Withheld - Final

Below is the final edit of the opening two minutes to our film 'Withheld'.

Withheld - Rough Edit

Below is the rough edit of our final film opening. We have filmed all of the footage and have produced this edit to see what our final film could look like. Obviously we need to make some tweaks and we shall be re-shooting some footage also. Over the next few weeks we shall be producing our final edit of the film using feedback received by our peers to make any necessary changes.

Construction

Please see the second tab at the top of this blog to read about our trials and triumphs during the filming process!

Preparing For The Shoot

Before we start filming we need to consider what equipment we shall need and who shall be taking on what role.

We have decided to use Josh's Panasonic HDC-TM10 camera for several reasons. Firstly, it is HD (High Definition), this means that the quality will be superior to a standard DV camera. This will enhance the final quality of our film and will also be helpful when filming at night.

We will also need a tripod in order to keep the camera steady and aid us when we need to pan. We have booked a tripod from school and have chosen the one with the smoothest movement to ensure that we don't get jump during a pan.

We will also need a tripod adapter to affix the camera to the tripod.

Finally we need a tracking dolly during the curtain scene to create an effective zoom effect.

Below are the roles we shall be taking during our film:

Myself - I shall be acting as director and assisting with sound.

Holly - Holly shall be our camera operator.

Josh - Josh will be chief-editor and will be responsible for scripts.

Sam - Sam is responsible for managing continuity and props.

Shooting Schedule

We have created a schedule for the production and shooting of our film. We have also included a list of all the actors and any problems we may have to address at the start of the document so that they are always present in our minds during filming and we can possibly address them before they even arise. The schedule essentially lists all of the shots we need, when and where we will be filming them and any props we may need also.

[Schedule Coming Soon]

Costume/Makeup Research

In the trailer for 'TH13TEEN' that was posted eariler in this blog, the girl is wearing a white dress and appears to be slightly battered and bruised, she is also scared and in pain. We feel that this is the perfect look for our protagonist during the early scenes, since we want her to appear scared and battered, as well as innocent. This look should be fairly easy to recreate and we have a white dress that will be perfect for the scene. We will also have the girl wearing a red dress during the car-chase scene. We feel red is best since it is the colour of romance and love, but also the colour of blood and possibly revenge. I have posted a still from the trailer below, as well as an image of a red-dress that we feel is perfect.

For our film, the GIRL will need to look battered and bruised. In order to achieve this effect will will use makeup to create a black eye, bruising and cuts and grazes. Holly found a video on YouTube demonstrating how to achieve this effect and then tried it out on herself. I have included a photo below and the result is very impressive, so I imagine that it will be even more impressive when implemented on a different person.

Below are the two video tutorials used:

Location Research

In order to dress our set correctly, we have conducted some location research. The only set we need to dress is the bedroom. I have searched for images of typical teenagers bedrooms and compiled them into the image below:

As you can see, a typical bedroom has posters all over the walls, a computer, a TV, a desk and is generally untidy and a little messy. We shall use this information when dressing the bedroom for that part of our film.

Props

During the filming of Withheld we will need several props along the way. Below, I have created a list of these props, a description of who uses them and when, and a corresponding shot number from our storyboard.

MOBILE PHONE

• A mobile phone, most likely an iPhone or HTC HD7
• Used by the GIRL during the second half of our film, in shots 19-32

SHOES

• A pair of high-heeled shoes worn and then removed by the GIRL
• Removed in Shot 12 and carried until Shot 14 (when she gets in the car)

CAR

• A car (Ford KA in silver-green) driven by RYAN
• The car will be driven from Shot 15

KNIFE

• A knife removed from a knife block
• The GIRL will remove the knife from the block during Shot 6

A lot of these props are also part of costume or mise-en-scene, so they may appear during other shots but won't necessarily be interacted with by a character. We have already collected all of the props that we need, so it will be a simple case of placing them in the correct place during filming.

Test Shoot on Location/Location Research

Due to the nature of some of the shots we are planning to use in our film, we decided it would be a good idea to test some of these shots. The group met up on a sunny Sunday afternoon and we spent it together filming and trying out a few different shots and ways in which we could overcome them, improve them or alter them in such a way that we don't lose the overall effect of our film. We also decided to take a few shots that we knew would work just to appreciate them in reality, rather than looking at them on paper. This was also a great opportunity to do some location research. We already knew which road we wanted to use, but found it to be perfect, and we discovered that my bedroom and bathroom are perfect for the internal shots during the second part of the film. We also need a dark room with a spotlight and a black curtain, but the schools drama studio is perfect for this and we have ensured we will have access to it during filming. Below I have included two of the videos as well as a link to several more.

