Head on activity
Monday, 31 October 2016
PLANNING: Individual Ideas
MY IDEA
The genre of my film opening will be Thriller as a lot of social groups and characters can be introduced.
My idea is drawn by TV series Pretty Little Liars with the addition of ideas from Nightmare on Elms Street.
PLOT LINE
A girl with a traumatic and abusive past faces her stalker again after years of peace and healing.
As she is walking along the street she receives a mysterious text from an unknown number mentioning her past. She laughs it off thinking its her friends messing with her. then gets another text from the same number talking about the abusive past in more depth. her head spinning she has flashbacks to a masked man chasing her and hurting her. she then becomes really jumpy and he friend jumps out and scares her. being really wary she asks her friend if its them that are sending the texts as they are the only ones who knew about her past. But the friend receives a message from the same unknown contact.
CHARACTERS/SOCIAL GROUPS
A group of teens- vulnerable girl, hacker friend
A stalker- abusive
LOCATIONS
A dark alley
A busy street
PROPS
Phones
Abusive flash backs
Masks
Bats
SOUNDSCAPE
The busy street would have diegetic sound
PLANNING: Media To Draw Inspiration From 1
DONNIE DARKO
COLOUR PALETTES
-DARK, COOL TONES
-HARSH SHADOWS
-CONTRAST (BEGINNING: DARK AND COOL, THEN BECOMES BRIGHTER AND WARMER AS THE SCENE UNFOLDS)
____________________________________________________________
SHOT TYPES / CAMERA MOVEMENT
-WIDE SHOT TO REVEAL A BODY ON THE GROUND :
EERIE AND CONFUSING, THE AUDIENCE ARE MADE TO QUESTION WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO THE CHARACTER
-MID CLOSE UP: NOT REVEALING OF THE CHARACTERS FACE, BUT SHOWS FACIAL EXPRESSIONS, KEEPING TO AUDIENCE INTRIGUED AND CONFUSED. THE CHARACTERS EXPRESSION (A SMILE) CONTRASTS WITH THE OPENING SCENE, HIS BODY LYING IN A DESOLATE AND STRANGE ENVIRONMENT.
+ INTRODUCING CHARACTER
-POV SHOT: MAKES THE CHARACTER MORE RELATABLE TO THE AUDIENCE, AND ALLOWS THEM TO SEE THE WORLD FROM THE CHARACTERS POINT OF VIEW.
TRACKING SHOT- CLEARLY SHOWS THIS IS THE MAIN PROTAGONIST, INTRODUCES THE IDEA THE FILM WILL FOLLOW THE CHARACTERS JOURNEY
___________________________________________________________
SOUND
- EERIE SOUNDSCAPE, NON-DIEGETIC SOUND TO OPEN THE SCENE
-CONTRASTING SOUND TO CREATE TENSION AND CONFUSION IN THE AUDIENCE (PIANO MUSIC CONTRASTED WITH ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN)
RESEARCH: Thriller Conventions
M A I N T H R I L L E R C O N V E N T I O N S
The main outline of Thriller films would consist of a battle between the good and the bad, the protagonist and the antagonist.
A chain of bad events would create tension and disrupt the equilibrium as the protagonist will try and restore the justice as the antagonist seeks to destroy it.
While planning, filming and editing our opening sequence I feel we should try not to keep it cliche and predictable while still including the main thriller conventions.
C h a r a c t e r s
- Protagonist- brave male who restores peace
- Antagonist- a hidden identity who wants revenge for their past and is then revealed during the course of the film
- Convicts
- Victims
- Assassins
- Police etc
E d i t i n g
- Low key lighting
- Quick cuts and changing shot types
- Shadows
- Tension building music
- Diegetic sound(breathing)
Blogging Health Check 1
IMPROVEMENTS MADE
- I've embedded my Prelim in my evaluation
- Target Audience research is in the same blog post as BFI Stats
Sunday, 30 October 2016
PLANNING: Head On
Splice(2009)
Shot Types- Close ups on mysterious objects panning to other objectsColours- Dark colours e.g browns and greens
Plot devices- fluid filled womb, a foetus. Titles grafted into the walls like a cancerous growth.
