Costume

Our thriller contains 2 different characters The sniper and the watcher.

 The sniper as a character is a younger man in his 20-30s who has recently taken up the career of a sniper. Although part of a highly respected organisation he has not informed his wife of his career, he lies. He pretends to be working in an office as a business man to keep it from his family, he covers up any weakness and shows passion towards his job and never wants to quit although he is scared and does not want to harm anyone because he is a family man. He puts up a barrier for himself so he can learn to be brutal and keep to his mind that work is work. The man is easily respected and has authority over many of the people in the organisation, yet he is the one that is put down for his typical unprofessional behavior meaning he needs to be put right and motivated to complete a task. His physical appearance should reflect a tall young man with longer hair, dressed entirely in black. Therefore we cast Mike.

 The watcher is a much older man roughly in his 50-60s, he has had a long time in the organisation and despite having the lesser important job to do he is the man that likes to be in charge and knows he is the most experienced in the organisation. The man is very focused on the job because it is all he knows and he gets agitated by the people who do not take it seriously. The watcher elected the sniper because he believes in him, he says things exactly how they are and questions peoples true ability until it is completely proved. The physical appearance for this character follows an older man with grey hair, glasses, a tall slender body also dressed in black. Therefore we cast Ezra.

My Storyboard

Sniper storyboard from Katie Emily

Re-Pitch

My group and i took the phone call concept and family concept from our originally constructed idea but fixed it with the slight cliche of guns being thrilling to create one of Kristians orginal ideas. We pitched this to Matt and immediately got a thumbs up on the idea, however he warned us to be cautious of when we write the script as the casual-ness may lead to a slight implication of comedy as appose to thriller. Matts favourite part of it was the way we took an idea that so many groups have and use in a way to make it unique and stand out and avoid the cliche problems that end up making it un-interesting for an audience to watch. Overall we are excited to get to the planning part of the process and put the thriller into action.

We have being going through a list of things that we are going to change and improve. We had a long think about casting, the people that appear in the thriller may set the tone for the audience as to whether or not they think they will enjoy it or not because in the first few minutes is where the audience will decide this. In the end we cast Mike and Ezra as they are two people that will appear well on camera together and the ages will bring realism to the characters, the more believeable it is the more real it feels meaning the more suspense is created. We will devise a script that is not funny in any way so that there is no chance of the thriller being mis-construed into something light hearted because we want the severity to be clear.

Re-Thinking Thriller ideas

After pitching our idea to Matt, although there were many aspects he liked the pitch was overall given a red light and we could not proceed to further plan the thriller. Upon this we decided to scrap the idea completely and begin from scratch because we wanted to let go of our idea to create something truely thrilling. Although the idea itself became completely different it only took 1 lesson to find certain elements from the original and keep it and create a new idea.

We decided that we particularly liked and enjoyed the concept of a man going about his business that is completely hidden from his family which is shown through the phone call. We wanted to keep this idea but change what her's hiding. Instead of him secretly being a killer and targeting women, we decided that he should be an assasin/sniper meaning he is a dangerous man which contrasts the family man the audience will see on the phone. We liked this because there was something rather thrilling to us about the concept of a man being so casual to his family and not having a care about his brutality which we believed would be very captivating.

We chose for him to be a sniper because that gives the impression of a highly skilled individual, and watching him go from the sweet family guy to the asassin. To become a sniper takes alot of training and being secretive giving a suggestion that he has been hiding this for a long time.

My group and i took the phone call concept and family concept from our originally constructed idea but fixed it with the slight cliche of guns being thrilling to create one of Kristians orginal ideas. We pitched this to Matt and immediately got a thumbs up on the idea, however he warned us to be cautious of when we write the script as the casual-ness may lead to a slight implication of comedy as appose to thriller.

First Pitch and Feedback

After a large amount of gathering information, arranging and planning out our thriller we were finally ready to pitch to Matt. We gathered a large amount of information revolving around our thriller idea such as the background of the male character such as looking on other men who has murdered. A particularly interesting man we researched was the notorious serial killer Ted Bundy.

