evaluation karel

Evaluation

My opening sequence for our thriller uses the conventions of real thriller films. It uses conventions such as:

• An Exotic setting(deserted location)
• Non-diegetic sounds
• Thriller atmosphere
• An establishing shot
• Close-ups
• flashbacks

The opening of my thriller is very thrilling and it has an establishing shot to indicate to the audience the location where all the action might possibly be taking place. The non diegetic soundtrack creates tension and a haunting atmosphere. We also used extreme close up to create a great impact on the audience and also to add tension. These are all forms of conventions that thrillers use to create a scary frame of mind for the viewers. Our opening also slowly progress to the exciting bit which allowed the audience time to develop anxiety and make their own interpretation. “events in storyline enables the film to progress and allows the audience to second guess what will happen next…the dialogue in thrillers never contains a complete explanation of events or plot in order to give it pace and maintain the mystery which is essential in building up suspense.” Hhtp://latymermediathriller07.blogspot.com/2007/09/common-thriller-conventions.html I think this definition of what makes a good thriller can be said about my opening thriller because it involves all these aspects.

Example of a thriller looked at in class: “The Shinning”

The film “The Shining is a great example of a thriller that contains all the conventions of a thriller. In the shining there is change of camera angle which immediately creates a creepy atmosphere and there are points of view of the villain, there are lots of flashbacks, and quick cuts. All these techniques used makes the audience think and it also creates a thrill. These influenced my decision about my film opening because it made me think of all the elements that make a successful, thrilling and exciting opening that people would want to watch. Therefore I applied examples from “The Shining” in order to create a exciting opening for my thriller.

The opening sequence of “The Shining keeps the audience on the edge of their seats and gives them something to look forward to rather than having instant arousal. According to the director Jean Jacques Beineix the risks of instant arousal is that “you wouldn’t have anywhere else to go”; as a director you would not be living up to the audience’s expectations. As a director for the opening sequence of my thriller I avoided instant arousal because this means that the target audience would have more to look forward to after the opening sequence. I also believe that the opening of my thriller makes the audience feel that they don’t know nearly enough yet as was shown by the feedback that I received from people that had watched it.

Due to the fact that mise-en-scene creates the effect of suspense for the audience; our use of mise-en-scene makes the audience think about what could of happened and it also enables them to ask questions. For example: when the audience is introduced to the very first character, a wide and high angle shot is shown of her laying on the pavement with rubbish beside her; a similar description can be said for the second character who is seen dead beside a bin with her shoes on the floor and blood on her clothes. “Thrillers may be defined by the primary mood that they elicit: fearful and excitement, if it thrills then it is referred to as a thriller”. Following this definition I can clearly say that my opening sequence is thrilling and keeps the audience on edge. (Google: what is a thriller?) In addition our opening makes the audience ask questions such as, did the victim’s friend kill her? What happened? And why did it happen? It also creates anxiety for the audience because when the dead body is first revealed to the audience before it’s revealed to the villain, it makes them anxious to want to know how the villain would react. I think we lived up to the audience’s expectation because the villain was in the same confused state as the audience is supposed to be and found the situation ambiguous.

My media product (thriller opening) represents particular social groups such as young teenage girls that likes to go clubbing or parties. It represents such group because the characters in our thriller opening are young girls at the age of 17. In addition it represents such groups because young teenage girls are vulnerable and are sometimes unaware of the bad things that can possibly happen on a night out, therefore our thriller opening represents awareness for teenage girls.

The kind of media institution that might distribute my media product is big Hollywood block buster or a DVD release because I think that it would be good enough due to the fact that it uses thriller conventions and it is enjoyable. The audience for my media product would be from young teenage audience of the age of 15 years old onwards. This is because of the fact that our opening revolves around a party scene and this would attract young people because of the fact that they like going to parties. A typical person that fits into our target audience would be 17 year old Tope that does ordinary stuff at day but enjoy going party and getting drunk and not remembering what happened. I would market my film through the genre because of the fact that people enjoy watching films that are thrilling and full of excitement. I would advertise my film on Billboards, the internet and also trailers. This is a very easy way of getting peoples attention because such forms of media are everywhere around especially billboards and posters on buses.

