Editing practise with Imogen Welsford

In order to practice editing for our coursework, my self and Imogen in a pair were given clips of video and audio from a scene of film and were asked to reconstruct the scene ourselves in Adobe CS3 Premier Pro, a professional piece of editing software on the Mac's. We had to trim all of the clips, place them in the right order and in the right times, cut and place in the audio clips, create and place in titles. We did this as a team, working together to decide where and what to cut/trim and where they should all be placed. As a final cut I think that myself and Imogen did a great job when comparing the sequence to the original. I believe that all of our timing with the visuals and audio were all near perfect and that through our editing I believe that we successfully created a sense of anticipation and suspense which was apparent in the original edit. I think the one weakness that we had is that the titles were a little off, our font decision didn't match those of the original and i think that we inadvertently at points used different fonts. Apart from this i think that me and Imogen did a great job.

Our Edit....

Continuity Task: Evaluation

All in all I think that the process of planning, filming, editing and our final piece went very well. I think that our group ethic and individual roles definitely helped tom make this task enjoyable as well  as a great way to improve our skills in film making. The final film i believe is very strong and follows all of the rules that was placed upon it (See previous post). To start, i think that our opening sequence that we filmed in the cafe was very strong. I believe that we used a variety of camera angles along with a shot reverse shot. The pace of the editing was consistent and we are very happy with that part of the sequence. During the sequence where i am walking i think we could have improved on slightly. I think that all of the shots were strong and that they all worked well in terms of setting a scene and working along side with our non-diegetic music but i think that the shot in where there is tracking is not as strong as it could have been. I think that their was a bit to much camera wobble and that the shot was a little do different and didn't help with setting tone within the sequence. At the end of this walking sequence there is a shot of me entering a door, where in fact i enter through one door and exit through a different door leading into a different location, which i thought was quite clever. The dialogue sequence followed and this is I believe is where the most variety is with in the short film. We used long, medium and close ups, zooms, low and high angles. I think that all of these elements added up to make a strong final sequence to our film. I think that if were to change this last sequence I think we should include the use of over the shoulder shots during the dialogue to give a bit more variety and just in general give it a more polished finish.

Myself and my group are very happy with our effort and hope that the skills and processes used to create this will carry over and help us with the making of our final film.

Continuity Task: Finished Edit

This is mine, Charlee's, Imogen's and Bethany's finished continuity task.

I will evaluate in a following post.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoAHBSTtd4E

Continuity Task: Filming

Last Wednesday we filmed out continuity task. As we needed our friend Giles as an actor and his timetable was a bit different to ours we were forced to film the last scene first. This was ok as we had the time to film the rest of the scenes that day. Our first location was the corridor downstairs in the Chikara centre so we set up our camera on a tripod to film a long shot with an eye line match of myself entering the room. This was followed be us filming the dialogue sequence of our film, using SRS's with an eye line match and also a few other camera angles thrown in such as an low angle shot looking up at Giles at one point. Once this had been done we filmed the shot of myself storming out of the room using a low angle long shot.

Once this had been completed we started to film the beginning and middle section of our film. Our location for the begging of our scene was the Cafe 2000 where i would be alone and i would receive a text that wasn't meant for me. We started with a  long shot of myself at a table, establishing my location, then cutting to medium shots of me. When receiving the text, we filmed my phone actually receiving a text which we would then add in sound effects whilst editing. we then filmed a quick SRS between myself and the text on the phone. This then cuts to a medium shot of myself standing up and then cutting to a low angle shot of my feet leaving the room, showing i am changing location. From this point on we filmed myself from a variety of angles walking down the Java corridors until i reach the LRC doors. 

This ended the filming process and we were all very happy with how it had gone. I believe personally that how choices of locations and sots to use were interesting and varied, which will hopefully all add up to make a good short sequence as part of our practice in filming and editing. 

Continuity Task: Storyboard

In our coursework group, Myself, Imogen Welsford, Charlee Murphy-Frost and Bethany Ainsworth-Coles, we came up with our idea for our Continuity Task mini film. 

We would have a man receive a message he wasn't supposed to by his partner, revealing that they had be cheating on the protagonist. He would then walk to the place that he knew they would be and confront them. This includes an extended walking scene which is where we will showcase the different camera angles and movements we know and are able to use. When the protagonist eventually arrive's he see's the man and woman kissing and becomes upset. This is the point where the dialogue would start. We will be using SRS eyeline matching shots during the dialogue with a few different camera angles and placements. After this exchange the protagonist will leave and the film will end.