Before that, however, allow me to introduce the members of CAM-RAW in all their glory for the first time:

WallisMedia YouTube - Withheld Test Shots

Here we have Sam running behind the car as Holly films him through the back window. This is because we are planning on including a shot from the back of the car of the girl running down the road. We feel this worked very well, since Sam is always in shot and it is clear what is happening, we just need to get the speed perfect and make sure the girl is closer to the car in the final film.

This is a shot of me running towards the car whilst it is static as Holly films me in the side-view mirror. This was to test if the  shot would work, as we really wanted to include a match-on-action in a mirror.

This is a shot of Josh running alongside the car, being filmed in the mirror by Holly. We decided to film this since we realised it was going to be quite difficult to shoot and that we would need to figure it out exactly. From this test, we have discovered that our actress will need to run closer to the car and we will definitely have to keep the speed of the car constant and at a speed she can keep up with over a short distance.

Overall, we are very, very happy with the results from these tests! We are now ready to start shooting the film with a very good idea of where we ned to be positioned and how we're going to do it.

Animatic

The storyboarding stage may be followed by simplified mock-ups called "animatics" to give a better idea of how the scene will look and feel with motion and timing. At its simplest, an animatic is a series of still images edited together and displayed in sequence. More commonly, a rough dialogue and/or rough sound track is added to the sequence of still images (usually taken from a storyboard) to test whether the sound and images are working effectively together.

 - Wikipedia


We have a created an animatic for the opening of our film. We have used the same images from the storyboard in order to link the two perfectly. This animatic has given us the chance to truly imagine what our final film will look and sound like and how it is going to come together. We have also used, what we believe to be, the correct timings for each shot. The timings are mostly from what we visualised the film to be like in our heads, but by adding rough sound effects and dialogue we have been better able to appreciate the timings how the final piece will come together upon completion. This will also be very helpful during the filming and rough editing stages of production. I feel that it is important to note that some of the timings and shot lengths may change slightly in the final film. This is because we have slightly over estimated the shot lengths in order to ensure we met the two minute film time we are allowed. If anything, the shots would get slightly shorter rather than longer. As well as this, we may add a few more shots or even take some away. This wil not effect the end time of the film, however, since we will split shots that are already in the animatic in half in order to accomodate new ones. This is a just a rough mock-up so things may change a bit upon completion!

Storyboard

Storyboards are graphic organizers such as a series of illustrations or image displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence, including website interactivity.

 - Wikipedia


Below, I have embedded a copy of the storyboard for 'Withheld'. As you can see, the images are all hand drawn. We felt this was a much better way of approaching it than using software such as 'Storyboard Pro' since it allowed us to show exactly what we wanted rather than being held back by restraints the software may have imposed on us. Once all the images were drawn we scanned them and then pieced them together to create this. We have also included camera angles and a very brief description of what each shot will show in order to allow the reader, and ourselves, to get a better idea of what we're trying to achieve. The storyboard includes all of the shots we believe we are going to need, judging it by our visualisation of the final product, however this may alter slightly during filming if we feel adding another shot or removing one adds to the film in a very positive manner. For the time being this storyboard is entirely accurate, but as I mentioned, things can change during filming and editing so shots may be removed or added in the final edit of the film.


Withheld - Storyboard

Withheld Script

Below is the final script for the opening of our film Withheld. There is little dialogue throughout the film, however we feel that this is integral to creating tension and an air of mystery. The lack of dialogue, and thus information, ties in with the title since information is being withheld from the protagonist and the viewer. We want the viewer to discover things at the same time that she does which will help create a sense of attachment to her and sympathise with her. This will make the final twist of the film even more shocking.


Withheld Script Final

Withheld Treatment - Final

After listening to the constructive criticisms of our peers, as well as advice from our teacher, we have produced the final revision of our media treatment for Withheld. Overall I am very happy with the treatment and feel it reflects the vision of our final film perfectly. We shall use this treatment during the film in order help us turn our vision into reality.


Media Treatment - Final

Treatment Pitch and Feedback

Above is an audio recording of our group pitching our treatment for our film, Withheld, to our peers and receiving feedback. We then used this to make and adjustments and alterations we felt were necessary.

Mr. Hood gave us feedback saying that the credits and camera angles should not be included, however they really help build up a picture of what is happening. We shall change the treatment so that camera angles aren't included, however.

We were very happy that people understood our choice for the title and our reasons behind it, as well feeling that it added something to the film as a whole.

As Jodie said, she hadn't heard our initial pitch and so didn't know what the film was about in its entirety, yet was very curious to find out more and wanted to know the rest of the story. We all felt that this was very positive and boosted our confidence greatly, as well as reinforcing that we made the right decision in using and developing this idea.

Withheld - Media Treatment

Media Treatment


This is the first draft of the opening two minutes of our first feature film 'Withheld'. We will be submitting this for peer review and I shall upload the audio feedback. We shall then use this to improve anything and everything we can before finalising the treatment prior to filming. We would appreciate any feedback on here also, as it will only help us to get better.

