Presentation of thriller movie idea

We were asked to come up with an idea for a possible thriller movie and then present this idea to the rest of the class that could form the basis of one of the production group's projects.

My initial idea

My initial thriller idea for a film sequence began with a close up of hands building a wall at night. The camera then moved to a sequence of 3 people waking up; these 3 people belonging to 3 specific groups according to race, sexuality and religion. The scene would progress, cutting in a montage style between each person opening the door to go outside and finding that they are trapped in a maze with no way out. There is some symbolism in this as a black person would be trapped in a maze of white walls (representing the skin colour that they ''should have'') a gay person trapped in red walls (representing lust etc) and a religious person surronded by black walls (takes away the light-God is light)
This sequence was designed to generate tension and enigma by capturing the viewer's interest, making them want to know more.

Props & Locations

I wasn't completely sure about where I wanted the sequence to be filmed, but I thought about using the studio space. For our props we would need bricks or fake bricks and paint.

horror 4

This is a poster for 'One Missed Call.' It shows a close up of a very distorted face. If you look closely at the face you can see that the eyes are in fact actually images of somebody's mouth screaming, suggesting fear and horror. Again, the background to the poster is black, creating darkness and mystery.

horror poster 3

This is a poster for 'Vacancy.' Dark colours give the image a dank, dingy look. The people looking in through the window appear to be hiding from something as the expressions on their faces are fearful, suggesting a scary movie

horror 2

This second horror poster is for the movie 'Saw.' It is clearly horror due to the grotesque imagery of somebody's teeth covered in blood. The image is shot as an extreme close up so you can see it clearly & be hit by the full horror of what you are seeing. The caption 'opening wide this halloween' is a play on what is happening in the picture, someone's mouth being opened.

horror poster 1

this is a poster for the horror movie Halloween 2. We can tell straight away that the genre is horror as it is a mid-shot of a man raising a big knife, so it is clear he is about to kill someone. Again, the colour of the poster is very dark, creating an austere atmosphere. Bold orange is used for the text to make the poster stand out.

thriller poster 4

this is a poster for the thriller movie 'The Unborn.' The camera angle is a straight on shot of the back of the girl, creating a sense of mystery-you can only see a bit of her reflection. The dark, dull colours add to the atmosphere of gloom. The most scary thing about this poster is that if you look closely, you can see that there is also another figure reflected in the mirror, alongside the caption (which isn't very clear) that says 'Evil will do anything to live.' From this we can predict that something creepy is about to happen.

Thriller poster 3

This is a poster for the film 'Orphan.' I think the thing which makes this image shocking & haunting is the fact that it is a picture of a child. If you looked from far away you would probably think it was an imgage of an innocent girl. However, if you look more closely you can see that there is a sinsister look in her eyes & shadows on her face. The poster is a close up straight on head & shoulders shot so you can see this clearly. Her face & hair is completely symetrical which is somehow unnatural & eerie.

2nd generic thriller poster

This is a poster for the thriller 'The Dark Knight.' This poster gives an illusion of mystery and enigma as the man's face is behind quite blurry glass so his features are faded & we cannot see him very clearly. The dark hand pressed against the glass suggests that maybe he is trying to break through. This is quite frightening for the audience to look at as we feel as if the hand is about to grab us. The text 'why so serious?' appears to be written in blood, adding to the sinister imagery.

What is a Thriller?

The original meaning of the word 'thriller' is to pierce
The creator of a thriller's main objective is to pierce through the audience's layer of security and safeness, making them feel as scared or uncomfortable as possible. Thrillers rely on fear, apprehension and suspense, and usually play upon your basic childhood worries by including things that could have frightened you as a young child. Thrillers create tension by raising questions and presenting egnima codes to the audience, which leaves us wanting more. Tension is also created through the use of delay, so that there is a sense of relief when something finally happens.

There are a variety of different types of thriller. One of the most commonly used in movies are phycological thrillers which explore people's minds, dealing with issues such as schitzophrenia, getting inside the mind of the killer. At the end of these movies, the secrets are usually revealed.
Another very common type of thriller is horror. This type of movie involves a great deal of blood and gore, making the audience feel shocked and repulsed by something that they are not supposed to see.
Supernatural thrillers are also used. These play on the audience's fear of ghosts and things of the paranormal. They sometimes deal with the concept of demons and the devil. A typical example of a supernatural thriller is 'The Exorcist.'