We used his as a basis for our character as he was well known for being a rather charming man who was a loving man meaning nobody would have suspected a thing due to his naturally trustworthy characteristics. I myself did background research on him and because of this our group used him as an inspiration towards creating our male character. He also appeared on the mood board we created that refelected the meaning and happenings of our thriller. When it came to arranging we needed to specifically decide where we wanted the camera and for what shots to make sure we would have a variety of options to use when it came to the filming process. Lastly with reguards to the planning we mapped out everything we wished to be present in the thriller such as: cast, props, location, costume, back story and the continuing plot. This is all displayed on my powerpoint that is soon to be posted.

Matt came in and spoke to each group individually. He did particularly like our idea as it was thrilling and was well planned out and decided so we were all happy from our original ideas to the build up of what we wanted to have as a finishing product. After pitching the idea although he liked in there were many flaws that resulted in us needed to re-think and possibly change our idea. Our backstory was the first issue, this is because it was pointed out to us that the concept of a serial killer gone mad typically falls into the horror category even if no horror is displayed on screen during our opening sequence of the thriller, however Matt approved of our back up idea but in order for that back up idea to work we had to change the concept of what happened in that hotel room.

In every movie there is a structure that follows - Opening Sequence - Act 1 - Act 2 - Act 3 and our thriller idea would fit in the Act 1 section meaning it does not strictly count as an opening sequence to a thriller. For this reason my group took on board all of the points made and we have begun to re-think of ways we can keep the element of the phone call and keep the spy story but manage to change to an opening sequence that fits into the Thriller category, we have much to think about but are thankful for the criticism we received from Matt and will take it all on board.

First Pitch

Autumn pp from Katie Emily

Use of storyboards

When created a piece of media storyboards are essential for a number of reasons. Not only does it visually give the team working on it an idea of what order it will go in and the number of shots that will be needed, but, it also gives a clear image of how the director invisions the scene to look when it is transferred from paper to camera, can give an idea into making a shooting schedule so that everything is done in the most efficient and simple way that it can be. The overall way to express why storyboards are useful is that "A storyboard is a graphic organizer in the form of illustrations or images displayed in sequence for the purpose of pre-visualizing a motion picture, animation, motion graphic or interactive media sequence"

Here is a breakdown of the reasons a storyboard is useful:

Best way to express a vision

A visual aid makes it much easier for you to share and explain your vision for your video with others.

We’ve all had experiences where we were trying to explain something and the other person just can’t see your vision. The core of this issue is that most stakeholders don’t have the experience of visualizing something off of a text deliverable, such as a script.
When you have a storyboard, you can show people exactly how your video is going to be mapped out and what it will look like. This makes it infinitely easier for other people to understand your idea.

Saves you alot of time
While it may take you a little while to put your storyboard together, in the long run it will save you time in revisions later. Not only will it help you explain your vision to your team, it will also make the creation process go more smoothly.

Makes production easier
When you storyboard a video you’re setting up a plan for production, including all the shots you’ll need, the order that they’ll be laid out, and how the visuals will interact with the script.
The storyboard is a starting point or suggested thoroughline around which you can plan your coverage (all the angles you will shoot of a scene). This really comes in handy when you’re making your video, as it ensures you won’t forget any scenes and helps you piece together the video according to your vision.

Reflection of test shoot

Whilst filming the test shoot my group and i had a lot of things to think about such as angles, levels and positioning. When it comes to actually doing the shoot there are many things that you bypass in the preparation process that you are then not prepared at all for such as height of The two actors, surroundings of the place we are shooting with regards to noise level and lighting. The actual test shoot went well and we took many re-shoots of the same parts just to be sure we have all the footage we could need to give an indication as to if this idea will work for us or not when we get to the editing process. Although the test itself went well we found it particularly challenging to make it look as we envisioned it to be, meaning we struggled with the best angles and ways to fit in all the

important details into one shot. Once we were pleased with both the amount of footage we got and the footage itself we went back to the media room and began to edit. Upon editing we found various complications such as the way things in the room would move between takes and the way the actors may be in a slightly different position than they were previously, although not a big issue it made it harder for us to have a clear image of the thriller running smoothly.

