Evaluative Report.

Evaluative Report.

Me and my group were given the task making a 3 minute thriller mini film. We were then asked to pick a sub-genre for the thriller and we decided to do a psychological thriller. We then decided what roles we would be given within the group and my group and I decided that I would do the editing because I had the most experience with it. We had set dates to complete each task by.

We all had to do research on our given roles. I research all the editing techniques that are used when making a psychological thriller. I found out that a lot of montages are involved and that the filters used for the filming are usually dark to add suspense and help to re-enforce the thriller conventions. I looked into the conventions and iconography of the genre and sub-genre to help us get a better understanding and knowledge of it. This helps to attract the correct target audience for our film. This is because the audience will look for these conventions within the film to attract them to watching it. Watching the opening to the film 'Memento' i saw some interesting ways to challenge some conventions of the psychological thriller but still include some strong conventions to the genre. Some of the iconography that i found was similar to most thriller iconography such as, Shadows, Confined places and weaponry. This help my group and I to get a better understanding of what to include in the film to help strengthen  the conventions of the genre.

We used the internet to research on what is included with psychological thrillers. I found out about the conventions and iconography of the genre as well as different editing techniques involved with the editing and final cut of different films. We also used own experience which we learnt in lesson and from our own knowledge to figure out the different features and functions of the sub-genre to help improve the ideas for the film. We drew our own storyboards to help us come up with individual ideas. We then compared and contrasted our different ideas to make our film have the correct conventions and iconography to match a psychological thriller but we also managed to include ideas so that we could also challenge them. In the end, we added different elements from our storyboards together but to stick with the story of one of them so that we didn't have to re-write another whole storyboard and waste filming and editing time.

The genre of our chose will have a target audience of 15+, this is because of the psychological element about the film and that young teens and children will not understand. I believe that my chose of target audience is good because if the audience doesn't understand the genre and purpose of the film then there is no point in watching it and it makes the film irrelevant. I also asked people of my own age group what their favorite elements of the genre our. Most of them said, "My favorite element of a psychological thriller is the plot twist that normally happens within any good psychological thriller." This helped me to plan what type of ideas i would use within the film to help make the audience happy and at least satisfied with the film. Others also said. "I enjoy the mystery that is unfolded throughout a psychological thriller." This helped me to create ideas about involving a hidden mystery that the audience will be wishing to find out so that they stay focused and intrigued on the film.  "

The film will involve challenged and original conventions of a psychological thrillers such as the plot twist and the reality vs. illusion convention. This will cause the film to be more interesting and gripping on the audience which will help to attract the target audience we are looking for. The feedback from the people I asked and the research that i carried out helped me to come up with some ideas on how the conventions can be challenged but stay relevant to the genre that i have chosen.

Our final storyboard has both its strengths and weaknesses. I believe that we have stuck to the conventions of the genre well and managed to challenge them at the same time. We also managed the timing of the film so that when it is finished it shall meet the 3 minute task. But, we could of spend more time planning and constructing ideas about the film at the start instead of just sticking to one idea and then trying developing them later on as we film our movie.

Word count- 779

- Nathan Hardwick

Evaluative report of AS coursework draft

 Evaluative report of AS coursework draft - Zaki Dowd

Section 1) 