Film Treatment Research

Our group will soon begin writing a treatmentfor our short film in order to present it to our peers. In order to write the treatment in the correct manner I have included some research below, including information on how to correctly structure and write a treatment and examples of treatments from already produced films.

From Wikipedia:

A film treatment (or treatment for short) is a piece of prose. They read like a short story, except told in the present tense and describing events as they happen.

Firstly, I have researched on the internet how to correctly write a film treatment. From Light Film School I have found the following:

A film treatment states how the audience will experience the film. It's important to write treatments in an active voice and avoid the use of hyperbole (such as "this unique film will explore" etc). When writing treatments you want your audience to be able to visualize your film. You will want to write in present tense and provide an overview of the characters, locations and details of the film. You can write your treatment creatively. The purpose of a treatment is to allow your audience to smell, taste and experience your environment. Reading a treatment (second only to reading a full script) is the closest written equivalent to the look of your film.

Similarly, you won't want your treatment to have an editorial tone. Rather than saying things like:

This film will dive into the subject of gender relations in the hip hop community. The flm will focus on the relationship between two nemeses; Mr. Bugz and Mrs DJ Spinna.

Instead say:

"Mr. Bugz B and Mrs DJ Spinna stand toe to toe in front of their microphones. Mr. Bugz rhymes and misogynistic rhyme stating "we don't want no ugly girls in here tonight" to which Mrs DJ Spinna retaliates with a rhyme mocking Mr. Bugs unusually large ears. The crowd goes wild. Mr Bugz continues, but with less steam. The insult has touched on a vulnerable part of his identity."

Again, it's important to stress that you need to avoid editorial writing when writing treatments and instead speak in an active and present voice. Similarly, you should avoid using words and phrases like

"Next we see" - Don't start sentences with "we see". Tell the audience what they see without introducing your sentence with "we see".

Try to avoid passive words such as: Should, will, might and maybe.

Passive words evoke less emotion and take the audience out of the story. Feel free to use dialogue snippets, descriptions of the environment and characters. Essentially use any non-technical element that helps you paint as colourful of a picture as possible.

This tells me that I should write the treatment as if I were writing a story and explaining a scene in great detail to someone. I should avoid telling them what they will see or what should be on screen, instead I should be informing them of what is happening right at that moment in time.


John Furse has written on his webiste detailed information in how to structure and write a film treatment, including an example of one. From what I have read, I have determined that I should include an introduction, with a brief overview of what is going to happen over the course of the film (or in the case of my treatment, the opening two minutes of the movie), followed by the full length treatment, written as prose in present tense, in a tone that describes exactly what can be seen in order to paint a vivid picture in the mind of the reader, almost with a sense of intensity and urgency. Characters names should also be in capital letters.

Using this information, as well as the treatment for the feature film 'Terminator' that I have included at the end of this post, we shall now start to write the first-draft of our treatment and then present it to our peers for review and feedback. Following this, we shall edit it and write our final treatment. I shall upload both to this blog, so please feel free to read them and comment as any help and advice would be very helpful and greatly appreciated.

Terminator Treatment

Conventions Used/Developed/Challenged

Here is a list of the conventions that we plan on using, developing and challenging in our film.

Conventions we have used:

Firstly, the opening is set during the early evening and progresses through to the middle of the night/early hours of the following morning. This convention is often used in thrillers since darkness can help to develop tension and adds mystery. People are sometimes scared to go out late of an evening for fear something bad may happen to them, which is exactly the case with this film. Something happens to a person one night, yet they can't remember what it was at all and are left searching for answers. This is due to the effects of a night of drinking and partying, another convention we shall be using. Alcohol is involved therefore inhibitions are lowered resulting in bad things being more likely to happen.

The protagonist is also beaten up/assaulted but can't remember a thing, a convention often used in thrillers. This is then coupled with missing people and a hunt to find them. As has been mentioned several times, memory loss is a key feature of this film and is also a convention associated with thrillers, someone searching frantically for answers, with the story following their journey to find them. We have also included a mysterious character that people are not too sure about in the form of the car that follows the protagonists as they drive away. If the film were to be produced in its entirety then we would have this mysterious character recurring several times throughout, eventually playing an important role in the story.


Conventions we aim to develop:

The opening of the film shows the girl against a black curtain with flashbacks occurring. Although this is a convention that has been used previously, we plan to develop it further by incorporating the fact that she has been obviously been beaten up/assaulted but is desperately trying to remember what happened to her in the past. Because she is actually the cause of all the problems and horrors she has faced, this is the end product of what she has done. Essentially, she has gradually become lost within her own mind and has gradually descended into madness. We are showing this at the start of the film instead of the end as we think it will keep the audience hooked since they will firstly want to know what happened to her and will be very confused as to why she is acting the way she is. Effectively, we are showing the end of the film first, retracing her story and then returning to the conclusion.