During editing we found it hard to make certain bits of footage fit together meaning there were very untidy jumps between scenes with no fluidity. In the end we eventually found although the footage was not smooth and the acting was not perfect we still felt this was our ideal thriller and we as a group could see where we wanted to go from there and it was all down to pitching to Matt to find out if the idea is approved. The link to our final test shoot

Test Shoot Video

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B_DtUABf8CSXam14NGItZFhKemM/view?usp=sharing

Preperation for the test shoot

After my group came to the final decision of what we wanted as our thriller idea we planned out all of the details we wanted to use such as costume, props and casting. Following this we needed to answer the important question of will this be a goof thriller? and how will it look on camera? For this reason it is extremely important to do a test shoot to make any decisions on what does and does not work and the best angles to use at each moment of action during the thriller. Being able to have a visual representation of a non final production of your thriller idea gives you things that will need to be re-thought and which parts need to be developed to make the best possible thriller.

In order to prepare for this test shoot we had to think about what is going to happen at each shot of the thriller and different angles we can shoot at to make it the best it can be. We began by establishing all the key moments and positions the characters will be in for example the male sequence follows: Sat on the sofa, answering a mobile phone, standing up, holding the females hand, kissing the girl, pulling out teeth, cutting hair and finally a final infliction of pain with a blow to the head. Once we had written out onto a piece of paper each of the things that are performed we agreed on a variety of angles to use and chose to shoot in a room that has a basic concept of the room we would ideally like to use for the real thing.

To prepare for this we had to establish a variety of shots that can be used at different point and it which sections we would like to use them. We also had to make a plan of the dialogue we hoped to use to give an indication of what words will be used during certain action and to create queues to make the test shoot run smoothly. All in all the preparation was a success and we are ready to film the test shoot and put it all together to give an indication of what we are working with and to get targets to improve on.

Thriller Group and Pitch idea

Last week in our media class we were allocated our groups for our thriller, my group consists of Christian, Eduarda, Anastasia and I. Upon being placed into our groups we began to discuss our 3 individual thriller ideas, and I was surprised to learn that no two were in any way similar. Many of the ideas although very different all had a slight cliché feeling to them such as the concept of being in the woods, paranormal phenomenon’s, gun fights and terror. We conversed our ideas and went through a process of finding things from each of our thrillers that can fit together to fit into one thriller. We tossed round the ideas and immediately decided that we wanted a male and a female and wanted the male to have a slight psychopathic feel to him. We agreed on the idea of the female getting murdered but how it was going to happen and the location is where we differed, we firstly looked at my idea for an elevator but after consideration decided that it would be very complex to create the setting or find a space that would be able to fulfil what we had in mind for the look and angles of the thriller. We moved on to Eduarda idea of him sneaking up on her in the woods but this was an example of cliché that we wanted to move away from so we scraped it which then made us continue to eventually come to the point of choosing to set it in a hotel and decide how to put it all together. Now we have come up with our final idea that we are ready to pitch to Matt and Luke in the coming weeks we just need a test shoot and further development.

The plotline follows that a well-groomed man is getting himself prepared as if going to work or a night out with gestures such as straightening his tie and buttoning his shirt. Starting this with a close-up and slowly zooming out to reveal a woman’s legs sprawled across him in fishnet tights and high heels, his phone begins to ring and it is his wife that is calling him, when this happens it is suggested to the audience that he is an unfaithful man to his wife, he excuses himself by saying “sorry I didn’t come home last night babe I was caught up with work”. He then proceeds to stand up and kneel on the floor next to her grasping her hand and performing very unusual actions such as smelling her wrist and feeling her hand against his face. As this takes place he begins to speak to his young son over the phone making the audience increasingly angry against this man, he begins to stroke the woman’s hair and her head tilts towards the camera and it is revealed she has in fact had her throat slit by this man and she is dead, revealing a plot twist to keep the audience on their toes and keeping both tension and surprise alive. Towards the end he erases any traces of her identity by removing teeth and fingernails before disposing of her completely to end the thriller. We felt this was an effective idea because there is sustained tension throughout with many plot twists and reveals to keep the audience completely engaged with what is going on.

