Monday, 21 March 2011

Feedback from Class

Positives:

+ Editing is good,
+ Well put together e.g. jump cuts put together
+ Filters on clips work well
+ Good use of photo montages
+ Colour works well
+ Music was effective and suited the thriller
+ Good costumes
+ Sound fits well with footage
+ A good mixture of shots

Negative:


- Credits weren't to a high standard
- Music was too loud?
- Pictures weren't effective enough
- Sound was too repetitive

Friday, 11 March 2011

List to add to our film on Monday

On Monday 14th March the following needs to be done:

+ opening titles + credits
+ sounds
+ added images of the magnifying glass
+ images of contact sheets
+ images of victims
+ fingerprints

All images will be jump cutted and have transitions in them to build suspense/tension.

Creation of the Titles + Credits

On Monday 14th March I will be creating the titles and credits so I have wrote set instructions to follow to speed up this process:

1) I need to click on the text tool and then once I have typed the text I want in I need to: alter the text in different ways on the control tab.

2) I could add rotation, scale under the motion tab if I decide to.

So I will go back to controls then go to tracking…
1)      key frame it = the diamond button to the right of the word tracking
2)      then go to the end of the text frame and then alter the tracking
3)      Changing the scale with key frames.
4)      Once done can add filters onto it…
5)      Also go to video transitions e.g. dissolve at the start = fade in. And at the end/middle put in the map one firstly luminous map double click on it, then put coloured map over the top and mess around with colours.

So this is the basic step by step guide I have created for myself in order to help and speed up the process as we are going to be on a tight schedule so by doing this guide it will allow me to have enough time to create the soundtrack too. Therefore I will make the targets I wrote in the below post.

For the title I have already created it so all I need to do is upload the image and to then edit it with Final Cut if necessary.

Thursday, 10 March 2011

Summary of feedback

Our targets for next week is to add the music as it will help create an atmosphere and link to the storyline. We will also add more footage so that it develops the storyline more. We need to create the credits and include these within our clip. And finally we will add our production logo.

Skills we haven't used yet.

The skill/technique which we haven't used yet but we felt worked extremely well was the specific camera angle used so that you could see the map through the magnifying glass. It works well as it enables you to be in the characters point of view.

feedback from T2-54

great use of editing and colour effect. Although the clip was quite short and contained no sound, it was enjoyable to watch and you could feel the suspense. There were alot of the thriller conventions involved in the clip. If there was sound, we think the footage would be extremely good. Overall, very enjoyable to watch.

T2-49 comments

The narrative wasn't exactly clear and was very confusing, the continuity doesn't flow as the cuts seem misplaced which makes it hard to follow, this is shown as the girl seems to speed up then seem calm the next time she is seen.

Despite this the shots are very  well filmed and edited, there is a variation of shots, which hint at a crime that will be commited.


The situation seems normal but could be extra-ordinary but it isn't really clear at the moment as we don't know whether the guy is a ghost or not and we also don't know who the antagonist and the protagonist is.

T2-50

Having sound with this opening will build the tension and therefore improve it.
There was a good range of shot types and distances which made it more interesting to watch. Especially the close up shots of the eyes to create more tension to show the persons paranoia.
A big thing is that the opening sequence need to be longer which could help get more of the story plot across.
Also the continuity editing was a bit off when doing a close up of the eye as the person wasn't moving.
There were filters over the clips to enhance the colour, to make them dull. This put a less cheerfull mood to the clips to show that something bad is happening.

Feedback from Group T2-51

  • Sound needs to be added to set the mood more
  • We liked to repetition of the eye looking backwards and forwards showing the sketchy mood of the character and how she reacts when she realises she's being followed
  • The lighting was quite dark and clothes etc were dark, showing the mood and the feel of the opening.
  • The quick editing was good, with the montage looking quick shots of the pictures.
  • We liked the flicking between footage and stills especially the sentence "Your past will haunt you" because it allows the audience to figure out the background of the protagonist

Feedback from Group T2-52

We really like the way the cuts are jumpy and edgy creating tension for the target audience and the way that you can see the emotion in the protagonists face whilst she is walking and the close ups of her eyes show a lot of worry for her character.
We couldn't quite tell what type of a thriller the film opening was, other than that it was to be psychological - meaning you didn't need to see the violence to picture what was going to happen, however it could of been useful to see some more sort of parts of the crime to get a better idea of whether it was to be a crime or theft thriller as we only saw a short few seconds of someone picking up a knife.
We could tell that the protagonist was isolated by the fact that no one else was walking around at the time.
Other than this, we feel it was a quite effective opening for a thriller and makes you want to find out whats going to happen next.

