characters