Marking other students work

Clip; Captive

Material appropriate to target audience

I feel that the video met the criteria here and achieved a level 4. I placed it here because the clip clearly fits the genre which we can identify is a horror/thriller.

Titles conventional/appropriate?

Yet again I put the video into a level 4 boundary because I feel that the titles fitted the genre and were quite effective; I would suggest that the inspiration for them came from the opening of seven.

Sound/images and technical editing

In this category, I do not feel they were as strong because the music was very dramatic and included a crescendo effect which is more common in trailers opposed to opening sequences so I decided to give them a level 3 here.

Camera work/framing/variety of shot types/mise en scene

I feel that this was done very well and was clearly thought out. The sequence included very well framed shots and effective close ups; which were reinforced by the costume and makeup used on the protagonist in this section. As a consequence of this, I decided to place them in the level 4 boundary.

Editing for meaning/transition effects

I gave them a level 4 here also because editing was almost unnoticed and they effectively used a flash back sequence although I feel it was a bit rushed to fit in in the time constraints.

Overall feel

They have provided and excellent opening sequence and it was very effective and clearly planned and thought through; I really enjoyed it.

Clip; Rivalry

Material appropriate to target audience

For this aspect, I placed them in a level 3 because some aspects were clear but not very well executed.

Titles convention/appropriate

Yet again they fell into a level 3 again because although the titles were ok; I do not feel they reflected the genre and/or was very creative.

Sound/images and technical editing

Once again I graded a level 3 here because the music had some timing issues and was very similar to the Oceans film (Clearly gained inspiration there) but he did play the music himself so I gave him an extra mark.

Camera work/framing/variety of shot types/mise en scene

I graded a level 3 here as some camerawork did not look very good and some aspect were poorly framed. At times the sequence was inconsistent.

Editing for meaning/transitions and effects

I gave a level 2 here because I did not feel editing was effective as I was drawn to it; I found this distracted me.

Overall Feel

I thought the production had a lot of effort put into it but the final outcome was quite amateurish.

Clip; Faceless

Material appropriate to target audience

I gave them a level 4 here because the genre was easily identified as a horror/thriller due to the mise en scene and several conventions.

Titles conventional/appropriate

I scored them highly here in the level 4 boundary because the titles were nicely placed and fitted the genre very well as they flickered in and out.

Sound/images and technical editing

 Yet again I scored them highly in the level 4 boundary because the music and editing was well timed with the sequence and was quite effective.

Camera work/framing/variety of shot types/mise en scene

I gave them a lower level 4 here because the framing and camera work was effective; however there was a lighting issue with the door the captive escaped through and the ‘kill room’ was too well lit.

Editing for meaning/transitions and effects

Here they also achieved a level 4 because I didn’t notice the editing and was immersed in the story the pupils were showing.

Overall feel

I would give them a low level 4 on this one, purely because the acting took away the verisimilitude.

Donnie Darko (mise-en-scene - Character introduction)

In this certain sequence, the director Richard Kelly uses mise-en-scene to introduce his characters in a very clever way. Donnie Darko was a very successful film at the time of its release in 2001, the film was directed by Richard Kelly and has several genres such as Sci-fi and superhero, what predominant genre it is could be up for debate. Kelly attempted to film this whole sequence without any cuts; however, it was too hard to track forward without any so in the end this section featured four cuts. In the opening section of this sequence a bell chimes on a clock with could link in with what the film is about, time-travel. The first character we are introduced to is Donnie as he is first to get out of the school bus which implies his importance as he is the first character we see. There is a tilted low angle shot as Donnie and his friends get out of the bus; this shows us their importance. The camera pans left to face the school and it looks like a very posh, upmarket, private school but we as an audience do not ever find out.

