Sunday 25 March 2012
Friday 23 March 2012
New and Updated Synopsis Of Our Thriller: From The Dark
On the 8th November 2011 I posted a synopsis of what we thought our thriller opening was going to be like. However whilst we were in the late stages of planning/early stages of shooting we had some new ideas we wanted to try. There were also certain aspects of things like scheduling and location which restricted some of our original ideas.
Our Thriller is called: From The Dark
I have decided to upgrade the synopsis into the format of a shot list etc.
--Opening shot-- is an over the shoulder shot of the enigmatic figure looking out through the car windscreen, waiting.
--Dip To Black--
To our first set of titles: "LIME PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS"
--Cut To--
Panning tilt shot across the young man's bedroom to end upon him in bed.
--Dip To Black--
Dip to black with our second set of titles: "A WINTER'S SUN FILM"
--Cut To--
A high angle shot from the corner of the boys bedroom seeing an enigmatic figure simply watching him. The enigmatic figure gets a call. He takes out his phone and puts it to his ear for a few seconds. Stands up and leaves.
--Dip To Black--
With our third set of titles: "JOE STEVENS".
The reason for this is because Joe Stevens is the actor playing the enigmatic figure.
--Cut To--
Non-diegetic sound of gun shot and stationary mid-shot of boy sitting bolt upright in bed due to be awoken by this sudden noise.
--Dip To Black--
With our fourth set of titles: "JAMES WINTERBURN".
The reason for this is because James Winterburn is the actor playing the young man of 'Jonathan Cody'
--Cut To--
Slow motion wide shot of boy turning on bedside lamp.
--Cross Fade--
With a slowly zooming, low angle, tilt shot of the enigmatic figure looking out the window, taking out his phone and walking away from the window.
--Cross Fade--
To a bird's eye view, slow motion shot shot of the Jonathan Cody cautiously going down the stairs.
--Dip To Black--
With our fifth set of titles: "EDITED BY WILLIAM ROBINSON AND JAMES WINTERBURN".
--Cut To--
Point of view shot from Jonathan's point of view walking into the living room, scanning the room, and seeing his mother 'Eve Cody' dead on the couch.
--Dip To Black--
With our sixth set of titles: "SANDRA WINTERBURN".
The reason for this is because Sandra Winterburn is the actress playing 'Eve Cody'.
--Cut To--
High angle panning shot looking straight forward and then looking down onto the dead mother from behind.
--Cross Fade--
To a low angle, slow motion shot of 'Jonathan' running out of the room.
--Cross Fade--
To a slow zooming, slightly low angle shot of the enigmatic figure looking through the window.
--Cross Fade--
To a high angle shot of 'Jonathan' panicking at trying to open the door, the door opening and him running out without closing it.
--Dip to Black--
To an over shoulder shot of the enigmatic figure watching 'Jonathan' run down the garden path.
--Cross Fade--
To a reverse, long shot from outside the house looking into the window where an enigmatic figure stands. He takes out his phone and turns away slowly.
--Dip To Black--
To a slowmotion following shot of Jonathan running down the road.
--Dip To Black--
To a close up of the cars rear-view mirror in which you can see an enigmatic figures shadowed and overcast face.
--Dip To Black--
To the same over the shoulder shot as the opening shot. 'Jonathan' runs out infront of the car. Slowmotion starts as the headlights are turned on. 'Jonathan' covers his face from the bright headlights.
--Dip To Black--
To our seventh and final set off titles: "FROM THE DARK".
Our Thriller is called: From The Dark
I have decided to upgrade the synopsis into the format of a shot list etc.
--Opening shot-- is an over the shoulder shot of the enigmatic figure looking out through the car windscreen, waiting.
--Dip To Black--
To our first set of titles: "LIME PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS"
--Cut To--
Panning tilt shot across the young man's bedroom to end upon him in bed.
--Dip To Black--
Dip to black with our second set of titles: "A WINTER'S SUN FILM"
--Cut To--
A high angle shot from the corner of the boys bedroom seeing an enigmatic figure simply watching him. The enigmatic figure gets a call. He takes out his phone and puts it to his ear for a few seconds. Stands up and leaves.
--Dip To Black--
With our third set of titles: "JOE STEVENS".
The reason for this is because Joe Stevens is the actor playing the enigmatic figure.
--Cut To--
Non-diegetic sound of gun shot and stationary mid-shot of boy sitting bolt upright in bed due to be awoken by this sudden noise.