This is the storyboard that myself and Imogen created whilst Charlee and Bethany worked on locations and dialogue.

 

Continuity Task: Introduction and Planning

We have taken a short break from the planning of our short film so that we can complete a 'Continuity Task'. The task has been set as wuick practice of making film and following the rules of planning and filming. We have been set the task to create a minute long piece of film that showcases the following skills:

- Not breaking the 180 degree rule
- Using different types of shots and angles
- Using non diegetic and diegetic audio
- Using a Shot Reverse Shot
- Using dialogue between 2 or more characters
- Keeping a sense of Continuity throughout the film

Our first task is to come up with a quick concept and to create a storyboard which we will complete this week.

Planning: Narrative, Mise-en-scene and finer details

We have now started to decide on the finer details of our film and also produced a shot list.

The Narrative (As written by our entire group):

The film begins in black and white; with a shot of the television with a broadcast from a priest or a Bishop. The non diegetic dialogue continues however there's a jump cut to an over the shoulder shot of our protagonist watching the TV, there's then a cut to the polaroid pictures focusing on a man and a woman, however there are other pictures around but aren't in focus. The written on the pictures are the titles for our film. This then repeats a few times, changing picture and name every time. There is then a shot of the protagonists child playing in another room near where the protagonist is. Following this, the protagonist leaves the room he is in and approaches a door, with a close-up of the door handle and the protagonists hands. The shot then cuts to the man on the other side of the door walking down a hallway. Colour is then introduced to the scene as he walks down the hallway, then the shot cuts to a close up of a door with a padlock. The protagonist then walks into the room where the people who are being tortured have been, they aren't in focus. Thought the film the protagonists face hasn't been shown. 

This is the idea we have at the moment however we may have to change some things depending on the location we film it at as we may not be able to find somewhere with a basement. We decided to start planning some of the mise-en-scene, lighting, make-up  costumes and the location, as well as this we have started to think about actors who could play the parts. 

Characters:
Male protagonist - 20-30 years old, innocent looking, dressed as an average family man.
Woman captive - In her late teens (18-21), heavy make-up and torn clothing.
Man captive - Young man (18-25) small, weak. Ripped trousers, no shirt.
Son -  5-10 years old, protagonists son/

Location:
Family home, fairly wealth, quite large house, living room connected to another room where the child plays.
dark, empty room (basement?) space for 3 characters and desk.Corridor leading from living room/stairs to basement

Props:
Chains, TV, bibles, crosses, table, polaroid pictures.


Sound:
Non diegetic score -  Myself and Charlee will be making some original music to suit the tone of the film with possible samples of royalty free audio.
Diegetic - Dialogue, sounds of chains and doors slamming (Foley),  TV.

Brainstorming: developing our idea's

After out previous brainstorming session, we have decided to delve into the sub genre of Religious Thrillers. In response to this idea, as a group we have decided to do the research into the following so that we can start to develop a better understanding of these genre's: 
The codes and conventions, the history of religious thrillers, a few analysis' analyse of the opening sequences of a couple of religious thrillers, plots that have been used in the past for religious thrillers.

We started brainstorming ideas and talked about religious thrillers that we had all watched, which in retrospective wast many so this is the reason we decided to go away and do some research on the topic. As a group we started to develop an idea for our film in where there would be a extremist catholic who captured and tortured people who had sinned, with his aim being to cleanse the population of people who he doesn't see deserve the gift of life. After a discussion and a brainstorm we all agreed that this could be a very good, different and interesting as religious thrillers are quite rare in the modern era of popular films.After deciding that we liked this plot idea, we brainstormed all of the ideas and anything that we thought we could include within the film in terms of plot, locations, props, narrative etc. Our ideas concluded to that the protagonist is living in a family home, perhaps with a family member in the scene at some point, then going downstairs or outside into a garage or a basement, where two people will be found to have been captured by him. We talked about how long each scene would take and what we would need for the planning and the making of the film. I think that this is a strong and different idea so far. The next stage of our development will be deciding on the finer details of the story and narrative and once this has been done we will start to storyboard. 

