Monday 31 January 2011

Script.
male character perched up against a wall wearing a smart suit with hat, lighting up a cigarette.
male character still perched up against the wall, characters face to establish emotion.
male character walks of shot with a strut like walk to evoke confidants in himself and portray a sense of mystery.
the camera being portrayed as another character follows the male character round the corner in a slow and cautious way.
the camera/character approaches the end of the corner, slowly peeks round as if the character is peering round with his head.
the male character suddenly jumps out at the camera, conveying the action strangling the camera. the camera/other character only sees his arms and lower body, camera flares around, when camera re establishes sense of control and sight.
the male character pushes the camera in a forceful way, the camera/character remains on the floor and can only see the male character's feet in front of the character. the camera however still can not see of identify who the male character is.
camera fades to black, and the title sequence appears.

Thursday 27 January 2011

Feedback of Pitch

The feedback we got from the presentation was a mix of positive and constructive criticism.
The positives comments we got back included: good style and choice of clothing, also our location setting had good comments about it as well.

Monday 24 January 2011

Narrative:

One character, wearing formal clothes, preferably a smart suit, shoes and hat (james bond type). A lot of short, quick, some jilted shots that reveal very limited knowledge about the character (enigma's). Walking with some sense of intensity but casual, moderate walking pace. Some form of policeman, secret agent....however not revealed. The scene includes certain elements of monochrome, to allow a sense of mystery to the opening sequence. Character has a cigarette in his mouth to portray his rough image/swagger-like attitude to the audience, but still portrays elements of formality and intelligence.

Subgenre:

Suspense/Action Thriller. Use of close ups at certain moments to emphasise the importance of his character, as well as certain aspects of the narrative.  A POV shot is another example of a convention used in this particular genre, this allows the audience to see in either the main character or another characters perspective. Another common convention used in our genre is the use of bullet time, this adds to the emphasis on certain narrative points and also to highlight a key moment in the narrative. a common convention used in this genre is long duration shots. this builds suspense in the atmosphere and also creates tension, this could be used to create an anticlimax. A common feature included in the subgenre is the use of dramatic and intensifying, non-diegetic, soundtrack. We have included this in our opening sequence and will run throughout to create dramatic atmosphere and add to the tension.

Characters:

Secret Agent

* Dressed smartly, in a full on suit.
* Hair is neat, showing him as well presented.
* Walking casually, but giving off a cool image.
* Has a very stern look about him.

Suggested Locations:

*Town.
*Alley ways/city blocks.




Monday 17 January 2011

Analysis of Previous Students Work

Video:

Level 4

*Holding a shot steady, where appropriate.
*Framing a shot, including and excluding elements as appropriate.
*Using a variety of shot distances as appropriate.
*Shooting material appropriate to the task set.
*Selecting mise-en-scene including colour, figure, lighting, objects and setting.
*Editing so that meaning is apparent to the viewer.
*Using varied shot transitions and other effects selectively and appropriately for the task set.
*Using sound with images and editing appropriately for the task set.
*Using titles appropriately.

The group's opening sequence follows the codes and conventions of a typical thriller opening sequence, feeding unanswered questions and suspense building moments as the victim sits helplessly awaiting his fate. It immediately creates an curious and eary atmosphere and is successful in leaving the audience wanting more. The camera shots are used extremely well, establishing the characters included and done steadily and clear, particularly when presenting the P.O.V shots which make the scene very realistic. The editing was done very successfully through the groups piece. The pace varies fantastically to present the passing of time in a way that relates to the characters. Cuts were used efficiently and did not stand out uncomfortably, making the piece flow and look more professional. The duration of shots was fairly long, to build suspense and add intensity to the scene. Lighting varied between colour, and black and white, to convert to different periods of time where an important moment happens.

This group have put a lot of effort into perfecting the video, through their pre=production research and preparation. To ensure the video is done efficiently they have contained a short script, allowing them to be clear of the situation and what they are filming. They have considered the feedback from other peers, and as well as accepting certain points for improvement, they have argued the feedback given and made good points as to why their piece should not be altered.

Political thriller analysis

A political thriller which usually involves various plots which are usually illegal and are designed to give some sort of political power to a character; however the characters opponents are continuously trying to stop him from getting the political power. They evolve around a national or international scenario; possibly world war 2 or US president elections. A hero or heroin is usually the character that prevents or stops the power hungry character from being able to reach the area of power.
The characters are usually seen to be wearing suits and reasonably smart clothes; some characters are seemed to be more corrupted than others and they are usually the characters who want to be the ones in control.The best political thrillers seamlessly weave together political insight and compelling suspense, and offer the unsettling thrill of having our flimsy notions and beliefs debunked. As the hero/investigator peels back the layers of falsehood, we experience the one-eye-open joy of seeing veils drop. We get more than just the solution of a mystery and a new interpretation of history and current events - we get the dark gift of prophecy.

Research Of Two Sub-Genres Crime And Action Thrillers

sub-genre - Crime Thriller

Crime thrillers are seemed to be darker than a crime film due to the fact that it has to involve codes and conventions of a thriller as well as a crime. This particular genre is a hybrid type of both crime films and thrillers that offers a suspenseful account of a successful or failed crime or crimes. These films often focus on the criminal rather than a policeman. Crime thrillers usually emphasize action over psychological aspects. Central topics of these films include serial killers/murders, robberies, chases, shootouts, heists and double-crosses.For example se7en and The departed.














Sub-Genre - Action Thriller

Action thrillers usually feature guns; explosions and set pieces. They usually feature a race against the clock, lots of violence and a clear evil antagonist.
These films may include some elements of crime and or mystery films; they are not as in focus as the action.
An example of a action thriller is Die hard or the Bourne ultimatum.

Thursday 6 January 2011

Preliminary Task Storyboard


Preliminary Evaluation

What did we learn from the preliminary?

From the preliminary task we learnt that it is difficult and complicated to synchronize the sound with the correct video area; and make sure that the timing is accurate so it does not look like a person is screaming but there is no sound.
We also found that it was difficult to correctly cut and move the areas so that it ran smoothly and that it had the correct continuity areas.


Where there any difficulties?
we did face some difficulties when filming the preliminary task for example; using the space provided efficiently, also using the props correctly, such as the door handle. another difficulty we faced was filming the sequence in the time limit we had therefore rushing and having a continuity error which was clothing.


Discuss how you constructed your preliminary - Micro elements?

sound: we used a soundtrack underneath the video to create suspense as it was a thriller preliminary task. we also used dialog between the two characters. we used some sound effects for example; a bang noise.

camera: during dialog we used over the shoulder shot between characters speech. this is because the audience can see who is speaking. we also used an establishing shot to identify to the audience where it is set. we also used an extreme close up in order to show just the characters eyes so you could see the emotion and capture the point that the characters face changed and reacted to the exact point in which the situation changed. When filming the corridor we used a long shot so that you could clearly see the full length of the hall which made it seem more mysterious as no-one was around and create tension in the atmosphere.

lighting: we decided to use naturalistic lighting to create realism and make it more believable.

Editing: we used final cut to edit the video and audio, we had to edit the audio separately in order for it to be syncronised with the video because we captured the audio seperately.