My experience using the digital camera

I gained great experience of how to use a camera and how to use different angles and shot type to create different atmosphere. Due to the fact that I did most of the filming it was fun and I enjoyed it because I was exposed to doing something different and this helped me to gain great insight of what it is like to be a camera person.

Final cut Pro

At first I found it hard to get use to using to final cut because I found it very complex. However after doing independent work on my own in the editing suite I found it really easy and it was very fun which opened my heart up to other things that I might want to do in the future in the media industry.

I used final cut to edit clips for our thriller and to add transitions and other effects. Final cut was also used to import clips from the camera. I also used it to capture and log the footage from the camera onto the computer.

Live type

I used live type to create the credits for our opening thriller. On live type we were able to change the size of the font, the colour and we were able to choose different designs. The type of design for the font that we created was creepy; the font was a cracked typed font which also added meaning to our film. Live type was also used to shorten the speed of the credits. As a group we wanted the credits to be

Soundtrack

I used soundtrack to create the non-diegetic sound for our opening sequence. We also used soundtrack to fade in and out sounds so that it could match what was taking place in our opening film. The type of sound that we used was inconsistent, the beat and rhythm changed, however this was good because it compliment our film and it was in perfect time as the credits.

I used the internet to do various researches about thrillers and what the conventions of thrillers were. I also used the internet to blog the process of my practical work that was taken place each time I had media. In addition to this, we used the internet to upload the opening of our thriller so that others could view it. We also did the same process and uploaded it onto vimeo. Doing this has widened the potential audience for my product.

Looking back at my preliminary task the things that I feel I have learnt in progression from it to the full product is how to work well as a team and to give people an equal chance. I have also learnt the necessity of taking leadership if individuals are not willing to make sacrifices in order to have a successful product and in order to achieve the best grade for ones self. My knowledge of how to use media terminology has developed immensely, in addition to this my overall knowledge of media on a practical scale has progressed up to the final product which makes me feel great due to the outcome of my thriller opening. Overall I have learnt the great importance of camera angles and camera shots and how effective they can be.

Looking back at my match cut exercise I have learnt a lot about the film making process. I have learnt that a successful film starts off with an idea then that idea is developed into a plan and then from a plan to a story board then a pitch. After this process has been successfully achieved then the practical begins; by starting off with filming then editing which final adjustments are made.

pitch

before we began filming the first time we had to present a pitch to the rest of the class. we had to talk about what our ideas were for the opening of our thriller and what would make it a thriller. we also had to talk about the setting and what time of day we would be filming. we also had to present our story board to the class. we had to talk about what was going to be our very first shot and the different types of shot that we were going to use.

A deliberate decision made by the team:

Due to the fact that our opening is not 2minutes long, as a group we decided that at the end of our opening when the title comes up; we should have twelve seconds of the music playing until it fades out whilst the title is stationary. we decided to do this becasue it would give the audience time to reflect and grasp what they saw and also it also gives them time to meditate on why our opening is called "The Night Before".

A guide of how to use the camera

In this lesson in which we had Andrew as our teacher; micky (the technician) came in our class room to give us a demonstration of how to use a camera and the sort of things that we should avoid doing when filming.

For Example:

• we were told to avoid getting the camera wet as it could damage the camera and our filming.
• We were also told how to open the camera and also how to insert and eject the cassette.
• Another good advice that we were told was that when zooming in, we should always focus the lense in order to get a good zoom.
• we were told how to make attach the camera oto the tripod and we were also told a good way of checking if the tripod was safely attached to the tripod. If we were able to lift the camera by holding the handle at the top whils it is on the tripod then we wpuld know that it was securely attached.

These tips were very helpful especially for those such as myself that wasn't good at doing things without a manual.

setting and location for our opening

getting started: filming

After the 20th of January, as a group we decided on what location would suit our storyline. We came up with the idea of filming at Alexandra Palace because of the fact that there use to be a fun fair that always took place and the fun fair was always deserted. However due to the fact that the fun fair was no longer available we had to change location. we decided that we would film at the ally way that is 5 minutes from angel station.

On tuesday the 28th January Lamar, Tope and i Started filming. we started filming at 5 pm due to the fact that it was dark and it would be relevant for our storyline. We filmed various shots such as low angle and high angle which was very effective. Due to the fact that it was dark and Andrew (our media teacher) told us that we should always use the light so that it doesn't come out too dark on screen. However i consistently reminder Lamar to do two version of a shot with light and a shot without light. I told him to do this so that we had more than one shot incase the lightning didn't come out as good as he said it would. After filming every shot we went to the editing suite to edit, however there was a major problem. the shots that we filmed were too dark therefore we was unable to see the shots clearly. O the other hand there were good shots that we were able to use as flashbacks.

