Shoot schedule

Shoot schedule from doloko7

Animatic 1

This animatic showed what we would be filming and the length of the shots.
We however taught that it was too short and had a lot of missing and vital information so in our next animatic we will add the title screens, make it longer and add the music will be using.

Capitalism!/Marketing

Marketing for our thriller
In order to market our thriller we plan to advertise our thriller through multiple mediums to increase popularity and make it easier to access by the public. 

YouTube


 For our YouTube advert we would make a short video of some of the more exciting parts or movie in order to keep our target audience interested long enough to watch the video and be interested in the movie. A short 30 second trailer will play before a video starts on videos listed under, Gaming, Music and Film & Entertainment. We've chosen this medium as it very frequently will be seen by our primary target audience.


 Bus Adverts

The second tactic we will employ is having our advert on buses, this will allow our target audience to know this movie exist. For this to work we will need a very well made and dynamic poster. This advertisement may also even be able to lure people outside of our particular target audience due to its high visibility all throughout the nation.

TV adverts


Lastly, TV adverts may simply just be an essential form of advertisement to our film's success as it is the most popular form of entertainment used by Britain. A full one and a half minute trailer will air on BBC and Channel 4 channels. This will ensure most of the nation will see and hopefully, be convinced to watch in cinema or bought online.

Analysing Location

Location, location, location! It's vital for our film we choose the right location for filming. In considering what location we would use we thought carefully about the lighting, sound and mise en scene.

In our opening we intended to use one location but we researched two encase we happen to change
our opening slightly.

First location:   Our drama Studio

For one of our planned shots we plan to have a dark room with excellent lighting and very few objects. Our drama room has that. It has a lights that we can artificially control, it has black curtains, very few objects to ruin the mise-en-scene and a prop closet where we can borrow some times for our props.

This a shot we took while messing around in the drama room. As you can see it has excellent lighting and quite good mise-en-scene due to the props available in this location.

 

 

 

 

Second location:  Kelsey park

 

For our second location we wanted somewhere open and not populated with too many people, we started looking at parks that didn't have too many people and decided that Kelsey park was the best for it's ease of access and for it's relatively un-populated-ness (that's a word).

 

 We thought this spot in particular would be a good spot to film a scene in, we thought it just looked...spyie.

 

                 

Fonts we will be using.

Fonts, can help set the genre of the movie and can be used to very powerful effect if applied properly.

Se7en for example uses a very worn, urban style font to help set the crime theme of the movie, this would not be very effective in our title opening as we plan to set a sophisticated spy thriller.
Therefore we will use simple fonts similar to those in James Bond.

Script For Thriller opening.

FADE IN:

INTERIOR WAREHOUSE - TIME UNKNOWN

An extreme close up of the chest of a female(JOANNA REED) with a red tie, revealing the butt of a gun,is sitting at the centre of a table facing the camera. The camera slowly zooms out until the upper body and front of the table is visible, revealing she is taking part in a card game. It zooms out further it reveal two men on either of her sides, playing the game with her.

JOANNA REED

(with a smile, wryly)

Looks like this is the last draw/ I win!

The screen cuts to black but then she shoots the to ‘bad guys’ either side of her.


This script was edited slightly from what we originally we put in our pitch and is subject to further changes.

Mood board

In this mood board I visually explore the themes, ideas and imagery we would like to show in our thriller opening. We wanted to create a spy thriller that has Noir influences and the common tropes associated with the spy genre, which are: lust, gambling, secrecy, well tailored suits, guns, fine wine and gadget filled cars,

Interviewing our audience

Target Audience Interviews

In order to understand what our audience want, we asked them.

Transcript:

Interviewer: Do you think thrillers should be funnier?

Lorraine: I don't think they should be funny; because some thrillers are based on real-life stories and sometimes that can affect and individual's life. Like just knowing that someone else has lived through all that suffering and pain, you just sitting there watching that, do you not feel some form of emotion, rather than just sitting there, laughing?

Transcript
Interviewer: What are you thought on spy thrillers?

Lorraine: I like spy thrillers because I like to see the new techniques they use in every type of film, because every spy thriller is different to the last one so I want to see what they use to bring up their game, in comparison to other competitors. I like to see spy thrillers because I like to see the action. I like to see the like effects they have on people and yeah.

The second interview we had was with a 17 year old media student named Samuel who said he enjoys sitting down and seeing a good film in front of him.