Conventions we are challenging:

Our protagonist is a female who has committed horrendous and atrocious acts, yet she doesn't realise it throughout the film. She has caused herself a lot of trouble and has ruined her life, yet she doesn't know it yet and has to retrace her steps, untangling a web within a maze in order to find out what she did. She will also be wearing a white dress at the start of the film, an item of clothing traditionally identified as being pure and showing innocence, however this truly is not the case with our film. After some deliberation, we have also decided to have her come from a well-off family, where 'daddy pays for everything'. This will hopefully lead the audience to believe that because of her better upbringing and education she is less likely to get herself into serious trouble. We may be able to play on this idea by giving her a rebellious streak, just to juxtapose and contrast the two ideas and hint that maybe something has gone wrong.

We also plan on challenging the way the titles are shown. We plan on having our titles incorporated into our film, such as having them written on notes during the shot, written on a photo, even on a steamy glass shower screen.


I shall update this further if we alter the film in such a way that more conventions are used, challenged or developed.

Initial Pitch and Feedback

Above is an audio recording of CAM RAW pitching our final film idea to our peers, followed by their feedback and possible improvements that could be made to the film.

From listening to the initial pitch, we have already decided to drop the knife as a weapon, as we don't plan on showing any weapons in the opening. There also won't be any horror as such in the opening.

As an aside, we have been contemplating having her wake up on a sofa, rather than in bed. We feel that this may be more realistic in one sense, since it will be like she has passed out in the room, however we also prefer the idea of her being in her bedroom since it will add a personal touch, give the girl character and emotion and the audience may feel that they can relate to that more. When filming, we may film both and compare the two, possibly even asking for audience and peer feedback on both as to which they prefer.

We have also added in a small part to the scene where she wakes up. Her phone vibrating on the desk will wake her, with a missed call from an unknown number.

Mr. Hood mentioned Prezi during the pitch. Although we may not use it in our film, we hope to use it as a way of presenting research or information on the blog.

He also talked to us about using a camera in a steam-filmed bathroom and the clarity of the text on the screen. If we can't use the shower screen, we will try the mirror or possibly a shampoo/shower gel bottle. There was also a reminder to make sure we don't write the credit backwards!

We were all very please with the initial score of 8/10, so we don't plan on changing the story too heavily at the moment. Hopefully, once the initial cut is filmed, we can get more feedback and make any changes we feel are necessary.

Inspiration For Filming

Below is an advert for the ride 13 at Alton Towers. After watching this we felt that it fitted in well with our final thriller opening and the ideas we had in our heads of how it would look upon completion. We plan to use its influence in our final film.

We have also looked at the trailer for the Coronation Street 50th Anniversary Tram Crash episode. We have been inspired by the use of flashforwards in the trailer and the juxtaposition between characters carrying on with their everyday lives and the emergency services rushing around. We would like to implement something similar with flashbacks during the very start of our film. Initially, our protagonist will be shown as upset and frightened, however during the flashbacks she is happy and getting ready for a night out. Hopefully we can achieve a similar effect to that in the trailer, as we feel it is very powerful and emotive.

Thriller - Final

As a groupd we have decided on a final draft for our thriller opening.

It will start with a woman against a black curtain. She will be wearing a white dress, staring blankly as several flashbacks of her preparing for a night out take place, followed by her getting into a car at the end of the evening. The following morning, she realises something terrible happened during the night and she can't seem to find any of her loved ones, get in contact with them, nor can she remember anything.

In summary, she is both the protagonist and antagonist of the entire film. Initially, she is going to play the innocent victim in all of this, not having any idea what has happened to her friends, boyfriend and family. To her, she was drugged the night before and now is trapped, living out a nightmare in which she is alone and terrified. In reality, however, she wasn't drugged the night before. Instead, something took over her and caused the horrednous events to unfold. She has no recollection of what happened or why it did, but an unknown number keeps calling her. Hopefully the person on the other end of the phone has the answers she needs, but first she has to find them.

We shall be pitching our idea to our peers soon, asking for advice and feedback afterwards and deciding whether we need to alter the story slightly, dramatically or just go in a completely different direction altogether. Soon, I shall post an audio recording of the pitch and feedback followed by improvements and changes we have decided to make.

CAM RAW's Thriller - Initial Development

We have been discussing various different possibilities for our own thriller, and have decided to include the following conventions:

• The main story line will be a mystery and involve various plot-twists and red-herrings.
• Blood/violence will be used.
• The majority of the opening two minutes will be set at night.
• We will use fast edits to create tension and action.
• The victims are loved ones of the protagonist.
• A drunken night out was the cause of the problems.