Due to the fact that our filming didn't turn out as we expected it, we had o film again. we decided that we would film in daylight so that we wouldn't make the same mistake as last time. However, I was slightly worried because i thought that it wouldn't be as effective as it would be if it was dark.

New filming

On tuesday 10th February we started our new filming. However Lamar was not present because he had rehearsals for the pay rock Apocalypse; this meant that Kai, Tope and i Had to work extremely hard. we filmed at the same location which was an ally, it was really cold so it was hard for Tope and I to stay in role. Despite these obstacles we were determined to finish on the same day so that we had enough time to edit and make our opening as best as it could be. we were determined to do this because we all wanted the best grade that we could possibly get.

our aim on this day was to finish all filming and we achieved our goal which we were extremely proud of. w

Second editing

on wednesaday 11th i decide to go to the editing suite to edit due to the fact that i finished college half day. I was very determined to most of the editing on this day because i was worried that we would fall behind. By thursday the 12th all the editing was done with the help of tope during our 2hour break. On this day i used my lunch time wisely by putting together a soundtrack for our opening sequence, i was very pleased and proud of myself because the soundtrack blended very well with out opening and it added a more freaky atmosphere. within wednesday and friday, we made credits that would suite our opening. we decided to make the blackgrounfd black and have white writing that makes the background stand out.

on monday 16th February Tope decided to use her time wisely by comming into college to make slight adjustments. I didn't come becasue i thought it was a great chance for her to get more involved in the group work and also the adjustemnts only needed to be done by one person. we did all of the editing on final cut pro , however i had to do the soundtrack seperately which was done on soundtrackpro pro. After doing this we had to import the sound track to final cut pro so that everything was all together.

In today's lesson (24th February) we watched our opening together as a group to see if there were any needed adjusments. Fortunately there was only one slight adjustment that we had to make. we had to increase the timing of the credits so that they wern't too quick and hard to grasp by the audience. The credits were made on live type which enabled us to changed the speend, colour , font and background.After making this adjusments i was very happy because we finished everything on time and it was of good standard.

Team production roles:

• Tope helped to put together the storyline for our opening she also took responsibility to bring in props such as heels, jewellery, bags, and hats. she also helped with editiing our opening on final cut. she also willing volunteered to star in our opening. she also helped out with filming and direction various shots.

• I decided to be a character for our opening because there was no one else available that wanted to do it. My roles were to film,edit,direct and make the sound track for our opening sequence. I was very happy to do these because it was a great chance for me to gain experience and i enjoyed everything. Tope and i also decided on the location that we think would be relevant for our piece.

• kai was responsible for bringing props also such as blood. she kindly help to carry some of the equipments such as the camera, tripod and an umbrella. she also came up with suggestions that we took into consideration.

• Lamar came up with the idea of the schizoprhenia. He also took the responsibility to do a story board despite the fact that he is not a great drawer. He also made the pitch for our group.

karel morris practice thriller 1 thriller

In my last media lesson which was on the 13th january, my group and i created our own thrillling film. our film was about a young girl that got stalked by a man, then he eventually kidnaps her. The location for this was the local shopping centre because it was easily available and it was also relevant to our storyline. we used various numbers of shot types such as long shots, mid shots, close up. we also used hand held camera, zoom and match cut. we used all these techniques so that they would create tension for our film. we also used them so that we could gain practice for when we do our opening for a thriller.

After filming we went into the editing suite to edit our clip. The outcome was great because we had a range of clips to choose from and we also knew what we were doing. Our team work was also great and this gave me confidence for when we will be doing the opening of a thriller. This gave me confidence because it helped me to see that i can rely on my group due to their participation and co-operation with each other.However, due to time we didn't get to add sound effects,music and credit to our clip. Therefore, i have less knowledge and understanding within this field at the moment.

On the 15th january, which was Annabelle's lesson, we began planning our own thrillers. we also looked at A grade work that was marked by the examiner. This helped me to broaden my thinking and helped me to see that alot can be done within 2 mins. it also helped me to see that camera work such as close up is very vital because it creates tension.