Planning: Initial Brainstorming

This week myself and my group have begun the planning and preparation for the production for our film. We started by having discussions about sub genre's and hybrid's genre and weather what we type of genre we should choose for our film and we've discussed all of the ideas that we've come up with threw brainstorming and recording a few of our discussions. At first we began with the idea of a crime based thriller with some physiological elements, we recorded the audio of that conversation and threw around a couple ideas that could possibly expand into more processed and developed ideas.

We continued on to discuss about the other aspects of production such as the art style of the film. as a group we all agreed that we liked 'Sin City's' style of cinematography. The films very arty and clever in the way it had been produced and as a group we were taking inspiration from this. In discussions about how we we like to shoot our film, we also talked about having a hand-held camera equipment to use when recording. We thought of this as it could give the audience a better sense of a connection with  the protagonist. We brainstormed and talked about ideas for the crime thriller and had a re think and decided that the idea of a crime thriller just seemed really over done and boring so we started to brainstorm different and interesting sub genres we could explore more into.  As we ended our discussion we started thinking of more ideas and came up with the possible idea of a religious thriller so in the new week we will be continuing to discuss this idea and expand on this idea. 

Discuss the way social status is represented in this extract from Merlin.

Discuss the way social status is represented in this extract from Merlin.

The extract begins with a long shot of Merlin (our protagonist), establishing his location in which he is in a building consisting of tall white pillars and stain glass windows. These are examples of the way the mise-en-scene is used to connote wealth in this section of the extract. This symbolic sign of wealth within the setting juxtaposes Merlin's presence, as his Merlin's raggedy bland brown clothing he where's is also a symbolic sign connoting his wealth. This juxtaposition signifies that Merlin is somewhere that he shouldn't be. This is idea is supported as the shot cuts to him entering an office within the building, at this point, a non-diegetic score begins. The ear-y use of strings as he enters, coupled with the SRS of an panning establishing shot of the room, also coupled jump cuts of Merlin looking back over his shoulder at the door signifies to the audience that he is In an environment he shouldn't be.

As Merlin starts to snoop around the office, close up shots of items on the desk such as unmarked books and a doll creates a sense of mystery with in the setting. This is supported as the non-diegetic score then begins transition in to a piano that calms the pace of the scene; the calm before the storm. Once again, an SRS shot of Merlin looking back at the door is a connotation of him being out of place. As the score then starts to increase in intensity, the shot cuts back to the out side of the office with a medium shot of woman approaching the door. She wears a purple dress with her hair up. The colour purple is known to be a symbolic sign of wealth, this connotes that she is more likely to be an inhabitant of the building the scene is shot in, well at least more than the poorly dressed, intruding Merlin. The diegetic sound of a clanking lock is an indexical sign that someone has opened a door, Merlin notices and causes the editing to immediately increases in pace with a fast SRS between merlin hiding the book he had picked up off the desk and the door where the woman enters.

As the woman enters the non-diegetic score comes to a halt and the camera switches to an over the shoulder shot of Merlin. As the woman starts to speak, we can see an eye line match between the two characters, this can be connoted that they are equal in respect for each other and in social status, though the scenes mise-en-scene use of clothing suggests otherwise. As they converse, jump cuts between over the shoulder mid shots give the audience an understanding of the characters POV. This seems to suggest that Merlin and the woman are equal in this conversation as if in this moment in time class is irrelevant, although the use of the editing's quick cuts and SRS's, coupled with Merlin's stuttering of diegetic dialogue and nervous movements connote that he feels as his social status does not warrant him to be in this location. As Merlin reaches to give the woman the package he is delivering a SRS with a stab of non-diegetic music occurs as we see a quick shot of the woman in the mirror appearing as some sort of skeleton or monster. This appearance of some type of curse or magic forebodes Merlin's eventual use of magic in the extract later on. The music then fades back into the score that was playing before hand as we see a close up shot of the woman's face, showing her facial expressions as Merlin exists behind her.

Merlin exists the castle and continues to walk into a street market where a eye line panning shot following Merlin, as well as showing his movement, establish his location. We can see here now that the location of the street markets completely juxtapose that of the castle. The colours are dull and unexciting as are the people. The supporting cast extras are all dressed similarly to Merlin, connoting that Merlin is among his fellow lower class people. No non-diegetic audio is used In any part of this shot, only the diegetic noises of animals, blacksmiths and extras talking is present in the scene. This could be a suggestion that the every day working lives of the lower class people is boring; life without music would be terrible. This shot then ends and cuts to a medium shot and a new characters the extract, Arthur (Our antagonist) and his cronies. This medium shot of Merlin and these new characters transitions into a close up of Merlin as he walks towards the camera and stops due to diegetic dialogue by Arthur, thus showing Merlin's facial expressions and emotion towards Arthur's comments.