We have also decided to challenge the following conventions:

• Music; we want to challenge the conventions of more traditonal thriller soundtracks by introducing new musical styles and elements to the genre (I shall expand more on this in a future post).
• The protagonist will be both a teenage female, and will also be the 'bad guy'. We have decided to portray her as the innocent victim initially, however she is actually the cause of all the problems.
• The credits; rather than have standard 'Live-Type' credits, we have decided to integrate them into the background and set of the film (more on this later!).

In a future post I shall upload images of our 'brainstorm sheets' on which we discussed many of our ideas and essentially let our creativity run wild. We used this to refine our idea into our initial pitch, which we showed to our peers and recorded their response in order to refine our idea into the final film.

Target Audience

Thriller films are aimed at a very broad audience, from teenagers to adults, from older people to younger, 20-something years olds. Depending on the sub-genre and the film itself, it allows for a very wide variety of films and possibilities. For our thriller, we have decided to aim it at a target audience of 15-25 year olds, since they will most easily be able to connect with our characters and the plot of the film on certain levels. They should have a good idea of what it feels like to be alone and isolated, to be scared and not know who to turn to, since they will be traversing adolescence themselves. They will hopefully understand exactly how it feels not to remember what happened the night before, and also how it feels to lose friends overnight. Obviously the film will have a broader scope, extended on to people in their thirties, possibly even their forties, but we are aiming mostly for the 15-25 year old demographic.

Thriller - Initial Ideas

Below is a presentation of the initial ideas our group discussed for our thriller. We then chose one of these and developed it into our final idea.

Summary of Ideas on Prezi

Equipment Test - Tripod/Panning, Dolly and Lighting

In order to implement more technical shots into our film we created test shots using a tripod, practicing panning, a camera dolly and also experimented with lighting to better understand how to correctly illuminate a subject for film. We tested the three-point lighting method, since this will be the easiest and most practical for our films and is also one of the most common types of lighting used.

The idea is to use three lights placed a different points around an object or character in order to illuminate them in the most natural way possible. The Key Light is the main light source and provides the strongest point of illumination. The Fill Light is used to eliminate any shadows that may occur on the opposite side of the object/person due to the Key Light. Finally, the Back Light is used in order to enhance the object/person and bring them out of the background. If something is only lit from the front it will appear very flat against a background, so by illuminating it from behind and highlighting it slightly it will appear a lot more three-dimensional and real.

We tested out the panning on the tripods just to ensure we were able to use them smoothly, particularly since our preliminary task has a few panning issues. We also tried the dolly, which will be useful if we want to do a shot where someone is walking past or running, and we want to follow alongside them.

Below I have included a video of this exercise and the dolly and panning exercises we practiced:

Film Openings Comparison

Below is a collection of film openings. Three of which are the thrillers I analysed in my previous post, however the other three are from completely different genres. I shall draw comparisons between the three and see how they are similar and how they differ.

The Birds

The sound of hundreds of birds squawking and flapping can be heard as images of birds flying appear behind the credits. Gradually, the text appears to be pecked and eaten away, as if the birds are attacking it. The font is simple and is a bright blue colour, almost the colour of the sky, as if that is where the birds should be. Aside from the frantic flapping in the background, they are very simple titles, yet the sounds the birds are making would make you feel trapped and claustrophobic if you were viewing this in a dark cinema with speakers all around you.


A Clockwork Orange

A blood-red background fills the screen as an orchestral score fills the air. Initially, it sounds quite electronic and tense, but soon it builds into much more. This music is intended to make the audience feel quite uncomfortable and on-edge, giving the constant illusion that it is building up to a big event. 'Warner Bros. Presents' appears on the screen in a simple font, yet stands out due to being such a bright white on a vivid background. When Stanley Kubrick's name appears the background changes to blue, this is to grab the attention of the audience and to reinforce who exactly produced this film; the reason for them watching it. It then flashes back to red as the title appears. Shortly after a medium close-up of a man in white with a bowler hat is shown. He has overly-exentuated eyelashes on his right eye and is looking up at the camera with a menacing grin. Once again, the larger-than-life image of this on a cinema screen would be terrifying, as if he is looking down a judging the audience. The music continues to build-up as the camera pans out, showing three more men dressed in similar attire and continues it's path showing more men and naked female mannequins throughout a corridor-like room. Because of the position of the men, it makes the viewer feel very trapped and enclosed.


