I used a variety of technology to aid me with the production of my opening title sequence. The camera and tripod were basic and as a result easy to use and setup. I was easily able to set them up in the required positons and shoot my film in the required time.
The editing software i used was that of which is used by alot of major film/TV companies and therefore required me to look up alot of ways in which it can be used. As i was doing this i started to generate ideas on how i wanted my film to look. After using all these technologies i would say you dont need to spend alot on money on cameras, software, tripods ect, to create a good and effective looking sequence.
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
Music - Teardrop - Massive Attack
Films include music because they help make sequences flow and add to tension, suspense and other elements that are built up throughout all the genres of films. Thrillers use specific types of music as they only need to create specific elements (Tension, Confusion).
I chose this piece of music to sit behind my film due to the fact it helps add confusion and suspense to my opening sequence. The beat at the start of the music track relates to my film because it goes with that of a heart beat. The fact that it gradully speeds up also relates in due to the fact that in the opening sequence the second character is trying to escape from the first, which as he is running away, would increase the rate of his heart.
It also totally contradicts what the film is about because it is generally a quite happy and upbeat song. This helps to add to the confusion that is created by the sequence and draws in the audience to start thinking about whats going on and what is to come.
I chose the music that i was going to use before i started work on my actual film, as this allowed me to construct my film around the beat of the music and to help it flow throughout the piece.
I chose this piece of music to sit behind my film due to the fact it helps add confusion and suspense to my opening sequence. The beat at the start of the music track relates to my film because it goes with that of a heart beat. The fact that it gradully speeds up also relates in due to the fact that in the opening sequence the second character is trying to escape from the first, which as he is running away, would increase the rate of his heart.
It also totally contradicts what the film is about because it is generally a quite happy and upbeat song. This helps to add to the confusion that is created by the sequence and draws in the audience to start thinking about whats going on and what is to come.
I chose the music that i was going to use before i started work on my actual film, as this allowed me to construct my film around the beat of the music and to help it flow throughout the piece.
Evaluation - Distribution and Audience
The mass use of effects and CGI mean that it would be unlikely that a small film producing company would have the cash to make a good job of my film meaning that a large hollywood company would be better of producing it. The overall distribution would start in major countries like USA and Britain and then if it was a success would move into other countries around the world. There is also a possibility of sequals as they could follow the team of investigators in another case or the killer could strike again. The fact that my film could have sequals would also help with making big companies make my film as it will mean more income in the long run.
The mise-en-scene used throughtout the film is that of your typical clothing, scenery and natural light. This means that not many props and special lighting and such will be needed saving companies money. Advertisement would be reasonbly easy to produce as it could just show an image of a main bit in the film or a sentance/selection of words relating to what happens throughout the film (Murder, Revenge, ect..).
The main certificate age that i would be aiming for would be a 15+ due to the fact that there are scenes that involve gore and violence. However there will not be to much to push that up to an 18 due to the fact that would cut off a large amount of the main audience that would watch this film. The fact that alot of 15-18 year olds would watch my film is because most of the film revolves around the past life of the victim in my sequence who is around the age of 16-17. I do not believe it would suit a 12+ not just because of the fact it involve violence and gore but i dont think it would appeal to younger children as they prefer comedy/Action films, and not films that involve a large and ever developing storyline.
The audience for our film will mostly consist of British/American people, but, if it becomes a popular or reasonably well liked film it would be distributed internationaly and therefore target a much vaster audience. The fact that it would be filmed in Britain and America also means that it would appeal more to British and American citizens.
The mise-en-scene used throughtout the film is that of your typical clothing, scenery and natural light. This means that not many props and special lighting and such will be needed saving companies money. Advertisement would be reasonbly easy to produce as it could just show an image of a main bit in the film or a sentance/selection of words relating to what happens throughout the film (Murder, Revenge, ect..).
The main certificate age that i would be aiming for would be a 15+ due to the fact that there are scenes that involve gore and violence. However there will not be to much to push that up to an 18 due to the fact that would cut off a large amount of the main audience that would watch this film. The fact that alot of 15-18 year olds would watch my film is because most of the film revolves around the past life of the victim in my sequence who is around the age of 16-17. I do not believe it would suit a 12+ not just because of the fact it involve violence and gore but i dont think it would appeal to younger children as they prefer comedy/Action films, and not films that involve a large and ever developing storyline.
