My Final Evaluation

Opening Thriller Evaluation

Massie Road

In order to make a successful opening sequence a lot of planning had to take place. We started off with preparing a pitch, looking at the Mise-en-scene, and different camera angles, movement and positions. Through the beginning of the thriller period I realized there many types of thrillers and are sub-genres like romantic thriller, legal thriller, spy thriller and the list continues!

So when it came to planning of our thriller, this time round I realized the importance of it from doing our preliminary task I took a wide look at the different openings of some of the thrillers we studied. One of these strongly influenced us in the creating of our thriller and you can see the influence it has had on our original thriller. For instance, when the strange looking child randomly appears and disappears, spooking the young girl. This was The Shining, when the little boy is riding on a bike and the two twins flash at half second with a thunder of music. I found this part of the clip alarming but intrigued to know what is going on.

However this wasn't easily dealt with we had to look at the conventions of thriller movie openings and discuss whether we wanted to introduce the character or begin with an establishing shot. Once my group looked at conventions shown in different suspenseful thrillers, and spoke about what kind of affect they could have on the audience and the type of atmosphere we wanted to convey.

We were able to develop such openings like the Collateral (by Michael Mann's)

This opened with introducing their two major players in a busy airport. The special thing about this opening was that the location had a normal atmosphere and the scenario given was in fact common. However we know as an audience that something is going to happen, but What, Is the question we are left with unanswered. It isn’t until we follow the scene through that the narrative is later discovered.

From looking at the conventions shown in the Collateral we were able to apply the natural but curious atmosphere to the beginning of ours, by placing the girl (Louise) in a natural setting (a house) and walk within the urban back roads of Hackney. This again was a common scenario however I believe it would leave the audience with an unsettling mind because they are also hearing the words from the radio as well as following the girls every movement.

I believe the home in which the girl (Louise) lives is significant which is why we first open up with an establishing shot of the estate and a close up of the level floor she is lives on. I think the type of built the estate is and the area in which we are in Hackney displays that she probably lives in a council estate and is of working class. I think her race and the postcode help defend this and create a typical stereotype known within this area. I also think that her coming of a red bendy bus on back roads is also representative to our viewers that we are in the area of London and the type of social group she belongs too. 

I knew that in order to create a successful thriller it wasn't just important to just think about the film but how we could also distribute it. I had to think about how I would promote my group’s movie and get it distributed in its most convenient way. Through some research you are able to pick up on how many Londoners watch TV dramas and films. They are attracted to TV film because it is easy and free access to all viewers regardless of class, ethnicity or personal circumstance.

Many people also have surround system now so that there's no need to go in to the cinema. I also found out that families find it more convenient to come home after work and not have to worry about the kids and watch something that they can relate to but still find unpredictable and breathtaking, this is what I consider our opening thriller fulfils very well. For it is based in a common part of East London, down the road from the popular Hackney Empire Theatre and isn't like many media products that appear on TV all based around Middle and Upper Class. But instead shows the other communities in London of working class, in a common home with a character living a common lifestyle. I reckon if we distributed our product amongst the British population and advertised it well within London we would have a greater number of viewers if we published it as Channel 4 film for example rather than trying to publish it as a Hollywood blockbuster.

Concerning the way in which we would like our media product to be distributed we know roughly what type of audience we would also want it to appeal to. This is why I believe the character we selected is important because she is not a famous actress with a high reputation but someone who is unknown and more likely to be stereotyped straight away. This in relation to the thriller corresponds well because the girl (Louise) is stereotyped in this film as innocent and young, giving the impression that she is naive and venerable with less importance because of her race. Such topics like stereotypes, reality in London, and working class lives is what would have been addressed within the rest of the film. 

For instance our female character that is unnamed at in the opening is perceived as a young adult, around the ages of 17-19 years, possibly in her last year of college or taking part in some sort vocational subject. She may appear to be interested in fashion, socializing with her friends, hence why she is always out of the house and in many cases just enjoying her youthful days. This then opens up our audience to a larger capacity of viewers ranging from 13 - 50 years of age. The younger audience could possibly relate themselves to the character and her life style, whereas the thriller may open up the older generations mind to what their children or grandchild could be getting up to and going through.

To produce an intriguing, advertisement for the promotion of my media product, I would start by cutting up the most alerting and gripping shots, gelling them together to create a movie trailer. The trailer should still keep the main character as the audience’s centre of attention, drawing up on significant themes in opening like the postcode and the keys.

Trailers like such would be displayed as an advertisement on channels like the BBC and channel 4. I think an important thing to keep in mind when doing the trailer is to also have a voice that sounds young to attract the younger audience as well as appear friendly.

However even with a genial tone, I think it is important that a male does the voice over because it still may inflict a tense atmosphere as he speaks. Especially because my thrillers not a Hollywood type film, I would recommend it to also be advertised in TV Guides and magazines etc. I think this would be any easier and social way or creating a bridge between the movie and the audience, as our audience is more likely to read newspapers and magazines to catch up on any latest releases that are British based.

