What Films Do You Most Associate With A Thriller Genre Film?:
Saw IV:
2007 horror film
Directed by Darren Lynn Bousman
Final Destination (mentioned 5 times):
2000 supernatural thriller
Directed by James Wong
Disturbia:
2007 thriller
Directed by D. J. Caruso
39 Steps (mentioned twice):
1935/1959 British thriller
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock (1935) and Ralph Thomas (1959)
Silence Of The Lambs:
1991 phycological suspense thriller
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Seven (mentioned twice):
1995 American crime film
Directed by David Fincher
The Manchurian Candidate:
2004 American thriller
Directed by Jonathan Demme
The Dark Knight:
2004 action superhero film
Directed by Christopher Nolan
American History X:
1998 American action film
Directed by Tony Kaye
The Generals Daughter:
1999 action film
Directed by Simon West
Kiss The Girls:
1997 American thriller
Directed by Gary Fleder
Along Came A Spider:
2001 American mystery film
Directed by Lee Tamahori
James Bond – Quantum Of Solace:
2008 British action thriller
Directed by Marc Forster
The Day After Tomorrow:
2004 apocalyptic science-fiction film
Directed by Roland Emmerich
What Are Your Favourite Films That You've Seen In The Past Years?:
Pineapple Express:
2008 American stoner action comedy film
Directed by David Gordon Green
Dude, Where’s My Car?:
2000 comedy film
Directed by Danny Leiner
Slumdog Millionaire:
2008 British drama film
Directed by Danny Boyle
Wrong Turn:
2003 horror film
Directed by Rob Schmidt
Role Models:
2008 American comedy film
Directed by David Wain
Final Destination:
2000 supernatural thriller
Directed by James Wong
I,Robot:
2004 science-fiction film
Directed by Alex Proyas
Casino Royale:
2006 British action thriller
Directed by Martin Campbell
Forgetting Sarah Marshall:
2008 American romantic comedy
Directed by Nicholas Stoller
The Dark Knight:
2008 superhero film
Directed by Christopher Nolan
Pirates Of The Caribbean – At World’s End:
2007 adventure film
Directed by Gore Verbinski
James Bond – Quantum Of Solace:
2008 British thriller
Directed by Marc Forster
Wednesday, 22 April 2009
Timeline For Deadlines
Week Commencing 16th February:
Meet up and draw our main task storyboard
Brainstorm some locations to film our main task
Week Commencing 23rd February:
Agree on the location and check it out.
Discuss props and costumes that are needed
Week Commencing 2nd March:
Begin filming main task
Week Commencing 9th March:
Finish filming main task
Week Commencing 16th March:
Begin editing with Windows Movie Maker/ Adobe.
Week Commencing 23rd March:
Finish editing
Begin evaluation
Before Monday 20th April Deadline:
Upload everything onto blogs
Week Commencing 16th February:
Meet up and draw our main task storyboard
Brainstorm some locations to film our main task
Week Commencing 23rd February:
Agree on the location and check it out.
Discuss props and costumes that are needed
Week Commencing 2nd March:
Begin filming main task
Week Commencing 9th March:
Finish filming main task
Week Commencing 16th March:
Begin editing with Windows Movie Maker/ Adobe.
Week Commencing 23rd March:
Finish editing
Begin evaluation
Before Monday 20th April Deadline:
Upload everything onto blogs
Evaluation
Any one can watch a film. In the book “how to read a film” written by James Monaco in 1977 he states that “even a cat can watch a film. If we are to make sense of the film, however, we must learn to comprehend the images with which we are presented”. So we decided to choose to make a Thriller as we believed that all the research we had done for it would help us to make the most effective Thriller. This would help us understand the James Monaco quote, as we would understand the use of the images on the screen and why they had been used. Also as it was winter when we began filming we thought that it would be a good setting for the particular genre. So we got to grips with researching and filming. A Thriller is a genre that uses the conventions of things like close ups, dark and atmospheric lighting, quick edits, dingy and isolated settings, minimal characters and sound effects. These conventions makes it easy to identify a thriller. Silence of the Lambs is a very good example of a Thriller as seen in my reseasrch.
We had planned to give this a age rating of 15 but based on the opening I believe it would probably be a 12 as there is no strong language, no detailed violence etc. However if we carried this film on after the opening e would try and add in some conventions of a 15 certificate film. The expected audience for this film would be a person who would enjoy Thriller films and doesn't mind the odd bit of scaring. We put Lizzie who played "Jess" in a pink hoody as pink is a stereotypical girly colour and it seems that it's usually the girly helpless, "damsell in distress" that gets hurt or kidnapped by the baddy.