--Dip To Black--
With our fourth set of titles: "JAMES WINTERBURN".
The reason for this is because James Winterburn is the actor playing the young man of 'Jonathan Cody'
--Cut To--
Slow motion wide shot of boy turning on bedside lamp.
--Cross Fade--
With a slowly zooming, low angle, tilt shot of the enigmatic figure looking out the window, taking out his phone and walking away from the window.
--Cross Fade--
To a bird's eye view, slow motion shot shot of the Jonathan Cody cautiously going down the stairs.
--Dip To Black--
With our fifth set of titles: "EDITED BY WILLIAM ROBINSON AND JAMES WINTERBURN".
--Cut To--
Point of view shot from Jonathan's point of view walking into the living room, scanning the room, and seeing his mother 'Eve Cody' dead on the couch.
--Dip To Black--
With our sixth set of titles: "SANDRA WINTERBURN".
The reason for this is because Sandra Winterburn is the actress playing 'Eve Cody'.
--Cut To--
High angle panning shot looking straight forward and then looking down onto the dead mother from behind.
--Cross Fade--
To a low angle, slow motion shot of 'Jonathan' running out of the room.
--Cross Fade--
To a slow zooming, slightly low angle shot of the enigmatic figure looking through the window.
--Cross Fade--
To a high angle shot of 'Jonathan' panicking at trying to open the door, the door opening and him running out without closing it.
--Dip to Black--
To an over shoulder shot of the enigmatic figure watching 'Jonathan' run down the garden path.
--Cross Fade--
To a reverse, long shot from outside the house looking into the window where an enigmatic figure stands. He takes out his phone and turns away slowly.
--Dip To Black--
To a slowmotion following shot of Jonathan running down the road.
--Dip To Black--
To a close up of the cars rear-view mirror in which you can see an enigmatic figures shadowed and overcast face.
--Dip To Black--
To the same over the shoulder shot as the opening shot. 'Jonathan' runs out infront of the car. Slowmotion starts as the headlights are turned on. 'Jonathan' covers his face from the bright headlights.
--Dip To Black--
To our seventh and final set off titles: "FROM THE DARK".
Thursday 22 March 2012
Question 6: What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
The camera we used was a Full HD Panasonic HDC-TM55 Digital Camera (1920x1080). The reason why we used this camera was because this was the camera which gave us the best quality picture in terms of movement and lighting etc. Picture of camera is posted below:
Although this was an HD camera, a process we had to go through with our raw footage was to convert it down because our editing software was not compatible with HD footage. Our editing software was 'Adobe Premiere Elements Version 1.0'.
The camera made our edit rather easy in terms of file managing because each shot would be automatically saved as a separate file meaning that we were able to add the single shot we wanted into the final edit if we needed, without having to capture and then cut down masses of raw footage.
At the start of the year we had a preliminary task and our aim was to practise using different shots to imply different things e.g. high angle shot showing vulnerabililty, low angle shot to demonstrate power and authority. This opened my eyes and films became much more interesting to watch because I was able to look through the basic footage and see the deeper meanings and techniques used by the director and lead cinematographer.
At the start of the year we had a preliminary task and our aim was to practise using different shots to imply different things e.g. high angle shot showing vulnerabililty, low angle shot to demonstrate power and authority. This opened my eyes and films became much more interesting to watch because I was able to look through the basic footage and see the deeper meanings and techniques used by the director and lead cinematographer.
In terms of editing I personally learnt a lot about the effect which a simple transition can have between shots. The two transitions we use the most in our thriller is 'dip to black' and 'cross dissolve'. 'Dip to black' is used to add fluidity to the end of shots and beginning of the next. It is used to bridge the gap between shots. In our case it is also used to build suspense because of the constant cutting from the boy, to the mother, to the enigmatic figure, back to the boy etc. 'Cross-dissolve' is when two shots are seen 'through each other' i.e. it is one shot layered on top of the other. We used this to the extent of creating a feeling of 'voyuerism'.
An example taken from From The Dark is seen below. The clearest part of the first shot being cross faded over is circled in red. The second shot being cross faded into is of the enigmatic figure looking through the window circled in green. This is the second shot being cross faded into. This transition in particular is seen at 1:25 through From The Dark. Below are three screen shots to show our cross fading in this transition in particular.
An example of the second main transition used within From The Dark is dip to black. Again example screen shots taken from From The Dark are posted below:
At the start of the year when learning to use a blog I realised it was a very efficient method of displaying work compared to having a paper folder. Having to showcase your work on a blog definitely has advantages. One of these advantages is that you can go back and alter/edit any previous work.