The audience for our film will mostly consist of British/American people, but, if it becomes a popular or reasonably well liked film it would be distributed internationaly and therefore target a much vaster audience. The fact that it would be filmed in Britain and America also means that it would appeal more to British and American citizens.
Thriller Main Sequence/Evaluation
This is my opening sequence to a crime Thriller that i designed and created myself. The applications i used were Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere. These allowed me to do and achieve more advanced effects than that which are given in applications like windows moviemaker ect... The idea behind the wall and the plaster in the background and foreground of the film is that the character who has just killed the other character is an ecaped convict/psychopath whos aim in life is to basically kill people. The bricks disappearing and reappearing ect is the idea of him escaping by either digging or slowly removing the bricks.
My opening sequence is of the Thriller genre and there for does challenge and develope the forms and coventions of these types of films.
As with all thrillers, my film is intended to create confusion and tension from the very start. It makes you think of what the characters are doing, why are they doing certain things and most of all what was the reason for character two's death. This is all helped along by my choice of music. I chose this piece because i believed that it fitted in well with my overall film. Also i thought that the start of the song could represent a heartbeat getting faster as the musci develops. This ties in with my film because character two is trying to get away from/lose character one, and as a result his heartbeat would be getting gradually faster. This all relates to the Thriller genre because it builds up anticipation, Tension and confusion over the brief period that it is playing and as a result makes people want to watch on.
An other convention that i used, and that most thrillers incorparate in there films is the sense of a ordinary person being dragged into an extraordinary situation. This is shown in my film right at the start when you first see that character two is being follwed leading to you believing that something is going to happen to him. The way my film works also makes the audience think about who the victim of the sequence was due to the fact there are very few shots of his actual face/whole body, resulting in the audience feeling pity for the character as he is presented as an innocent teenager.
When viewing my film it is reasonably obvious that my sequence falls under the crime/horror Thriller catergory. The use of sharp quick cuts of objects covered with blood that flicker up as the film is still playing help scare/make viewers wonder what is to come in the rest of the film. It was a series of films (se7en) and TV series (spooks) which helped me come up with the overall rough idea of my opening clip and with the effects used it captures the audiences attention right away.
The audience my film is aimed at is the 15+ range as no decent thriller has a certificate below 15+. The use of a teenager as a main character helps focus it on the younger generation rather than the older, however the fact that it is classed as a Crime thriller will draw the attention of the older generation because around the 1950's - 1980's most thrillers were to do with murder or some sort of extreme crime. The fact that both the characters are protrayed as very normal people helps people to relate to them and to feel emotional over there deaths/losses ect...
Preliminary Task/Evaluation and Technology
This is the video for our Preliminary Task, which basically shows the use of different camera shots and fast cuts to make a generally boring scene more interesting, effective and fun to watch.
To create this we made a very basic plan of what we wanted to achieve and then we went out and filmed it. As we were filming it we added some extra parts and also removed bits that didnt seem to work.
By making a preliminary task i was able to see whether quick shots/cuts would be better for my thriller or whether long/slow cuts would suit it more. I would say that by making this i was able to expand my skills when it came to making my Thriller, by using different software and by spending alot more time planning the piece and creating it. It helped give me ideas on what worked and what did not and how much special effects and different camera shots would be needed to make my thriller interesting.
We used Adobe Premiere to help us piece together this short film. By doing this it enabled me to get used to the software so that i new what buttons did what and what was where ect. This made sure that i was fully prepared for when it came to using it for my main task. it also allowed me to see the strenghs and weaknesses of the software itself and gave me the chance to see if the shots/effects i wanted to achieve would be possible or not.
Very few problems where encounterd along the way, the only main problem was getting all the shots to flow and be/suit the music that we decided to use.
All the equipment used was basic stuff that you could buy from any shop, and yet it was all very easy to use and produced a good quality film. With the combination of this equipment and the software used the outcome was of a good quality.
