Mobygratis

I just signed up to http://www.mobygratis.com/ for myself and my group. This is in order to be able to find unsigned music to use inour thriller. Mobygratis will allow us to find unsigned music with ease, after asking for permission. We have not looked for our music yet, but we will do soon in order to get permission and a reply within plenty of time to use it from whoever wrote it.

Name of our Thriller

As a group, we have decided to call our thriller; 'LOST SIGNAL'. We felt that this name fits well with the thriller as it contains a scene when the protangonist loses the signal on her phone and has to walk away from her friends. When she returns, her friends have dissapeared and she has no choice but to look for them - This is what leads her into the path desired by her stalker, the antagonist!

Sabotage , 1935

Sabotage was another of Alfred Hitchcock brilliant films, this one being made in 1935. The film shows a dramatic amount of irony throughout. Some of the characters within the film do not know what is happening but we as an audience do. In this case, the husband of Stevies sister, Verlock gives Stevie a package to deliver to Picadilly circus by exactly 1:30. The boy does as he is told, not knowing that the package he has been told to deliver is in fact a bomb, set to explode at 1:45. Verlock tells the boy to go straight to Picadilly circus and be sure that it arrives at exactly 1:30, however Stevie is prevented from doing so by many different obstacles such as the Lord Mayors Show. This has deadly consequences!



How does Hitchcock create suspense and tension?

Hitchcock creates suspense in a numerous amount of ways, one of the may ways is that he uses a lot of close ups on the bomb and the boys face, this shows that the boy is totally oblivious to the bomb, which he is holding, but there is alot of danger in his hands. Also when Verlock is giving the boy the bomb he starts to breathe heavily and get impatient as the boy does not leave and he is worried about him being late.
The music in the scene becomes to becom deeper and sounding like a clock in a sense it is contrapunctual as he is only in a market and nothing is happening, however it keeps zooming to close ups of the bomb so it becomes parallel.  The lord mayor show causes him to slow down and he keeps getting distracted. There is then a flashback on the note and a close up on the 1.45 to emphasis, back to the lord mayor show there is a close up one the clock
The music changes as the camera looks from the bomb to the cloggs of the clock working to change the time. Its already 1.43 as the boy is stuck in traffic and the music become more dramatic, as the boy looks at the clock and becomes worried as he is afraid of being late. Things start moving faster as he runs out of time, the puppy is trying to escape out of the womans arms next to him as though knowing what is about to happen. One last look at the clock changing to 1.45, then the bus exploding.

Our Thriller - Rough Plot

As a group, Me, Sarah, Connor and Hollie came up with the rough plot for our thriller.
We decided together that we would like to have a stalker in our thriller and one main character as the person being stalked. There will also be two friends of the character being stalked in the thriller.

Characters;
Stalker; The stalker will be a very scary looking character, menacing as such, we shall dress him to look more menacing, avoiding the over used hoodies and tracksuits. He will be extremely obsessed with the central character, this character will have many images of the central character on their wall and will stalk them using social networking such as facebook.
Central character; the central character will just be an ordinary girl with an ordinary life. They will be more vulnerable however, as they are a female and slightly smaller than the average height for their age. They will not know the stalker is in fact stalking them., although they will know the identity of the character but not as a friend, more of just a peer.
Friend 1 and 2; These two characters will be in the background for most of the shots. These characters are not vital to the thriller, they are just merely background characters. However we may use them to make the thriller more exciting in places

The plot;
The plot will include the central character and her friends going into the woods for a camping trip. After updating her status, the stalker then knows where the central character and her friends will be and sets out to follow them.
The central character will then take a phone call and moves away from the campsite. When she returns, she finds her friends to be gone and she has been left alone. Following this, she try's to find them and heads back the way in which they had firstly came. The stalker begins to follow her and she is almost caught be him. This is when our filming will finish, hopefully leaving the viewers on the edge of their seats.
If we were to finish the film, the rest would more than likely consist of the central character trying to find her friends and discover what exactly happened that night.