The task we were set was to create an opening sequence for a thriller film. In groups of 4 we were to choose a typical thriller sub-genre for the production and then individually come up with ideas for the film. We also had to draw a detailed storyboard that showed camera movement and clear director instructions. The opening sequence had to be three minutes long, include the film title and credits, positively establish the chosen genre and target audience, and clearly show common conventions of the chosen thriller film. We chose to do a psychological thriller. We also did research into our chosen sub genre, we evaluated psychological thriller openings. I evaluated the opening for the movie 'se7en' which is a very we'll known psychological crime thriller. I chose this films opening sequence as it includes many typical psychological thriller conventions. The purpose of this research was to identify common thriller conventions e.g. certain shot types, camera angles, film noir and to be able to identify them when watching a film. In my research I also identified the target audience for my thriller, aged between 15 and 60. This is because, to understand a good thriller the viewer must engage in the story and keep interested in it. The viewer must be old enough and mature enough to understand the film and also young enough to not get bored and not bother with the film. The target audience for many psychological thrillers are 18, this is because they include a lot of violence and some psychological issues which can be disturbing for many younger viewers. My thriller however, will only be aged from 15 as it will not include any content which will disturb the viewer. The gender of the viewer is not very important as it depends on the persons personal preference, regardless of their gender. However, in my thriller, the viewer will have to put up with a bit of blood and fighting, which typically men prefer and women do not. Because of this the movie may be slightly more appealing to men. However it is more to do with the persons personal preference of film, whether they are male or female. The viewer must also have an interest in the sub genre of the film (psychological thriller) so they can engage and relate with things in the movie and follow clues and hints hidden in the story. overall my target audience which i am aiming to attract are 15+ males or females interested in psychological thrillers. The movie will have a age rating of 15+ as it will contain aspects of violence, death and a character with psychological problems. However i am not rating it an 18+ as the content is not overly explicit and teenager will enjoy the movie§ as adults. Psychological thrillers with similar target audiences include ‘Memento’ - directed by Christopher Nolan, ‘Se7en’ - directed by David Fincher and ‘Silence of the Lambs’ - Directed by Jonathon Demme.

Section 2) 

From the research i carried out i learned how to identify thriller sub genres. A way of doing this is using Lacey’s Repertoire of Elements, this is a useful framework to follow when analysing genre. Lacey breaks a texts down into these five areas to identify the elements in each:

• Narrative - (a spoken or written account of connected events)
• Iconography - (symbolic representation, especially the conventional meanings attached to an image, images or an object)
• Characters - (The characters in the film)
• Setting - (The position, direction, or way in which something, such as an automatic control, is set.
• Style - (The way in which something is said, done, expressed, or performed e.g. camerawork, editing)

From doing my research i have added certain things into my opening which i would not have thought of before. For example, from watching the opening scene from ‘Memento’ it gave me the idea of playing the opening scene backwards. This was interesting because i had never seen this before and made it very memorable. Another example was watching the opening scene for ‘Heat’ gave me the idea to have an establishing shot of a busy road in a city to open the first scene. I asked 4 people from the age group i had selected (15-60) what aspects of psychological thrillers they most enjoy. I asked one 16 year old boy, one 16 year old girl, one middle aged man, and another 16 year old boy. The two 16 year old boys and the 16 year old girl all said that “the best aspect of psychological thrillers are the plot twists and changes in the film”. However the middle aged man i asked said that “a psychological thriller must have a solid storyline and not have too much going on so it is hard to understand.” This showed that it is obviously much easier to engage in a film if you are younger than older, it also showed me the different aspects of a psychological thriller which people most enjoy, this helped me plan my opening by giving me guidelines of what people want to see in a psychological thriller and helped me think of ideas to use.  

Word count: 870

Zaki Dowd

Jack Colling Evaluative report final version

Jack Colling

Section 1:

Brief:

To film, and edit our own thriller opening sequence with our own choice in sub genre e.g psychological or crime thriller. The opening has to be two to 3 minutes long, and each member of the group has to head a section of its creation. For example one person would be in charge of filming and one person in charge of sound ext.

Thriller opening sequence analysis:

The dark knight rises:

The opening sequence to the dark knight rises is thrilling right from the start as it follow the usual thriller conventions. For example the film features this deep, mysterious background music which builds an exiting atmosphere into the opening sequence. The film doen’t hold back information like most thrillers do because it reveals the main character two minutes into the film and the action starts immediately which draws the viewer into the film immediately.