The Thriller will then go on to follow this story:

The film continues to follow the life of the man, that we later discover to be a psychotic serial killer, that goes about killing his sexual affairs from the night before, which are mostly blonde women that we later on discover is due to his obsession with their hair colour that reminds him of the first girl he has ever fallen in love with, when he was a child, but whom eventually humiliated him by rejecting his love. His whole obsession is driven by revenge and self satisfaction that he achieves by killing women that resemble her. We also find out that the original girl he first fell in love with, turned out to be his wife. Which is what strikes the audience at the end of the movie, because we are left unsure of what will happen to her. The whole question is why does he kill women that look like his wife, but not the wife herself? The film ends with the question unanswered.  This shows his insanity.

First 3 Thriller ideas

MY 3 THRILLER IDEAS!

1. My first thriller idea I entitled "Elevator" this idea is about a game that takes place in a hotel. The way it works is that the building must be completely empty and you must enter the elevator on the bottom floor, from there a series of floor numbers must be pushed in a specific order and you must travel from each floor to begin the game. The door will open at each floor you press, upon reaching the final floor in the sequence the doors are supposed to open and a mysterious woman dressed entirely in black is supposed to enter the elevator, you must not acknowledge that she is there meaning you cannot speak or look at her. You must then press another series of floors however the door will then only open occasionally and when it does you have the option to get out or to keep playing and risk it to win. If you do get out the lady will grab you and ask "where you are going", you must once again not acknowledge her, if you are successful you are a safe soul if not she will take you and you will be gone without a trace.

INSPIRATION: My inspiration for this idea follows a widely known unsolved murder that took place at the Cecil hotel in America. A student named Elisa Lam was seen getting in an elevator acting very bizarre she almost looked like she was hiding from an unseen force or in other conspiracy's she is thought to even be completely possessed. There was no explanation for her behaviour as the autopsy confirmed that there were no traces of drugs in her system, not even her prescribed medication. In the CCTV footage of the last time she was seen alive aside from her odd behaviour she is seen pressing buttons in the elevator in a very specific order and it is thought she was playing an old Japanese game that is meant to transport you to a parallel universe, however, the doors would not close and she eventually walked out of the elevator and then was never to be seen alive again. As soon as she exited the elevator the doors despite never shutting for her shut slowly ending the eerie video.

2. My second idea I named "Russian Roulette" the idea of this plot of course involves the dated game of Russian roulette but in a modern twist. The story goes that a group of friends are at a party but they do not realise that the host has set them up for a most awful fate, a gun shot goes off and everybody in panic is forced to sit around a long table in a dark room with only a single light that dangles above them. The host forces them into a game of roulette which creates suspense and tension as the audience wonders who is next to die on the table. I also initially wanted to ass in some extra bits such as a refusal meaning somebody is then held under water or someone is stabbed in the leg just to keep the element of surprise alive.

INSPIRATION: My inspiration actually came from two very different movies. The first was V For Vendetta, not so much for the plot line but more for the concept of somebody thinking that tourturing people actually sets them free, this gave me the idea of a potentially psychopathic man wanting to help his friends but because he is insane not understanding the concept that is wrong with this idea. The other movie is called would you rather, this gave me inspiration behind the idea of a dangerous death game around the table with the most brutal concequences of refusal to co-operate. Both of these combined lead me to create the Russian roulette thriller i have in my head.

3. My final thriller I called "Hangman" the concept behind this plotline is that there is a group of friends in the woods exploring when they come across a hanging rope suspended from one of the branches, the boys begin to tease the girls by saying 'are you scared', one of the boys places the rope around his neck and jokes pretending he has been hung. One of the girls becomes paranoid imagining that she can hear footsteps and breaking sticks and the rustling of leaves that is distant but slowly approaching. The group dismisses what she is saying but they then however notice a dark shadow like figure in the near distance, panicked they all begin to run at a very fast pace. Upon reaching safety they stop deeply out of breath and notice one of the boys is missing, they begin to call his name but there is no response at which point it is revealed that he has in fact been hung by this terrifying figure leaving the audience in question as to what happened and who was he.

INSPIRATION: The inspiration for this thriller idea once again came from a film that is called the gallows, of course the title gives it away there is hanging involved but the main inspiration came from the sense of being followed by a figure that you can never figure out but always gets you when you are not ready I find the idea of being hung particularly intriguing as its a form of punishment and torture since way back in time and for that concept to be brought to the present day is thrilling. Personally out of my 3 ideas this is my favourite and the one i would most love to use as my groups thriller idea because i think there is a lot of potential here.