Reservoir Dogs

Orange text on a black background. The sound of a busy restaurant environment as a man starts talking. The shot then switches to a group of very well dressed men in suits around a table. The nature of what they are discussing is in sharp contrast to their attire, giving the impression that they may be involved in organised crime, possibly even the Mafia. There are many over-the-shoulder shots and it is rare that you see the face of anyone who is talking. There is no music or any particular action, just conversation and discussion. The nature of the camerawork, however, makes the audience feel as if they are part of the conversation, like they are sitting at the table with the group of men and are being included. I feel that the music and silence of the characters are conventions used, since they build tension and intrigue. You want to hear the characters talking in order to associate with them better, yet the foreboding tone of the music twists this and stops you wanting to approach them, as do the characters staring eyes.

Monsters Inc.

A very upbeat, jazzy song is played whilst cartoon doors and monsters are shown on screen, along with the titles and credits. The entire sequence is animated, as is the film, but it simply is a large variety of doors opening and closing revealing parts of different monsters behind them and the catchy tune continues to play. I feel this is used to keep the attention of the younger audience that will be watching the film since there's something new behind each door and it's a surprise for them all the time. This is a convention in children's films, the credits have to be very entertaining and surprising in order to keep the younger audiences attention. They will also really enjoy the music since it is so upbeat and catchy, yet simple at the same time.

Wild Wild West

A traditional Western-style soundtrack is played as the screen is broken up into several sections with a different image in each. Characters from the film are shown, along with credits. The characters start doing various gun-tricks and shooting people. This is most likely showing good guys shooting bad guys. Following this are explosions and more high-action shots. We then see characters being shown with the actors name displayed as a credit underneath. The music suddenly changes to a more modern sound when Will Smith walks towards the camera. This shows that it isn't just an ordinary Western, but rather is a modern twist on a classic formula. Various characters, weapons and credits continue to be shown until the end. I feel that they decided to include such a lengthy title sequence at the start of the film since this is part pf the classic Western formula; they always had the credits and characters right at the start of the film with 'Western' style music playing. It is a homage to the genre they are trying to bring back to life.

Love Actually

Here we have what appears to be home-video style footage of people being re-united at Heathrow Airport arrivals. We know it is Heathrow due to the narrator telling us this. He is talking about love being everywhere in a world that has recently been described as full of hate. He talks about different people being reunited at the airport, boyfriends and girlfriends, fathers and sons, the list goes on. He then talks about people making phone calls from the planes that hit the Twin Towers and how they were messages of love. The final message is that 'Love actually is all around'. This is basically to get you thinking about the film, about what it's all about and what it stands for. You can tell it's going to be a feel-good rom-com from this moment, although it doesn't really use any conventions apart from talking about love and using home-move style footage.

Thriller Content Analysis

Below, I shall be showing the opening to three classic thrillers, and analysing them; I shall talk about conventions they use and how they fit into the thriller genre, even mentioning sub-genres if necessary.


The first film I have chosen is The Birds, by Alfred Hitchcock.

The first thing I noticed was the sheer volume of birds flying around. Although on a small screen this doesn't seem scary, imagine it in a dark cinema where it's all you can see; the sounds of the birds screeching all around you, enclosing you and making you feel trapped and uncomfortable. All of this is before the film has even begun. Next, the credits appear on screen. Each name is shown the disappears bit by bit, creating the illusion that the birds are pecking away at them, foreshadowing the events of the film.

Here is a later scene from the film, in which a woman enters a house, finding it all quiet. Immediately this creates tension and an air that something isn't quite right. The first shot shows her walking towards the house and because of the position and distance of the camera it leads the viewer to believe that they are watching this woman from afar, both making you feel safe, but that you might be part of the problem. There is no answer at the door, so she lets herself in a creeps slowly from room to room, carefully leaning through each doorway and peering around. As she enters the bedroom, she sees that everything is a mass and there has been a struggle. There is a bird, dead against the window too. Gradually, the truth is unearthed and she sees the body lying dead on the floor. The camera shows his face and jump cuts forward several times, revealing the extent of damage done in a way that makes you curious, yet disgusted. As she runs out of the house, the camera is at the end of the path, at a low angle looking up towards her. It appears as if she is falling over, almost falling on top of the viewer, and gives an illusion of extreme fright and urgency.

Some of the conventions used are intentional jump cuts to build tension, a slow reveal, a lot of blood and gore, a murder/death and a lot of panic, the sudden realisation that something is wrong. There is also an eery silence through the film.


Next, is A Clockwork Orange, by Stanley Kubrick.

Alex is shown with a bandaged cut across his nose. He is standing in a white room and tells the police that he knows the law and refuses to talk until his lawyer gets there. It cuts to an elderly officer lighting a cigarette and saying that they'll have to show him that they know the law too, but that it 'isn't everything'. This implies that they are about to break the law, but the viewer isn't quite sure how at the moment. An officer is then shown staring menacingly at Alex, looking fed-up and run-down, like he's lost all of his patience. He menacingly leans over Alex, leading the viewer to believe something is about to happen, and then he pushes down on his damaged nose, forcing him to the floor, causing a fight to break out.