Blogger is useful for uploading different types of documents too and this helps to add variety to your work. These programmes/documents are things like prezi's, clips from films and screen shots. A picture says a thousand words. Other technologies which have helped a massive amount with areas like G321 Thriller Research are YouTube.com and IMDb.com. I am in the knowledge that mobile phones with built in cameras are very useful to have because you can take pictures of things like location 'on-the-go'. Unfortunately I personally did not make use of this technology in particular because it was inside a house mostly. This said I did take a couple of pictures as examples of how the house can be shot to fit thriller conventions e.g. shadows. These pictures were originally taken for G321 Thriller Planning. They are posted below.
I had never used a blog before this year so this was a new experience for me however I have really enjoyed the new dimension to coursework instead of just writing etc.
The other technology that I have enjoyed learning to use is 'Prezi'. 'Prezi' is an interactive style powerpoint allowing you to take your audience on a journey through your information etc. I have found this method of showcasing work to be very rewarding and interesting.
An example taken from From The Dark is seen below. The clearest part of the first shot being cross faded over is circled in red. The second shot being cross faded into is of the enigmatic figure looking through the window circled in green. This is the second shot being cross faded into. This transition in particular is seen at 1:25 through From The Dark. Below are three screen shots to show our cross fading in this transition in particular.
An example of the second main transition used within From The Dark is dip to black. Again example screen shots taken from From The Dark are posted below:
At the start of the year when learning to use a blog I realised it was a very efficient method of displaying work compared to having a paper folder. Having to showcase your work on a blog definitely has advantages. One of these advantages is that you can go back and alter/edit any previous work.
Blogger is useful for uploading different types of documents too and this helps to add variety to your work. These programmes/documents are things like prezi's, clips from films and screen shots. A picture says a thousand words. Other technologies which have helped a massive amount with areas like G321 Thriller Research are YouTube.com and IMDb.com. I am in the knowledge that mobile phones with built in cameras are very useful to have because you can take pictures of things like location 'on-the-go'. Unfortunately I personally did not make use of this technology in particular because it was inside a house mostly. This said I did take a couple of pictures as examples of how the house can be shot to fit thriller conventions e.g. shadows. These pictures were originally taken for G321 Thriller Planning. They are posted below.
The other technology that I have enjoyed learning to use is 'Prezi'. 'Prezi' is an interactive style powerpoint allowing you to take your audience on a journey through your information etc. I have found this method of showcasing work to be very rewarding and interesting.
Question 5: How Did You Address/Attract Your Audience?
We used several devices within From The Dark to attract our audience. The first one was the soundtrack posted below.
This is a continuous soundtrack all the way through. At the beginning it is quieter and the timbre is softer. It is a pulsating sound almost like that of a heartbeat. It builds the further through you go. This is a key factor of building suspense within From The Dark. It helps to engage the audience until the very end and creates suspense.
It could be suggested that the eery electronic 'whispering' noises reflect past conversations the mother has had either with her son or perhaps the killer...pleading for her life. The muffled words being 'whispered' allude to a possible secret life or dark secrets she has never shared.
Another factor helping to build suspense is the non-diegetic gunshot heard near the beginning of the film and because the gunshot is not within the frame at the time it leaves this event shrouded in mystery. The audience want to know: Where was that gun-shot from? Why was it in the house? Was that bullet intended for 'Jonathan Cody'? The gun-shot sound effect used is posted below.
The reason why we used this non-diegetic gun-shot sound was because it contains an appropriate amount of reverb on the sound seen as smaller and smaller 'squiggly' line above after the initial attack of sound.
The final device creating suspense and tension is the cliffhanger ending. At the end of the film 'Jonathan' runs out in front of car headlights and this raises all sorts of questions within the audiences mind, such as is the person driving the car good or evil? Is this the same enigmatic figure as the one seen in the house? Is 'Jonathan' about to die himself? The ending helps to heighten suspense and curiosity.
Different audiences go to see thriller films with certain expectations. For example, when somebody goes to see a thriller they will already have a list of things in their mind which they can expect, such as the ubiquitous theme of good vs. evil, a crime (usually a murder but can be something like robbery etc), a tense soundtrack, possibly a cliff hanger. These are all thriller conventions.