Thriller ident and logo

We have discovered that major film production companies usually use a still image with a moving background. For example; Warner bros use their logo which flies into shot. After this the logo remains still as the background continues moving. We could do this with the ident for our thriller by using applications such as photoshop and Livetype. We would start by drawing the design on photo shop and then save the image as a .png file in order to be able to upload the software onto Livtype and edit it by adding various effects to it. We would then also apply a moving background to the stationary logo.
We decided as a group that it would be best to mimic the original, major production companies. This is because they have set a very high standard for everyone to match. We would however put out own stamp on it and make it more relevant to our age as we are still young and do not wish for the ident and logo to be completely serious

In the cut, Film opening credits.

The opening credits to this film are also good. It also goes from the general to the particular, staring off with New york City. The first thing which is shown on this film is also the ident, Pathe productions, it is then followed by the name of the producers. The main credits to this film start of with the central character, Meg Ryan, and continue on to list the names of the less important actors.
The credits to this film is effective as the title is shown last. It is affected as not only is the font a different type to tst but because it has the sense of dripping to it as if an actual cut on the body. This can be possible to do with livetype and be used with our thriller if we chose to have writing like this. 

Film Titles

Today in class, we watched some more fillm openings, this was to discover the way in which they had shown there opening title, ident, main characters and other main components of the film. (E.g. music, editor, production company etc.) We done this in order to get an idea of how to convey the opening credits to our two minute thriller.

The first film opening we watched was from the film 'The Brave One'

The film 'The Brave one', stars Jodie Foster as the main character, it shows the opening credits of the film in a very good way. The picture goes from the general to the particular, a blurred image of New York city to Jodie Foster. The ident to the film is the first thing shown, there are three ident's in this film; Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow pictures and Silver pictures. The first credits are then repeats of these names. The rest of the credit's go from the main character of the film, Jodie Foster, to the least important names. Such as music and editors. These credits are effective as they fade in and out of the moving picture behind them.

Survey Update

I checked my results on survey monkey today, but found that i only have 4 results after posting it on facebook 5 days ago, this is not enough people to analyse results from.

Due to the small number of responses i have on my surevy i posted it on my wall on facebook this time instead of in an email, i will keep posting it in order to get more results for a more accurate analysis.

My survey posted onto facebook;



Our Interviews; Further Target Audience Research

During lesson today, Me, Connor, Hollie and Ashleigh used to camera to carry out some interviews with students around the school, we asked each person 3 questions, based around the analysis about thrillers and about how different genders and age groups vary in the thrillers which they enjoy. This was in an attempt to further identify the target audience for our thriller. We asked three questions in order to do this, these included;

1. What is your favourite thriller?
2. Why is this your favourite thriller?
3. What do you think makes a good thriller, what main components?

Below is our final outcome, it is various people answering the questions and involves some bloopers too.

Se7en, 1995

Below is the opening credits to the film Se7en written in 1995. The music within the opening can be described as disturbing and unsettling. The font of the credits flicker on the screen and the text is also very irregular, different shapes and sizes and can be described as sharp/spikey. The two main characters are one of the first credits and then the title follows, others, not as important, follow after. These credits are very powerful as they are both unsettling and disturbing. They are different to other credits also as they display the main actors before they write the title of the film. Tha last name to be seen is the director of the film

Panic Room, 2002

This is the opening scene to 'Panic room', written in 2002. The first credits are the production company; Columbia. The next is the star of the film, Jodie Foster. The font of these credits are large and bold, emphasisng the size of the buildings. They then continue to add the other main actors of the film. The music is tense and changes to cause more suspense whilst the smaller charcters, directors and producer, writer music directors and editor are shown. the scene changes from the general to the particular, changing from the tall buildings of New York City to a mid-shot of Jodie Foster.

Film openings

Today in class, we watched the opening of films in order to analise the opening credits to come up with ideas for what we want to use in our own opening credits for our two minute thrillers. Opening credits are usually shown as superimposed on a blank screen, static picture or even over the action or picture in the background. Opening credits usually consist of the production company, the main characters, other actors, producers and directors etc.
We watched two film openings; 'Panic Room' and 'Se7en'. we watched the opening credits and dicussed the order in which the cast and production team are displayed. We dicovered that in both film openings it was as follows;

• The production company
• The production company logo
• The main character, general to the particular
• The co-stars
• Members of the crew such as editor, director, camera man, music, costume etc.