Zodiac (2007)
Mise en scene- sketchbook, letters,Shot types- Point of view shots of someone pushing around a mail cart
Sound - fast paced music
Introduces characters- The main character who most likely drives the whole plot and their son
PLANNING: Individual Ideas
GENRE
Thriller / Psychological Thriller
INITIAL PLOT/STORY-LINE
An online community of teenagers seeking validation and a thrill join a new and illegal social network on the dark web, encouraging dares and competitions where they will put their lives at risk. The members of the community will do anything to out-do each other, posting constant challenges and dares the teenagers must carry out in order to maintain their place on the website. As the posts escalate and become more and more sinister, people begin wondering if who's behind the website is another teen seeking a thrill, or a much more sinister character attempting to carry out a murder plot.
KEY CHARACTERS
The 'Everyman' Archetype - A main character the audience can relate to, a member of the website who doesn't know what they're getting themselves into. Relatable and likeable.
The Villian - A character who the audience are made aware of having sinister motives, a mysterious character. A character who's identity is not revealed to keep the audience tense.
SOCIAL GROUPS
Mainly teenagers, and social outcasts or people who don't fit in to regular communities.
FURTHER PLANNING AND IDEAS
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FURTHER PLANNING AND IDEAS
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SOUND EXAMPLES
Wednesday, 26 October 2016
PLANNING: "Head On"
Inspirations for the genre of Thriller:
Se7en -
Extreme closeups and the colour palettes from the opening title sequence.
There is a lot of eeriness, complimented by its sharp and scratch-like choices of fonts that flash and with instability, pop out at the screen. This Idea is something I feel will leave the audience in suspense, which is something I will consider in my group.
The use of very jagged and sharp fonts integrates the themes of danger and psychotic distortion, arousing the emotion of discomfort and suspense.
The Butterfly Effect -
Mise-en-Scene of dark shadows uses and effects of vignettes and the naturalistic costumes/makeup intensifies the realism, ultimately resulting in a more tense opening. 
The naturalistic aspect to it makes the film feel more relatable, especially as we're aiming our Genre towards an audience within the ages of 16-19, so a lot of strong emotions will be pulled from our audience, especially with our soundscape.
Fight Club -
Storytelling Ideas 
(reveal something new/create plot-twists/show & don't tell)
leaves our audience guessing more than having everything thrown at the start, which would disengage our audience;
so we will use their technique of hinting at significant objects to symbolise and add to our Thriller theme and genre.
- Each of these Thrillers' uses of sound are similar, so I've combined each of their aspects of sound effects, ambient and diagetics to plan the opening.
Here, I've drawn significant images from each of the movies inspiring to pursue the Thriller genre. These show the use of closeups, naturalistic lighting and cold hues to intensify the realism and a dark tint of discomfort.
To compliment this theme, I've drawn Akira Yamaoka's song "Witchcraft" which was used in Silent Hill, a horror/thriller. This non-diegetic is influential and the ambiences drawn from the game will also set a suspenseful tone.
MY PLAN:
 |
| Font Idea^ |
RESEARCH: Analysis of Sound in "The Butterfly Effect"
Commentary:
Mood-building orchestral music, overlaying with rapid percussion and sinister synths, generating ambiguity.
0:00
Slow, but loud introduction of violin overlaying the continuous, fast percussion (similar to fluttering of butterfly wings), with rapid untimely thud sound effects.
Violin instruments- low in tone and fall to momentary of silence, before progressing.
0:15
Sudden fast paced violin, with high pitched synths and loud pans sound effects. More violins introduced, increasing in tempo and volume - connotating to a person being chased in a moment of terror and danger, making the audience feel on edge and intense from the start.
0:40
Slow unison of violins harmonising to a halt, decreasing in volume to introduce the Title of the movie "The Butterfly Effect". This is a very sudden contrast from the previous piece, generating feelings of confusion and making the audience unprepared and uncomfortable, signifying the genre of: Thriller.