Genre, Subgenre and Hybrid

Genre

Media products can be classified into categories or genre. The word 'genre' comes from the French word meaning 'type' or 'class'. Media genres appear within a medium (film, television) such as the "horror" film or the television "situation comedy". A genre can be recognised by its common set of distinguishing features (see discussion on codes and conventions). These features associated with a genre's style and content may be, for example, a particular setting, character types. Audiences recognise these features and therefore expect certain things. For example, at the end of a romantic comedy film the two lead characters will realise they are in love. Audiences may even select a text on the basis of its genre. However, a genre is not static – it changes all the time – resulting in hybrid (or sub-) genres and changing codes and conventions. There is also a relationship between genres and the societies in which they are created.

Hybrid

Some media texts are hybrid genres, which means they share the conventions of more than one genre. For example Dr. Who is a sci-fi action-adventure drama and Strictly Come Dancing is a talent, reality and entertainment show. The Twilight films are a hybrid genre, combining horror, fantasy, teen and romance.

Sub-Genre

A sub-genre, is essentially the crossing over of more than one genre into one. Not much detail is needed to explain this however there are some clear examples:

E.G. Romantic and Comedy = RomCom

Action and Adventure = Action Adventure

and so on.

Conventions of a Thriller

WHAT IS A THRILLER?

Thriller is a broad genre of literature, film and television, having numerous subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety.  A successful example of a thriller is the film of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Suspense is a crucial characteristic of the thriller genre. It gives the viewer a feeling of pleasurable fascination and excitement mixed with apprehension, anticipation and tension. These develop from unpredictable, mysterious and rousing events during the narrative, which make the viewer or reader think about the outcome of certain actions. Suspense builds to make those final moments, no matter how short, the most memorable. The suspense in a story keeps the person hooked to reading or watching more until the climax is reached. In terms of narrative expectations, it may be contrasted with curiosity and surprise. The objective is to deliver a story with sustained tension, surprise, and a constant sense of impending doom. Common methods and themes in crime and action thrillers are mainly ransoms, captivities, heists, revenge, kidnappings. Common in mystery thrillers are investigations and the whodunit technique.

Common elements in dramatic and psychological thrillers include plot twists, psychology, obsession and mind games. Common in horror thrillers are serial killers, stalking, death-traps and horror-of-personality. Elements such as fringe theories, false accusations and paranoia are common in paranoid thrillers. Threats to entire countries, spies, espionage, conspiracies, assassins and electronic surveillance are common in spy thrillers. Characters may include criminals, stalkers, assassins, innocent victims (often on the run), menaced women, psychotic individuals, spree killers, sociopaths, agents, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, private eyes, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-fiends, and more. The themes frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder. Plots of thrillers involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces Thrillers take place mostly in ordinary suburbs and cities, although sometimes they may take place wholly or partly in exotic settings such as foreign cities, deserts, polar regions, or the high seas. These usually tough, resourceful, but essentially ordinary heroes are pitted against villains determined to destroy them, their country, or the stability of the free world. Often in a thriller movie, the protagonist is faced with what seem to be insurmountable problems in his mission, carried out against a ticking clock, the stakes are high and although resourceful, they face personal dilemmas along the way forcing them to make sacrifices for others.

Preliminary Task Part 2

Following on from the shooting of the preliminary task it was time for our footage to be edited. Our group of 4 split off into pairs and I worked with Eduarda to edit what we has shot.

Upon viewing the footage we had shot we were displeased to find that not all the shots aligned with one another. In one shot Eduarda would be holding the script up and in another the script would be held by her waist or another example would be one of the actresses would be standing in a different place to where she was stood in the shot before making the editing process of making each of the shots flow from one to the other seamlessly a challenge and much more difficult.

In an effort to resolve this and to make everything look better despite the flaws in our filming we used a technique Matt taught us called unlinking. Essentially the clip and the audio are as one and are shown as a pair on screen, however, we unlinked audio specifically from the close ups and cut out the audio we didn't want and replaced it with what we wanted to be there instead. I feel we did this very well as you could not tell that we has used this editing to our advantage. This technique saved our skin on this preliminary task and practically gave us the clips we wished we had filmed or done much better.