This then cuts to an over the shoulder shot of Arthur which from this point there are inter cutting SRS's between Arthur and Merlin. Arthur’s status becomes very apparent in these quick cuts, Arthur is dressed in metal armour along with his back up crew. Armour is a symbolic and indexical sign that Arthur is a warrior, a soldier. Someone is part of the upper class, a class that Merlin is not apart of. To support this his friends are carrying weapons which are a symbol of power and strength. Although they are dressed similarly, we can tell that Arthur's friends are still lower than Arthur in the social pyramid. There positioning on the screen, them standing behind Arthur, to the sides of the shot in a soft focus, connotes that Arthur is more powerful than them and possibly they have to abide to Arthur. Through this conversation between Merlin and Arthur, there is in eye line match which could suggest that in this particular encounter they are equals, although this is juxtaposed by there appearances (Relating to social status). Merlin's cockiness and confidence that he could beat Arthur in a fight causes Arthur to challenge him, which is signified with Arthur tossing a chained mace at Arthur. In his attempt to catch it, diegetic Foley of a chain clunking is a sign that this encounter between the protagonist and antagonist is going to lead to a fight, which is foreboded earlier in the scene by Merlin's smug-ness.

The shot then cuts back to inter cutting between the two conversing where diegetic dialogue has Arthur say 'You can't address me like that'. This is Arthur denoting that as he is of a higher social status than Merlin, that Merlin has to address him with a title (Such as 'My lord). This piece of dialogue shows that social status is an essential part of Arthur, he is used to people addressing him In such a way that when someone doesn’t, he feels uncomfortable or even offended. This is what causes Merlin to bow down in front of Merlin, thus breaking the eye line level that they were talking at and cause the camera to tilt down at him, signifying his lack of status. This response from Merlin cause's Arthur to take the first swing of his mace, the battle has begun.

High tempo non-diegetic music begins which immediately increases the intensity during the scene. The shot then cuts to a high angle establishing extreme long shot looking down upon the action. This shot further establishes the location of a low class market place, somewhere where Arthur looks out of place where as Merlin does not. The following few seconds after the cutaway from this long shot is packed with fast editing of multiple shots between Arthur wielding is weapon, signifying power and aggression and Merlin backing away and trying to avoid Arthur, connoting fear and vulnerability. Audio in these quick edits consists of non-diegetic period music used to increase the intensity and force upon a feeling of adrenaline, diegetic cry s and shouts from towns people and taunts from Arthur, implying that he is confident in beating Merlin due to his status and training as a warrior (which is connoted by his clothing).

As Merlin is backed into a corner, Arthur takes a swing at him where the shot cuts to a close up to piece which he ends up smashing. This shot is used to show the audience that this not just a little tiff; this is a fight with weapons that are potentially extremely lethal. The real explosion of the fruit also shows Arthur's strength in battle, this is something that he has done before and the jump cut to Merlin's terrified facial expressions suggests this. As Merlin falls to the ground, the power in the scene is really clear.

A low angle shot looking up at Arthur's is a connotation of his power and strong presence within the scene. An over the shoulder shot of Arthur shows a soft focus of metal hooks on the wall, which then sharply become in focus. This piece of editing is used to suggest that Merlin has seen and identified this object. A quick cut then reveals an extreme close up of his eye changing colour, which in the scene is very significant. His eye transitions from being blue to being red. Blue is the colour of the sky and sea. It is often associated with being calm and not aggressive where as red is a juxtaposition of this. Red is the colour of fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, danger, strength, power and passion. This change of colour represents a shift of power with in the scene and the first hint of magic using magic. The metal hooks behind Arthur move and catches his mace, allowing Merlin to stand and once again fight. The shot then cuts to a eye level establishing long shot, showing Merlin's positioning in the scene and frame, in which merlin is in the foreground with Arthur being in the background dressed in shadows. This then starts a frantic piece of editing where rapid switching between a close up of merlin's face and medium shots of Arthur swinging is freed mace. This shot shows that although Merlin has recovered, Arthur is still the stronger and powerful of the too. The non-diegetic music does juxtapose this though. The minor chords and low intense score ha switched to a more high pitched exciting one, connoting the start of a comeback for Merlin.