Friday, 21 October 2016
RESEARCH: Genre Shortlist
GENRE SHORTLIST
Genre preference 1
Action:
Conventions
- Fight between good and bad(heroes and villains)
- Death of loved ones(motives)
- Weapons
- Explosions and destruction
- Hi tech machinery and cars
Films in this genre:
- Robocop
- Skyfall
- Mad Max
Thriller:
Conventions:
- Suspenseful music to create a sinister atmosphere which adds tension
- Lighting
- Shot angles- close-ups
Films in this genre:
- Seven
- Psycho
- The Sixth Sense
Preference 3
Sci-Fi:
conventions:
- Setting- in an alternate time line or the future or outer space
- Special effects
- Props- futuristic elements- progression of technology
- Aliens, monsters etc.
Films in the genre:
- E.T
- Back To The Future
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back
RESEARCH:Why is sound so important in films?
SOUND
What is sound? sound is anything we hear in elation to the film (diegetic and non-diegetic)
Sound in film is used to establish tone, atmostphere and to help give the audiece clues about the plot , characters and to identify the genre of the film. it is also used to help "suspend belief"(which takes the audience out of reality and forget that the film is constructed and heighten their experience of the film.
RESEARCH: Practical Remake- SE7EN Evaluation
Evaluation:
1) 
It was fairly easy to note down the shots, as most were extreme-closeups, making it easier to identify the different tones and features of the opening. But because there were many shots within this opening, we had to split the work amongst the group in order to save us more time to analyse other micro-elements.
2)
We needed a lot of sections as a lot was going on within the opening. It was somewhat challenging- given the time-pressure- so we did have to work really quick and try to get down as many shots into our plan in order to make our work as closely related to 'Se7en' opening.
3)
The impact of our choices made our Opening seem more sinister and added a tone of mystery too. We had to improvise and work with what we had available, so we made use of a dark cupboard for location as the lighting complimented and made sharper contrasts for our shots; whilst also having red ink, black ink and plasters costumed onto our main character to create a more wild look, as seen in the original title sequence.
4)
With time pressure and circumstances that didn't give us enough resources to edit (lack of fonts on the program), we weren't able to make use of AfterEffects for all of our shots and had to work with PremierPro to try and fit in as many Titles. We did manage to make use of AfterEffects for the main Title "SE7EN", and so we had a chance to find distorted fonts, as closely related to SE7EN and used 'Jiggy' effect to create a very uncomfortable tone (similarly to the original).
5)
Because of the limited available time, we had to sacrifice a lot of editing with fonts and focused mainly on recreating "SE7EN" as closely as possible. So we captured as many Titles from the "Text" option on PremierPro and used the "distort" scale to try and make our fonts look more eerie to fit in and establish to our audience the "Thriller" genre.
6)
Our font choice was very important in maintaining and adding to the sinister tone of the film. It was important to find fonts similar to that in the real 'Se7en' title sequence as Kyle Cooper, the SE7EN title sequence creator, comments on how using a handwritten font was imperative to the story line of the film. Due to our limited resources and editing time, we found the closest possible handwritten font, to link to the main narrative of the film - the serial killer and his writing. Our choice of fonts parallels the genre, however when creating our final title sequence we will ensure enough time in editing in order to download and use the perfect fonts for our sequence.
7)
Our placement of the credits depended on the diegetic sound and action playing on screen. In terms of sound, our group was successful in editing the title sequence so that credits appeared symmetrically to the music used in the sequence, due to the way in which the black screens with a white typeface appeared rhythmically and at points where the music was less intense. More intense parts of the music would be accompanied by shots and moving image, whereas lower intensity moments were perfect for the titles on a blank screen. Some credits were also integrated, we used a mix of credits on moving images as well as a white typeface on a black screen, just as the original 'Se7en' title sequence does. As the action in the title sequence is quite minimal, just close ups of everyday actions such as opening a book or writing (with a sinister twist, of course), the titles appear at times when an action is being repeated (for example, the book appears many times). On more suggestive and sinister shots, an example being the bloodied hands playing with a razor blade, no titles are shown, so the audience can focus more on the action on screen and make assumptions about the character.