We also learnt that a key theme of many successful thrillers is voyeurism. The word voyeurism derives from the French word 'voyeur' which translates as 'someone who watches.' (usually without their object of interest knowing that they are being watched) As you can imagine, people who make thrillers could use the idea of voyeurism to create rather a creepy storyline. The voyeur in these films is usually a stalker, watching the person or people he is about to kill or torture. There is a lot of irony in this as we (the audience) know the killer is there, yet the killer's victim does not.
In some cases, the style of filming forces us as an audience to become the voyeur. This is when we are made to watch a character being killed, tortured or placed in an equally terrible situation. This makes us feel slightly uncomfortable as, again, we are seeing something we shouldn't be seeing.

Thrillers can also be very sadomastic as it usually involves the audience taking pleasure in the character's horrible misfortune. It also helps if the audience are able to empathise with the character, so that they can feel the pain they are going through to a greater effect.

Introduction to Final Cut Pro

The latest media programme we learnt how to use was Final Cut Pro. Final Cut Pro is an application which allows a sequence of shots to be cut together in order to create a narrative or a montage.

We began by using the Final Cut Server. The function of this technology is to store projects and stop work being lost. It also enables you to access your work easily as you can check work in and out.

We then moved on to use Final Cut Pro, which is the actual editing software. Within, Final Cut Pro we created a Log Bin, which allowed us to select the shots within our sequence that we didn't want to use as they were flawed (e.g lacked continuity or clear focus etc). We did this by selecting the best shots in our piece and placing them in the Log Bin ready for use on the timeline.

We then arranged our selected shots on the chronological timeline which helps to create continuity within the seqquence so that the each shot in the scene seemed to flow into each other.

This versatile programme enables the user to be creative by editing and trimming shots, making a more polished and finalised sequence.

Preliminary Task

Preliminary Task Evaluation

We decided to shoot our piece in the studio because it is a good open space which was ideal for filming our particular extract. The studio also contains a set which suited the context of our drama. The set was a plastic construction, made to look like a wall of bricks and a window, so it looked like we were filming in a house. There was also a door which was useful for dramatic purposes so character A could storm out, slamming the door behind her. During our filming process, I checked the continuity, making sure that our actresses were doing the same thing each take. I also came up with some ideas on how the extract could be shot, such as suggesting that character B should be sitting against the wall as supposed to the other character who was standing up, in order to perhaps signify lower status. I also came up with the idea to shoot the scene in a different style by changing the motivation. My idea was that character A could be trying to persuade B to do something she shouldn't be doing, so acting in a more devious bullying way rather than angry or irritated. However, we did not have much time so in the end we did not use this idea.We shot the scene in a naturalistic manner, as if character A was persuading B to do something, rather than bullying them into it.

We did not use particularly bright lighting, which was emphasised by the fact that the studio space was very dark due to the black painted walls. This gave the piece a rather eerie, ominous atmosphere, setting the tone for the scene. Although we did not use bright camera light, we did use one artificial bulb light, which hung in the centre of the mise-en-scene. This was so that the actresses could be clearly seen and it also added to the atmosphere of austerity, everything being dark with only one light. However, we did have a large apature, in order to let in more light, seeing as we were in a dark room, otherwise the audience would not be able to see anything at all. We also made sure that there was no gain (dBs) on our screen so there was not too much exposure.

We filmed the shoot well, making sure that the camera was set up correctly and that the mise-en-scene was straight.The tripod was always level although we did change the height of the camera for various different shots. For example, for the over the shoulder shots we used, the tripod was positioned slightly higher. We used over the shoulder shots in order to show the point of view of each character.(the person whose shoulder we were looking over)to try and place ourselves in both their shoes.
We started by filming the whole scene in wide shot, in order to get a simple base for the piece that we could edit later. I think this technique was quite effective as everything in the mise-en-scene could be seen. As I explained earlier, we then moved on to over the shoulder shots in order to capture the scene from different perspectives. We then decided to take more of a risk, taking the camera off the tripod and filming the entire sequence on the ground so that all you could see was the actresses' feet and hear their voices. This provided the scene with an air of mystery.