During my time of creating the media product I was able to experiment with the apple equipment. I wasn’t given a specific responsibility like people do have in the Movie industry but I was able to assist my group members in finishing the soundtrack, re-editing shots and alternate in filming. Sadly due to lack of trust and three big personalities in my group, as well as the screen not being wide enough for us to all sit at. It meant that most occasions someone would be left to observe and give verbal constructive criticism then practical help. However even with my experiences of being on the side I was still able to have a good understanding of the equipment and software used. I would also attend extra workshops so that the time my group did spend in discussion or argument we would catch up on it as a group t make sure there was still continuous progress.

I had an interesting experience using Final Cut Pro because in the beginning it wasn’t very easy to grasp, even though we practiced using this software on our preliminary task, when we began to use the software again it was only then when I started to get the hang of things. Making it easier to know what to do when logging and capturing all of our necessary bits for the opening. Once things like this was out the way and we had clear running sequence, we was able to edit it using features like cross-dissolve making the transitions from one shot to another shot smooth.

When creating the credits we used the software Live Type. In my opinion we spent a lot of time on the credits because as time went on we realized that our narrative wasn’t clear and that having busy detailed credits can distract the audience and create a change in atmosphere. Once the credits were created edited with the cross fading tool so that it ran as a part of the opening and not seen as two separate sections with Credits and Film. Another area that I was able to work on was the soundtrack we did this on Soundtrack Pro, were we went through a variety of sounds and created different layers so that as a scene build up in tension this is reflected in music, making this particular scene effective along with other elements in the scene

Considering the meaning behind the preliminary task didn’t seem very evident to me, as we continued to edit our footage my eyes took notice to some jump shots we had and some match-cuts that never looked near perfect. So I then felt challenged positively to go and re-film in order to get the perfect match-cuts. My group and I did have to book the camera equipment a numerous amount of times in order to get good shots, because many a time we also forgot to keep in mind the 180° degree rule, which sadly did waste time. I learnt that you in order to make a successful match cut you must do it from different angles otherwise it will look like a jump shot.

Overall I am very happy with the outcome of out thriller opening, the end result was excellent and really just brought our plans to life. I also believe that it appeals to its target audience perfectly, as the main character is a teenager, a character a younger audience can relate to. The narrative is very effective as it allows an older audience to relate to the story. To some extent I also feel that our thriller is to some extent educational, as its reinforce the message like on the radio that young people are very vulnerable and should be more conscience about their where surroundings. Other then the creative match cuts and well angled shots, the effects used within our thriller help add to the atmosphere and creates suspense for the audience. For example when the stalker is behind the van and the shot is done in slow motion, we are able to see the girl from his point of view.

Media Thriller Evaluation

Media Thriller Evaluation

When looking at Thriller openings we usually see establishing shots of locations e.g. a house or a hotel. In my Thriller, we started it off with an establishing shot of the character house and this is commonly used in openings of Thrillers. The audience are normally left asking questions or wondering what is going to happen next and this is a good way to start. In my Thriller the audience never see the perpetrator and in Thrillers the perpetrator is hardly ever seen straight away. To build up suspense within our Thriller we used sounds that came in one after another and gradually increased in volume e.g. the heart beat increased in volume when the stalker was watching the girl.

After the radio announcement we start hearing a continuous sound. This makes the audience suspect that something is going to happen. The audience then start to feel comfortable because the sound continues for a long time and nothing happens. The audience are then again alerted when the sound of strings comes in and the suspense is then built up until we see the flash of the girl.

The flash we used of the little girl was heavily influenced by the scene in “The Shinning” of the two little girls flashing up when the little goes to the door. 

When we watched this, the sound played a massive part in the shock of it. The fact that we saw an ordinary little boy riding a tricycle made us feel at ease and was completely unaware that any such thing could occur. This is very similar to what we did as it was an ordinary day in the city.

In my Thriller we used a typical teenage black girl. The fact that this girl is teenager already determines the age group that my Thriller appeals to. Although the main character is a female the Thriller still appeals to both genders of the teenage group. Females are usually the main victims in Thriller films where they are assaulted or kidnapped and this is what happens

 in our Thriller. This also shows that women are vulnerable. The costume that the girl is wearing is typical of a working class girl. She is wearing dark colour jeans, a black jacket, plimsolls and a black and white woolly hat. The audience can easily relate and step into the shoes of this character as it is what they see or even wear on a daily basis. The little girl that we see in the Thriller is wearing a blue coat and a colourful scarf like a typical little girl. 

This shows the innocence and realism of the girl. This is also done in the shinning where the girls have their hair down and wearing blue dresses with bows on them. The innocent look is also created with the ‘innocent’ smile.

Shooting the Thriller in the day time was much easier and allowed us more filming time that we definitely needed. Although we shot it in the day time, using final cut pro we were able to make it black and white that gave it a better feel.

We developed our understanding on how to shoot footage, and how we had to film one piece of action several times in different angles in order to get very effective match cuts. We realised that charging the camera was important as there was many times where the battery died out.

We explored different camera angles and camera techniques; however the majority were normal straight ones. We had the problem of breaking the 180 degrees rule and due to that had to film several times again. We used low angle shots of the girl closing the door and the pan to the radio and also close ups like when we were focusing on the keys.