Reflecting back on our work I wish we had filmed more shots of each position and angle of the camera even if that had meant more time being spent. I feel this would have helped us so that our final clip was not as rushed and we had more options if some of the clips did not fit together properly. Our final product was particularly short because of this lack of footage. In my opinion my favourite shot and also the hardest shot that looked the best once edited into a sequence was the focus pull of the handle which initially instigated the start of the final piece.

Preliminary Task Part 1

      

  

We once again made our way down to the studio to shoot a new set of clips that will be put together to create a whole scene. However in this particular session we began one of two lessons about the preliminary task. The OCR definition of the preliminary task is:
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 exchanges a couple of lines of dialogue. This task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180 degree rule.

We were put into groups of 4 and given the story board shown above and each given a different location to shoot the scene. My group were put in the main studio which had a house set built into the centre that we used to make the task look realistic. The storyboard was basic but we had to shoot the scene from at least five different shots if not more. We firstly began by making the decision of where the camera should be placed for filming the establishing shot, As always we started with the safety shot (wide shot) to make sure that the whole scene and everything going on is easily visible. We made the choice that Eduarda and Ella will be the actresses reading and performing the script whilst me and Marija worked behind the camera. Although we were working in two separate halves we would continually stand in for one another and each person gave input as to what shots they thought would look best in this sequence. 

After filming the wide shot we began to shoot the other angles that were displayed on the storyboard. Although the storyboard was there for us to use it was only a guideline and other ideas were welcome to be tested to see if we could make our final tasks look better.and this allowed us to experiment with our newly found knowledge. We created a set of over the shoulder shots filmed from behind both Ella and Eduarda and we did 3 takes per side to make sure we had the best shot possible. Matt taught us that too many shots is never a problem and that it actually makes the later editing process easier because when one clip doesn't work there is always a back up, however, not enogh can lead to falling  behind if needing to re-shoot becomes a problem.

We then continued on to shoot some close up shots, we did full face close ups of both aElla and Eduarda but also close ups of just their eyes which although not on the story board we decided would be add to the sequence and build it up to make it more interesting to watch. After this Ella suggested we try a focus pull. I stepped into her spot while she helped Marija angle the camera, as a group we decided that we should have the camera on a close up shot of the door handle but the handle should be out of focus, after saying "action" we would then pull the shot to focus seconds before the door is opened by Eduarda.

Furthermore the whole shoot let me learn different ways of shooting only once scene and how input from other people can lead you to creating more interesting and gripping shots that I would not have yet thought of. I also realised the importance of shooting the same angle multiple times so that it doesn't matter if it ever goes wrong because there will always be back-up footage and this is something I will remember when I come to shoot my thriller sequence.

Editing Lesson

In this weeks studio session we were taught about editing footage. Matt gave us a set of tips and instructions as to how to edit rushers (unedited footage) and how we could create a sequence that fits together seamlessly to create the effect that a whole scene was filmed and created from many different angles all at once. We created the sequence with the footage that we shot in studio session 2. I worked with Molly and Eduarda when editing at we took it in turns to experiment the best ways to piece the sequence together.

We once again used the Premier Pro programme and used a variety of tools to create a short flowing scene. The Premier Pro programme can be used to edit footage of any size, from something small such as editing of a YouTube video, to something on a larger scale like creating a feature film. The unedited footage that we upload from the camera to the computer is known s "rushers". This name originates from when films were firstly being made at an earlier time and the film was rushed to be quickly developed overnight so it was ready to use the following day with no delays.

We placed the rushers into bins, bins are the names of the folders used to where the developed films would be separated to. Once placed into the bins we individually viewed each shot we took, doing this allowed us to have an over-view of our previous work as when shooting in the studio you never look at the footage until the editing process. It also let us see which pieces we shot will fit into the sequence, where they will fit and how it will look when its finished. When using this programme we were given very specific commands to use and even one wrong click could potentially ruin the entire editing process so we spent a lot of time after planning taking in the information and establishing what each key would achieve if pressed.

