Evaluation

This is our final thriller film opening sequence.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

My thriller film includes many generic conventions such as

·         Low-key lighting

·         Suspense and shock

·         Generic camera shots such as over the shoulder

We did not develop these ideas further which made our thriller seem very basic.

·         We were influences by the thriller ‘it’ the movie is about a clown that can change into people’s worst fears, our thriller played on people’s fears.

How does your media product represent particular social groups?

·         My thriller represents women as vulnerable and weak characters which is common in thriller movies.

·         The villain is played by a male which portrays him as dominant.

·         The baby is as vulnerable as a character can get because of its innocence.

What kind of media institution might distribute your media product and why?

·         I believe that my thriller film would only be in internet release.

·         It only appeals to a specific type of person therefore it wouldn’t necessarily be release in cinema.

·         It is not up to the standards to be a cinema release.

Who would be the audience for your media product?

·                                               ·  A person who isn’t afraid of clowns.

·                                              ·     A person to enjoys these type of thriller films

·                                             ·    My film would probably appear more to men than women.

What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing the product?

·         I’ve learnt how to properly use a camera and get specific camera shots.

·         I’ve learnt how to use several programme’s such as logic.

·         I’ve learnt how to make things work with limited resources.

here is the sound of my evaluation.
Jona by user9470936

Production and post-production.

Group Roles

Jordan-Director/Producer (in charge of organization and final production)
Jordans job was to film the thriller film and

Daniel-Location/Lighting (In charge of choosing suitable locations)

Anthony-Camera/sound (In charge of the camera equipment)

Yona-Make-up/Hair/Props (In charge of costumes and props)

During the production my main role was to be the makeup director, firstly I put the face-paint on our clown actor which was quite difficult as we didn’t have a brush however I instead used my hands. I then had to dress myself up as I Was the main character in our opening sequence, I lastly had to make something which looked like a baby in a blanket, I did this by gathering around 5 toys and putting them into a blanket, the result was quite good. One of the dilemmas that we faced while filming was achieving a low lit room, I had the idea to place a black glove around one of the bulbs and the outcome was very good and we got what we aiming for. Another difficulty that we face while filming was achieving the right camera shots in a very cramped surrounding, we found a way around this by changing the position of the camera and some of the shots.

Camera angles and shots we used

Tracking shot- to show the girl walking around the house and to build up suspense as the audience’s eyes are following her.

Over the shoulder shot-to show the character through the eyes of the villain, helps the audience identify with the vulnerable teenage girl.

Low angle shot-to show the eye line of the clown, the audience is looking at the girl from his eye.

High angle

Extreme long shot-to show the surroundings of the clown and to add suspense to the shot as the clown is small yet evil.

I dressed the clown on set and this was what his costume looked like.

During the filming this was the outcome for my clown make-up, I was pleased with it however the consistency of the white powder was crumbly and did not convey the look I was going for.

 

Post-production
During post-production my main role was to be the editor with Jordan the director. I firstly found this role extremely difficult as ‘Final Cut pro’ is a complicated programme, however over time I became more comfortable with it. Editing is a very important part of making a film and I learnt a great deal throughout my experience, I learnt how to make scenes shorter and how to add motion blur. Me and the director choose the most important scenes and then cut it all down into two minutes which then gave us our finished product.

We only had a week to edit our thriller and our group chose me and Jordan to do this job, we started off with around 3 minutes and thirty seconds of footage of which we had to cut down as our thriller is only allowed to be two minutes long.We cut down clips that were unneeded in our film such a long tracking shot and a shot of the girl sitting down.

From my experience in making a two minute thriller opening I have learnt that it is a long hard process to getting everything right, there is a lot of thinking that needs to take place and one small mistake can make you rethink the whole thing. I have learnt how to use a camera and I have also learnt how to get desired camera angles.

Pre-production

My initial idea was that we would film a young girl walking home; she would then arrive at this huge block of flats. As she got into the elevator a dirty hand stopped the door from closing and a creepy looking man entered the elevator alongside her. The lights ten begin to flicker until they get to the 6^th floor. The door then opens and the man walks dragging out a huge bag. The girl is no longer in the elevator.