We conformed to the 180 degree rule in all shots. In the over the shoulder shots we made sure that we only filmed one side of the person's shoulders in order not to break the rule. We were also careful to use the correct terminology on set,saying 'standby', 'rolling' and 'action'when going into the shot.

practical media production

Introduction to studio

we began our studio work in the first lesson, when we used the space to simulate an interview. Several people took on the roles of camera person, lighting and interviewer. The rest of us were being interviewed. We were given specific questions and we had some time to think about our answers. The studio space was dark and fairly small, making it more intimate so that the viewers would feel more involved. A three light set-up was used, with two lights shining on from behind the interviewer and person being interviewed and one bright light at the front, shining in their faces. The purpose of this lighting was so that the focus (the people) could be seen clearly. A BB170 camera was used and the film was taken in wide-shot, so that the viewer could see everything in the mise-en-scene. The chairs of the people were positioned slightly tilting towards each other. This excercise gave us a flavour of what it would be like to be a celebrity.

Introduction to photoshop

Our first photoshop lesson was rather challenging as we learnt many different skills which we were asked to put into practice. The first fundamental lesson we learnt was how to copy and paste using the lassoo tool. In order to do this, we outlined the object we wanted to paste with the lassoo and then pressed Copy-Edit-Edit-Paste and then using the move tool to move it. This enables you to copy and move the image you selected.

Another tool which we learnt how to use was the Dodge, Burn and Sponge tool. With the Dodge tool, you can make your image darker; with the burn tool you can make the image lighter. This includes the use of highlights which can be used to give the image a glowing or burning effect. Another useful tool which we learned how to use was the Spot Healing Brush. This takes away any unpleasant spots, marks or any part of an image you do not want in the picture. You can use the history brush to undo any mistakes you have made. There are other tools such as the Smudge tool and the Liquifier which distort and elongate images.

Introduction to camera & tripod

We were also taught how to use a camera and tripod, which is one of the most important aspects of media. After assembling our camera on the tripod and making sure that the microphone was correctly inserted, we learnt how to bubble the camera, which is when you have to make sure that the small circle/bubble by the head of the tripod is within it's larger circle. This is important because if the camera is not bubbled, the image on the mise-en-scene will be slightly slanted at an angle, instead of straight. Once we had switched on the camera (by pressing the small red button and twisting upwards to unlock) we learnt about the Time Code, which is displayed in the top corner of the camera. This shows the duration of the shot. You can find the width of the camera in the middle left of the camera, which (for a PD170 camera) is 16:9 cm.

the shutterspeed controls the speed at which the images move. For example, the lower the shutterspeed, the slower and more blurry the imagery would be. The higher you set the shutterspeed, the faster and sharper the movements of the images become. The normal shutterspeed on a PD170 camera is 50. You can also change the exposure of the camera by pressing a black button on the side of the camera. The ideal focus for this camera is F.56. The higher the focus number, the darker the screen will be.

We also learnt about the gain on a camera, which is something which you don't need. Gain is unnecessary synthetic light which reduces the quality. It is represented by the symbol dB. The aim is to have 0 dBs. You can do this by pressing the gain button repeatedly.

Another important aspect of the camera is the white balance. You can choose between artificial light and natural sunlight.

<-white balance bubble->

Introduction to Blogs

Something else which we learnt how to do in media was to set up our own hurtwood blogs.In order to do this we accessed the blog website (www.blogger.com) typed in username (hurtwoodhousemedia09) and the password (hollywood) and clicked on our name on the dashboard. The first thing we did was to choose a new template/background for our blog, in order to make it look more attractive to the reader. To do this, you click on Customize (top right hand corner), then New Template, where you can choose from a variety of backgrounds.

After doing this, we learnt how to post things onto our blog, simply by clicking on New Post. The first post that we did was a written introduction about ourselves. We were encouraged to try and make these entertaining and I experimented with different fonts and colours. You post a blog by pressing Save Now and then Publish Post. We learnt how to upload images onto our blogs by clicking on the small picture next to the ABC sign and choosing the image you want.

You can also access other people's blogs by clicking on their names which are displayed on the dash board. The idea of this blogging is to display our media work at Hurtwood.