Using final cut pro I was also able to blend in the sound track and have everything flow properly and smoothly.

The editing process became easier as I became more used to the program. Logging and capturing was easy and I particularly enjoyed doing Match cuts. As I became more familiar with the program editing became quicker. The only difficult thing we found with Final cut Pro was making our Thriller shorter as we had exceeded the 2 minutes by like 1 minute. Cutting out some footage was the hardest part.

Although Filming and editing was important we also had to record everything that we had done throughout the process and we did this on Blogger. At the end of every lesson or sometimes every week I would blog what ever I had done in the lesson. This was a good way of keep a track of whatever I had done within that week of lesson.

I think that my Thriller will be distributed as a small independent UK release. I don’t thin that it would be a big Hollywood blockbuster because of where it is set. It will not relate to people unless they live around this area. It will be distributed around a small number of UK ‘arthouse’ cinemas and will only mainly get watched by working class people roughly aged from 15-24.

Films like ‘The Shinning” I think would be enjoyed mainly by people aged fifth teen upwards and so that’s the target for my Thriller. “The Shinning” was mostly enjoyed by males than females and so that’s what my Thriller is aiming at. I however think that females would enjoy it as well as they would be able to relate to it as it is a typical girl that is the main character and that is getting kidnapped. The audience that my Thriller would appeal are niche, those within the east end of London. I would expect that sort of audience as they can easily relate the film. Kate is a 19 year old female who works in a call centre in East London. She loves going out with her friends on the weekends and is a big fan of the cinema. She loves to shop in West End.

For my Film to be successful and that I would get a good audience, I would have to look for the best way to advertise my Thriller. Knowing that my audience are young and both male and female, advertising my Thriller would be good on social networking sites like Facebook. As my Thriller is for working class people aged 15-24 having the film advertised on billboards would be a good idea. There will be no famous actors in my film so that won’t help to attract the audience. The mise-en-scene is urban, as it is set in city streets, it has an urban setting and the people may live near a place like this and so will find it is easy to relate to such things. The storyline is also very real and happens on a daily basis and so people will understand and feel for the character even more, this will also help to attract the audience. When making our Thriller we wanted the audience to be hooked and be very interested in what will happen next and hopefully we did this very successfully.

My group learnt a lot when doing this Thriller. There were many major set backs but we were able to finish it successfully. Our idea was changed mid way in making the Thriller which was a set back. We had to change the time of our Thriller. When we first filmed our Thriller we had trouble using the lightening kit as our Thriller was in the night. The footage came out very dark, so we had to change it to day time. We also faced the problem with the fact that when we first filmed the floor was icy from snow and on other days the floor was dry.

When I look back at the preliminary match cut task that I did. I have realised how important it is to plan and story board the ideas that you have for your Thriller before we go and film it. For the actual Thriller we decided to film many different angles of the same piece of action and this was something that we didn’t do in the preliminary task. The match cut task really helped me when I came to do my actual Thriller as it allowed me to have knowledge of how to do really good match cuts.

When it came to editing the Thriller it made it slightly easier as we had practiced on the preliminary but there were still things that need to be learnt.

Having done the preliminary task, it allowed us to also get to gripes with our organisation and also sharing out the task. We knew that it wouldn’t be easy to do anything without the whole group pulling their weight. As the process continued I found myself being more confident in using the software’s like Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro and Live Type.

We had very positive audience feedback which made me proud of my work. We were told that the black and white effect was effective and the use of sound effects worked. I was really pleased that people enjoyed watching the Thriller and that they were supportive of the work. If I had to do this again I would plan more in depth and know exactly what I was going to go and film before I started as this wasted a lot of time.

Massie Road from 283goswell on Vimeo.

Thriller Evalution

 

In order for my group and I to produce a thriller opening which was successful and professional looking, we started by researching and comparing existing thriller openings. Doing this helped us to verify the conventions that thriller openings must contain. The use of mise-en-scene in thrillers in order to create suspense is approached in various ways. For instance; location in a thriller opening can stand as a very important narrative clue. In The Shinning, (a thriller that greatly influence my work) for example the location of the Overlook Hotel where it’s presence alone is slightly alarming, is used to reflect the protagonist's contrasting civilised behavior with his later malicious and psychotic possessed personality. This is demonstrated by presenting the character within the surrounding of a ‘normal’ environment, with his wife and child. I challenged the forms of conventions by using the idea of taking a normal setting and placing a character out of the ordinary in it. I used a busy city location to reel my audience into thinking everything was ok. I then used an isolated suburban setting to progress with a growing sense of threat or danger and the excitement of pursuit, an example of this can be found in the scene where the main character spots the disturbing figure with her house keys. I believe the use of these conventions indicate the sub-genre my thriller may come under.

In my product we used a teenage African female as the main ‘innocent’ character. The costume used for the main character was that of a normal teen from a working class background; dark coloured jeans, plim soles, a dark jacket and a black woolly hat. 