Leon:

The film leon does follow ordinary thriller conventions as right from the start of the film the main character “Leon” is sent to assassinate a man, this is thrilling in many ways as the director uses a small amount of film noir as the opening scene is shot in the shadows with intense beams of light shining through the bullet holes in the wall. However towards the end of the opening sequence the main character come across a small child, this is quite out of the ordinary as most thrillers do not feature children in them.

Target audience:

The target audience for our product 16 and over.

1.    James Taylor:

James likes a psychological thriller which builds up the picture of what is going on throughout and then at the end of the film there should be a dramatic twist which no one was expecting to shock the viewer.

2.    Liam Griggs:

Liam likes a psychological thriller to be very in depth and complex like the film “Shutter island” where the viewer thinks they understand the film completely and then at the end of the film it turns out that everything that they thought was correct was completely wrong.

3.    Joseph Gruby:

Joseph likes a psychological thriller to be complex and interesting but for it to feature film noir techniques to help build suspense and depth.

4.    Ross Keeling:

Ross likes a psychological thriller to be dark and quite sinister with a slight element of complexity but it should feature a lot of jump scares throughout the film.

5.    Kirsty lilley:

6.    Kirsty likes a psychological thriller to be complex and in depth but to have a fair amount of horror mixed in with it to make the film a gory thriller.

Storyboard preparation

·      Artificial lighting (carbon filament, light orange glow, street lamps)

·       Sub genres(psychological, hint of horror, element of crime)

·      Sound(background, foley sounds e.g character footsteps)

·      Character(secretive not much is known about him

2.

Shots:

·      Panning/establishing shot- used to establish the setting and can be used to set atmosphere for the film.

·      Close ups extreme close ups-used in a thriller to show fear or distress

·      POV- uses in a thriller in a intense part of the film to put empathy onto the people viewing the film

Section 2

The elements which I found most useful when regarding the pre production process was what people wanted the thriller to be like. For example the majority of people that I asked wanted a psychological thriller to be complex and interesting in order to make the viewer really think about what is going on in the film, “thriller to be very in depth and complex”.

The research that I did influenced my storyboard ideas greatly. For example I used flash backs with a blurred, out of focus effect to make sure that I didn’t give away lots of information about the film and held most of the information back from the viewer to give a element of mystery to my opening sequence. There is also a slight element of horror in my opening sequence due to one person saying that they like a thriller with a slight “element of horror”. After looking at some psychological thrillers I found that they almost always feature a house as the “main” setting, the story line mostly involves family whether some one has died or gone missing e.g a small child. It is for that reason that my opening sequence features a house as the setting and the base line of the story as about a family going missing.

The research that I did influenced my storyboard ideas greatly. For example I used flash backs with a blurred, out of focus effect to make sure that I didn't give away lots of information about the film and held most of the information back from the viewer to give a element of mystery to my opening sequence. There is also a slight element of horror in my opening sequence due to one person saying that they like a thriller with a slight “element of horror”. After looking at some psychological thrillers I found that they almost always feature a house as the “main” setting, the story line mostly involves family whether some one has died or gone missing e.g a small child. It is for that reason that my opening sequence features a house as the setting and the base line of the story as about a family going missing.

Section 3
Sound:

• "The first shot needs to have no wind noise" We responded by re filming our establishing shot on a day when the air was still so that there was no longer any un-wanted wind noise.
• "Add in a discrete sound when the main character is revealed" we responded by enhancing some of the normal sounds that featured in the shot.
• We noticed that we didn't have any sound effects which is why we added in sounds of intense heavy breathing and a strong heartbeat soundtrack.
• "It ended quite abruptly" we responded by taking a camera out overnight and we filmed a extra two minutes which left our total time at 2 minutes and 45 seconds after editing.
• "No credits or titles" We responded by adding in the title of our film over our establishing shot and putting the credits into shot number 2.

What parts of our production are effective and why?