Some conventions used are white-washed walls, creating tension due to stark lighting. They use a lot of close ups, and the dominance of the man leaning over Alex and exerting his power. The fact they are at a police station, and that Alex refuses to talk makes the viewer want to know more and want to know what's going to happen. The police breaking the law and beating a man are also a convention of a thriller, and the viewer wants to know if they'll be any consequences of their actions.


Finally, I will look at a scene from Resevoir Dogs.

This scene is set in a warehouse, with plastic sheeting wrapped around everything. This implies they don't want to get things messy, and given the nature of the film, it implies there will be a lot of blood. The three men are talking then pull guns on each other. The first line of dialogue 'That's the only one I wasn't 100% on.' basically says that something went wrong, which is soon reinforced by a man shouting, covered in blood and obviously stressed out. They continue talking in a calm manner, but they appear out of breath and thus stressed out and nervous. A man is revealed lying in a pool of blood on the floor. The man in blue then starts shouting and they all shoot each other.

Three men pointing guns at each other is a convention, as someone may die, but it is not clear if it will be one person or all of them. There is also the setting, a warehouse with plastic covering everything, implying that blood will be shed. The fact it is a warehouse implies that it's in a secluded location, so things can happen out of the public eye. Calm talking suddenly turning into shouting and screaming as the tension builds, only for it to drop to a normal volume then rise again suddenly. A body covered in blood on the floor builds tension as to whether he will live or die. There is mostly slow cutting, and shot/reverse-shots during the conversation. A character pleading for them not to shoot anyone. The fact that the three men are covered in blood makes the viewer feel slightly uneasy looking at them.

I have covered the basics here, however as my group and I develop our own idea for a thriller opening I will analyse more thrillers and extrapolate as much as I possibly can from them in order to gain as much knowledge as possible.

Top 10 Thriller Films

Here is a list of the Top 10 Thriller films according to IMDB (Internet Movie Database):

The Godfather

The Godfather II

Elite Squad 2

Inception

Pulp Fiction

The Dark Knight

Goodfellas

Fight Club

Rear Window

Psycho

This list has been compiled by people all over the world rating the films, so is public opinion and therefore a very accurate representation of data. 

Many of these films have directors who have filmed a variety of thrillers, and are almost specialists in the genre. David Fincher, the director of Fight Club, is also well known for the films SE7EN and Zodiac, both thrillers. Francis Ford Coppola has directed The Godfather Trilogy and Apocalypse Now. Finally, Alfred Hitchcock, who is often credited with inventing the genre of 'Thriller', with his movie Psycho. This is one of the most well known movies of all time. He has also directed The Birds and Vertigo, two very prominent thrillers that set new benchmarks when they were made.

Genre Study - Thriller

We have decided to create a film under the 'Thriller' genre. We have decided to use this particular genre since it gives us the largest target audience, as well as the ability to challenge and develop many different conventions, as well as using many traditonal ones in our own film. There is also the fact that people truly love being 'thrilled'; they love that rush of adrenaline and shock that comes with watching a good film and feeling as though they are part of the experience, something which transcends age and gender and is of universal appeal to all.


Thriller is a genre of film, literature and television that uses suspence, tension and excitement as its main elements. For the purpose of AS Media I shall be focusing primarily on films. I may reference television shows and literature if I find a good example of something.

Thrillers are mostly characterised by an atmosphere of menace, violence, crime and murder by showing society as dark, corrupt and dangerous, though they often feature a happy ending in which the villains are killed or arrested. Thrillers heavily promote on literary devices such as plot twists, red herrings and cliffhangers. They also promote on moods, such as a high level of anticipation, adrenaline rush, arousal, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety and sometimes even terror. The tones in thrillers are usually gritty, slick and lurid.

[Wikipedia]


Above is a basic definition of what a thriller is, and in this study I shall show examples of thrillers, as well as extrapolating on sub-genres and conventions.

A 'Thriller' aims to thrill. Fundamentally, if it is not doing this, if it is not keeping the audience on the edge of their seat, biting their nails and wanting to know what's about to happen, it's not doing it's job and is not a 'Thriller'. Tension usually occurs when a protagonist is thrown into a menacing, life-threatening or mystery situation, and they must escape this and overthrow whatever evil may be the root cause. Although none of these are a necessity in a thriller, they are at the base of the majority.

Before I continue, I shall outline what is meant by the term 'genre' and 'sub-genre'. A 'genre' is a type, style or category of film, in this instance, although it can also be applied to literature, art, music and many other mediums, which is defined by certain conventions or criteria. Works may fit into multiple genres by borrowing from them or by crossing certain boundaries. Genres change with these conventions over time, meaning they can become outdated and replaced by entirely new ones on a regular basis. As public opinion changes, and as peoples lifestyles change too, the way they view and interact with the world around them also changes. This leads to their ideals and mindset changing with further results in conventions changing, and finally genres.

