Opening Sequences...

In class we have been looking at different opening title sequences for inspiration, and commenting on why they work...

The Strangers

This opening sequence builds up tension at the start by claiming that the film is based on true events. It shows the end of the film at the start, but keeps it unclear as to what has happened, only showing little snapshots of items that are relevant to the story. This allows the audience to be pulled in and when the film goes back to  the start of the story, which will allow them to find out how this items came to be as they are now. The music is eerie and quiet, and just adds to the feel of the scene. The camera is handheld, adding an element of realism to the film, and reinforcing the idea that the film is based on true events. The point of this scene is to thrill and create tension within the audience. I think that it sways slightly more to the horror genre but remains within the thriller genre.

Dead Man's Shoes

This film sequence is very different to 'The Strangers' opening title sequence, but is setting up a realistic setting and situation to pull the audience in. To set up the story, it uses a set of home movies featuring 2 small boys and their family. It resonates with the nostalgia of childhood and the non diegetic music which goes with it sets the melancholy tone. Unlike the opening sequence to The Strangers it isn't tense or scary at all. However it still works to set up the story which is revealed later on. The family videos allow you to see these characters lives and feel like you have known them for a long time, setting you up for the big reveal that the younger brother is actually dead. All this set up makes this reveal much more significant to the audience because they have some perspective on the situation, and feel like they have watched this mans entire life.

Rear Window opening sequence analysis...

For my opening sequence analysis I looked at the start of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window, click here for the video link. Below are screenshots of my powerpoint presentation, which analyse it.

Mood Boards...

Below I have created 2 mood boards, displaying the things which scare me and which I think would make good topics and themes for my opening sequence.

Thriller

For this mood board I used more rational fears, and more realistic themes, as in my opinion thriller is generally more realistic and plays on rational phobias and tthings that create a sense of unease.

Horror

Contrary to the thriller board, for this mood board I used more irrational fears, and more unrealistic themes, as horror tends to play on 'what ifs'. However there are some things on this board which are completely rational. I chose to put them on here as they are much more graphic and horrific ideas.

Prelimimary Task Video...

The final video from our preliminary task...

The preliminary task was a good learning curve for me, I feel that I have discovered a lot about how to set up, shoot and edit a fictional sequence. I am pleased with the outcome and I think it will help me greatly when shooting my thriller sequence next term. Using final cut pro was an interesting experience and I think I will get involved with editing my thriller as I enjoyed it.

Preliminary Task Storyboard...

For our preliminary taks we were given a storyboard which we were allowed to adapt and add extra shots into, with the script remaining the same. Below is the storyboard we were given...

Preliminary task

The preliminary task involved filming and editing a short scene, with reference to a storyboard which we were all given. When setting up the camera there are a few things to set up and remember:

-WHITE BALANCE:

• When the white balance is off, colours can appear unrealistic, often creating a blue or orange tint on the picture. To solve this problem, find a white object to put in front of the camera, and turn the dial so it appears pure white. This means all the other colours will also appear natural.

-FOCUS:

• To focus the camera you have to zoom into the subject of the frame, let's say it's a face. Zoom into the focus of the face, usually the eyes, and twist the focus ring until they are pin sharp. The zoom out onto the whole frame and your focus is correct.

-EXPOSURE:

• The exposure changes the overall look of an image, and is a core and key part of basic filming. If you overexpose and image, too much light has been allowed into the camera and the image will be brighter than it should be, and lose detail within the light. If the image is underexposed, it will appear dark and again detail will be lost, as not enough light has entered the camera.

• To change the amount of light that enters the camera, you must change the aperture of the lens. The aperture is the hole in the middle of the lens, which lets light through. The larger the hole, the more light enters the lens. It is measured in F stops. The larger the F stop, the smaller the hole. You change the aperutre with a dial on the lens, and this creates a balanced exposure.

-TIMECODE:

• The timecode is the visual for the amount of time you have been filming for. It is often displayed in hours, minutes, seconds and frames per second. It allows you too kep track of yur work and refer back to certain places later when editing.
• There are 24 frames shot in every second of footage mnimum. In higher quality and slow motion cameras, the number of frames per second is increased, giving a much smoother and flowing image.



The Thriller vs The horror

We have been working with the concept of the thriller and breaking it down, so we can recreate it for our opening sequences. Horrors and Thrillers are both designed to scare their audiences. They are seperate genres but it is hard to have a concrete definition of either, or to decide where a film stops being a horror and starts to be a thriller.
In general, horror films tend to opt for more gore and graphic scenes, and thrillers focus more on tension. However this doesn't stop thriller films from being extremely graphic, like Se7en, which shows some scenes of extreme torture. It also doesn't stop horror films from being extremely tense, like The Excorsist.