Having been influenced by movies such as the ring, and the shinning, we thought the thrill would be more effective if we used a ‘typical’ young dark haired, Eire looking, Caucasian female as the mysterious threatening figure. The costume used for her was that of a little girl; blue jacket, plain jeans, boots and colourful scarf this helps enforce the realism and innocence of a little girl. This links to our target audience of viewers aged 15+ because the conventions used in our thriller are similar to those you would find in Hollywood thrillers. We used common traits that connote danger in films such as; gradual tension building music. (Insert audio clip) Also the location used and mentioned is a well known area so youths can feel they are more a part of it and can possibly relate. In thrillers females are usually put in the frame as the victims, as they are seen as naive and vulnerable, and men the bold heroes who come to solve the mystery and restore peace and order to the civilians. We challenge genre by placing a female in the lead role.

I believe if taken on by a great director and given a reasonable budget, my film has the potential to be produced as a big Hollywood studio, as our ideas are quite similar to existing products, for e.g. The Bone Collector 

but having said that, realistically I feel that my movie is more likely to be a small independent UK release having media institutes such as small art houses distributing my film. It holds no big universally known actors therefore it is not likely to drawn in a massive audience. The m

ise-en-scene used visually, although a well known area, may only appeal to those who live in the east end or north area. What encouraged us to use these  areas were films such as bullet boy and kid/adulthood. Both films use similar well known locations as a way to get the audience more involved and 

attentive.

As I previously mentioned, my target audience is people aged 15 plus. We closely focused on the target audience we were aiming our film towards. We chose a wide target audience of both males and females ranging from ages 15-30. People from this age group are more likely to visit the cinema and watch particularly a thriller film. Jade, 18, works in fashion retail and enjoys watching thrilling movies with friends, shops on the high street, lives in a suburban area, is from a working class background; this is typical person who would fit into my target audience. Aimed at those primarily from a working class background, it is not single gender specific. Our narrative was aimed to allow our target audience to be able to relate. A modern young black teenage girl with dreams and aspiration just like any normal teen, on her way to a social gathering and gets abducted and is missing for a long while. From our previous study of the thriller genre we were aware that to create an effective opening which creates suspense in narrative, there must be unanswered questions which will compel the viewer to anticipate action with a resolution. For our opening sequence we wanted to create a narrative structure that would encourage the viewer to continue watching the rest of the film and that would leave areas in which the film could develop.

I tried to keep my audience at the edge of their seats and interested, I knew this would be hard as teenagers are easily distracted and tend to have short attention spans. To keep the audience interested and alert, we added the flash of the mystery girl and the alarming music which we were sure would make viewers jump this shot was influenced by a similar shot from 'The Shinning' (insert clip). We used a point of view shot here and medium close up. T he audience is asked to put themselves into the position of the main character and are being allowed to witness the event from her eyes and possibly feel the confusion she is feeling. This shot has a great impact on the audience as they then feel that they are a part of the movie and can feel the suspense rising. To market my film I would have a well known, attractive, preferably young female actor e.g. Megan Good

 play the role of the main character. This would attract the female viewers as they will envy her and may look up to her as a role model, and it will attract the males as they would find watching beautiful women on screen very interesting. I would advertise my film on the internet as it is a global network and through franchises such as Mc Donald’s which will bring in viewers of my target audience as fast food is consumed mostly by the working class.

Throughout the duration of this thriller my group and I learnt a substantial amount of things. Despite the fact that we faced many set backs we were still able to complete our media product before the deadline. Mid way into filming our thriller we were forced to make a tough decision. We originally set out to film at night time but due to bad lighting it was recommended that we set it during the daytime. During playback we realised that the footage we filmed came out too dark.  Filming during the day proved easier and we weren’t waiting around for the sun to go down. We learnt that in order to include successful match cuts, the same action needed to be shot from different angles, being careful not to break the 180 degree rule. We explored different camera shots; extreme long shots to show the physical context of action and landscape, long shots, medium shots, and close ups to focus on one character and their facial expression which are 

very important. We used low angle shots of the main girl shutting the house door and a pan from the door to the radio. This was used to bring variety to our shot and to bring something to the common shots we had previously used. We used a close up to focus on the keys which were significant as they were a narrative clue .We also used camera techniques such as; panning of the bus approaching and tilting of the girl searching for her keys to create the feel of eyes following the movements of the focus.

We used soundtrack pro to put together our soundtrack then exported it to final cut pro where we played around with the volume levels and made sure sounds came in at the right times giving the right effects (Audio of Sound Track). Logging and capturing was simple. The editing process became more enjoyable once we got the hang of using final cut pro. As I became more familiar with the program editing became quicker. 

 The trouble we faced was meeting the rule of the thriller being a maximum of two minutes. We had exceeded the 2 minutes by a minute. Cutting out some footage was difficult as we felt every clip was important. We overcame this by repeatedly watching our footage and taking out different bits and deciding if the narrative would still be clear without the bits, we also asked the opinions of class mates and teachers.

Although Filming and editing was important we also had to record everything that we had done throughout the process and we did this on Blogger. At the end of every lesson or sometimes every week I would blog what ever I had done in the lesson. This was a good way of keep a track of whatever I had done within that week of lesson.