Creating My Survey

Today i created my thriller on http://www.surveymonkey,com/
I asked 8 different questions which will hopefully, if effectively answered, it will give me a rough idea of who the target audiece will be for our 2 minute thriller. I asked questions such as the persons age, sex, favourite thriller, how much they like thrillers etc. I sent my survey to people through an email on facebook to get feedback on their view of thrillers.
Below is my surevy posted onto facebook to get feedback,

Identifying our Target Audience

The target audience depends on the sub-genre of the thriller and also the topics in which it contains. 
For example a thriller such as 'No Country for Old Men', which contain more action and violence, seem to have a more popular audience of young males. This is becuase the fast paced nature of these films appeals more to male viewers. 
Another example is thrillers that can also be categorized with horror such as 'Hide and Seek', these seem to appeal to young females rather than males. This could be because horror films normally target young women, therefore women would be able to grab their attention.

There are many ways in which we can identfy our target audience. Such as carrying out an interview with a range of people, or setting up a survey for people to fill out, and finding out what their favourite thriller and what, in their opinion, makes a thriller good. 
Furthermore, another method could be carrying out an online survey also asking various questions to establish what different people think about different thrillers. This could be posted onto facebook, which would offer a variety of answers from our family and friends.

Auter

Auteur refers to the author or creator of the idea that some film directors impose a personal vision on their film. It is argued that Hitchcock stamped a number of creative features on his films, including:

• very high angled shots.
• exaggerated P.O.V.
• creative use of sound (non-diegetic music).
• exaggerated lighting effects.
• precise editing.
• characters who are trapped or imprisoned.
• misleading relationships.
• cameo appearances of Hitchcock himself.

Voyeur - watching something we're not meant to be watching. Also known as voyeuristic viewing.

Steven Speilberg is another auteur. His trademark techniques included ordinary people confronted by extraordinary situations. This was in films such as:

• .
• Jaws.
• E.T.
• Schindler's List
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Graphic Matches

Graphic matches are two similar images placed together to create an overall smooth visual transfer from one frame to the next. however, the image doesn't have to look the same, it can just have the same patterns of light and dark, or the same positioning of the figures within the shot. The director, could also choose to present a contrasting shot to achieve a different effect.

Below is a graphich match used in the film; 'A Space Odyssey'


The graphic match that is used in this scene is where the bone is thrown up by apes, but starts to fall as a satelite in space. 

Shadow of a Doubt, 1943

Shadow of a doubt was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, it was created in 1943 and was one of Hitchcocks favourits out of his own collection of films. We watched two parts of the film in class and analysed them with mise-en-scene, as follows;

Settings And Props;
One of the main props is the Cigar, this suggests that 'uncle Charlie' has a high taste and a lot of money to spend. The large sum of money scattered over the bedside table and floor reinforces the first prop and also suggests that Charlie has more than enough money as he is careless of it, its of little importance to him. The place uncle Charlie comes from seems rundown, poor and almost eerie. We know this as their are broken and burnt cars which seem to be placed in a bad atmosphere. This contrasts with Santa Rosa where his neice lives which looks a much nicer place; almost perfect with its white picket fences, flowers and smiling faces.

Positioning of Characters and Objects in a frame;
When uncle Charlie seems to be escaping the two men, he seems very casual and resourceful when avoiding them, almost as though he is used to this lifestyle. Also Uncle Charlie is positioned in the centre of the screen, with the two men who are after him in the foreground, whilst Charlie is in the background. Also the fact they are either side of him, suggests a sense of entrapment on Charlie's behalf, like the two men will close in on him throughout the film. Also uncle Charlie doesnt move when the curtain is open. but once drawn he seems to come to life in the dark, this could be suggesting that there is a sinister, dark side to him. It also suggests that uncle Charlie is the antagonist. Uncle charlie and his neice, Charlie seem to both be positioned in the same way on both of their seperate beds, showing the contrast between the two.