Another use of the close up of Merlin's face revealing the changing of eye colour is then cut to a high angle looking down POV shot at a box moving and stunting Arthur's attack. As before, Arthur misses a swing of his mace, this time hitting eggs. Once again signifying that this is no little disagreement, it is a dangerous and lethal battle. For a third time we see a shot of a moving object, a rope, tightening and forcing Arthur to fall. This is accompanied by diegetic audio of the accompanying crowd cheering and clapping. They support Merlin and this is probably down to the fact that they are of a similar social status, they feel the same way as Merlin does towards higher classed people such as Arthur and they want Merlin to beat him to show that though they are lower class, they are not weak.

The power at this point in the scene shifts from Arthur to Merlin as Merlin wields Arthurs weapon an starts to swing it. This image of him swinging his weapon is a symbolic sign connoting his strength and power, which up to this point Arthur possessed the majority. Along with the non-diegetic score playing, the shot cuts from a close up of Merlin to an eye line medium shot of Arthur and he sputters the words 'Give up to you?!'. This is Arthur connoting his higher social status commands him not to give up to anyone 'lesser' than him. He is insulted that Merlin believes he has won and that he is giving him the chance to spare him. This example of Arthurs attitude towards his and Merlin's social status is most like the reason the surrounding crowds want him to lose. As Arthur falls to the ground and the high angle shot looking down towards him connotes defeat for Arthur in the battle, it shows him as being smaller and weaker than the upstanding Merlin. As it cuts to a close up of Merlin his facial expression of happiness and triumph switches to one of worry. This is explained as the shot cuts to a medium shot of the crowd with his mentor standing in the background. We know that he is important as he is in the centre of the shot and there is a soft focus on the crowd in the foreground. He wears similar clothes to Merlin and the crowds, suggesting that he is of an equal social status, although in Merlin's world he is an authoritative figure which is established later in the extract.

As the shot cuts back to a close up of Merlin, Arthur rises and the shot cuts to a long shot of behind Merlin where Arthur strikes him with a broom. This with it brings a great use of foley sound editing and score combination. As Merlin is struck with the broom 3 times, each hit is accompanied with a piece of diegetic foley. Its apparent that it is foley as a broom does not make this sound when hit o anything, this creates a low verisimilitude in the shot. At the same time, stabs of no-diegetic musical score are heard during these hits, this gives a real sense of a finale as this is the end of the fight and also the last piece of non-diegetic score for the scene. This then sparks the pace of editing to slow down and decrease in intensity, the fight is over an the pace of editing becomes calmer and more like before the fight. As Merlin is then raised to his feet by Arthur's cronies, again begins the over the shoulder intercutting SRS shots similar to the beginning of the scene. This is a sign of a respect between the two characters, Arthur lets Merlin free whilst commending his spirit and bravery suggesting that even though his social status may be of different standards, at this point they consider them selves as equals.

The scene the cuts to a tracking medium shot of Merlin entering his teachers room with his teacher following close behind him with diegetic dialogue coming from him. This then cuts to an over the shoulder eye line shot of Merlin's teacher speaking to merlin. This is the start of a series of intercutting eye line SRS shots between the two characters. There is no non-diegetic audio or music in this scene which gives the conversation they are having with each other seem more significant as well as being a calmer and more tranquil one; juxtaposing the conversation between Merlin and Arthur during there fight. This constitutes to there being a sense of respect and equality between them. Neither of them feel as if they are better than the other. This is supported in the mise-en-scene, they both are wearing similar dull, raggedy clothing and they are in a location in which they do not look out of place, like Merlin did and the beginning of the extract. During these intercutting shots, the shots that land on Merlin are interesting. He is positioned on the screen on the darker side of the frame, facing inwards towards light that appears to come through an window. This could be a indexical sign that in Merlin's eyes he is in a dark place with in his life and h wants to transition from the dark to the light, which is actually supported by his dialogue within the scene. The end of this conversation leads to Merlin exiting the shot and the extract coming to an end.

Evaluation of My Progress So Far

What have I learnt in this first half term?

