Changes after our draft..

Once we edited our first draft of the thriller, we went back and watched it repeatedly in order to gain an idea of what we wanted to change and what we wanted to keep the same.

Feedback
We got feedback from a media teacher, who had experience on working on films, and he gave his views as to what parts may need to be changed and or expanded on. One of his ideas was when the camera zoomed out and revealed the whole wall, but he felt this gave too much of the story away in one go so therefore we changed it so it only revealed the newspaper cut out which we felt worked alot better. Also he said that we needed more images of the stalker, but we felt that we didnt want to ruin the indentity or give too much away and so therefore we did not add any extra shots in.

Our own ideas
So once we did this, our first aim was to change the way in which the film unfolded because we felt it didnt really lead up to anything but instead it was slow and tension was not built up. In order to change this, we decided on having the speed of which it was played, sped up when it was on the reverse and also added more shots in to heighten the anticipation that the audience was feeling.
Aswell at we needed to add our soundtrack to the clip, which wasn't finished when making our draft. We made the track to emulate what was going on in the piece and therefore more layers were added as it went on although near the end we felt that the heartbeat on its own created an eery feel and therefore played on the emotions once again.

FINAL THRILLER OPENING.

16/3/11 lesson-

What we did..
In this lesson we continued with our editing of the footage we have already gained. We are also putting the feedback that we got from other groups and teachers into our thriller meaning we could then look back on this and decide which bits we needed to change in order for it to improve. There wasnt time to film in the dark room, so we are planning on getting the last few shots in there next lesson, which are needed because more is needed in order to set the scene better.

Garage Band
After this, we also went on to working on garage band, in order to get a backing track for our openeing sequence. We had already listened to a few tracks that were on the cd's and saved a few which we liked and thought would fit in well with the feel of the film. We imported these on to garage band and worked around them, using the sounds that were on the program already and so therefore built up a track that slowly built up tension just like our thriller.

Editing

We had a collection of ideas between us before we started our editing process and so knew what sort of direction we wanted to go in regards to the montage images flashing up randomly and what questions we wanted unanswered such as who is the stalker and why they are stalking a certain girl.
 We took many different shots of the places we were using, and went on the fact that it was better to have too many shots than not enough so that we could pick the best and use them in our final piece so this is where editing came into place.

Our first aim was to make up the small flashing pictures and therefore cut them down and put them together in order for it to be quick enough to make a good effect. Once this was complete, we moved on to trying out different effects on the clips so that they would make it fit into a more thriller convention, such as the glow we used on the newspaper cutting. We also tried other different ones but this to not fit in to the feel we were trying to give.
After this we decided to have parts which played forward but then reversed which was idea we had after watching the opening sequence to other thrillers. We feel this worked well and were pleased with the outcome. There was two clips that we felt was hard to flip from one to the other and this was when it went from the dark room to the wall with the pictures on. Many different things were tried but in the end we decided to go with the fade into black.

Rough Cut

How we can use our class feedback to improve our blog?

From the feedback we were given, we could've done with some more constructive critisism. However, from the feedback we did get, the first thing we would do would be to add captions to our pictures. This would add more information to the reader and would give people a better understanding of why we used the pictures we did. We could also add more personal opinions and maybe a little bit more media terminology. This would make our post more technical and detailed for the reader so they can get a really detailed idea of what/why we chose what we did for our thriller opening.

Class feedback from our blog

Variety of relevant posts:

. good variety

. most of the checklist complete

. long paragraphs

. posts that are in place are detailed, however a few more could be added

. Disney post wasn't that relevant

Appropriate visual aids:

. large amount of pictures and videos 

. used pictures throughout the blog, not in clumps

. good visual aids to support ideas

. a lot of pictures used for each idea

Appropriate use of technical vocabulary:

. good quality context/media language, i.e. 'enigma' and 'montage'

. correct shot language

. lacks in technical vocab

. appropriate to thrillers

Quality of posts: content, explanations, clarity:

. long, informative explanations and analysis

. highly descriptive explanations

. detailed

. uses media terminology to further the information and makes it clear

Development of ideas/stages:

. organised

. completed each stage with high quality 

. clear sections of development and headings

good step by step guide to show how they did their planning stage 

03/02/11

Focusing on the montages...