Here is a montage i made of Uncle Charlie and his neice on http://www.onetruemedia.com/

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

 

Costume Hair And Make Up;

The costumes in which everyone is wearing seem very smart, casual and old fashioned. Uncle Charlie's suit in particular looks as though it is emaculate, he is very particulate about looking smart. Also his hair seems to be slicked back, these both reinforce the fact that Charlie is in someway wealthy and looks as though he takes pride in what he looks like.

 

Facial Expressions and Body Language;

Both Charlie and Uncle Carlie are seen lying on their beds in the same relaxed way as if uninterested in the world around them. Both characters seem bored, tired almost as if they are lifeless.

 

Lighing And Colour;

At the beginnning of the scene their is light entering through the window, however when the landlady comes down and pulls this down the room is plunged into darkness, this is also when he moves from his relaxed position and becomes more tense as he moves around the room. This reinforces the fact that he is the atagonist of the film. The opening also seems to have a lot of shadows and uses low key lighting, making the film seem more eerie. Also later on when uncle charlie is on the phone he has a more ominious look about jim due to the shadow that is created over his eyes caused by the hat he is wearing, maybe suggesting he is sinster. 

Preliminary Exercise; Storyboard

This is the story board which we created for our preliminary exercise before we began to film it.

Preliminary Exercise

Above is mine, Ashleigh's, Hollie's and Connor's preliminary exercise. During the first 5 minutes we had to make a story board, for the rest of the lesson we had to film our preliminary exercise.
We decided on using many shots including;

• long shot
• Pan shot
• extreme close up

In order to produce our outcome, we filmed each part several times, making sure not to wind back to watch it which could have caused gaps in the tapes, we filmed each one a few times to check that we had it filmed well.
However, we did encounter some errors. Also at one point one of the characters look at the camera, showing that they know it is there. Also due to the distance of the camera, some of the dialogue is rather quite, too quite to really be heard and other parts can be heard clearly. Another of which was due to the fact that we could not hear the audio whilst editing so just focused on the visual side of things, we did not realise that the camera man can be heard saying 'Go'. 
Although, I feel as though we have been able to notice our mistakes, and therefore will take these in to consideration whilst filming in the future.

My Thriller Montage

Here is a montage for my thriller, it involves various pictures which my group believe we well be using when filming our thriller.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Codes and Conventions of a Thriller

There are 7 codes and conventions of a thriller, these include;

Lighting;
Low level lighting
Shadows /Limited view of the character
Often at night time/dark/eerie
Dim colours - use of red

Setting;
Isolated/deserted/exotic - deserted ranch, old warehouse
Confined locations - lift, phone booth, cellar, train - Generatic feature of a thriller is entrapment, meaning claustrophobic spaces are a key

Editing;
Quck cuts/ fast past - enhances anxiety and confusion
Jump cuts/helps with the erratic tension in the film
Match cuts - links 2 ideas with an edit

Cinematography;
Camera angles low/high - plays with and highlights the roles of authority/power within the film
Point of view shot - demonstrates what the character sees/feels
Establishing shot - setting the scene of where the action will take place
Close ups - anxiety/tension
Frantic Camera movement - tense environment

Non Diegetic;
High pitched music
Fast pace music
Ambience music

Diegetic;
Silence - builds tension
Heavy breathing
Whispering
Characters in Thrillers;
Criminals, stalkers, assassins, losers, innocent victims, characters with dark pasts, psychotic individuals, terrorrists, private eyes, drifters. psycho friends, people in twisted relationships
Good or Bad?

Analysis of Past Students work

Today we watched some past students work to get an idead of how to film our 2 minute thriller and what the final production will turn out like. Also we had to decide on what we would mark them out of ten for their;

• Idea
• Cinematography
• Sound/Music
• Performance

Example; Out of the 4 oast thrillers we watched the one shown below was my favourite, this was because it had the most action in it. Also it made us ask lots of questions and portrayed music within thrillers really well, it finally ended with a cliffhanger.



This is what i graded it;
Idea; 9/10
Cinematography; 8/10
Sound/Music; 9/10
Performance; 9/10
Grade; A

Sound Within Film

There are two types of sound which is used within film, these are, diegetic and non-diegetic sounds.