After we made the decision of which shots we wanted to used we began putting them into chronological order. If we wanted the shot to start slightly later that where we began filming we used the "I" key to establish the starting point we wanted. After creating a starting point we were satisfied with we dragged it down to the bottom right part of the screen where all shots eventually become arranged together. The most important rule with the drag and drop is to ensure that no pieces of footage overlap. When adding a clip some parts may need to be cut out of it to shorten the scene or allow two different angles to fit together perfectly, to do this we learned to use the razor tool to cut any particular part of the footage that is un-needed and we did this by pressing "C" in the keyboard as well as using the mouse. We ended up having a short sequence that looked professional and different to anything I have made before.

Camera Lesson 2

We went back into the studio for the second time to begin to learn the basics of film creation. We began the session by setting up the camera again the the same manor that we followed last week with extending the tripod, setting the spirit bubble, attaching the camera and battery and setting onto pan.

                    

We were first taught about the 180 degree rule and where it applies specifically to the art of filming and how we can remember to use it. The 180° rule in a cinematography guideline that states that two characters in a scene should generally maintain the same left/right relationship with each other. When the camera passes the invisible axis connecting the two subjects , it is called crossing the line and the shot becomes what is called a reverse angle.

Prior to this lesson i was unaware of what the 180 degree rule was yet it was something i have noticed before on the TV. I have noticed when i conversation takes place it is always shot on this line and is never crossed. Matt proceeded to describe the 180 degree rule using three detailed examples:
1) Matt's first example was the sequence he created using his toy bike, he filmed the bike driving across the table from the left to the right, after breaking this rule and filming it again it became apparent on screen that the bike was actually travelling from right to left making the shot look as if the bike was in the wrong direction.
2) Next he used an example of 2 people having a conversation with one another, once again upon breaking the rule and re shooting again it looked as if everything had been reversed and as if the two people have switched sides making the shot look inaccurate.
3) The last example is one that is used on TV regularly and if the rule is broken in this matter it will cause upset and that is using the rule at a football game. If the 180 degree rule is broken in a football match it can look as if a team is scoring in the wrong goal if the camera is to switch to the other side meaning points could be given incorrectly.

In Matt's first example of a toy bike sequence, he showed us exactly how he created this sequence and important things to remember when doing so. He began by choosing a side, left or right, and ensuring he kept within the 180 degree of that particular side he firstly shot a wide angle which is also refereed to as the "safety shot" it is known as this because even if other shots that are taken do not look good or do not fit in with the plan this shot can always be used as all important aspects can be seen. He then moved on to take a mid shit so that although not all of the set is visible the important aspects can be seen in more detail. Mid-shot meaning that the shot is closer to the object of interest but not so close it is the only aspect to appear on screen. Lastly Matt showed us how to film the close up of the bike. The camera was zoomed right into the bike and the lens was then focused meaning that it was the only part of the shot that was in full focus. These 3 shots were all shot from the same camera placement but the zoom and focus was slightly altered to fit the specific needs to make the shot look best.

Using the techniques we were shown by Matt we were placed into groups and created our own sequence. In my group was Tori, Harriet, Eduarda and Molly and we had Tori as the person of interest and her objective was to simply walk in and sit on a chair and leave approximately 3 seconds later. We took a variety of shots but of course as always started with the wide-angle shot. The other shots we did included: close up, close up (eyes), close up (mouth), side profile, feet, legs and feet, hands and a mid-shot. We learnt that the more shots you take the better the final product will be when edited.

Camera Lesson 1

On Friday 16th of September, we took our media lesson into the studio with Matt and Paul to have a hands on look at the camera that we will be using throughout the 2 year course and how to use it best.


We used the Black Magic camera for this lesson and we learned a lot about its functions. There were certain settings we needed to know and make sure were in place in order to use the cameras successfully. We took the tripod from the bag and began to set it up and learn how to tighten and loosen the bolts to make the tripod secure when it is at the height you want it to be. After learning of how to set up the tripod we learned about how to stop it from tilting but how to allow it to pan, this is important because it prevents the camera from falling off the tripod or the whole set up collapsing all together, meaning safety of both the people and the cameras are taken care of. We also learned that when the tripod is set up securely you must adjust the spirit level. A small yellow liquid circle is towards the back of the tripod and it has a small air bubble inside that must be exactly central before the camera can be placed onto the tripod and begin to be used.