The first cut that occurs is as Donnie and his friends walk through the school doors and the camera is tracking backwards as they walk through the corridor. Donnie and his friends are walking in a triangle like formation with Donnie at the front which may suggest that he is the leader of his friendship group; that reinforces his importance. There is then a whip pan that starts at Donnie and pans round to the right to face Seth, when they look at each other Seth pulls an aggressive face which implies that Seth maybe a bully or a bad influencing character in the film. Possibly Richard Kelly (The director) showed Donnie with his friends when he met Seth to represent that Donnie is liked and Seth isn’t which may change our opinions of the characters. When Seth notices Ms Farmer he pulls another face at her. This could show that he has no respect for anybody and the fact she is a teacher makes it worse. As Seth walks off Ms Farmer follows him possibly to stop contact between him and Jim Cunningham as she may not want to give out a bad impression of the school. As Ms Farmer goes in pursuit of Seth it starts with her standing there and then suddenly it speeds up which may suggest that she is in a hurry.

As we see Ms farmer walk off the camera pans right to face Gretchen from this we know that she is quite innocent as she looks at herself in the mirror to check her hair before going to wherever she is supposed to be just like a normal girl would. On the other hand, you could say the director has used a stereotype of a teenage girl and used it so the audience can quickly gain an opinion of that specific character. In this shot of Seth, we can see that he is sniffing something, possibly drugs which would reinforce the point about him being a bad character that we, as an audience aren’t supposed to like. As Seth starts to sniff the drugs the camera zooms in on him and his friend, the director could have done this to emphasize what Seth is doing so we can clearly pick up on it. On the inside of his locker there is a sticker that says, “what would Satan do?” This shows that he possibly looks up to and wants to act in a certain villainous way which nobody would benefit from; suggesting he is rebellious. The way Seth is dressed is very scruffy and very informal, this is because his shirt is hanging out and his top buttons are undone showing a disregard for school rules. In this shot, the principle catches Seth sniffing the drugs but choses to ignore it, suggesting the school is not setting a good example to the students. The fact the principle was going to tell him but decided to ignore it shows Seth has power within the school over others; underlining his aggressive nature. Also as the principal walks out the door there is a student that holds it open for him and he taps him on the back which may imply he is a ‘teacher’s pet’. We then fade to white and transition into the next shot.

The mongrel being shown to the audience is quite significant because of events that are yet to come. The camera pedestal’s down so we can see Churita sitting down reading her book, because she is on her own, it may insinuate that she isn’t very popular or just likes to keep herself to herself and possibly that she is a reserved character that intrigues us with an enigma. That could be backed up by the fact there are other pupils sitting away from her laughing and others comparing work with each other. The camera then follows a pupil’s movement until Ms Farmer, Principal Cole and Jim Cunningham are in shot. Before the principal comes into shot we can clearly see that Mr Cunningham looks bored because of his body language; his arms are folded and his looks unhappy. Ms Farmer’s facial expression shows that she is very keen for them both to meet and Ms Farmer pats her heart which may suggest she’s excited and her hearts beating fast as a consequence. This shows that she wants Mr Cunningham’s standards introduced to the school. This is ironic given what happens later in the film. When Mr Cole comes in shot Mr Cunningham’s face lights up as if he is excited to see and talk to someone other than Ms Farmer. The camera follows the three of them through what looks like the school playing area until they bump into Ms Pomeroy and Dr Monnitoff which at that moment Ms Farmer looks uneasy, awkward and disappointed when Jim meets them, it’s almost as if she knows they both would disagree with what she wants to do and enforce with Mr Cunningham and knows they will try and persuade her otherwise. Dr Monnitoff also shakes his head as he walks away from Ms Farmer showing his disagreement. Dr Monnitoff walks away leaving Ms Pomeroy staring across the playground at Sparkle Motion, there is a whip pan to face Sparkle Motion, she is not impressed with how she sees sparkle motion dancing because it turns into quite a sexual dance which ironically is led by Ms farmer who is friends with Jim Cunningham.

When the girls finish their routine, they look happy which could be reinforced by them hugging and high fiving which also shows their innocence but when they went to high-five each other they miss which could either be on purpose possibly so show how excited they are (They wasn’t concentrating) but on the other hand it could be a mistake from the director that was never edited. There is then a cut from Sparkle Motion back to Ms Pomeroy walking up the stairs where the camera is backtracking. Ms Pomeroy was looking annoyed and stressed, her facial expression gives this away and because she throws her drink into the bin with temper about Ms Farmer trying to bring Jim Cunningham to the school. She takes a deep breath before walking into her class; suggesting she is trying to calm down or that she is preparing for a troublesome class. The final cut in the sequence is as Ms Pomeroy walks through her classroom door the camera zooms in on the misted class where it then jumps into her start to teach and the sequence the finishes by the song ending in the background and the music fading out saying “time flies” which also links in with time travel – a key element to the film.