8)
If we were to complete the task again, we would ensure when shooting and filming that we had all the shots necessary to mirror the title sequence. Although our shots were good, some had to be re-used when editing. This was because we couldn't recreate some of the originals, due to our lack of props and limited time. If given the opportunity to film again, we could spend a little more time filming quick easy shots which we could have used as an alternative to repeating the same clips of film twice. We would also lower the soundtrack slightly, to make the viewing experience more comfortable and direct more focus towards the footage.
Thursday, 20 October 2016
RESEARCH: Genre Shortlist
To decide upon my genre, I've analysed the different forms of each convention and the impact my audience will have.
I've chosen: Thriller; after analysing the following...
Genre Preference 1:
Conventions:
Genre Preference 2:
Action
Genre Preference 3:
Conventions:
Films from this genre:
Genre Preference 1:
Thriller
Conventions:
Sinister atmosphere,
Suspenseful music that progresses throughout the movie- tense mood.
Low Key Lighting,
Shadows,
Changes in angles of shots,
Diegtic sounds of breathing,
Protagonist in mercy of Antagonist.
Suspenseful music that progresses throughout the movie- tense mood.
Low Key Lighting,
Shadows,
Changes in angles of shots,
Diegtic sounds of breathing,
Protagonist in mercy of Antagonist.
Films from this genre:
- Shutter Island,
- Old Boy,
- The Others.
Genre Preference 2:
Action
Conventions:
Explosions,
Fast-paced music,
Character of a villain/hero,
Dramatic and quick cuts of action scenes
Weapons
Machinery
Fast-paced music,
Character of a villain/hero,
Dramatic and quick cuts of action scenes
Weapons
Machinery
Films from this genre:
- Fast and Furious 1-7,
- 007,
- The Dark Knight
Genre Preference 3:
Comedy
Conventions:
Humour,
Non-Diegtic sounds
Sub-genres of romance and drama;
Generic setting of a school/work place
Melodramatic reactions.
Natural lighting
Emphasised personalities of characters
Non-Diegtic sounds
Sub-genres of romance and drama;
Generic setting of a school/work place
Melodramatic reactions.
Natural lighting
Emphasised personalities of characters
Films from this genre:
- Scott Pilgrim vs The World,
- Mr. Deeds,
- Superbad
RESEARCH: What is genre?
What is genre?
Genres are used to categorise different products that share the same features.Genres are important in the media world because they:· Quickly establish differences between different media forms· To help establish different codes and conventions that film makers can follow to make a product look a certain way· To help establish certain expectations around the genre· To help the audience to develop a certain taste around the genres what they enjoy watching and what they don’t
Key words:
Genre- A style or category of, art, music or acting.
A way of categorising films by the subject matter.
Sub-Genre- A lesser or subordinate genre inside another
genre. A more specific way of defining the genre.
Hybrid genre- A cross between two genres that blends themes
and elements.
Codes and Conventions- typical ways of creating a certain
genre
Genre topes- Elements that make up a genre, E.G: bloody
knife= horror
Genre: Animation
Easy to tell the genre because of the bright colours, special effects and happy atmosphere.
Genre: War/Action
Easy to tell because of the mise en scene, Location, clothing, lighting tones
Genre: Action/Gangster
Easy to tell because of the suits, guns, alcohol, card game, money and the lighting tones.
Wednesday, 19 October 2016
RESEARCH: what makes a good title sequence according to Kyle Cooper?
Kyle Cooper
Cooper founded two internationally recognised film design companies, Imaginary Forces and Prologue Films. Both companies are influential in their fields. His body of work includes over 100 film title sequences. Among his most memorable ones are: Se7en, Dawn of the dead, The island of Dr. Moreau and Spider man 3.
What he thinks
The font of the movie need to link well with the genre of the movie. For example: a horror movie would need to include dark chilling writing to create a frightening atmosphere. If the font doesn't match the genre of the movie, then it will put the audience off. Therefore you wouldn't put bright happy colours on a horror movie .
when making a film opening scene, having an actor in front of a green screen can be more effective than an actual location. Also Kyle Cooper says that using handmade props and materials is better as it shows originality and suggests an imperfect atmosphere.