After we had acted on our feedback I believe that our second shot is effective as the footage has been reversed and fades in and out to give the effect of someone fading in and out of consciousness, in-between the fades we added in the credits (Directed by...) we also changed the opacity of the shot to give the effect of it being in the past.

What parts of our product were less effective?

The shot of someone being held off of a roof top is the less effective part of our final cut because we recorded a Foley sound of someone screaming and shouting. However after we added this into the film we found that it didn't quite fit as it did not sound realistic. 

When I compared our final cut footage to the film Shutter Island I saw that our final cut was indeed worse because the film Shutter Island had a bigger budget than us so they used professional people and software to edit, record and cast their film which is why it is sleeker and easier to understand. The main item was the cinematography and camera work used in Shutter Island as the director used many different shots and they were so well used. For example he used a helicopter to do an amazing high angle long shot of the island he also had lightening and storm sounds going on intensively in the background, this set the atmosphere amazingly even before the actors started acting.

Evaluative report- Andrew Wilson

Evaluative Report

Section 1:       

The brief for our production task was to create an opening sequence for a thriller film. In groups of 3-4 we were to choose a classic sub-genre for the production and then individually come up with ideas for the film and to produce a suitable storyboard that showed exceptional camera movement and clear director instructions. The opening sequence had to be three minutes long, include the film title and credits, positively establish the chosen genre/atmosphere/and audience, and fulfil the expected conventions of a thriller film.

         The research that we undertook was to gain a greater understanding in what is expected of a classic thriller film and to know the techniques and actions that are taken by the director. A component of our research was to watch the film L.A. Confidential and then use our knowledge of the film to write how it uses thriller and film noir conventions, such as the usage of mistaken identity, a motif for motivation, and the storyline taking unexpected twists etc. Another piece of research was to choose two thriller films and analyse their opening scenes to see how they show thriller conventions. The two film opening sequences I chose were The Shining and Shutter Island; these both included key conventions from the genre but also contrasted against classic expectations, creating unique productions. In order to fully have a grasp of what expected conventions are most popular with our target audience, we had to take out a survey and ask members of the audience to see what their favourite convention of a thriller film were; I found quite a few different results that were interested e.g. the predictable low key colour scheme in this genre, to the fact the main character usually has a dark background story. From this research I hoped to use what I found in my actual opening sequence production to make it as clear as possible to establish the genre and make it enjoyable for the audience. One task that did help well was to watch various thriller films in class, all with different sub-genres to see which genre we would use for our production. I watched the film ‘The Game’, which was about a businessman haunted by his father’s suicide whose life is absorbed by an organization called ‘The Game’ that puts his life in jeopardy.

The audience that we chose for our opening sequence production were male/female teenagers (16 and above) to adults (35 years old). We chose this age group as the storyline is not suitable for young children due to the fact that there are scenes with murder and violence in. Also, because commonly in psychological thrillers, the storyline is quite complex and we think that the age of sixteen is mature enough to understand what is happening, although we didn’t want to make the age too old as sometimes middle aged adults and the elderly do not enjoy complex thrillers as they enjoy a classically written film. I, personally asked 5 of my teenage friends (16/17 year olds); Brennan, Tommy, Jack, James and Brandon; in which I questioned them on their favourite conventions in psychological thrillers and what I should include in my own thriller film to attract them to watch it. I think our production attracted our target audience as it featured quite dark themes of murder and suspense, and also featured some key thriller conventions e.g. mistaken identity. I feel we kept a consistent use of suspense throughout the film but also did not make it too complex so it wouldn’t be misleading.

Section 2:

            From our research during pre-production I learnt the conventions that are featured in a thriller film and the different ways in which some directors use the camera to create a sense of suspense in the atmosphere. ‘NICS’ (narrative, iconography, characters, and settings) was a term that was very helpful when it came to understanding the production process as it stated the key topics that go into a film.