Our thriller fulfils most of these. Ours contains a crime (this is the murder of the mother), a reasonably tense soundtrack (which builds towards to allow the tension to rise) and a cliffhanger.
The location was important within our film in terms of engaging and connecting with the audience. The reason why is because the location is a modern middle class family home and the audience will be able to relate to that. If the audience members are able to relate to this factor then this means they will stay interested because it reflects aspects of their own lives.
Within a film it is hugely important to connect with the audience. We hope to achieve this by having the main character as a young person caught up in a web of intrigue and danger. It is well known, that within the film industry, if the audience can connect, engage and relate to the film and its characters then they will derive much more pleasure from watching it.
In our thriller From The Dark there is a constant reminder, through the means of cross dissolved shots etc, of an enigmatic figure. Take note that the enigmatic figure is always shrouded in the dark and the boy is always seen in the light. These are thriller conventions; keeping the potential killer/criminal a mystery or secret from the audience. An example of this is in Carol Reed's 'The Third Man'. The first time we see 'Harry Lime' is just over an hour through the film. Up until this point he has been shrouded in mystery and intrigue.
The boy is always seen in the light and the enigmatic figure is always seen in the dark. It could be argued that this represents the ongoing battle in society of 'good vs. evil'. This is consistent until 'Jonathan' goes to run out of the front door after finding his mother dead. Jonathan runs out into the night and this symbolises the two characters ('Jonathan' and the enigmatic figure's) world colliding.
We had two students watch From The Dark and rate it on a questionnaire. The purpose of this excersise is to get an external view and their opinions/criticism. The results are posted below.
This is the first audience feedback form. One criticism is that we need to make the bedroom scene "feel less homey". This is one point which was raised during shooting but the reason we did not alter this scene is because we wanted to maintain the connection between the location and the audience (e.g. it looks like a typical teenage bedroom which our demographic can relate to).
This is a continuous soundtrack all the way through. At the beginning it is quieter and the timbre is softer. It is a pulsating sound almost like that of a heartbeat. It builds the further through you go. This is a key factor of building suspense within From The Dark. It helps to engage the audience until the very end and creates suspense.
It could be suggested that the eery electronic 'whispering' noises reflect past conversations the mother has had either with her son or perhaps the killer...pleading for her life. The muffled words being 'whispered' allude to a possible secret life or dark secrets she has never shared.
Another factor helping to build suspense is the non-diegetic gunshot heard near the beginning of the film and because the gunshot is not within the frame at the time it leaves this event shrouded in mystery. The audience want to know: Where was that gun-shot from? Why was it in the house? Was that bullet intended for 'Jonathan Cody'? The gun-shot sound effect used is posted below.
The reason why we used this non-diegetic gun-shot sound was because it contains an appropriate amount of reverb on the sound seen as smaller and smaller 'squiggly' line above after the initial attack of sound.
The final device creating suspense and tension is the cliffhanger ending. At the end of the film 'Jonathan' runs out in front of car headlights and this raises all sorts of questions within the audiences mind, such as is the person driving the car good or evil? Is this the same enigmatic figure as the one seen in the house? Is 'Jonathan' about to die himself? The ending helps to heighten suspense and curiosity.
Different audiences go to see thriller films with certain expectations. For example, when somebody goes to see a thriller they will already have a list of things in their mind which they can expect, such as the ubiquitous theme of good vs. evil, a crime (usually a murder but can be something like robbery etc), a tense soundtrack, possibly a cliff hanger. These are all thriller conventions.
Our thriller fulfils most of these. Ours contains a crime (this is the murder of the mother), a reasonably tense soundtrack (which builds towards to allow the tension to rise) and a cliffhanger.
The location was important within our film in terms of engaging and connecting with the audience. The reason why is because the location is a modern middle class family home and the audience will be able to relate to that. If the audience members are able to relate to this factor then this means they will stay interested because it reflects aspects of their own lives.
Within a film it is hugely important to connect with the audience. We hope to achieve this by having the main character as a young person caught up in a web of intrigue and danger. It is well known, that within the film industry, if the audience can connect, engage and relate to the film and its characters then they will derive much more pleasure from watching it.
In our thriller From The Dark there is a constant reminder, through the means of cross dissolved shots etc, of an enigmatic figure. Take note that the enigmatic figure is always shrouded in the dark and the boy is always seen in the light. These are thriller conventions; keeping the potential killer/criminal a mystery or secret from the audience. An example of this is in Carol Reed's 'The Third Man'. The first time we see 'Harry Lime' is just over an hour through the film. Up until this point he has been shrouded in mystery and intrigue.