Survey Results

From the results you can see that most of the participants where aged between 12-16 which is going to help me decide on  an age certificate. From these results; I feel rating the film a 15 would be suitable.

This question was asked to give me an indication of what audiences may want their thriller films to be based around. Here you can see the favourite was psychological so I will consider this as the current working sub-genre for my thriller.

I asked an equal amount of males and females to produce more accurate, fairer results.

I asked this questions with the hope that I would have a better idea of weather to have a male or female protagonist; These results were inconclusive which leaves the choice down to me and what gender I feel could play the role more effectively.

From this, you can see mystery is most popular however  from the narrative I am considering; this theme will be interlinked with tension and suspense.

I asked this question so I know what the audience wants to gain from watching my film; with this information I can adapt my production to appeal to the audience.

Mood Board

Above is a range of different thriller films and hybrids, including;

Psychological
Crime
Horror
Action
Superhero
Sci-Fi

Kidnapping

Detective Thrillers

 Torture

Murder

 Dark alleys

Dead bodies

Night time (driving-trouble)

Shadows (Potential intent of creating tension using the lines of the trees)

Thinking about thrillers over time

In this top image, you can see three successful thriller films and by the conventional look of the first two posters you already get a sense of the atmosphere for the film. Psycho's poster is quite unconventional as a thriller/horror film as it is very unclear what the film is about asides from the bold yellow title which I suppose you could say contrasts with the black to convey some sort of danger or threat.

After some of the most iconic thriller films such as Seven, Shutter Island and the Sixth sense, films like the ones above started to emerge and they all follow the same plot; someone is being chased or captured; in other words they follow Todorov's narrative structure. Two of these films were successful enough to get sequels  but they are very predictable as they follow the same simple structure. 

The films above are not necessarily predictable as they are quite unique in the fact they do not have other films on the market similar to them and there is not really any graphical cues that signify its genre.

The films displayed above are categorised as Thriller movies on IMDB (Movie review, information site) although you may think they do not fit that genre because of the range of techniques used on the posters that don't necessarily convey thriller; this is because most films now fit into multiple genres, films like these are known as hybrids.

The films above are also hybrids. Most thriller hybrids these days are action orienatated and this is possibly due to production conglomerates such as Universal and their forever growing budget. The budget allows films to have more dramatic scenes with special effects using green screens and CGI so therefore lots more action is possible.

My genre (Thriller)

Thriller is a genre that uses tension and suspense to keep the audience alert and on the edge of their seats. In thrillers; the protagonist is conventionally against a some form of a problem or mystery - this often creates enigma. Thrillers are more commonly hybrids today and no matter the sub genre they come under, the protagonist will always have an obstacle to overcome; softening following Todrovs narrative theory of equilibrium. Tension built throughout the film will often lead to a very climatic ending, however in more dystopian thriller movies like Se7en; there is no satisfying happy ending like me might expect or perhaps want to see.

In the image above is what I believe to be the important elements and most common components of a thriller film in the contemporary cinematic world. One key thing I mentioned was hybrid thrillers; this is the combination of two or more genres mixed together - for example a sci-fi thriller (Alien 1979).

Thriller key genre elements

•Building tension

•Suspense

•Main character unknowingly involved in dangerous situation

•Force of the antagonist is initially stronger

•Idea that there is something bigger: e.g. terrorism vs one murder

Various techniques are used to help build suspense and tension; cinematography is key here.

Sound

Lighting 

Editing

Camera 

Mise en scene

Editing
Editing is one example of cinematography that could be used to build suspense and tension by cutting between characters. An example of this would be the "Hit me" sequence in Christopher Nolan's 2008 "The Dark Knight".

Joker had just been in a crash; he emerges from the wrecked and looks unbalanced. We know this because he accidentally fired his gun as he nearly falls over when he stands up. Here the Joker is directly in Batman's way.