What did we learn from our preliminary?
We learnt how to use windows movie maker properly and made finer cuts in the main task as you can see by comparing prelim to main. Lighting had to be perfect otherwise it could potentially ruin the whole film. In the prelim the light lit up part of the room which made it look unrealistic. It also blacked out the prisoners face and made it hard to see. We learnt most of all not to leave things until the last minute for example we could not find a location for the prelim film until we had to practically hand it in. But overall the preliminary film was a good leanring curve as we then realised what we had to work on and make better to create an effective opening for a Thriller film.
Problems/ constraints:
Editing:
Adobe kept crashing so we had to use windows movie maker- this was not as advanced or effective as Adobe.
Finding sound effects were difficult as the website with sound effects were blocked by school. This meant that I had to find them at home and put them on a memory stick which to longer therefore wasting time in media lessons.
Filming:
We had to film in the dark so we had to wait until around 5.00pm to begin filming and didnt have long before it got too dark. We had a very tight slot between about 5.00pm and 6.00pm so we had to keep stooping and starting.
Camera wasnt charged sometimes so we had to charge and wait again.
We couldn't find the correct costume that fitted the character so it took time finding that.
Background noise- cars, shouting etc.
We had planned to give this a age rating of 15 but based on the opening I believe it would probably be a 12 as there is no strong language, no detailed violence etc. However if we carried this film on after the opening e would try and add in some conventions of a 15 certificate film. The expected audience for this film would be a person who would enjoy Thriller films and doesn't mind the odd bit of scaring. We put Lizzie who played "Jess" in a pink hoody as pink is a stereotypical girly colour and it seems that it's usually the girly helpless, "damsell in distress" that gets hurt or kidnapped by the baddy.
What did we learn from our preliminary?
We learnt how to use windows movie maker properly and made finer cuts in the main task as you can see by comparing prelim to main. Lighting had to be perfect otherwise it could potentially ruin the whole film. In the prelim the light lit up part of the room which made it look unrealistic. It also blacked out the prisoners face and made it hard to see. We learnt most of all not to leave things until the last minute for example we could not find a location for the prelim film until we had to practically hand it in. But overall the preliminary film was a good leanring curve as we then realised what we had to work on and make better to create an effective opening for a Thriller film.
Problems/ constraints:
Editing:
Adobe kept crashing so we had to use windows movie maker- this was not as advanced or effective as Adobe.
Finding sound effects were difficult as the website with sound effects were blocked by school. This meant that I had to find them at home and put them on a memory stick which to longer therefore wasting time in media lessons.
Filming:
We had to film in the dark so we had to wait until around 5.00pm to begin filming and didnt have long before it got too dark. We had a very tight slot between about 5.00pm and 6.00pm so we had to keep stooping and starting.
Camera wasnt charged sometimes so we had to charge and wait again.
We couldn't find the correct costume that fitted the character so it took time finding that.
Background noise- cars, shouting etc.
Wednesday, 15 April 2009
Note Plan For Main Task Storyboard
Shot 1:
Still shot. Lizzie King comes through door and fills up glass.
Medium close up on her drinking- hand, upper body, face.
Shot 2:
Switch to black and white shot of Lizzie in corridor (english) running and pushing open door on the right hand side.
Shot 3:
Still shot from corner of room. Long shot. Shot of Lizzie swinging the door open and looking aroundthe room as if looking for someone.
Shot 4:
Quick cut back to corridor. Still shot. Lizzie runs across camera shot and pushing open another door on the other side of the corridor.
Shot 5:
Cut to corner of another room. Still shot. Very long shot. Lizzie comes in looks around again desperately
Shot 6:
Cut back to corridor. Running with camera following Lizzie as she runs towards double doors. Tilted frames at some points.
Shot 7:
Cut to extreme close up of Lizzie's face as she runs through double doors.
Shot 8:
Fade in white to medium shot of Lizzie outside by trees. Looking confused- where she is and how she got there. Calls out name- "Jess". Fades into next shot.
Shot 9:
Switch back to colour. Close up of Lizzie's hand as she lets go of glass of water. Slow motion.
Shot 10:
Close up of the glass of water hitting the ground and splashing towards the camera. Fade back into next shot.
Shot 11:
Cut to shot of Ami stood behind Lizzie Mclean who is kneeling on ground with head down. Long shot.
