Thursday 24 March 2011

Thriller Feedback

Positive aspects:
- variety of camera shots and angles
- the music towards the end was very good and mirrored the intensity of the moment
- the heavy drumming makes the simple and innocent scene seem tense - it contrasts well
- brilliant soundtrack, enjoyed change in beat when shot changes
- like the quick fast cuts throughout the opening sequence 
- like where the beat speeds up to what he sees happening in the future/newspaper
- the use of props is effective, good visual to tell the viewers what happened
- fast slideshow of pictures worked well with music
- close up on the eyes is used well to show a strong, powerful emotion later contrasted with a weak, worried emotion
- use of non diegetic sound is good and keeps the piece flowing until it's interrupted by the diegetic sound of the toast which draws attention to the emotion he's feeling
- close up of words in paper, characters eyes = effective
- music was good throughout and close ups were good
- build up of crash and newspaper shots - way it quickly changes is effective
- effect of shots of newspaper
- different camera angles, 360 degree, music throughout made opening really fluent


Areas of improvement:
- music is uneven, some shots go on for too long
- the newspaper article he reads is different to the images, editing/directing needs to improve
- pace could do with being quickerover the breakfast scene, name at the end makes it look like a trailer
- soundtrack could be a bit quieter
- music is repetitive
- feet and hand images look amateur, use better blood/sfx silicone
- soundtrack was quite repetitive, use more variety of sound loops
- I would change the background track, got annoying
- put effects on the titles
- use emphasis on the diegetc sounds and make them louder than backing track to give sense of normality
- plot was not understood, make it clearer
- I don't really like the backing music as it doesn't fit with the theme of the thriller
- maybe some more dramatic sound as well as the ones used would have created more tension





Tuesday 22 March 2011

Title pane

titlepane

Pane 1: The lighting we used is natural, to create a better sense of reality. The first location we used was that of a natural street to also create a better sense of reality.
Pane 2: The second location we used was a normal kitchen to highlight the man's everyday life.
Pane 3: We used props in the kitchen scene such as tea, a kettle and toast to build the suspense with the noises.
Pane 4: Costume: We used a normal businessman's outfit, of a shirt, trousers, shoes and a laptop case, to highlight his normal walk to work.
Pane 5: Our title's font is didot, and we used the effect of earthquake and strobe to make it shake.
Pane 6: This pane shows a new angle, in the form of a high angle
Pane 7: This one shows the special effects we used including the distortion of the picture, a thriller convention as it is extraordinary events happening in ordinary moments
Pane 8: Another camerawork pane - close up and zoom into the businessman's eye to show his vision
Pane 9: Still image of the newspaper article. Shows the thriller convention of the enigmas in the film (the fact he has realised he is psychic) as he does not know what to do

Sunday 20 March 2011

Production company for our film

A good production company for our film would be Spyglass Entertainment.
The film 'The Sixth Sense', 1999, directed and written by M. Night Shyamalan, has an extremely similar storyline to ours - a boy who communicates with spirits that don't know they are dead, he has visions of these dead people but can do nothing to stop them, similar to our protagonist. The Sixth Sense was rated a 15, as ours would be.
Spyglass Entertainment supported this film, and, due to the similarities of the our media product and The Sixth Sense, our film would appeal to their audiences.

Thursday 3 March 2011

Planning for our shoot - 05/03/2011

Weather

The weather for Sunday is grey but luckily rain is not forecast, so our filming should go to plan.

The grey weather could be advantageous to us, in aiding the thriller in intensity.

Social groups portrayed by the media in cinematography

There aren't any major social groups portrayed in our film opening, aside from maybe the stereotypical businessman. However, we have tried to keep our film separate from themes showing social groups in specific ways, in an attempt to avoid any discrimination, or to make our film seem generic, however, we have used a stereotypical business man in our film. We did some research and found the film 'Falling Down', which is based on the bad day of a businessman (played by Michael Douglas) who loses his mind as his day gets progressively worse as he tries to get home for his daughter's birthday.
This is another example of a film where an 'average joe' businessman's day is turned upside down by something extraordinary.

This scene is an example of where the man is annoyed and takes it out on innocent bystanders:
Falling Down 'Wammybear' Scene

Film Rating

The thriller movie "Rift" will be aimed at a 15 audience, for a few reasons:

Firstly, we are hoping to have a relatively dark atmosphere in the movie, with a sense of peril throughout, a sense of pressure too adult for a rating below 15.

The film will also involve adult topics such as violence, and vulgar language throughout. These scenes would be used tastefully, however the use of such topics will rate the film at a 15.

Below are the guidelines in which a 15 is rated against:

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language . The strongest terms may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.

Tuesday 1 March 2011

Titles Practice



This is the second time we have practiced with our titles. This time, we've used a different song which we have edited ourselves on Garageband.

Donnie Brasco

Donnie Brasco is a thriller about an FBI undercover agent who tries to catch out a mafia mob, but eventually he finds himself identifying more with his mafia life, which puts his family in danger.
The titles are small and white, like a typewriter’s. The title of the film does not appear any larger than that of the actor’s, and as it’s a name, it implies the character is a real person. As this film links to a true story, this will intrigue the audience.
The first thing the audience sees is a pair of eyes, which is a thriller convention. The eyes belong to a man, most likely the protagonist. The non-diegetic sound of the 1970s music almost relaxes the audience until the slow, strings music starts, which builds up the tension. The use of photographs links in with the ‘crime thriller’ genre, as policemen take photographs. The soft, seamless transitions between the photographs make them seem like moving images. The colours used are mostly black and white and sepia tones which add a dark quality to the images, making them seem more sinister. Towards the end of the opening, the images appear and disappear faster, almost a flickering quality which adds tension, as they seem to be leading up to something. The fact the images have circles and drawings on them imply they are policeman’s photographs which links in with the genre of a crime thriller. The music also increases its pace at this point, becoming higher and faster, which adds suspense, making the audience feel uneasy. The unusual settings of these images, such as a poolside, imply the people were being spied on. The music then slows down again, as do the transitions between the images. The photographs turn into close ups of the man’s eyes again, implying he has been looking at these photographs.