The boy is always seen in the light and the enigmatic figure is always seen in the dark. It could be argued that this represents the ongoing battle in society of 'good vs. evil'. This is consistent until 'Jonathan' goes to run out of the front door after finding his mother dead. Jonathan runs out into the night and this symbolises the two characters ('Jonathan' and the enigmatic figure's) world colliding.
We had two students watch From The Dark and rate it on a questionnaire. The purpose of this excersise is to get an external view and their opinions/criticism. The results are posted below.
Overall between our two participants I think that our opening received high praise and positive feedback.
Tuesday 20 March 2012
Question 4: Who would be the audience for your media product?
Our target audience is likely to be middle class males between the ages of 18-25. There are several justifications as to why this is our specific target audience.
The main character is within the age demographic of our own target audience (16-25 years of age) so it is likely therefore that the audience will be able to identify with the main character the best.
Another reason why we believe this is our main target audience age demographic is because our audience will be able to sympathise with the main character. They will also be able to empathise with him. The audience can put themselves in his position.
The term 'stalking' is hard to define because unlike other crimes which are usually single defining events, stalking is a series of events over a stretched period of time. There is a constant theme running throughout From The Dark and this is the theme of voyeurism. We create the feeling that the main character is constantly being watched. From The Dark relates to the concept of stalking which has recently received renewed attention in the press due to a campaign which took place in March 2012 to create a new law solely focusing on stalking crimes. Until now stalking had simply come under the Protection from Harassment Act founded in 1997. The fact that this has had plenty of media attention recently means that our target audience are likely to be familiar with it, living in contemporary Britain.
Within society through the medium of media e.g. newspapers our chosen age demographic are often portrayed as the protagonists . However From The Dark challenges this stereotype by positioning the teenager in the role of the victim.
In From The Dark there is a shooting (although it is not within the mise-en-scene when it happens). It could be argued that From The Dark will appeal more to men than women due to the violence. The reason I state this is because in thriller films where there is a lot of action, men seem to rate it higher. The evidence I have to support this point is from the film 'Minority Report' directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 2002. This is a futuristic thriller containing lots of fast-paced action and violence. According to the respected IMDb.com (Internet Movie Database.com) user ratings, the demographic who rated it the highest were 'males under 18' rating it at 8.1 whereas 'females under 18' rated it at only 7.7. The second example is David Michod's 'Animal Kingdom'. 'Males under 18' rated this film as 7.6 and 'females under 18' rated it at only 7.4.
Below is a prezi I have compiled summarising our target audience.
The main character is within the age demographic of our own target audience (16-25 years of age) so it is likely therefore that the audience will be able to identify with the main character the best.
Another reason why we believe this is our main target audience age demographic is because our audience will be able to sympathise with the main character. They will also be able to empathise with him. The audience can put themselves in his position.
The term 'stalking' is hard to define because unlike other crimes which are usually single defining events, stalking is a series of events over a stretched period of time. There is a constant theme running throughout From The Dark and this is the theme of voyeurism. We create the feeling that the main character is constantly being watched. From The Dark relates to the concept of stalking which has recently received renewed attention in the press due to a campaign which took place in March 2012 to create a new law solely focusing on stalking crimes. Until now stalking had simply come under the Protection from Harassment Act founded in 1997. The fact that this has had plenty of media attention recently means that our target audience are likely to be familiar with it, living in contemporary Britain.
Within society through the medium of media e.g. newspapers our chosen age demographic are often portrayed as the protagonists . However From The Dark challenges this stereotype by positioning the teenager in the role of the victim.
In From The Dark there is a shooting (although it is not within the mise-en-scene when it happens). It could be argued that From The Dark will appeal more to men than women due to the violence. The reason I state this is because in thriller films where there is a lot of action, men seem to rate it higher. The evidence I have to support this point is from the film 'Minority Report' directed by Steven Spielberg and released in 2002. This is a futuristic thriller containing lots of fast-paced action and violence. According to the respected IMDb.com (Internet Movie Database.com) user ratings, the demographic who rated it the highest were 'males under 18' rating it at 8.1 whereas 'females under 18' rated it at only 7.7. The second example is David Michod's 'Animal Kingdom'. 'Males under 18' rated this film as 7.6 and 'females under 18' rated it at only 7.4.
Below is a prezi I have compiled summarising our target audience.
Sunday 18 March 2012
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