We went straight to the dark room, as we had an idea of what we were going to film today and how we would film it. We went in and took small video clips of the room, which could be used with in a montage throughout our opening sequence.
Although this was successful, we soon came across a problem which caused us to rearrange what filming we could do. This problem was that we were not able to process the photos, which are a very important part with in our film, and so did not head to the sport hall changing rooms, where we would of used the photos on the wall, but instead carried on working on our other ideas revolving around the montage. This included shots of the photo film and the red lights within the dark room.
On top of this, we came up with the idea of showing lips within the sequence and so filmed this in order to use our time productively regardless of the problems we had faced.

Film name ideas..

 We found it hard to agree on what the name of the film could be called because we had many ideas. From the title incorporating a question, too a short one worded name. We mainly revolved our ideas on the photography side of our opening sequence, due to it revolving around photographs and the developing of them and this is when we came up with initial ideas such as;

Montage

Photogenic

Captured
These though, didnt really stand out to us as we felt they would do the film justice because they are quite plain and were not very unique. This is when we came up with a 'question being incorporated in our title, due to it being a main thriller convention and come up with;

Is she watching you?
Do you know whos watching?
After discussing though, we decided to focus it around the fact that this is a wall of images and its being exhibited and therefore our final and the one we chose was
The Exhibit

Props List and locations

Prop List:

• Red Lipstick
• Red Nails
• Stalker pictures
• tongs
• Credit prints
• Chemical bath

Locations:

• Photography Dark Room
• Bare room (Garage or changing room)

initial ideas for opening thriller

Our first idea was set in a derelict building, where two protagonists are provoking each other's weaknesses. However, we had a few problems with this idea. For example, we found out that the safety of this idea was probably not that good, and that it would be hard to find an abandoned building.

Another idea is the thriller of "Paranoid". The thriller would be set around a protagonist who has paranoi and therefore thinks everyone is out to get him. We would introduce a antagonist to fully explore the protagonist's weakness. The opening would contain the protagonist walking through a busy shopping centre, whilst the camera is distorted and abstract to create a panicked atmosphere.
We thought though, that it wouldnt be possible to film the shots we needed without being told to leave so this idea was scrapped and we brainstormed some more of our ideas.

In the end, we settled with the idea of being obsessed with someone because we had many different thoughts as to how we could film it, what our mise en sene would be (like our polaroid pictures) and how we could leave the audience answering questions after our opening sequence, like why they are obsessed and who is the one being followed.

Script - Stage 1 of planning

We a start off shot of a dark room, and a match is struck which in turn lights up the ladies face. It is then blown out and screen is black again and the name of the film then appears.

Woman picks up torch and the surrounding area glows up. The torch is then guided past the photos that are hanging up, which the woman has previously developed with the surrounding photography equipment. These photos are of 2 women throughout key stages in their life. After 3 photos have been revealed, the woman's red lips are shown just before she clicks the torch off. Fades to black and credits appear.

Opening resumes in different setting: smaller, light room with white walls. There is a picture on the central wall that has one of the previous photos, however one of the faces has been scratched out with a marker pen. The women then puts the photos she has just developed up on the wall with the rest and begins to scratch out faces on these. The picture is then torn off of the wall, rolled into a ball and then thrown into the bin.

(Location photos) - Stage 2 and 3 of planning

This is the dark room in Long Road Sixth Form. We thought it would fit into our opening sequence very well because of the lighting, which is red and symbolises danger, and also because it creates an eerie setting. It also fits in with the plot as we centre around photographs, because of the stalker. We found very limited problems with this setting. One of the only problems we encountered, was the fact that within the dark photography room are a number of heat sensors, and so this meant we couldn't light our match within the room itself. However, through extended planning, we have worked around it and will light the match in another room with similar lighting, and also use a torch to highlight the hanging pictures in the room instead.