Looking at the IMDb list of best horror and thriller films, it seems that horror films tend to be more paranormal or feature monsters and ghosts with films Alien, The Thing and Faust in the Top Ten. Thrillers tend to be much more based on more plausible situations, with films like The Godfather, Pulp Fiction and Rear Window.
There are a lot of films which cross over between the 2 genres, a noted film being Psycho. It is within the Top Ten of both genres. Sometimes it just isn't that easy to define them.

Movie Posters...

In class we have been looking at and working on posters for thriller films. We took a lesson to create our own posters, and mine is pictured here below:

I have looked at a wide range and tried to create a poster which fits to the formula. A lot of posters have highly unatural and contrasted faces, and something about this face reminds me of the mask from Saw. I have also taken into account that many films use directors names, and names of their previous films to boost popularity and try to get more customers. Posters also have positive reviews and ratings from well known newspapers and websites. Finally there is a cast list, often in condensed fonts so as to fit more names on which is always present. I am pleased with the outcome.  

Fun with Photoshop

Photoshop is key for editing images and creating posters. We have been working with it and learning how to use some of the many tools and shortcuts, which make life sooo much easier.

CROP.
-The crop tool lets you crop down images and select a section of them, so framing of a picture can be perfect.

LASSO.
-The lasso tool enables you to select certain parts of an image in any shape you want. There are 3 options in the drop down bar. Lasso, Polygonal lasso and Magnetic lasso. Lasso allows you to draw a box freehand around a shape, Polygonal lasso draws in straight lines and creates polygonal sections, and  Magnetic lasso will stick to colour edges, but does not always work.

CLONE.
-The clone stamp tool clones bits of image from one part to another, so for example you can give people a 3rd eye or extra limbs. It also helps when retouching, and is another option from the patch tool.

DODGE/BURN.
-The dodge tool makes things lighter. It can be changed to focus on highlights, midtones and shadows.
-The burn tool makes things darker, and again can be changed to focus on highlights, midtones and shadows.

LEVELS/CURVES.
-Levels and curves work towards the same purpose, but in slightly different ways. The levels option works on a linear motion, allowing you to increase or decrease the amount of light and darkness in pictures.
-Curves, silimarly to its title, allows you to change the contrast and light/darkness levels on a curved system, and is more complex to grasp than levels.

These are just some of the many tools available on photoshop.

Key Vocabulary...

DENOTATION: When you discuss a text or image at a denotive level, you describe what you initially see.

CONNOTATION: Once establishing what you initially see from the image, you discuss these elements on a connotative level, working out what these elements may mean, or signify.

SEMIOTICS: Semiotics is the study of signs. To fully analyse an image you need to look at the signifier, signified and overall signs of the image.

SIGNIFIER: The signifier is the object in the picture.

SIGNIFIED: The signified are the implications, such as expression, of that object in the picture.

SIGN: a sign is an image, object or action which carries significance. It is the combination of the signifier and signified which gives the overall picture.

For example...

     When you look at this picture, what do you see?

SIGNIFIER: kitten

SIGNIFIED: cute

SIGN: cute kitten

Analysing footage...

When analysing a piece of footage, there are 4 key areas to look at:

MISE-EN-SCENE:

• The mise-en-scene is everything within the frame. This includes things like set, props, costumes, composition and actors. It also includes more specific things like facial expression, gaze direction, gesture, posture, body contact, appearance and spacial behaviour.

SOUND:

• Diegetic sounds are the sounds which exist within a world, for example a phone ringing or background street noise.
• Non-diegetic sounds are sounds like a soundtrack, or voices within someones head, which cannot be heard by all the characters in a scene. This is shown here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpgU3Ck6h3c in the infamous bike flying scene from ET. The music used adds to the exciting and uplifting feel of the scene, and allows the audience to suspend their disbelief.

CAMERA:

• The Camera work consists of angling, shot crop and tilt among over things. There are many different types of shot available, like the wide shot, close up, 2shot etc.. which all give different feelings to the scene and are used to empahise emotion or action.

EDITING:

• Editing is harder to identify wen analysing a piece of footage, as it it generally intended to be seamless and difficult to spot, to create comfort for the viewers. However you need to look out for different kinds of cuts, as they can signify changes in mood/scene/action and force the viewer to look at certain things, guiding their opinions.

A little about me..

My name is Grace and I am currently 16 years old. I like photography, photoshop, drawing, and watching movies. My dad loves movies and so makes me watch a whole bunch which I wouldn't normally go near, but normally end up loving too.

I am doing media mainly because of my love of movies. I love the way they allow you to enter another world and see a snapshot of someone elses life. The characters can form such a strong bond with you that you miss them after the film is over. I know I've seen a good movie when all I can think about is that world and how much I wish it hadn't ended. I want to be able to create that feeling for other people in the future.

My favourite movie is Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I love everything about it, the characters, the scripting, the soundtrack.. I have watched it at least 7 times now and I love it just as much as I did the first time. The idea of being free and having no boundaries just allows your imagination to run wild.

I hope this course allows me to broaden my knowledge of films and helps me to develop my skills creating them.