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.