When I look back at the preliminary match cut task that I did. I have realised how important it is to plan and story board the ideas that you have for your Thriller before we go and film it. For the actual Thriller we decided to film many different angles of the same piece of action and this was something that we didn’t do in the preliminary task. The match cut task really helped me when I came to do my actual Thriller as it allowed me to have knowledge of how to do really good match cuts. I believe match cuts are important for helping to establish a strong continuity of action. It can be used to underline a connection between two separate elements, or for purely visual reasons. (Video of Preliminary task) When it came to editing the Thriller it made it slightly easier as we had practiced on the preliminary but there were still things that need to be learnt. Having done the preliminary task, it allowed us to also get to grips with our organisation and also sharing out the task. We knew that it wouldn’t be easy to do anything without the whole group pulling their weight. As the process continued I found myself being more confident in using the software’s like Final Cut Pro, Soundtrack Pro and Live Type.

We had very positive audience feedback which made me proud of my work. We were told that the black and white effect was effective and the use of sound effects worked. I was really pleased that people enjoyed watching the Thriller and that they were supportive of the work. If I had to do this again I would plan more in depth and know exactly what I was going to go and film before I started as this wasted a lot of time. (Video of Thriller)

Louise Olanipekun

Final Edit and Finished Thriller

On Friday I came into college at 9:00am in order to try and finish the Thriller. I was shortly joined by Louise who helped my to finish off. When we first opened up the project we played the whole Thriller through in order to see what needs to be done.
We needed to put on sound effects on important things like the girl and also the name of the road "Massie Road".

Before we did that we finished off blending in the different soundtracks and mixing the radio bit together. When we had finished blending all the music together we exported the project to soundtrack pro in order to put in sound effect. We found it hard finding sound effect that would go with all the different bits. We finally found some effects and it worked well.

We wanted the last bit of the stalker to really stand out so we slowed down the footage and also put heartbeats on it gradually increasing in volume as the stalker approached the girl.
We tried to put several effects on different part like where we see the flash of the girl, but was unable as the shot was too short. We instead had to just use a sound effect.

We looked at the footage and realised that in several times it was sunny at sometimes the floor was wet and so we decided to make the whole Thriller black and white. We we watched it again in black and white it looked more professional and stood out more. It really gave the effect that we was looking for.

At the end with stalker we used an effect that made the screen sharp this gave a more thrilling feel and made it look more effective. I was unable to attend tutorial as the deadline was fast approaching but luckily we was able to finish the Thriller at 12:25pm.

I was really happy that we was able to finish. A lot of work was put into making this Thriller and together as a group despite the absence of one member and sometimes the lack of commitment we was still able to finish and in my eyes have a successful Thriller.

'Let em play God'

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock was born on August 13th 1899 in Leytonstone London, and he unfortunately died on April 29th 1980 at the age of 80. He wrote an article about how to create suspense and what it really is. In class we were given a sheet about him.

Joseph Hitchcock wrote an article called thrills, suspense, the audience'. In this article Hitchcock. We always wonder how movie makers get the audience at the edge of their seat and Joseph Hitchcock talks about this. ‘Let em play God’, Hitchcock assumes that suspense is built up when the audience plays God. If as the audience we are unaware if a character is a hero or villain they will not know whether to rejoice or not rejoice. Hitchcock says if the audience has been told all the secrets that the character doesn’t know, “they’ll work like the devil for you because they know what fate is facing the poor actors”. He describes this as “Playing God”.

Surprise not suspense is built if a character is not convincing according to Hitchcock. Hitchcock also says that we do not need effects such as shadows, dull weather and creaky doors to build up suspense. His movie ‘Rope’ was evidence for this point. As Hitchcock became more interested in developing his suspense techniques, he chose to shoot these types of stories exclusively. When Hitchcock had made ‘Secret Agent’, ‘Sabotage’, and ‘The 39 Steps’ this conclusion was made.

Workshop Editing

When i first arrived at college my group members had not yet arrived so i got into the editing room and working on completing the editing. The rest of my group joined me shortly after and together, we began  thinking about how to build up tension and create a sense of suspense through sound for the shots where the sudden flash of the mysterious girl appears and the walk before reaching massie road.  We decided to have different sounds layerd together but bringing them in graduall inorder to create a false sense of sercurity, so the viewers think it is nothing but a normal day.  Making the sound proved difficult as we found it hard to blend everything together smoothly and make the transition between diagetic and non-diagetic sound seemless.

Towards the last few seconds of the Thriller, where the main character is being stalked was said to be to much of a long continous clip abd we were therefore adviced to break it up between diffferent shots. But we could not fit any footage in between because of the daanger of too much repetition. So after serval minutes of debating we had come to the verdict to leave it how it was. We speed up the last 4seconds of footage inorder to create the effect of sudden obduction and to create a more exciting effect.

After lunch time  Gerald and I returned to media workshop anxious to do more work as the deadline is tomorow! We worked on fitting the new suspense sound that we had made into the footage and it worked very well together.