One of the first new things i've learnt since starting as an A Level media student is how the use of different camera shots, angles, pace of editing, sounds and music all play a huge part in the setting of a scene and develop ideas and characters in a piece of media text. For example, I have learnt to notice that how a high angle camera shot looking down on a character are often used in film and tv to portray different levels of power that characters poses.
I have also learnt about mise-en-scene. Mise-en-scene is everything that  you see in the frame including costume, props and lighting. I've learnt that this can be used to effect and give depth the text. 
Very importantly i have also started to understand more about what genre really is, especially the codes and conventions of 'Thriller' films as we are going to be making our own intro to a thriller film. 
In this term I have also been learning about title sequences, and how the use of different graphics and pacing of a title sequence can make or break the beggining of a film. 
Sound has been a big part of my research so far. I have learnt about the two different types of audio that are used in media texts; Diegetic (Sound that is in the scene eg; footsteps, crashing waves etc)  and Non-Diegetic (Sound that is not part of the scene eg; music).
A big part of this half term has been spent by myself working in a group so it has been necessary that I work on how to share responsibilities within a group and ensure I manage my own time and work to make sure I'm organised in order to meet deadlines while also motivating my group to do the same. 

Where and How have I learnt all of these new things to me?
I've pretty much learnt everything when working in media lessons and also a lot of it has come from the independent research I have done as part of my groups work using the ocr media studies book I own and researching on the internet. What would then usually happen then is that in class we put our learning into practise by watching a past exam clip, making notes, discussing what we have seen as a class and then (a couple of times) write an exam styled essay. For example, recently we looked at how editing and mise-en-scene was used in the introduction of the 'Titanic'. As well as this work, I have gained an overall understanding of the majority of the topics that we have looked at and discussed about in lessons, this then adding to my knowledge which i would then post on my blog as part of my research. 

My Strengths;

I feel that as I did the Creative and Media Diploma for gcse, that I knew about a few of the topics that we have worked on so far, such as mise-en-scene, foley sound editing and whatnot. I believe that this gives me the strength to take on new information about these topics quickly and efficiently as I don't feel as if i'm being bombarded with new information. I also think that this helps me work well as part of my team as i am able to explain and give advice on things that they may not know as i've already spent a few years doing it. I also feel that I have a good understanding of the editing process as it is something that I very much enjoy doing and have spent a lot of my time doing recently so I feel as if this gives me an edge when learning new things relating to that topic.

My Weaknesses;

I think one of my weaknesses is that I don't feel comfortable blogging as it is something very new too me. I feel as if the content I am posting is good but i'm not posting regularly enough. Another weaknesses is that I have not fully understood the mark scheme, this is something that I can quickly rectify though so I am not to worried about this as I will be reading through that multiple times in the planning process. I also struggle with understanding some of the semiotics we learnt at the beginning of the term as there were lots of different phrases that I need to learn, I have got most of them down but there are a few I need to go back and have a look at again.

Targets
1. To go back and study the mark scheme again to give myself a better understanding of what is required from myself and my group for our exam and coursework film.
2. To show enhance and show a range of skills on my blog, adding audio and video to some of my posts could help this.
3. To continue to go back and read my notes on semiotics and to learn and understand all of the necessary terms.

The History of the Thriller Genre

Thriller is a genre which is used in literature, film and television to create suspense, excitement and tension. The most common use of this subgenre to thriller are mystery, crime and psychological thrillers, however there are also many other subgenres. Thriller is also very closely coincided with the horror genre, To which both use suspense and atmosphere to cause feelings of dread in their audiences. The genre of thriller film developed from well known novels. Then later these novels were studied and adapted and later reproduced into a thriller film.

A film is portrayed as a thriller when the storyline gives the audience thrills, and keeps them on the ’edge of their seats’ as the plot builds up towards the climax. The tension is usually built up by a character being placed in a menacing situation, a mystery, or a trap which seems impossible to escape. There is also use of life threatened during a thriller film, as the main character is usually unsuspectingly or unknowingly involved in an extremely dangerous situation.

The common plots in crime thrillers are ransoms, revenge and kidnappings, which are elaborated on for the effect on the audience. In mystery thrillers, the common methods are investigations and the ‘whodunit’ technique. This is technique when there is a complex plot of a detective story where the audience is provided with clues of the identity of the criminal. The elements which are usually shown in a psychological thriller are mind games, stalking, death traps, obsession. These elements are generally combined to a certain extent, where it creates a complex plot which creates thrills the audience.