Transcript
Interviewer: What kind of films do you like and why?
Samuel: Um, I like to see comedy films however my favourite are thriller films because I'm intrigued in the mystery that happen throughout them.
Interviewer: Okay, okay, what's your favourite thriller film?
Samuel: Um, my favourite thriller film is Transporter, and the reason why I like Transporter is because I'm intrigued, I like how the mystery is almost unclear so and I also like the characters and the action througout the movie as well
Interviewer: When do you think that thriller films are most effective?
Samuel: I think thriller films are most effective when most of the conventions such as low key lighting, mystery and all those other conventions are all used throughout the movie in order to get the best project out of it.
Interviewer: Thank you very much.

Music and thrillers.

Music is films are very important in setting a certain mood(as very romantic knows). They can make a mood tense and scary, relaxed and care free or they can create juxtapositions that create new complex feelings and ideas completely.

 

Vertigo

The theme music in vertigo is very well composed. It's use of high pitched noises that sound reminiscent of screeching help set a very tense atmosphere. The theme music often utilizes very hypnotically repetitive sounds making the listener feel somewhat disorientated to help portray the effects that vertigo has a on a suffer. The reason that these subtly uses of sound are effective is because of how they link very well to the theme and creates and interesting atmosphere, from just listening to the sound track I felt that I was able to get a very good understanding of the film without having seen it.

James Bond

Perhaps one the most recognised spy thriller theme songs , The James Bond Theme song is very effective in setting the mood and atmosphere of the film. Similarly to vertigo the noises that are used to make the song are very high pitched and are used to set tension very well. They also both vary there tempos and volume slightly to alter the mood and atmosphere. This song also fits very well with the movies, so well that it is parodied and copied countless times by other musical composers  of spy themed films.

Enter The lions Den.

Our media proposal! (I design it :D)

Media proposal from doloko7

Treatment

It opens on an extreme close-up of a man (John) in a suit and red tie, showing only his chest. The camera pans out wider with the credits fading in and out around him, eventually revealing he is at a poker table with two men in suits and a black tie either side of him with John in a spotlight. The panning stops and the shot is left on the wide shot of the three men at the table. We then see a few close up shots of the dealer shuffling and dealing cards, someone taking a drink and someone pushing in some chips. It then cuts to a close up of John, he lays two aces down on the table, it then cuts back to the close up of John as his poker face slowly curves into a smirk. “Looks like the last draw,” John then says wryly and then as he stands and draws a gun it returns to a wide shot of John drawing his gun in slow motion and the screen goes black. Then, when he fires the screen lights up because of the flash. The camera will aim the light source at his gun instead of John. There's a slow motion shot of him shooting a guy then it fades to black, then he changes his pose and same again for each guy but the each one is not as slow as the last then cut to title screen.
  John Reed: Diamond Hand

Audience we are targeting

This is he target audience list me and my group created (I wasn't in charging of writing it, the genius, personal insights were that of David Oloko).

Target audience profile from doloko7

Costume and prop list and shot list

Costume and prop list and shot list

A simple , yet effective presentation detailing the costumes and props that we will most likely be using for our thriller opening. It also contains the different shots we'll be taking advantage of and why we're using them. 

Costume and shot list from doloko7

Storyboard

Shading Some Light on "Lights"

Lights are an essential part of any film, they can easily make a film look professional and interesting or very bad, it is therefore important to get the lighting right.

MOONBEAM CITY

Lights can be used to convey meaning, emotions and other similar ideas in filmography. For example in this shot above the dramatic lighting is used to help convey the characters intense focus by letting the viewers attention be primarily attracted to the characters eyes which look very serious and concentrated. The light in this scene also makes the character look mysterious due to all the shadow on the characters face.

 

ROAD TO PERDITION

The use of dramatic lighting and shadow in this scene ,  makes the characters seem shady (or mysterious) because of all the shadows used. Also in this scene the way light has been angled (from straight above the actors) makes a very effective point of focus for the viewers to know what to pay attention to in this mostly empty scene. The light on the left helps to also convey the events of the this scene due to the fact that the light shining suggests a place of sanctuary or escape from the room and the suggested need to escape implies that there is imminent danger(or the very least the need to escape).

Why are openings so cool?

Openings of films are considered as one of the most important aspect of a film. This is because if a movie was a bad opening the tone for the rest of the film could be ruined, this could result in audiences not wanting  to watch the film. Openings keep audiences keeps the audience only partly informed, it leaves them asking questions and wanting to find out more.


Openings can also be used to set the mood of the film, the time period and the location of the film.
The opening can also help develop a character by showing his past (through a flashback) or just a event that reveals the character at his prime.
A lot of films also include title cards after a suspense filled event  has occurred which causes excitement for the rest of the film.