Tomorrow Myself and Gerald plan to get to college for 9:00am even though we start at 1.15 inorder not to risk leaving little bits and bobs of editing till last minute as i am sure the suites will be rampacked later on in the day. During this time we will be adding the last bits of visual effects where neccesary to enhance the thrill of the scene e.g.the  illusion of the girl and also the stalker scene. I believe as a group we have worked considerably well to get our Thriller completed by the deadline, but if askes to do this again i would make SEVERAL modifications. But i enjoyed working on this project.

Media Lesson and Work Shop 26/2/09

When i first got into college i joined Louise and Pareece in the editing room and started to complete the editing. We was thinking about having build up sound for the sudden flash of the mysterious girl and just before that. We decided to have different sounds but coming in one after another. When we made the sound we found it hard to mix everything in smoothly.
In the last bits of the Thriller where the stalker sees the girl, Anabel told us that it was too long but we couldn't fit any footage in between so we had to leave it how it was. Where the stalker runs up on the girl, we slowed it up and made it more effective.

After lunch time i came back to media workshop in order to do more work as the deadline is Friday. When i came back i put the sound that we had made onto the footage and it worked really well.

Tomorrow i am planning on getting to college for 9:00am even though i start at 11:00am so that i can have time to put more sound effects and also to add any effect for the illusion of the girl and also the stalker scene. I think the group have worked well in order to get the Thriller done, but we still need that little bit more work in order for it to be completed well and successful.

Todays Workshop - 26th February

In today’s lessons, I, Louise and Gerald attended the Media work shop. We realised there was still a number of things left to do before the deadline. So today’s workshop was based on the background music and sound effects. We started off with exporting the background music we made from before in to the sequence. So while Gerald and Louise was doing that I was noting down all the sound effects we needed and where about we could get them from on Soundtrack Pro.
Some of the things we needed to remember were:

· The natural sounds of the girl (Louise) grabbing the keys.
· The sound of the front door slamming.



We started off by dragging the music sequence into final cut pro. In order to make the transfer from non-diagetic sound to diagetic sound we used the pencil like form key, to mark in or out the sound. Deciding when it should start and finishing. I really like what we did with the music in the beginning, were we faded in and out from the sound of the radio.



Once we were happy with that we had, we played the film and showed it to the teachers and technicians. Some of the staff approved with the whole sequence, wheras some dissagreed and thought that the point of view perspective of the stalker went on fot too long and needed to be broken up with different shots of the girl point of view or simply just at a different angle.

Whereas some of the other staff appreciated the length of the sequence and knew what was happening straight away. Due to the many different responses of my group members and staff this did lead to a passive disagreement. This did waste quite a bit of time because we tried to re-arrange the shots in different orders and lengths to see if we could make the scene more obvious, still keeping the audience in suspense.

So after fiddling about, we came to an agreement to leave it how it was originally however with the shots of the little girl (Ana), we would use effects such as a negative to create a more sinister feeling. So the lesson did progress on but we were unable to find any effects for when Ana flashes on the screen. So we decided to stop wasting time in searching and move on the to the soundtrack again. We opened up the orginal music we made from before and started to try and develope it. Focusing on thinckening the music for when Ana first appears on the screen.

While doing this we also tried to find a noise that sounded like a bang, something that was unexpected but happened so quickly that the audience would be in shock, anticipating wondering whats going to happen next.

Overall I think this lesson was very productive, even with all the interuptions, with attending so many workshops throughout the week I could really see the development of our opening thriller and was happy with the outcome.

Gerald is going to come in early in the morning to finish a tiny htiches as i won't be ablt to attend because I have a 3hour lesson in the morning, Louise may join him later in the day and I hopefully will get there in time to view it and Save it for the examiner.

Wednesday 25th - Workshop

In Today’s lesson Gerald, Louise and I attended workshop that I managed to fit around my awkward timetable and attend. During this work shop I gave the dialogue I wrote up to Mickey and gave him a briefing on what type of effect we were trying to have and how and what we exactly wanted him to say. Mickey made my job easier by giving me some constructive criticism and re-wording my script, so that it sounded more professional. This helped Mickey to sound more confident in this character because the words were more elaborated and structured differently, compared to a DJ that you may hear on Choice FM.

Once I returned to my lesson and rejoined Gerald and Louise they had successfully put all the clips together, including match cuts and followed the 180° rule. I was really proud of what they had accomplished in the time I was in my lesson and was excited to just crack down with putting on the right back ground effects and music etc. So once we embed the video again, into soundtrack pro we were assisted in adjusting the different noises you hear in the clips, with one of the technicians. I know myself and Gerald was having problems with adjusting the volume and getting the natural noises to run smoothly into the radio sounds. But after a long practical days work, I agreed to leave about an hour early to go home.

I believe that in tomorrow’s lesson due to length of it we will get a lot done and will be successfully completed for Friday.

Monday 23rd Lesson and Workshop

On Monday 23rd February I and my group attended workshop even though we had a lesson straight after because we realised we needed all the time we could get. So during the lesson and after the workshop we continued to edit our footage, however finding that there were still some gaps within our footage. Making the film incomplete and hard to work, with since we had edited all other scenes already.