The atmosphere in a thriller film is also enhanced through the lighting and use of music. An example of this is from the opening of the film ‘Alien’ by Ridley Scott in 1979. In the opening of this film, the lighting is minimal and dull, this creates the atmosphere of suspense and mystery which links into the thriller genre.

One of the most well known and popular thriller films is ‘Psycho’ which was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and was produced during 1960. This film is a psychological thriller based on the American 1960‘s time period. The film was adapted from the 1959 novel which was written by Robert Bloch also called ‘psycho‘. Both the film and novel are based on the cases on convicted serial killer Ed Gein, this therefore allowed the directors of the film to associate the film with other genres such as horror, drama and mystery, as well as the thriller.

Overall, the genre of thriller is used in various ways to create an atmosphere which excites, thrills and entices the audience to carry on watching a film. This is done in several ways, such as through the use of lighting, mise-en-scene and also with the added use of non diegetic and diegetic music. The thriller genre was a popular genre during the past fifty years and is still increasingly popular within the industry today.

Evaluation - Beth's Research

Beth's research of title sequences throughout history has helped me learn about how title sequesnces have changed. As she's added in links to the title sequences she's looked it, it helped me see the change and then see what Beth's opinions on the title sequences were. It was interesting to find out what title sequences used to be like, and what they are like now. To improve her research Beth could have made it more detailed, maybe saying about why they have changed and made more specific descriptions on how they have changed.  

Beth's History of Title Sequences Research

Beth's research of title sequences in recent history has given me more of an insight into how title sequences have changed and developed over the years. It was great for our research and pre-production to find out what title sequences were originally like before the digital age of film and what they are like now. Beth has also posted the  links to the title sequences she's looked it so that we (The Group) could have a look at what she has been watching. This piece of research that Beth has done has helped me to more fully understand how title sequences have evolved and also what Beth's opinions on the title sequences were. I think to improve her research  Beth needs to involve more detail in her analysis as it wasn't very detailed and could maybe include some more technical analysis. Maybe saying about why they have changed and made more specific descriptions on how they have changed.

Questionnaire Re-Post

As a group, we have decided to re-post our survey in the various mediums of Facebook, Twitter ect so that we can accumulate more responses as our past online survey and physical survey only returned around 25 results. We think this re-post of our blog will help make our research more reliable and accurate in its results. We want to be recieving a total of at least 60 survey responses.

A post of the responses and an evaluation wuill follow in a post once we have accumulated enough results to feel confident in our research.

Questionnaire Evaluation

Myself and my group were very happy with the amount of response that we received for our survey. We received a lot of different answers for our  questions in our questionnaire and this really helps our research. I'm going to do a short evaluation of the answers we received for each question:

Q1) The genders of the people who answered isn't really relevant but we know from this question that   more of the answers were by female's which may explain why some of the following questions are answered as they are.

Q2) The fact that over half of the people who answered this question were over 16 means that they will most probably have seen an 18 and 15 rated film at some point, although some of them probably shouldn't have!

Q3) This is an interesting set of answers, almost half of the people who answered think that discrimination should be aloud to be in films. This is probably answered while thinking 'Only if its within the context of the film rather than just out of spite by the filmmakers'. This is my approach to the situation but over half of the answered think that it should have no involvement at all. Maybe these people haven't thought how I  andv
others have have about the situation.

Q4) This question is a split pot. Its almost 50-50. We don't plan to necessarily use sexual or sadistic violence on our film but it is interesting to know peoples views on it, which seem to be surprising as half of the people who answered feel they are not easily shocked by the subjects.

Q5) I noticed that no one thought that self harm or suicide is shown in films positively which is something that I completely agree with. It is interesting that 36% thought neutral as they must not have had an opinion on this.

Q6) The responses for this question are as our group predicted. Nothing really to elaborate on here.

Q7) Personally, this was one of my favourite questions as I knew the results would be split. I agree with the majority with this one and think that over using swear words and profanity can ruin films. Its good to know that people hold the same views to this as our group does.

Q8) We knew this question would have split opinions but it seems like there is a definitive result for this question which is surprising, although we did expect to have Violence as the top selected answer as this was a shared opinion in our group.