This is a possible setting for our second part of the opening, where the stalker has a room dedicated to the person she is obsessed with. We thought this wall was good because it is in a scary setting, an empty locker-room, and it is a central wall with a dreary, off white colour. Again, we found hardly any problems with this location. The only possible problem we found was that the location does look a bit like a school, because it is in a school, and therefore softens the eerie atmosphere. To solve this problem, we are looking into using another possible location for the second part of the opening sequence.

This is one of the test shots that we took to get an idea of what the shot would eventually look like. This is in the second part of the opening and shows the part when the stalker enters the room full of photos.

Initial Ideas for production companies

This was our first idea for our prouction company logo. The idea of 'Twenty 11' at first seemed up to date and simple. We thought it was short and snappy, but we soon realised that it wouldn't really mean much after the year of 2011. It would quickly become outdated.

We then came up with the idea of Skyline Productions. This is our initial idea for the logo. We thought that the the seperate letters had a good effect as it emphasied our production name, making sure the viewer was drawn straight to our company name. 

This is the final company logo. We chose the name Skyline Productions because it is modern and is also quite futuristic, due to all the large buildings. Cities are sometimes the setting of thriller films, which also ties in with the Skyline idea. The image comes across as a big, 'blockbuster' logo, with high budget, up  to date technology and experience in the film making world. 

Walt Disney Pictures

The Walt Disney Pictures Logo is effective because it is clearly linked to the genre of childrens fairytale/fantasy style films. This is because you associate the castle with the fairtytale genre, which is very stereotypical of this style of film. 

Opening sequence to 'Insomia'

The sequence begins simple but effective. The beggining is abstract in the way that it swaps between what apepars to be blood seeping through rope and deserted ice caps. The intense music that accompanies the images gives off a thrilling and uncomfortable feel. By repeating the clip of the blood coming through the rope (which gets further away each time) leaves you wondering the meaning behind it and if it is symbollic to the events in the film. Also when the camera is panning over the ice caps, they then become blurry before more credits appear, this makes the audience feel disorientated. 

This film is rated a 15. This because there is frequent strong language. There is also some strong references to sex and moderate violence. Aswell as grisly images, such as near the start you clearly see the dead girl's body. Also, the story is primarily based around a grusome murder, which sets in the readers mind the themes that will continue throughout the film. The target audience would be aged 15 and above, this is mainly because the story follows quite intense events, that would not be suitable for younger audiences and they also may not understand. Also, the actors appeal to an older audience as they can relate to them, where as children couldn't. All 3 of the main actors are also award winning, meaning they are well known, making the film appealing to many people. 

Budget

$46,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend

$26,068,419 (USA) (27 May 2002) (2,610 Screens)
£1,159,754 (UK) (1 September 2002) (264 Screens)
€1,150,763 (Italy) (10 November 2002) (221 Screens)
€1,055,310 (Spain) (13 October 2002) (258 Screens)

From: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278504/business  

Also, the 3 main actors have achieved:

Al Pacino- Best Actor, Scent of a Woman

Robin Williams- Best supporting actor, Good Will Hunting

Hilary Swank- Best actress, Boys Don't Cry 

Past Student Work

'Out of the Loop'

This opening sequencehas some typical elements of thrillers. Firstly, it is clear the film is going to be based around the murder of the character at the start. There is also an enigma, as we don't know why the man has been shot or why the first character was looking for him. This leaves unanswered questions in the audience's mind which helps to draw them in for the rest of the film. Micro-elements also help to create a tense atmosphere. The non-diegetic sound is quite modern and robotic feel and also links in with the 'spy' theme, with the briefcase, sunglasses and gun etc. The sound also became faster and more intense  as the action unfolded. Props such as the briefcase suggests the character is hiding something and also that something bad could happen. However, one thing that lets this opening down is the gun that is used because it looks very fake, it would look better if they used a black gun or something less toy-looking.

http://03thriller10.blogspot.com/2010/03/out-of-loop-final-cut-upload-version.html

'Hush'