Subsequently we managed to find something else to do, and tried to put our footage into soundtrack pro were we could organise were we wanted specific sound effects, how loud and long we should have it playing in one shot. Etc.

Sadly we also found that the 180° rule was broken again were we did try to match from the same angle, causing us to have many jump shots. So we planned what needed to be filmed for the last time so that this could all be logged and captured in workshop lessons by Wednesday ready for Thursday’s lessons.

Workshop editing

Today Louise, Pareece and I attended lunch time workshop. When i first got there i logged and captured the footage that Louise and I had shot yesterday. We ended up fixing all the footage together and putting in some sound effects. I asked Pareece to recorded the radio so that we could include it and fix it into our Thriller. It was difficult because we had to blend it smoothly into the voice over that Micky had done for us.
Louise and I had stayed in college up to 6:00pm so that we could get as much work done as the deadline is fast approaching. It was difficult when fitting in sound effect as we had to get it all accurate and also low enough in volume to be made background noise.
We had realised that once again despite being told we had broken the 180 degrees rule and so we had to go and film again. We came back and fitted it in perfectly.
In tomorrow's lesson we have to get as much done and basically be finished. I am planning on reaching college early tomorrow so that i can get a lot of work done to meet the deadline this Friday. I hope as a group we will be able to finish everything and have a successful Thriller

Monday 16th February - Half Term Catch Up Workshop

On Monday the 16th of February my group were given the opportunity to come in and catch up on the shots that needed re-filling. So as written in a previous blog the plan was given to Gerald as he missed that week so he was also aware of what needed to be done.
Due to the location being much closer to Gerald and Louise, as well as there only being a minimum filming left to do. I meet the rest of my group back at college, to log, capture and edit all that had been filmed.

I was hoping that this was the final footage of what we needed. As repeating scenes and going out to book equipment and arrange time to meet up was getting very frustrating and repetitive. Once I arrived at college my group seemed to have a mishap with the time because we were led to believing the workshop was concluding at 5pm, not 3.30pm.
So with only a short amount of time left, my group were only able to show Gerald what we had done over the week and start to log and capture what was recently shot in that morning before the session ended.

In comparison, regardless of the little time I was able to spend with my group members we were able to discuss and prioritise what we were going to do for our next lesson back and agree to taking as many workshops as possible to make sure our deadline is best meet.

Workshop Editing

Today pareece, Gerald and i came to lunch time workshop to edit and ended up staying to after 6pm editing as we were very determand to complete all of our editing by thursday. we aimed to log capture and edit all the film and just leave music for tomorow mornings lesson. Whilst editing we faced a couple of problems with shots being discontinued and as a result we had to add certain effects such as a cross dissolve, to make the transitions from one shot to another  run smoother. Now that we have edited and logged and captured all the shots we want, we can now devote our time to working on putting sound effects where needed and embedded our soundtrack onto our footage.

Final Filming 24-02-09

Gerald and I decided we had to film some bits again as we had not gotten somethings right. We had no time to wait for Thursdays lesson so we decided we would go and film the things today. We revisited our outside location Massie Road and reshot a couple of shots where we had broken rules such as the 180 degree rule. We also had to re film the stalker bit because the way we filmed it, it didn't look like someone was getting stalked but just looked like a normal camera looking at the girl. We had broken the 180 degrees rule and so then shot the stalker from a different angle. To show that there was a stalker we used the camera behind cars and moved a lot to show that the girl was being watched.

 

When we were satisfied with our new footage we moved to our indoor location, where we concluded our filming. We first shot the bit where the girl left the house and panned to the radio. We shot this from many different angles, giving us a variety of shots, which we would be able to use for variety and also make very effective match cuts.

 

We plan to attend Media Workshop tomorrow.

Final Filming

After logging and capturing all the footage and also editing it, we had realised that we had broken the 180 degrees and so we had to film some bits again. We had no time to wait for Thursdays lesson so me and Louise decided that we would go and film the things today.

When we finished college at 3:00 pm we went and booked out the camera for over night. We set off to our first location i where the girl spots the mysterious girl and also the panning of the post code. When we first shot the post code, the pan was too slow and we also zoomed in whilst filming. Rebbecca told us that it wasn't right so instead we tracked the girl until she past the post code then she walked out of the shot and i quickly panned up and focused on the post code. Instead of zooming in, i filmed then paused it, zoomed in and then recorded again.

We also had to re film the stalker bit because the way we filmed it, it didn't look like someone was getting stalked but just looked like a normal camera looking at the girl. We had also broke the 180 degrees rule and so had the stalker in a different place. To show that thee was a stalker I used the camera behind cars and was moving a lot to show that the girl was being watched.

When we first shot the bit where the girl left the house and panned to the radio, it didn't come up for some reason, so we did that again. We also shot the same thing in many different angles so that it gives us a variety of shots that we can use and also make very effective match cuts.