Monday, 27 April 2009
Storyboards and Planning
These are the steps i went through as i was planning my final film sequence. Starts from bottum to top. I began with thinking of a name for my film. After this i started to plan how it would go and what sort of transitions, effects i wanted and the sort of camera angles and cuts that i would use to make my thriller sequence interesting to watch.
Sunday, 26 April 2009
Main Task/Preliminary Task Brief
For our main task we were asked to create the opening credits to a film, which was to last for a maximum of two minutes. Because we had already studied alot of thrillers and it was decided that this would be the obvious choice to make, as we were more familiar with this genre.
To begin with i had to decide what sort of thriller i was going to create, such as Action Thriller, Horror thriller ect... i shortly analysed two thrillers (Psycho from the 1960's, and the more recent Se7en) to see how they created there opening sequences. After i had decided which genre to use i developed my ideas and began to produce storyboards and research into my film until i had a rough idea of what i wanted to produce.
For our Preliminary task we had to create a 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. The task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule. Refer back to previous posts.
To begin with i had to decide what sort of thriller i was going to create, such as Action Thriller, Horror thriller ect... i shortly analysed two thrillers (Psycho from the 1960's, and the more recent Se7en) to see how they created there opening sequences. After i had decided which genre to use i developed my ideas and began to produce storyboards and research into my film until i had a rough idea of what i wanted to produce.
For our Preliminary task we had to create a 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. The task should demonstrate match on action, shot/reverse shot and the 180-degree rule. Refer back to previous posts.
Thriller Opening
I chose to base my film on a typical sort of Crime thriller, where one character for some reason decides to kill another character, and then as the film contiues it pieces together why and how that crime was committed.
My thriller, title sequence is going to be based on the one in Se7en. I like this sequence because it makes you think about what is going on and what the man/women in the clip is doing. The music also makes the scene tense due to the fact it is quiet and jumpy, and makes you feel unwelcomed towards the person in the clip. Also the fact that the text is never at anypoint still and always moving creates a sense of uncertainty about the film. I also like the idea that you never see the persons face throughout the whole sequence. This adds a mystery factor to the piece.
My thriller, title sequence is going to be based on the one in Se7en. I like this sequence because it makes you think about what is going on and what the man/women in the clip is doing. The music also makes the scene tense due to the fact it is quiet and jumpy, and makes you feel unwelcomed towards the person in the clip. Also the fact that the text is never at anypoint still and always moving creates a sense of uncertainty about the film. I also like the idea that you never see the persons face throughout the whole sequence. This adds a mystery factor to the piece.
Thriller Opening Sequence Analysis
I am now going to do a quick analysis of the opening sequece to Psycho to get a good idea of the ways in which editing and music are used in the opening sequence and to see what (if any) shots are used.
The opening sequence to Psycho is very basic, and yet very effective. The music used creates a sense of tension and suspense right from the start when you dont even know what the film is going to be about. The Editing/Transitions it uses are way ahead of its time as it was produced without the aid of modern graphics applications,and made instead entirly by stop frame animation. The fact that the transitions and text move to the sound of the music help to make the sequence flow. But the way they have made the transitions wipe in from alternate sides brings in a sense of confusion and maybe gives away the fact that nothing will be as it seems. The opening sequence was created by a man called Saul Bass. For Alfred Hitchcock, Bass provided effective, memorable title sequences, employing kinetic typography (the technical name for "moving text").
The opening sequence to Psycho is very basic, and yet very effective. The music used creates a sense of tension and suspense right from the start when you dont even know what the film is going to be about. The Editing/Transitions it uses are way ahead of its time as it was produced without the aid of modern graphics applications,and made instead entirly by stop frame animation. The fact that the transitions and text move to the sound of the music help to make the sequence flow. But the way they have made the transitions wipe in from alternate sides brings in a sense of confusion and maybe gives away the fact that nothing will be as it seems. The opening sequence was created by a man called Saul Bass. For Alfred Hitchcock, Bass provided effective, memorable title sequences, employing kinetic typography (the technical name for "moving text").
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