This opening had an enigma, that we didn't know who was holding this man hostage or why. This automatically sets up questions in the audience's mind and gets them gripped. The credit font was also quite conventional of a thiller and the way they shook added extra effect. The non-diegetic soundtrack was also quite fast and edgey, which fitted in with the tense atmosphere that was being created through the action. Props such as tape over the mouth and the spotlight made it feel realistic, which makes the audience feel even more uneasy as it is something that could happen in real life. The extreme close up of the pages on writing were distorted and also the extreme close up of his eye added to the thriller theme more.

http://57thrillerproject08.blogspot.com/

Christopher Nolan- He was born in London in 1970 but later moved to america with his family. He had a love for filming from the age of 7 and pursued this when he was an adult when he became the founder of the production company Syncopy Film and is a director/producer of many hollywood blockbuster thrillers such as The Prestige, which made $109 million worldwide box office and also Inception which are all critically acclaimed. His most well known film and making $158 million was The Dark Knight and set the record for the making the most amount of money in the first week aswell as it becoming the 3rd highest grossing film of all time.



Summary of events- This is a film that starts at the end and goes through to the beginning of which the answers the audience need becomes clear and the puzzle is put back together. Momento revolves a guy called lennie who has a 15 minute memory after getting head injuries from a robbery and he cannot capture any long term memories after this event. Lennie believes that his wife was murdered and raped, in the incident of which made him have memory loss, so is out to find them and seek revenge. You see the death of a detective, Teddy, at the start after Lennie shot him, believing he was the killer but in actual fact was a detective that was trying to help him. Lennie is infatuated with a story about a man called sammy who had the same condition and whos wife made him repeat her dose of insulin to see if in fact he was faking his disorder. The overdose killed his wife and later facts show there was no 'sammy' but instead this was lennies own personal story that he was battling.

How did the opening sequence introduce the thriller genre? 
Straight away you are incaptured by the polaroid picture of a dead body, showing that some mystery/crime has happened and the film will be revolved around murder somehow by the way in which the camera is focused on this item, and this item only using an extreme close up and this is also used when seeing Lennies eyes, to show emotion that he is going through . It also leaves questions unanswered due the audience not knowing why he is holding this picture,who the man may be and what events led up to this man being dead in the photo which is one convention on a thriller. The somewhat soothing yet dreary non-diagetic sound over the top makes it much more intense which is needed for a thriller in order for the audience to be captured by whats unfolding. Although it doesnt give the impression of 'something is about to happen', it makes the you feel very uneasy. 


Thoughts about the film?
I found it a hard film to get my head around at first, with it being played backwards and also the flashbacks (in black and white) being played , so it was alot to think about, ecspecially compared to other films i have previously watched but i was suprised i enjoyed the film as much as i did . The story itself also had many twists and turns that i wasnt expecting meaing i was never 'bored'. Overall i would recommend someone else to watch Momento but if i was to make one critisism, it would be that the ending finished abit suddenly and it didn't go out on a high.

From the opening of The Prestige it appears that the film is going to be based around a murder.

Both characters in the film play the roles of the protagonist and the antagonist. There is an aristocrat and a commoner who are both magicians, the roles of protagonist and antagonist keep switching. We are made to believe that one character is good and the other is bad, this then swaps over. This helps to keep the audience interested and questioning everything that the characters are doing.

Sound- there is a non-diegetic voice over that runs throughout the opening. This voice over is quite symbolic. It links into the theme of the film really well, but it is clever as at the same time as it is giving an summary of the narrative.  It explains the stages of a magic trick. There is quiet background music that seems quite eerie, it helps to add tension.

The mise-en-scene also helps to add to the theme and create tension. There is a contrast between the man showing a magic trick to the small girl. This is made to appear quite light-hearted. However, at the same time it keeps switching to the big magic trick, this is made to seem much darker and intense. The black hats on the floor of what appears to be a wood at the start seem to suggest some sort of darkness also, which to the audience suggests that something negative has happened previously.

Quick cuts are used to grip the audience and show the panic of when the man is stuck in the tank.