Diegetic sound is noise which can be recognised within the film world, for example dialogue between characters of the sounds of footsteps when a character is walking.

Diegtic sounds however are split into two types, there is on screen and off screen sound. They are both rather self explanatory. On screen is when it is part of the film world and we can see what is the source of the sound, for example a character which we can see who is talking. Off screen is when we can hear a sound and so can the cahracters in the film, but we cannot see what is making it an example of this could be the noise of traffic when someone is walking down the road, but we cannot see it.

Non-diegetic sound is when a sound is not part of the film world, for example music which has been edited into the scene, or a narration of the film. A good example of this is in 'No country for old men' at the beginnning when the man is talking about his life.

Film Opening analysis; History of Violence

Film Opening Analysis; Memento

The beginning of this film is different to others, this is because it is shown backwards. At the beginning, we see the main character killing another man. By showing it backwards like this it makes the person want to watch on and see why the man has been killed. This makes the audience are trying to solve a great Enigma, which the film is basically made from.
From the beginning a slow deep music is played which causes what is happening on screen to be dramatised. The main character in the film is seen to be carrying a camera and taking pictures of the man he has killed, this makes us ask more questions and continue to wonder.

Film opening analysis; Children of Men;

During our last lesson we watched 3 film openings, these films were, Children of men, Memento and History of Violence.
Children of Men;
At the start of the film it shows the opening credits while having the voice of a news reporter announcing breaking news in the background. The news reader is saying about how that the youngest person living had died, this person was 18 years of age. From  hearing this news it makes the audience ask questions such as, why has no one in the world had a baby for 18 years? and what will happen if no one else has a baby? These questions are known as Enigmas. Just before the end of the opening 5 minutes of the film there is an explosion, this makes you want to watch on.

No Country For Old Men

No country for old men is about a man name Llewelyn Moss, after coming across the remains of several drug runners who have been killed after a bad deal he finds a stash of money. Instead of reporting to the police he takes the money and flees his home town as he fears someone will follow him. He is correct as, a psychopathic killer, Anton Chigurh, is on his trail as he dispassionately murders nearly everybody which he comes across in pursuit to find Llewelyn and the money. After a chace over Texas it is unclear what happens to Anton, although Llewelyn dies rapidly at the end of the film
Within the first 5 minutes of No Country For Old Men alot happens, we meet the first main character of the film and 2 people have already been killed. Also we already want to watch on as we want to find out why he is killing people and what has happened in his past. The opening 5 minutes of the film creates a suspense atmosphere as death as also already been spoke about. From this time in the film the murderer already seems mysterious, mental, strong, sinister, cold, eery, and emotionless. The  villain also gives nothing away as he doesn't speak and we don't know anything about him.

The Manchurian Candidate

The Manchurian Candidate is a paranoid thriller, political thriller and it can also come under a greek tragedy. The reasons for which some people categorise it as this is because it links to the Oedipus complex within thef film, this means when a child has sexual feelings towards the opposite sex parent and feels they have to eliminate the parent of the same sex. In context to the film it is where we see Raymond shaw and his mother kissing. The psychoanalytic theory is named after the Greek myth of Oedipus who, unknowingly, kills his father and marries his mother. The film is different from other thrillers as it draws the audience in by confusing them and making them want to watch on to find out what is happening in the characters lives.
The film is about a group of men who fought together in the army, who when ata placement were captures and taking away to be brainwashed. However we do not find this out until the end once Marco has added up all his clues, we find our Raymond Shaw's mother is behind it all.  We believe something happened when they was out fighting, but they have all been 'programmed' in a sense to not say anything about what happened to them, and live off a lie.
Throughout the film we follow the protagonist trying to overcome a vast variety of tasks. By not telling us the reason for the characters strange dreams and behaviour till the end of the film the director can make it so the audience can have their own opinions on the film.
There are many key scenes in the film this includes the murder of Senator Jordan, the2004 version differes from the 1962 version as in the classic Senator Jordan is shot. In the remake the Senator is drowned in the water, this creates a dreamy state by the remote lake. This is because the director wanted the water to symbolize how the characters are drowning.
During the final scene of the film we see the death of Raymond and Eleanor, this is when Raymon realises his sould has been corrupted and he decides to sacrifice himself and his mother to stop the possibility of becoming owned and operated.
At the end of the film we also see a prominent picture of mount rushmore on a backdrop during the final scene. It invites the viewers to wonder about whether past, present or future leaders may be corrupted, and there could be conspiracies.