Wednesday, 9 March 2011

Rough cut upload




We still need to add the soundtrack and the credits. We also need to include the scene featuring a magnifying glass and map.

We think the audience will enjoy the film and empathise with the protagonist and understand the film. However they will realise quickly that scenes need to be added to make it longer and to add music to build to the tension.

Wednesday, 2 March 2011

Plan for Thursday 3rd March

 Below I have stated the props we still need to film.

1) The Magnifying glass 
2) Newspaper article
3) Books
4) Old photos

We will be filming these scenes on Thursday 3rd March starting from 2.35pm.

I will be providing the Newspaper article in which I will be creating and also I will tea stain the old books to add to the mysterious and ancient effect.

Jade will be providing the magnifying glass and the old photos which she is going to burn the corners off to help add tension.

This filming shouldn't take no longer than 15 minutes therefore afterwards we will edit the clips and then start to create the soundtrack and credits for our film.

Important dates to remember

Monday 7th 9am - FIlming Deadline

Wednesday 9th 12:20 - Rough Cut deadline

Thursday 10th - Watching each others rough cut: offering advice etc

Wednesday 16th 12.20 - Final cut deadline

Monday 21st 9am - Draft evaluation due in via Email

Wednesday, 16 February 2011

Analysis of a Crime Thriller

Typical conventions of a Crime Thriller

+ Screen time is on main characters mostly
+ Variety of locations
+ Mysterious music
+ Protagonist has a partner
+ Focus scenes on a protagonist
+ See the crime planned from the very start

My example: Murder By Numbers

So to see if these conventions were actually present within crime thrillers I decided to analysis the film 'Murder by Numbers'.

At the very beginning there was mysterious music to fit the establishing shot at the same time of hearing the sound of the water flowing roughly. So from this you can tell straight away that it fits the conventions of the mysterious music appearing within the film.

Next there are a variety of locations just as the conventions state as they feature college, the beach at the beginning and also the house which you see the protagonist in. The protagonist is also not alone as he has his fellow partner so therefore this fits the convention that the protagonist isn't on his own.


Throughout the film the scenes are mainly focused on the protagonist so this also fits the conventions. And the last convention  which it fits is the fact you find out about the crime from the very start so therefore again it fits these conventions.

Overall this film fits the conventions extremely well. A few other things which I picked up on were: dull colours were used throughout the film to create tension, There was also a voice over at the beginning so therefore this created some suspense from the very start, unusual settings and finally the mise-en-scene was thought about extremely well especially the props and lighting and finally the colours.

Fake blood


blood1
blood2
blood4
blood10

Conventions of an Action Thriller + Analysis

Below I have wrote the conventions of an action thriller:


+ More screen time for the protagonist
+ High place of authority person is shown to be negative
+ Locations vary a lot
+ Partially introduced to various other characters
+ Isolated characters - amnesia
+ No reason behind violence
+ Outnumbered protagonist
+ No fancy/glamorous locations
+ Innocent victims
+ Different countries
+ Weaknesses shown strongly
+ Clues along the way
+ Mature cast
+ Binary Opposites
+ Protagonist normally has a talent e.g. athletic

My analysis of an action thriller --> Quantum of Solace

From watching the opening sequence of this film you can straight away spot the conventions of an action thriller within this sequence. For example from the very beginning of the film James Bond has all the screen time. This fits the first convention as in this film James Bond is shown as the protagonist.
 In the first five minutes of the film the locations already vary a lot so this again fits the second convention of the 'locations vary a lot'.
 Moving on: you are partially introduced to other characters as you are shown the action of the victim being beaten, but only briefly. So therefore you are shown other characters in short bursts of filming. We also aren't aware of a reason for the violence which is shown within this film at the beginning so therefore this fits the convention of there being no reason behind the violence.
  Next the convention of it being in different countries. This is present as throughout the film the countries are varied a strong amount.
 Also weaknesses are shown about the main characters in short bursts of shooting so that they don't get portrayed to weak. However when they are shown they are as the convention says: 'shown strongly'.
 Clues are along the way just like the conventions states and also there is a mature cast for this film so this too fits the conventions.
 As in all action thrillers there are binary opposites in this film which are both protagonists and the antagonists.
 Finally the protagonist is shown to have a talent as he is '007' and he is portrayed throughout the film to be talented so the directors have thought about this well as the audience can clearly see that James Bond is superior.