A film opening must relate to the film, it needs to be relevant to the characters and the story-line. A lot of good title sequences relate to a certain characters backstory.
RESEARCH: Genre Identification and Film Stills
GENRE: GANGSTER
HOW DO WE KNOW?
-
Mise En Scene:
Costume - suave suits and business-oriented clothing.
Props - A gun, alcohol, card games. These all have connotations of a genre based around illegal activity and violence.
GENRE: WILD WEST
HOW DO WE KNOW?
-
Mise En Scene:
Costume - Typical of the western genre, with a cowboy hat and patterned poncho.
Genre Tropes: Horse, constantly seen as a mode of transport in western films.
Setting/Location: In the desert, South America
GENRE: ACTION
HOW DO WE KNOW?
-
Mise En Scene:
Props - Cars, associated with fast-paced action and speed.
Tank, connotes war, action and conflict.
Shot Type - Low angle shot, typical of action movies to enforce a positive image of the protagonist.
GENRE: ROMANTIC COMEDY
HOW DO WE KNOW?
-
Mise En Scene:
Facial Expressions - Eyebrows raised is a suggestive expression and highlights the romantic bond between the characters.
Characters - A heterosexual representation of a relationship, the most common and represented in romance films.
Actors - Recognisable Amy Shcumer means the audience will apply what they know about her as an actress (a comedy actress), to the film.
GENRE: WAR
HOW DO WE KNOW?
-
Mise En Scene:
Location - Clearly set in a war zone, rubble and debris in the back of the mid shot.
Costume - Military uniforms show the soldiers are at war, or in a war zone
Props - Tank, a vehicle usually only seen in war-zones.
GENRE: TEEN/TEEN DRAMA
HOW DO WE KNOW?
-
Mise En Scene:
Proxemics - Positioning of the protagonists highlight the different 'cliques' in the shot, emphasising the teen genre and appealing to teen audiences.
Costume - All pink clothing highlights the differences between characters and their neurotypical qualities. Represents the characters as an archetype of teenage girls.
GENRE: ANIMATION
HOW DO WE KNOW?
-
Mise En Scene:
Graphics and visuals - animated characters and setting
Colour schemes - Primary colours to relate and appeal to younger audiences
GENRE: ACTION/SCI-FI/ADVENTURE
HOW DO WE KNOW?
-
Mise En Scene:
Costume - Spacesuit, clearly establishes the characters and basic setting of the film
Shot Type - Birds-eye view shot quickly establishes the outer-space setting, clearly then establishing the genre as sci-fi.
GENRE: ROMANCE/PERIOD DRAMA
HOW DO WE KNOW?
-
Mise En Scene:
Proxemics - Closeness of the characters highlights romantic themes in the film
Facial Expressions - Serious expressions have a dramatic connotative effect
Costume - The clothing highlights the time period the film is set and therefore establishes the drama genre.
GENRE: COMEDY
HOW DO WE KNOW?
-
Mise En Scene:
Costume - The inappropriate and unorthodox clothing in the still (child's clothing, sleepwear/pyjamas) shows the comedic nature of the scene as the characters are obviously performing acts out of the ordinary
Actor - Jim Carey is a famous and well renowned comedy actor, so the audience will apply what they know about him to the film
GENRE: THRILLER/MYSTERY
HOW DO WE KNOW?
-
Mise En Scene:
Lighting - Clear contrast between the left side of the shot and the right side, shadows cast on, and engulfing the actor, emphasising the idea of 'mystery'
Trope - shot of the blinds is a genre trope in thrillers due to its suggestive lighting effects and how it manipulates the audiences line of vision, keeping them on edge and tense.
GENRE: HORROR
HOW DO WE KNOW?
-
Mise En Scene:
Lighting - Overcast setting, despite it being a clear day, foreshadows sinister events yet to come in the film.
Setting - Derelict and abandoned house is typical of the horror genre and adds an air of mystery and unease.
Character actions - The character looking back towards the camera suggests common themes of 'surveillance', and 'stalking' in horror films that add intensity and tension to the scene.
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