North by Northwest

North by Northwest is one of Alfred Hitchcocks most famous film, made in 1959. It stars, Cary Grant as Roger Thornhill, Eva Marie Saint as Eve Kendall, James Mason as Phillip Vandamm,  Leo G. Carroll as The Professor and Jessie Royce Landis as Clara Thornhill. North by Northwest is about an innocents man identity being mistaken. Roger Thornhill is mistaken for George Kaplan as he is chased across america by agents who want to stop his interference in their plans to smuggle out microfilm containing government secrets. The the duration of the film we meet many characters and different relationships develop. Hitchcock uses a variety of skills in this film including a McGuffin and cliff hangers, literally, where at the end of the film we see Eve Kandall  (Eva Marie Saint) literally hanging off of the edge of mount rushmore.

Another famous scene from North by northwest is the cropduster scene, when Roger Thornhill is tricked into going to an isolated crossroads, with flat countryside all around and nobody in sight. A man finally arrives, but then takes the next bus. Before he leaves, the puzzled stranger observes that a biplane is "dusting crops where there ain't no crops." The plane soon flies towards Thornhill, and the pilot starts shooting at him. He flees to the cover of a cornfield, but the plane dusts it with pesticide, forcing him out. Desperate, Thornhill steps in front of a speeding gasoline tank truck, which stops barely in time. The plane crashes into it and explodes. When passing drivers stop to see what is going on, Thornhill steals a pickup truck and drives away.

Techniques used by Alfred Hitchcock

A McGuffin is also pronounced as MacGuffin or Maguffin. This s a plot element which drives the plot forward. It is what the whole story of the film evolves around. It is usually the central focus of the film at the start but slowly declines and is usually forgotten about, although it is important to the characters, it is only their o help the story flow. McGuffin's are common in films, especially thrillers.

An Enigma is a mystery or a problem in the story. In thrillers the protagonist normally has to try and solve it or find it before the film finishes. The definition of enigma is a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation.

A Red Herring diverts the audience's attention from the truth, it deceives them on purpose, it is often used alongside an Enigma. And is used to create suspense.

Alfred Hitchcock

Alfred Hitchcock is known his pioneering of suspense and psychological thrillers.Hitchcock is well known for his thriller psycho, other famous ones are north to north west and The Birds. People refer to him as the greatest British Filmaker. He involves a large viarety of techniques into his films, including; Mcguffin, Enigma and Red Herring.

Alfred Hitcock promoting the film 'The Birds'

A McGuffin is also pronounced as MacGuffin or Maguffin. This s a plot element which drives the plot forward. It is what the whole story of the film evolves around. It is usually the central focus of the film at the start but slowly declines and is usually forgotten about, although it is important to the characters, it is only their o help the story flow. McGuffin's are common in films, especially thrillers.

An Enigma is a mystery or a problem in the story. In thrillers the protagonist normally has to try and solve it or find it before the film finishes. The definition of enigma is a puzzling or inexplicable occurrence or situation.

A Red Herring diverts the audience's attention from the truth, it deceives them on purpose, it is often used alongside an Enigma. And is used to create suspense.

What Is A Thriller?

A thriller is a genre of afilm, it involves, tension, suspense, cliffhangers and much more. It also has a variety of different atmospheres, such as crime, violence murder and menace. A typical thriller often contains a victim and a villian. Examples od thrillers are; Psycho, Godfather and Children of Men.

Welcome To My Blog

Hello and welcome to my blog. Over the media course i will be reguarly updating it and explaining what my coursework is. My task is to create a 2minute trailer for a thriller, and my blog is used to take down ideas.