            The feedback that we gained from the marketing test was very useful as the group were able to acknowledge what members of our target audience most enjoyed about our chosen genre. One candidate for the survey (Brennan) said, “The one thing I like the most about psychological thrillers are the suspense and tension throughout the whole film, which could be created by the sound track and lighting”. Other candidates also said: (Tommy) “(...) the idea of unpredictability and mystery is really attractive to make me watch the film”. These comments said by people asked in my market research are obviously useful as they are comments that can be taken into consideration and used in our production.

            The market research influenced the development of our ideas as it made the group take into consideration what we should do to improve our production  and make it as attractive to our target audience as possible. The comment about thriller films being suspenseful has influenced us to use a much more upbeat yet eerie soundtrack, and also adjust the lighting to low key, e.g. in the scene on my storyboard that shows a man sitting at a desk writing; the low key lighting would add to an atmosphere, whereas high key lighting would set a atmosphere completely wrong to where the film would be heading. We also added to this convention by adjusting the location to try getting it as traditional thriller as possible e.g. urban city; using alley ways and dark areas to use in film. Camera angle and shots were also influenced by comments so we tried to add quick motion scenes, close ups and canted angle shots to add suspense again and maybe confusion/disorientation for the audience.

Word Count: 951

Test shots 20/11/2013

location: Long Road (the space)
time:11:30
crew: Nathan, Andrew, Jack, Zaki
comments:
Make sure that the torch is fully charged and that the camera is charged also.

Media Film Role- Editing

Editing

For my film project i will be head of editing. When we do our final edit we shall be using a editing software called Premiere Pro. Film editing is part of the creative post-production process of film making. The editor works with the raw footage, selecting shots and combining them into sequences to create a finished motion picture. The editing has been refereed as the 'invisible' art behind some of the greatest motion picture sequences of all time. The editing helps to establish a structure, tempo, mood, and style. 

Some types of editing techniques are:

Cut: 
A visual transition created in editing in which one shot is instantaneously replaced on screen by another.

Continuity editing: 
Editing that creates action that flows smoothly across shots and scenes without jarring visual inconsistencies. Establishes a sense of story for the viewer.

Cross cutting:

Cutting back and forth quickly between two or more lines of action, indicating they are happening simultaneously.

Dissolve: 

A gradual scene transition. The editor overlaps the end of one shot with the beginning of the next one.

Establishing shot:
 A shot, normally taken from a great distance or from a "bird's eye view," that establishes where the action is about to occur.

Fade:
 A visual transition between shots or scenes that appears on screen as a brief interval with no picture. The editor fades one shot to black and then fades in the next. Often used to indicate a change in time and place.

Jump cut:
 A cut that creates a lack of continuity by leaving out parts of the action.

Montage:
 Scenes whose emotional impact and visual design are achieved through the editing together of many brief shots.

-Nathan Hardwick

Sound artists

Sound engineer:

What does a sound engineer do?
A sound engineer  regulates and controls the volume level and sound quality during recording sessions by the use of control devices. They also copy some soundtracks from the main recording media, using sound duplication and editing equipment like "garageband" and "premier pro" both of these applications can be used to modify and tweek things like pitch, bass, depth, volume, background noise and layers of different sounds can be layered on top of one another to create a "montage" of sound.

Foley sound artists:

A foley sound artist is a person who recreates sounds for a scene in a film off set and usually in a studio. For example if a galloping horse featured in a film the sound probably would of been from a person holding some horse shoes and hitting them on the floor in time with the film.
Foley sound is used to eliminate any background  noise which may have been picked up by the microphone during filming. For example wind noise may be picked up by the microphone this commonly happens in films where someone may be following a car in a car chase.

Shot sounds.