During the process of our planning, we each thought of ideas for a thriller. firstly we thought of the location, time of day, and then the plot. Despite doing this we still found it hard to figure out a story line that was simple effective and possible, therefore we decided that we would think of an idea during the weekend.

In todays lesson (20th january), we were still struggling to think of an idea. However, further on in the lesson we finally thought of an idea. we developed lamar's idea which is about a man that recites methods as he gets closer to the object. he has a split personality and does questionable things due to his illness. we used Lamar's idea and linked it to kai's location which is that of a fun fair. we did this because they had a connection and it would create more tension and it would be more thrilling. we also made a pitch and a storyboard. we did this so that we have a guideline of what to do when creating our thriller.

karel morris (examples of thriller)

EXAMPLE OF THRILLERS:

• THE THIRD MAN







• THE USUAL SUSPECTS







• PSYCHO







• PROM NIGHT







• EAGLE EYE







• LOVE LIES BLEEDING







• DECEPTION

karel morris (thriller)

Card Game Practical

In one of my previous lesson we were put into groups of 4 and we had to produce a tense and engaging opening of a card game. we had various shot types such as close up, long shot, over the shoulder shots, tracking and panning. we decided to use such shot types because they create tension and they also create an intense mood. After recording, we edited the shots in the edit suite and we was also able to add sound. This practical work prepared me for my thriller preparation because it helped me to organise myself together and it also helped to get a more advance idea of using the cameras,it also helped me to become more familiar with the settings on the computer in the editing suite. However, before we did all of this we had a camcorder tutorial which was ver brief. Itwas given by the media technician micky. During this tutorial we were taught how to use the video reorder and we were taught the things to avoid doin. for example we were taught to avoide zoom if neccessary because if we forget to focus the camer before we zoom then the shot will be very blury.

In another media lesson we watched a thriller film called The Shining. The shining is about a hotel that's built in a grave yard and is possessed by evil spirit. then a family goes to the hotel o stay and the husband becomes possessed and he tries to kill his family. We also looked at what a thriller is and why a thriller differs to a horror.

What is a thriller?

A thriller is a film that provides one goal- to thrill the audience and to keep them in suspense. it also leave the audience cliff hanging at the edge of their seats as the plot gradually builds towards a climax. plots of thriller involves characters that come into conflict with eachother or with outside forces. we see an an example of this in the film called "The Shining". Thrillers and Horrors are similar in the sense that they both thrill the audienece. however they differ because thrillers films revolve around things that are likely to happen in everday life, whereas horror films are more supernatural and doesn't reflect real life situations.

Whilst doing research on thrillers, i found out that Characters in thrillers include convicts, criminals, stalkers, assassins, down-on-their-luck losers, innocent victims (often on the run), prison inmates, menaced women, characters with dark pasts, psychotic individuals, terrorists, cops and escaped cons, fugitives, private eyes, drifters, duplicitious individuals, people involved in twisted relationships, world-weary men and women, psycho-friends, and more. The themes of thrillers frequently include terrorism, political conspiracy, pursuit, or romantic triangles leading to murder. "http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html">http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html.In my last media lesson we watched thrillers that were produced by the previous year group. some of their work were very good because it made me want to watch more whereas others weren't so good because i didn't clearly understand the opening and it wasn't engaging. Watching these examples of thriller openings was very helpful for me because it gave me ideas of what i could do for my thriller. It also helped me to realise the qaulity of works that are worth A grades. in addition to all these factors, watching the thriller films helped me to know in advance the things that i should avoide doing and the things that are worth doing.

In Anabelle's lesson we looked at what matched cut is and how it is used. matched cut is when two different shots are used and then joined together to show a continuity from something, instead of showing the whole process. An example of this is that a camera person will show a shot of a man opening his door, then another shot will show the man in his car starting his car; instead of showing the man opening his car door then getting in his car, putting on his seatbelt belt and starting the car.

In this lesson we also looked at a film produced by the media department which showed matched cut. It also showed titles and headings that reflected a situation. Before watching this film and getting a clear understanding of what a matched cut is we had to come up with our own matched cut of a man "transferring a file from his computer, smoking and then posting the file. After completeting this task we had to plan our own thrill opening that included matched cut.