The narrative that I and my group chose was very simple yet effective; a young teenage girl is babysitting for her auntie, when she hears the young child crying, she goes up to check on him and she spots a terrifying clown doll staring at her in the corner, she is first scared however she realises it’s just a doll so she calms the baby and goes back down stairs and returns to watching TV, she then see’s the baby monitor go off a second time, she rushes upstairs and the room has been torn apart, the clown is no longer there and the baby is crying very loud. She then see’s a shadow outside the window, she nervously walks closer and closer towards the window and then open the curtain, she is shocked when she sees the clown doll outside in the garden, staring at her.

The main hair and makeup that I would have to complete is the clown, I’ve taken inspiration from the movie ‘killjoy’ and the 1990’s horror ‘it’. In both the films the clowns face has been painted on, I think painting on the face is more effective than a mask because the audience can see the facial expressions more clearly and get an intensified sense of terror.

 

The costume I have chosen is from http://www.argos.co.uk/, the costume is colourful and bright because I think it will have a real contrast with the genre of the film. The costume is £6:36 and also includes the hat,the costume will suit the makeup I have decided to use.    

 

The main other character in our film is a teenage babysitter, I have decided to make her look like your average teenage girl, her hair will be straight and her makeup will be basic (mascara and lip-gloss), she should wear jeans and a plain vest top. I will firstly use whiteface paint as a base on the clown character, white is the best base because it makes the clown look scarier and ghost like, then I will only paint a red circle on the clowns nose like in the film ‘killjoy’. I will put heavy eye-liner around the clown’s eye and I will also pain a black spike begging from the eyebrow and continuing down to the eye, I want to extenuate the clown’s mouth and make it look bigger with red lipstick.

Props- we will need a phone for when the parents send the babysitter the text

Genre

Comedies are cheerful and light-hearted plots which are purposely made to amuse people and make them laugh with jokes and humorous narratives. Comedies usually enhance the action, the characters and the situation for comedic effect. There are different types of comedies including romantic comedies, black comedy (dark comedy), spoofs and parodies and slapstick.

Action films are very high energy films, filled with high-budget physical stunts and cars chases they are used to excite the audience. Action films are often adventurous and with the common narrative of the   good guys trying to defeat the ‘bad guys’. Actions films are packed with non-stop motion.

Horror films are made to terrify and play on our fears and insecurities; they are designed to frighten us. They are highly entertaining to watch. Horror movies are usually fantasy or supernatural related. There are many categories of horror moves e.g. satanic, serial killers and teen horrors.

Adventure films usually consist of exhilarating storied, with different experiences and exotic locations such as Jungles and desserts. Adventure films take you on a journey with them; they are filled with treasure hunts and disasters.

Thriller films are quite hard to define; this is because they can cover such a huge variety of films. There are many sub-genres of thriller films such as action and drama thrillers. Action thrillers Consists of a lot of violence and a clear main character may also include large amounts of explosions and guns, they normally include large grand sets, good example of an action thriller is ‘Casino Royale’, it is filled with violence and lavish sets. A serial killer is also a very common thriller, it is usually a detective trying to catch a serial killer and stop him from terrorizing a group of people, this type of thriller if often very gruesome and explicit. In Physiological Thrillers there is barely any physical fighting between characters, the argument is often emotional and mental. There are many other sub genres of thriller films.

Sin city analysis

Cinematography.

The films begins with a long shot of a female protagonist, this establishes the environment which is sinister and dark. The most commonly used shots throughout the opening were close ups and midshots, this engrosses the audience in the couples conversation. The screen then zooms into the woman’s face which shows the rising tension in her facial features, this confuses the audience as they do not know why this is happening. The male is represented as the dominant figure by the panning up from the woman’s face when she leans into him. The mixture of a low angle shot and zooming out is very striking as it always the audience to take in what is happening at the pinnacle of the scene. Lastly the camera becomes more unstable which creates realism.

Editing

The editing mainly consists of straight cuts which help the flow of the movie, they increase realism and creates a sense of continuity. Surprisingly during the murder the editing does not change apart from a flash of white when the trigger is pulled, this suggests that the male character is calm and used to murdering people.