Shot 12:
Cut to close up of Lizzie King- head and shoulders, slightly to the right of the camera. Breathing hard looking scared.
Shot 13:
Back to Lizzie Mclean kneeling on ground but Ami has dissappered from the shot. Long shot. Car goes past and Lizzie collapses onto the floor just as the car passes her.
Shot 14:
Back to Lizzie King who runs past camera.
Shot 15:
Running with camera towards Lizzie Mclean- Point of view shot. Lizzie King breathing hard.
Shot 16:
Switch to shot from behind Lizzie Mclean as Lizzie King runs to her to see if she's ok. Fade into next shot.
Shot 17:
Colour. Medium close of Lizzie Mclean sat on sofa in living room. Says "Liz?" wondering if she's alright because of the glass dropping. Gets up and walks past camera.
Shot 18:
Close up of Lizzie King. Lizzie Mclean comes into shot behind Lizzie King and asks if she's ok. Lizzie King looks up and says I'm fine in a shaky voice. Fade out to black.
Note Plan For Main Task Storyboard
Shot 1:
Still shot. Lizzie King comes through door and fills up glass.
Medium close up on her drinking- hand, upper body, face.
Shot 2:
Switch to black and white shot of Lizzie in corridor (english) running and pushing open door on the right hand side.
Shot 3:
Still shot from corner of room. Long shot. Shot of Lizzie swinging the door open and looking aroundthe room as if looking for someone.
Shot 4:
Quick cut back to corridor. Still shot. Lizzie runs across camera shot and pushing open another door on the other side of the corridor.
Shot 5:
Cut to corner of another room. Still shot. Very long shot. Lizzie comes in looks around again desperately
Shot 6:
Cut back to corridor. Running with camera following Lizzie as she runs towards double doors. Tilted frames at some points.
Shot 7:
Cut to extreme close up of Lizzie's face as she runs through double doors.
Shot 8:
Fade in white to medium shot of Lizzie outside by trees. Looking confused- where she is and how she got there. Calls out name- "Jess". Fades into next shot.
Shot 9:
Switch back to colour. Close up of Lizzie's hand as she lets go of glass of water. Slow motion.
Shot 10:
Close up of the glass of water hitting the ground and splashing towards the camera. Fade back into next shot.
Shot 11:
Cut to shot of Ami stood behind Lizzie Mclean who is kneeling on ground with head down. Long shot.
Shot 12:
Cut to close up of Lizzie King- head and shoulders, slightly to the right of the camera. Breathing hard looking scared.
Shot 13:
Back to Lizzie Mclean kneeling on ground but Ami has dissappered from the shot. Long shot. Car goes past and Lizzie collapses onto the floor just as the car passes her.
Shot 14:
Back to Lizzie King who runs past camera.
Shot 15:
Running with camera towards Lizzie Mclean- Point of view shot. Lizzie King breathing hard.
Shot 16:
Switch to shot from behind Lizzie Mclean as Lizzie King runs to her to see if she's ok. Fade into next shot.
Shot 17:
Colour. Medium close of Lizzie Mclean sat on sofa in living room. Says "Liz?" wondering if she's alright because of the glass dropping. Gets up and walks past camera.
Shot 18:
Close up of Lizzie King. Lizzie Mclean comes into shot behind Lizzie King and asks if she's ok. Lizzie King looks up and says I'm fine in a shaky voice. Fade out to black.
Monday, 20 April 2009
Thursday, 16 April 2009
Thriller Research
Name: Memento (2000)
Age Certificate: UK 15
Genre: Mystery Thriller
The titles appear over the background of a man holding a photo. We have the image of the photo and the only the hands for 1 minute 10 seconds, he shakes it every so often indicating it's just been taken from a polaroid camera. We do not realise that the scene is going back in time until around 1 minute 08 seconds. All the shots are extreme close ups, very intimate- a convention of a thriller. The editing sends the image from colour to black and white, indicating maybe a flashback or a memory- another convention you may see in a thriller.
Name: Alien
Age Certificate: UK18
Genre: Horror Sci-Fi Thriller
It starts of dark and atmospheric, very fast pace camera shots and edits- one picture to another completely different one in the blink of an eye, to keep the audience on their toes. All the people in the opening were running, everythings going very quickly. The music uses sound effects to sound like screaming making the audience fear for the characters. There is lots of action in a very short space of time and then it suddenly ends into silence. Throughout the opening the volume is very loud right up until the last bit.
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