We then cut to Batman racing towards the joker and the cut from the joker to the batman and back to the joker may suggest Batman will run the joker over and this editing technique makes us question this, thus building suspense and tension.

Iconography

This is similar to mine-en-scene  and helps to give obvious indications that point towards a genre and help to build a plot line; sometimes the director might exploit this and leave things for die hard viewers to find.  For something in a film to become iconic it must be recognisable and linked to a genre; for example a certain catchphrase. Iconic things could also be objects, certain images and even locations.

Often iconography refers to set pieces and props; in thrillers said things may include;

A knife is very commonly used in horror/thriller movies. It has the connotations of blood, pain and death which all are quite sinister, weather a knife is used in a violent manner; the threat of it is enough to either create or maintain tension

Guns are also very common; they are seen as a quick way of murdering someone. They connote, violence, mob culture and death.

Preliminary task

Preliminary task


The preliminary task had to consist of certain editing techniques and camera work/rules. This taught me and allowed me to understand how they are used and how I could implement them in my final production piece if I wanted to. One shot that was required was the shot reverse shot; commonly used during moments of dialogue, when using this shot type the 180 degree rule was very important. This rule means you can only stay 180 degrees within each side of the characters so that they look like they are opposite each other, if the rule is broken it can leave the audience confused as it would appear like there is some sort of continuity error. I watched some videos on YouTube  that helped explain this and how if its broken it can ruin the scene and make it look amateurish.

During this process I also watched the Odessa step sequence to see how one of the first montage edits was formed and how its influenced so many more films since. Furthermore I wanted to have a better understanding of how to use different shot movements and angles in my own production. In addition to this, I watched some students previous work on YouTube so I had a visual understanding of what I had to do and I feel it was beneficial as I was able to picture how I was going to approach the production of my preliminary task; moreover, looking at previous work allowed me to identify mistakes and helped me to avoid the same ones they made.

Pre production
Before I started to film my preliminary task, I created a storyboard plan of what I was going to film which consequently made it easier when filming on the day. I did not feel it would be necessary to make up mood boards, scripts or character profiles as I will be doing so for my main production as it would be more relevant then when a genre and actual characters are involved.

Production and post Production
The production of my preliminary task went quite smoothly, once the planning was done, it was quite easy to get the filming completed. However I did encounter some sound issues with the microphone on my phone so I decided to edit that small section out. Also I noticed a slight continuity error during post production which was hard to edit out so it is still noticeable. Other than these minor issues; production and the post production went quite smoothly as I did not encounter and more problems.

Introduction

Hi, my name is George Patient and I am a sixth form student at The FitzWimarc School. I am undertaking a task where I have to create the opening title sequence of a film genre of my choice (2 minutes). The majority of film openings follow the same conventions;

• Name of director
• Main featured actors 
• Film title
• Production company logos i.e. Universal/Warner Bros
• Soundtrack (Non-diegetic)
• Introduction to main characters
• Narrative that sets the scene for the film

In contrast to this, some directors decide to make the opening of their films quite unconventional so that it stands out; Christopher Nolan decided to abandon an opening sequence at the beginning of The Dark Knight as it allowed the audience to fully immerse themselves into to the opening action sequence which subsequently builds tension and verisimilitude.

The genre I have chosen is a thriller, I have chosen this because I like films in this genre as I watch them in my own time. I feel that they are effective films because the audience is emerged into the cinematic universe the director has created; they are also have good atmospheres as you are tense and on the edge of your seat waiting to find out what is going to happen next. However thriller films are often hybrids with other genres;  action and horror generally pair with a thriller. I like films such as Seven and Fight club because I found that when watching them, I could never predict what was going to happen next which I feel is important in a film because it makes it more enjoyable rather than being able to predict all the events in the film before they have happened. The endings of both films were both very unconventional as they did not follow Todorov's narrative theory because the protagonist(s) did not overcome a problem/event; therefore there was not a restored equilibrium.

I have already had a similar experience to this at GCSE when I was presented with the task of creating a film trailer. From this experience I hope to understand and learn how certain camera angles and movements are achieved and use them in my opening sequence to make it look more professional. Furthermore I wish to use my own cinematic experiences to influence this production piece.