Tomorrow after in finish college i plan to attend Media Workshop as i am aware that the deadline is fast approaching. I plan on logging and capturing the footage that me and Louise filmed today and also finishing of the music so that on Thursday and Friday we can put everything together and hopefully have a good Thriller

Workshop/editing lesson

I along with the rest of my group attended workshop. We as a group have faced many problems throughout the duration of making this thriller opening and because this, are trying our best to attend workshops as well as lessons in order to meet the deadline.

in today's lesson we continue with editing our thriller. We tried to log and capture the footage myself and Louise shot on the half term Monday workshop but for some reason the footage would not show up on the screen therefore, although we were frustrated, we decided that we would just have to refill it. As we carried on editing we found bits of footage that were either non unable or just needed redoing because of rules broken such as; the 180 degrees rule and match cutting from the same angle causing jump shots. we took note of all the things we needed to re film, and planned to film them on tomorrow after college so that we could attend workshop on Wednesday to log capture and edit. We also embedded our footage onto soundtrack pro in order to see how our filming fitted in with our music. last we took note of what sort of effects we will be inputting and where they will go.

23-02-09

let em play God

We were given a sheet in lesson about Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock. He was born on August 13th 1899 in Leytonstone London, and died on April 29th 1980 in Los Angeles at the age of 80. He wrote an article about how to create supense and what it really is. 

His article is called thrills, suspense, the audience'. In this article Hitchcock talks about how every mystery movie makers aim is to have the audience at the edge of their seats the technique involved in doing this is suspense. According to Hitchcock suspense is created when you let the audience play God. If they are unaware whether a character is a hero or villain they will not know whether to rejoice or not rejoice. Hitchcock says if the audience have been told all the secrets that the character dont no, “they’ll work like the devil for you because they know what fate is facing the poor actors”. He describes this as “Playing God”.

Hitchcock believes that when characters are not convincing you only get suprise but not suspense. He also believes that inorder for suspense to be created, you do not need effects such as shadows, stormy/dull weather and creaky doors; his movie ‘Rope’ was evidence for this point. As Hitchcock became more interested in developing his suspense techniques, he chose to shoot these type of stories exclusively; this conclusion came by the time he had made his movies‘Secret Agent' ,‘Sabotage’, and ‘The 39 Steps’.

Thriller Genres

On the 15-12-2008 as a class we brainstormed all of the genres of Thrillers.

> SCI-FI
> CRIME
> PSYCOLOGICAL- PLAYS WITH YOUR MIND.
> ACTION
> SUPERNATURAL
> AQUIRED IDENTITY
> MURDEROUS PASSION E.G. LOVE TRIANGLES
> INNOCENT ON THE RUN
> GOOD VS EVIL
> POLITICAL
> KIDNAPPING

Half Term Workshop catch up

On Monday 16th February Louise came to my house early in the morning so that we could re film all the remaining footage that had to be filmed. It wasn't that hard to do because she had already written down all the things we had to film in the lessons that i missed due to the production.

After we had filmed i asked Louise if she was able to attend the Media Half Term workshop catch up and she said that was OK. We then contacted Pareece and we all attended. When we first got there Louise and Pareece showed me what they had done in the week i was away. We then logged and captured the footage that me and Louise had filmed. We didn't get a lot done but it was still good as we had all the footage that we thought we needed. On Monday when we return to college i plan to attend workshop.

Workshop/lesson

today my group visted workshop in order to create more time for ourselves because although we had a lesson straight; with the deadline being on friday we felt we needed to work extra hard and faster in order for our thriller to have a good outcome.

We edited our footage but still found that there were minor pieces of footage either missing or not usable meaning once aqain and for hopefully the last time, we will have to book out a camera and re film those missing parts.
Although we couldnt complete editing because of the missing footage, we decided to move onto trying to fit our music in with the footage. We also thought about the different effects we will be using and where they will go. As a group we have planned to attend workshop every lunch to complete this work and meet the deadline.

brainstorming the thriller genre

in this lesson as a class we discussed and brainstormed all the different thriller sub genres. 15-12-08

THRILLERS




-psychological thriller-plays with your mind. frightening becoz it cud happen.
- kidnapping
- Super natural- based accult-ghosts ect
- Sci-Fi
- Crime- spy thriller-

political thrillers- Government corruption political conspiricy
- Action
- Acquired identity . Cloning. Stealing
- Innocent on the run
- Good vs Evil
- Murderous passions- Love triangle, affairs blackmail
-

Half Term Catch Up Workshop

On Monday I came to college borrowed equipment and went to Geralds house to re-film shots we didnt get quite right. After refilming all the shots we needed we decided that we had fully completed the filming for our thriller opening and all that was left to do was to log and capture the new footage and edit everything. We went to college ffor the catch up workshop where pareece joined us to edit our footage. Although we didnt get alot of edited done because of time, we still logged and captured all our shots which will make it easier when we come to edit first lesson back on monday. I plan on attending monday workshop as our dealine is fastly apporoaching.

Plan For The Media Work Shop

After looking back at what me and Louise done I noted down what we needed to re-film on the following Monday:

• Grabbing the keys with the correct hands
• Closing the front door
• Pan from closed door to radio
• Zoom into radio (With the radio in the correct focus and in the middle of the screen)
• Pan up to "Massie Road" sign

As well as general things we needed to catch up on:

• Re-do all credits
  
• Re-edit the soundtrack
  
• Create and give dialogue to Mickey