Typography: The art of text

Typography is an art. If done properly it is eye-catching and memorable for the audience without being too distracting. The best way to do this by making it fit into the scene, making the text fit well with the genre and by using effective colours that work with the scene and genre.
Zombie land is an awesome example of this as it has one of the best uses of typography in film.
They use a simple graphically appealing font and 2 different colours in order to signify the difference between the infected zombies (red )and the uninfected people (white), this is why the rules on survival are in white and not red. White and red are also complementary colours so they work really well together. The Height, spacing and width of the text also changes to what fit the scene best, however they try to keep in the same size. The text sometimes interacts with the characters and scenery (including lightening and blood splatter) which makes more eye catching.

Another effective used of typography can be seen in Fringe. The opening sequence is nothing but a well made anatomic kinetic typography of scientific words zooming out to the title. It has also has crime imagery of a hand print to suggest the genre of the show. The title sequence also has a lot of hidden images like a toad and butterfly that come by very fast, on further research they seem to be a type of code, this adds to the science fiction mystery occultist feel the show is going for.

 

The God Father Clever Baptism Editing

The editing in the God father Baptism scene is by far one of the best in all of film history, it perfectly utilizes parallel editing in a great way, which to this day is copied and parodied alot.
The scene, like a many other scenes in the movie, uses montage editing that cut in and out of the baptism of a baby boy (Michael's nephew) which is a calm, religious and holy moment to a violent and sinful moments of murder.
The editing in this scene is called parallel editing, where to scenes are put next to each other in order to create new meaning. It is very effectively used in this scene, as it reveals the true nature of Michael through the juxtaposition that is caused by having the audience witness the murders that he ordered while he claims to renounce “Satan…. and all his works” .
This use of the scene suggests that Michael hasn’t really changed, without the intercutting parallel cuts the audience might suspect that Michael might have actually has.

The edits start to also become more faster which is very effective as this increase in speed builds the audiences expectation of something dire happening and also further helps to solidify the suggestion made by the juxtaposition, that Michael has not really changed and is still as cruel as before.
The scene is also effective in how it utilizes the sound of the church organ and the priest speaking. The organ and the priest speaking seems to increase in tempo and volume as the murders are happening which builds the audiences tension and anticipation, the priest voices seem to be at his loudest when he asks Michael if he renounces “Satan…. and all his works”, which he answers yes before the scene cutting to see someone being murdered to show the viewer he is lying.
The baptism seems almost symbolic for Michael being christened as the new crime boss of the Corleone family. The way it is intercut with the murder and certain event of the baptism seem to represent Michael's own baptism into the family taking place at the same time.
The parallel editing splits holy and unholy traits of Michael’s personality. It express one part of him wants to be good and holy but his life’s work inhibits him from doing so, he tries to live a good life but he also is drawn into the cruelty of the gangster lifestyle.

Lets Talk About This awesome music video

I had to document this video for it's clever use of a simply effect. The song is a nostalgic review of the artists life and him thanking his mother (and mother figures) for his success and what better way to demonstrate he is remembering than with photos (?) The photos are placed where the events happened and to make the viewer understand this, they set up the scene as close to the how it was when the photo was taken. to continue this theme shots of the rapper rapping were filmed and applied to a small card that looks like a photo.

What are these Barthes Codes you speak of?

Barthes Code are a series of rules that can be followed to create an effective opening for a movie. Must film openings do follow these codes however some film openings are able to have effective openings without following the code completely.

The first code in Barthes code is the 'Hermeneutic code'(also known as the enigma code), this code states that a story most have unanswered questions that will be answered later on in the story. This code is fairly easy to understand as most films will have a mysterious element at the beginning to keep the audience interested, this can be anything from the title to an odd event or character or world.

The second code is called the 'Proairetic code' (or the action code), this code states that there most be an action that suggest further action. This code is normally applied to transition between the beginning of the film to the middle of the film, but it's not uncommon to see this code in openings, especially action movies and thrillers.

One of the example of the hermeneutic code can be seen in the 'minority report' this is because the film starts out in an alien world with odd characters and unknown motives, allowing the audience to question where are they, why they are were they there and what they were doing many, this is effective as it draws in the audiences attention and keeps them interested to see the rest of the film.

An examples of the proairetic code can be seen through out the whole plot of the movie, the main protagonist being accused of a crime he hasn't done the reaction he has to this is him trying to escape arrest and leading to the further development of the plot of the movie. This keeps the movie from lingering and becoming stale and worn-out. 

Stuff about Se7en's Surreal Serious opening

The SE7EN has really effective lighting, camera angles, editing that really make it stand out from the rest of thriller openings.


Se7en uses a lot of low key lighting to create a spooky atmosphere in order to get audiences interested in the film's characters. The film uses a lot of dark black colours, which is normally associated with evilness, which suggests that the character is bad. There are also a lot of quick flitching and blurry title scenes that work as a good transition but also suggests that that character may be schizophrenia or otherwise mentally twisted.