Sound

The sound used in the scene is quite subtle yet efficient. The solemn non diegetic music corresponds to the scene and emphasizes the environment as gloomy and sinister. The non-diegetic male narrator adds great mystery to the scene. The scene is overall calm which then highlights the gun shot, the pace of the music does not change so the audience do not expect to hear a loud bang.

Mise-en-scene

The female character is wearing a red dress and red lipstick which makes her stand out against the black and white surroundings, red represents danger and lust, she is seen as a temptress. The male is wearing a suit which represents sophistication and suits are often associated with mobsters or hitmen.The glistening silver gun has no blood on it after the murder, which presents a clean rehearsed kill

In traditional lighting, the three-point lighting is normally used.It consists of a key light, a fill light, and a back light for even illumination.

Key light-Brightest and main source of lighting for a subject, creates the primary shadows, the key light is also the strongest light which helps to illuminate the subject.

Back light-The light falls on a performer from behind which makes it easier to differentiate the subject from the background, it illuminates the subject from behind and can also be called a rim light

 Top lighting-Main source of lighting comes from above which essentially makes the subject look more alluring as it emphasizes the features.

Types of lighting

Low key lighting- Lighting in which a dreary level of illumination is achieved. The shot will primarily consist of darkness and shadows.

High key lighting-More bright areas than shadows, also aims to reduce the contrast in a scene. It creates a light mood.

  Filler lights-Help to lessen shadows that are created by other lights.

Sound

Sound code- Music is a sound code and the type of music in a text can convey a great deal of information, about the mood and tone of the text. Such as tension and emotions can be helped by the music.

Diegetic sound-Music or sound that belongs with a frame, can be considered to be a natural part of the narrative but it not always visible on the screen.

Non diegetic sound-Sounds that are added on in the film editing,un-natural sounds, e.g the soundtrack.

Rhythm-Rhythm of the music can dictate the rhythm of cuts. Such as in a fight scene to create tension.

Silence-creates tension and suspense.

Voice over narration-When dialogue is added on In the editing stage and is usually used to explain things that have already happened , or to give and insight.

sound bridge-Can be used as a bridge to maintain continuity in a sequence by running a soundtrack under a series of images to link them together. Or to create a transition from one scene to another.

Parallel sound-when the sound and image compliment each other.

The purpose of sound in a movie is to add suspense,tone and emotion,it helps the audience understand the narrative on a whole.

The sound in this fight scene from 'X Men 2' is

Is non dietetic, the sound needs to be added in during editing because no human could make the animalistic sounds that the created was making, the punches have also been added on after to emphasize the power of each blow. When the creature disappears and reappears a loud swoosh noise takes place which marks his importance to the scene.

Charlie's Angels fight scene.

When the soundtrack first begins, the music keeps a very steady beat and pace which matches the characters running. The music then picks up more of a beat as the women are being shot at which adds a sense of excitement. The music then gets more intense as the woman finally start attacking the man this adds a sense of victory.

Analysis of sound in the thriller 'Seven'

The film ‘Seven’ begins with diegetic sound, the background noises consist of the radio, traffic noises from the surrounding area, and water running in the flat. Further on dialogue is then introduced between two characters explaining the situation so that the audience gets more of an understanding of the circumstances. Then more diegetic  sounds are introduced such as rain, cars, everyday street noises, after this police sirens are clearly heard which suggests what the film is going to entail and also what genre it may be. When the scene goes back into the bedroom the sound of the outside is concealed until completely dimmed out. The sound of a metronome becomes the main sound being used,  which builds up the suspense and tension in the scene and leaves the audience in anticipation. Lastly when the opening credits begin, a non-diegetic soundtrack of electronic sounds and the beat of drums is used, this creates a creepy atmosphere to the opening of the film.

In my thriller I entail to mainly use soundtrack and silence, the soundtrack will consist of low and deep sounds, I will intensify the music at the pinnacle of the action in my thriller to amplify the suspense and shock, silence is a common convention in a thriller  film because the audience are left in complete mystery, they do not know what it going to happen or when to expect it and silence helps to do this.