We then moved forward and placed the camera securely onto the tripod, there is a small button that must be pushed when gliding the camera into the slot in order to keep it completely stationary. You push it down and slowly push the camera in to the slot and release the button before then locking it into place. There was a large battery which was attached onto the back of the camera that gave a loud and satisfying 'click' when in place, which ensured the camera did not die during our use of it.

We learned many important aspects of the camera, what they are for, and how they work. We first had a look at the SA (Shutter Angle) which indicates how blurry a moving camera shot will be. The shutter speed must remain on 180 when not in use for filming, however, the lower the shutter angle the less blurry the shot becomes and the higher it is the more blurry it becomes. We next looked at the white balance which essentially means making sure the colours look good on camera, when in an outside environment 5600 is the number the white balance should be set to and only 3200 when inside.

We then proceeded to look at the ISO, this is in control of the film speed and specifically how sensitive the camera is to the lighting which moved us swiftly onto learning about camera focus. When choosing a particular part in the room that was a far distance away you must twist the lens to zoom in to the place you wish to film, it will appear as an unrecognisable blur which brings us onto focusing the camera before zooming back out to create the clear shot.

The last piece of information we retrieved was how to adjust the exposure, this means making the shot either lighter or darker to make a clearer image. However I found this a particularly frustrating task because the blue part that adjusted the exposure was directly adjacent to the lens release button which if pressed can cause the lens to fall and break. I learned a lot in this lesson and whish to learn much more.

Connotation, Denatation, Mise-En-Scene

Connotation

A connotation is a subjective cultural and/or emotional coloration in addition to the explicit or denotative meaning of any specific word or phrase in a language.

Within contemporary society, connotation branches into a culmination of different meanings. These could include the contrast of a word or phrase with its primary, literal meaning (known as a denotation), with what that word or phrase specifically denotes. The connotation essentially relates to how anything may be associated with a word or phrase, for example, an implied value judgment or feelings.

Example: The denotation is that this is a red rose with a green stalk, but the connotation is that this symbolises love and passion.

Denotation

Denotation is the first level of analysis: What the audience can visually see on a page. Denotation often refers to something literal, and avoids being a metaphor. A denotation is the strict, literal, definition of a word, devoid of any emotion, attitude, or colour.

In logic, linguistics, and semiotics, a denotation of a word or phrase is a part of its meaning; however, several parts of meaning may take this name, depending on the contrast being drawn. Denotation can be synonymous with reference, and connotation with sense, in the sense and reference distinction in philosophy of language.

Example: The denotation is that this a cross but the connotation is that it is a symbol of religion, or even more specifically a symbol of Christian religion.

Mise-En-Scene

Mise en scène encompasses the most recognizable attributes of a film – the setting and the actors; it includes costumes and make-up, props, and all the other natural and artificial details that characterize the spaces filmed.  The term is borrowed from a French theatrical expression, meaning roughly “put into the scene”.  In other words, mise-en-scène describes the stuff in the frame and the way it is shown and arranged.  We have organized this page according to four general areas: setting, lighting, costume and staging. 

Tension within thriller

Venetic 2016 analysis (group work)

There were three major features which created tension: timing, sound & light and character

The group used a fade effect to elongate each title increasing the tension by drawing out the beginning and allowing for more tension to be built the pace was also slow to build to the climax of the scene when the monster attacks.

 As well as this the minimal lighting from torches and refection’s made the scene darker causing more tension. And the lighting also focused the audience’s attention to specific parts of the environment and how they are central to the narrative of the scene.

The main aspect that creates tension is how the scene progresses – the group is evidently matriarchal as she has control of the male characters and is constantly reminding them to keep quiet and seems to be in charge – she also looks for fuel whereas the men look for weapons which shows she may have a larger plan than survival – whereas the men are focused on fighting and the man who makes the spear seems older than the boy in the background who doesn’t really do anything but carry the map and examine some nails

In conclusion the scene effectively creates tension because of the acting and characters giving believable performances – the lighting disorientates, with its quick movement, and focuses attention to specific things in the scene such as the door or the map.