Close ups and extreme close ups are only used in this scene which has the effect of making the which could of been used to show how careful and precise the main character is being, The close up also makes certain scenes (like the finger tip peeling of scene) seem more grotesque and therefore make the viewer feel more uncomfortable. The close up also makes the face unseen which also adds to the mystery of the film as we do not know who we are seeing perform these events.

"It's Elementary my dear Dexter"

Title sequences matter! Although they may seem generally pointless and forgettable they are incredibly important, they set the tone of the film and also is what keeps and audience interested to watch the rest of the film.

Dexter and Elementary are both highly rated TV shows with excellent thriller (or at least thriller themed) openings and they both use very similar method in the imagery they show although Elementary uses more abstract imagery than Dexter but both use music in a similar way.

Key images and Analyse: 

The opening title of this contemporary take on the classic character, Sherlock Holmes reflects the show very well through abstract visual metaphors and grabs the viewers attention with a well developed score and beautifully filmed imagery. The prologue depicts the manic methods of Sherlock through a complex Rube Goldberg Machine.
 The camera follows a transparent marble thorough the machine that  has a lot of crime themed imagery, violent actions (such as a firing  gun, shattering glass and wine spilling to look like blood spilling on the floor), complex paths and the capturing of a fugitive which reveals a lot of what the viewer has in store, a transparent detective that follows a manic unclear path to violently pursue criminals.  The musical score of a steadily increasing intensity also adds a sense of impending danger and suspense to the marble's elaborate path.

    The opening of Dexter gives the viewer a glimpse of the main character and what the viewer has in store for the rest of the episode. It is a very different and intriguing opening that instantly grabs the audiences attention with it's use of fluctuating melodies and with scenes and imagery requiring the audience to think about what they are seeing and what kind of person Dexter is.
The sequences contains a lot of extreme close ups of  mundane things but the lack of information makes these things seem deadly and violent, this  show us that Dexter is a violent character.
The music score is a very relaxed mundane repetitive beat, but it is us to great effect as the tempo is often increased to when a scene is suggestively violent, the music then returns to normal to help to diffuse the scene.  

You wont believe how good this short fan film is.

Based on the video game Deus Ex Human Revolution, the film dives into the world of Adam Jensen, a Sarif industries' security consultant that gets augmented after an incident that almost took his life away. Although the film doesn't follow the narrative of the game exactly, it remains true to the theme while focusing on the relationship between Adam Jensen, and his ex girlfriend Megan Reed, a scientist hand picked by Serif Industries to head Cybernetic Augmentations. Megan is taken by the Illuminati (aka the government) and is asked to assist them in turning on a mysterious device but she refuses to cooperate. Jensen has been looking for Megan since she was kidnapped and has finally pinpointed her location. Adam faces a complication that he did not account for; Yelena Federova, an Augmented assassin is at the facility where Megan is being held. The film also taps, even if briefly, into Adam's mind and the struggle he must face on daily basis.

The opening has a lot of emotion and builds tension brilliantly, the rest is decently shot action sequences, although they seem very jumpy and near the end relies too much on CGI, it would have worked better with fluent steady action shots and more practical effects rather than CGI.



           

What the government doesn't want you to know about Thriller

For my media project I will be creating a opening thriller title sequence, which got me thinking

What is a thriller?
It is not a "groovy" dance routine like the government was telling you it was all this time.
Wikipedia describe it as:

 A genre of literature, film, videogame stories and television programming that uses suspense, tension, and excitement as its main elements.^[1] Thrillers heavily stimulate the viewer's moods, giving them a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, surprise, anxiety and terror. Films of this genre tend to be adrenaline-rushing, gritty, rousing and fast-paced.^[2][3]

Horrors and Thrillers tend to overlap because of how well they compliment each other, they almost seem synonymous. The listed above description sounds a lot like a horror film, which brings up a interesting question, what's the difference between the two?

The main difference is that horror focuses on one element (terror) while thrillers focus on a whole marinade of elements (as can be seen above). The major difference is that horrors try to play on our primal fears to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers.

 

Things you find in Thrillers:

 Nearly all thrillers use dystopian settings or dark lighting to give there film a grime dark tone. The dark tone is almost essential in setting the mystery of the film.

Mystery  is a key component in the thriller drama as it drives the story forward  and helps build the
another important component, thriller.

Suspense - Is the key defining aspect of thrillers. It is what makes the story more interesting and
different.

Fast pacing/ Action may be used to keep you guessing and interested in the movie, it also makes the movie far more exciting.