A 'sub-genre' further breaks down genres into more precise categories and sections by content. For example, 'Thriller' is the main genre, however if a film is about police trying to catch a criminal, it is a 'Crime Thriller' by 'sub-genre'. By the same merit, if a film is a thriller set mainly in a courtroom, it is a 'Legal Thriller'.


Examples of sub-genres of 'Thriller'


Below is a list of examples of sub-genres of 'Thriller':

• Conspiracy Thriller
• Crime Thriller
• Disaster Thriller
• Erotic Thriller
• Legal Thriller
• Medical Thriller
• Mystery Thriller
• Political Thriller
• Pyschological Thriller
• Rape and Revenge Films
• Religious Thriller
• Supernatural Thriller
• Techno Thriller

Although this may appear to be a concise list where you would easily be able to pigeon-hole any film under the umbrella of 'Thriller', many fit into more than one, or even two categories. For example, a 'Crime Thriller' may overspill into 'Conspiracy Thriller', 'Legal Thriller' and 'Mystery Thriller' depending on its content. It is also subjective to ones opinion. Below I will discuss the content of some of the above 'sub-genres', outlining basic conventions of each.

• Conspiracy Thriller - The protagonist is confronted with a situation in which there is a plot to carry out an act without others knowing, usually this act is illegal and politically motivated. An example modern film would be 'Angels and Demons'.

• Crime Thriller - The film offers a suspenseful account of a crime, or crimes, with emphasis typically on action rather than psychological aspects. Central topics include serial killers, shoot-outs and double-crosses. An example film being 'Resevoir Dogs'.

• Disaster Thriller - The main conflict is typically the result of a natural environmental disaster, such as a flood, earthquake or volcano. There are also films featuring man-made disaster, such as a nuclear accident. An example film being 'Deep Impact'.

• Mystery Thriller - The protagonist is involved in a mystery and must find a way to solve it, usually by themself or with the help of a few others. 'The Number 23' is a good example.

• Psychological Thriller - The main action of the film is entirely mental and emotional, rather than physical. Certain physical aspects may also be included to enhance the mental unbalance of a character, such as the violent torture and/or murder of another. An example film being 'Psycho'.

Preliminary Task One

Below is the result of our first preliminary task:

Preliminary exercise: Continuity task involving filming and editing a character opening a door, crossing a room and sitting down in a chair opposite another character, with whom she/he then exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule.  

Although we didn't adhere entirely to the task, such as not having the character sit opposite another, we did include everything else that was required. We also had the character meet two others and come face-to-face with them, they just weren't sitting down at the time.

There are a few flaws and problems with it, but this was our first time working as a group and working with the equipment and editing software. Overall, we were very pleased with our effort, except there are a few problems that we definitely would change if we went back and filmed it again.

During the first sequence, where a man is seen walking down a corridor, there is a bit of a stall and judder in the panning as he walks around the corner. This wasn't intentional, the camera just got knocked unfortunately and we didn't realise how badly until we were editing the final clip together. The stall was because Holly realised she hadn't moved the camera far enough a little too late. We would also change the length of the corridor scene and either add intention jump-cuts or an elipse, and show him walking the start of the corridor, then rounding the corner to the stairs. Again, we didn't realise how long it was until it was a little too late.

There was a small problem with the credits at the top of the stairs, but that was something we couldn't get rid of. Fortunately, it gave us the name for our film and production company; 'CAM RAW'. Every cloud has a silver lining, as they say.

During the fight scene, we changed from full colour to black and white. We felt this added an effect of drama and increased the tension slightly, although upon peer review and feedback we discovered that this wasn't necessarily the case.

One problem we didn't notice until someone pointed it out during peer review was the continuity error with the wig during the final scene. We didn't notice it moved from the desk to my lap until one of our peers pointed it out to us after we'd edited it all together.

We were very proud of some of the camera angles we achieved during the fight scene, particularly as they break through the doorway. We also liked how we managed to get the head-but and music crescendo perfectly in sync. As well as this, the graphic match with the doorway worked wonderfully. The part we are most proud of, however, is the graphic match in the mirror at the end. We have decided to include a similar shot in our final film, since we feel it worked so well.

Overall, we are very proud of this film, especially since it was our first time making something like this, but as I have highlighted there are many floors and errors that we will ensure don't occur during our final film.

Welcome To My Blog

Let's start with the basics:

My name's Matt, I'm studying AS Media Studies at GWPAHS and this is where I'll be sharing everything I've done so far with the world. 

Please comment lots, as any feedback is good feedback, especially if it allows me to get better and end up with a better grade!

See y'all soon!