Shot 1- Establishing shot

• natural sounds (wind, trees, birds, water from fountain) 

•  music- The dark Night soundtrack- Agent of chaos OR jokers theme song Hans Zimmer

Shot 2- Walking

• Footsteps (recorded)
• brushing of trousers/clothes
• Background music

Shot 3- Men walking past

• Footsteps (recorded)
• Brushing of clothes
• Voice 'I'm on my way'
• Background music

Shot 4- Exchanging of the memory stick

• Tense music picking up

Shot 5- Man walking out of the scene

• Fading footsteps in the distance
• Music

Shot 6- Man walking into room

• Door opening/closing
• music
• wind of door opening
• window shutters knocking

Shot 7- Man on computer

• Background music
• Typing on the keyboard
• Sound of mouse 

Shot 8- Man backing things up on computer

• Clicking of the mouse
• Background music

Shot 9/10- Girl walking 

• Sound of heels
• Background music

Shot 11- Walking through double doors

• Background music
• Sound of heels
• door opening
• door shutting behind her

Shot 12- Man typing

• Keyboard sounds
• Background music
• Sound of door slamming

Shot 13- Girl walking down corridor 

• Footsteps of heels
• Background music (tense)

Shot 14- Man typing

• Background music (getting more tense)
• Sound of footsteps
• Quicker typing

Shot 15- Girl walking towards room

• Heels footsteps
• Music getting more tense and faster
• Sound of the man typing quickly

Shot 16- Man typing 

• Keyboard sounds getting faster and harder
• Background music getting more tense and louder
• sound of footsteps

Shot 17- Girl getting closer to the door

• music getting more tense
• sound of footsteps
• sound of keyboard typing louder and faster

Shot 18- Man typing

• Music getting louder creating tense atmosphere
• Sound of nature in the background
• sound of her footsteps
• sound of his typing getting faster and louder

Shot 19- Girl opening door

• Door handle opening
• Background music getting faster and tenser 
• sound of his typing speeding up
• sound of footsteps and door opening

Shot 20- Papers dropping

• Papers flying in wind
• Background music calming down (a little)

Shot 21- Man typing

• fast keyboard typing
• Background music

Shot 22- Gathering papers

• Papers being gathered together 
• Background music

Shot 23/24- walking into the door

• Sound of her footsteps walking through the door
• music getting tenser creating an atmosphere

Shot 25- Empty Room

• Background music calmed down
• Natural sounds of the wind
• Door closing behind her

Shot 26- Man 2 walking in the corridor

• Calm background music
• Footsteps

Shot 27- Title scenes

• change to deep music 

Final media project ideas

We decided to combined two storyboards into one. We added some ideas and shot types into one storyboard to make the ideas seem more interesting and achievable. We decided to do Zaki's final idea because it was the most plausible  and has the most psychological thriller conventions.

We then decided what roles each of us would do for the final project.

Director: Zaki
Editor: Nathan
Performers: Everyone
Camera: Andrew
Sound: Jack
Cinematography: Everyone

We would record most of our film around college inside because we need dark rooms with limited lighting. We might also need to walk to town to get some important shots that we could need.

Mise-en-scene:
We will need to have a knife or knife like item for a prop.
We will need minimum light but sharp shadows so we might need to have a torch.
The film will be quiet dark to set the mood and tempo but to also strengthen the conventions of the genre.

Target Audience for Psychological Thrillers.

Target Audience for Psychological Thrillers.

I believe that the recommended age for a psychological thriller is 15+. I believe this because of the psychological element about the film and that young teens and children will not understand the purpose of the film which is what the whole film is based on.

My five friends favorite elements of a psychological thriller are:

Nuno Constancia: My favorite element of a psychological thriller is the plot twist that normally happens within any good psychological thriller.

James Tilbury: I prefer the thriller elements which involve the fast pace action scenes.

Alistair Finlay: I agree with Nuno about the best element of a psychological thriller because the plot twist is normally the climax of the film.

Rory Malone: I enjoy the mystery that gets unfolded through the thriller.

Ali Abduali:  My favorite part is the criminal/villain character because they are always a step forward and seem more intelligent and are better equipped than the good guys until the end.

-Nathan Hardwick