Q9) This question was answered exactly as predicted so theres not much to say here.

Q10) This, once again, was a question that was answered as we predicted whilst sharing our views on the topic discussed in the question.

Sci Fi: A Brief History

These are my class note's on our lesson regarding A brief history on the genre of Sci-Fi

This reserach into the history of Sci-Fi intreseted me a lot as the history to the genre, as well of most genres of film, are basically unknown to me. The first thing I learnt about the making of a new Sci-Fi films, or new films in general, is that no two films are the same. The nature of films is that they are constantly evolving, changing little things about the film so 1, they are not the same as previous films in the same genre and 2, arent so different that fans of Sci-Fi or whatever genre are still going to pay for tickets so that they can see the film.

This explained to me the reasons that older Sci-Fi's and newer Sci-Fi's are so different. Things such as current events and folk tales play a huge part in the making of Sci-Fi's. EG in the 40's the 'Roswell Incident' was huge in the news, talking about a ufo landing in New Mexico. This sparked a craze in alien invasion and ubduction films. Were as now, a lot of Sci-Fi films are about conspirecy theorys and alternative realitys as these are subjects that are relevent and talked about in current society.

In all, this lesson has not only taught me about how Sci-Fi's were born andhow they have evloved, but how genres are constantly grwoing and developing to make new and exciting plots and storys.

RESEARCH: What's allowed in films rated 15 and 18? The BBFC (Done by Imogen Welsford)

DONE BY 

IMOGEN WELSFORD

This is Imogen's research on what should be allowed to be in 15 and 18 aged rated films. This is an extremely useful piece of research as when we are making and producing our own thriller openings we need to know what we can include in piece and what it would be rated if we release it. The main pice of information i ave taken from all of Imogen's research o age ratings is that basically when creating a 15 age rated film, film makers are restricted in what they can include in their films. They are not aloud to include full nudity, not aloud to include discrimination (AKA Racism, Homophobia etc) and are not aloud to use unjustifiable swearing that is nothing to do with the context of the film and the dialogue that is present. 

Overall I think that from this research done my Imogen that our film is most likely to be rated as a 15 as we feel that we will almost definitely include any of the actions in our film that will force the 18 rating upon it. The quality of the research by Imogen is exceedingly good and can only help with our understanding of the BBFC's approach and ruling when it comes to rating films in terms of the age a person needs to be to watch. If we keep on creating pieces of detailed research such as this one we should have a very good start to this piece of coursework. 

Questionnaire Results

This is our teams results for our Research Survey

                 EVALUATION OF OUR RESULTS WILL FOLLOW IN A PENDING POST

Previous Students Films

In last wednesdays lesson we watched some of the previous media students films from last year. Watching these films made myself and our team realise what our films are realistically going to look like and that we will need to continue doing research to get our knowledge and skills up to the standard of the grade A films. It was really helpful to watch these previous pieces of work and to compare them to the films which we analysed for our research.

In the lesson we were also given a mark scheme for the films so that we could try and decide for ourselves what grades we thought the openings were. This exercise really helped me to understand how and what our films are going to be marked on and now that I have a mark scheme this also means that I can refer to it for help if I need it throughout the planning to see what we need to include. This lesson has opened myself and our groups eye into what making a thriller opening will really be like and what our films are likely to consist of. 

Mid-Research Check Up

As a group, we decided to make a quick check up on what we had accomplished for our research so far. 

After realising that between us we had analysed 8 thriller films openings, researched the codes and conventions of thriller films, researched hybrid films, researched how the age ratings system works and produced an online survey exploring thriller films, we knew what we still had to accomplish to finish our research.

We know need to just evaluate and post to our blogs each others work and then do a quick research blog into the history of title sequences. Once we have done this we should have finished our research. 

Thriller Opening's: Team Research Evaluation

As part of our contextual research for our coursework our team (Myself, Charlee Murphy-Frost, Imogen Welsford and Bethany Ainsworth-Coles) have been watching and analysing the first few minutes of various thriller movies so that we can discover and find out why these films were successful and what makes a good thriller opening sequence.

The first thing that i picked up on when reading our teams blogs is that AUDIO & MUSIC plays a key role in a thriller opening. It's used to help create a sense of atmosphere in the film and also to set a mood, accompanying what is happening on screen during the sequence. Our group have all picked up on this and have posted about the audio and music used in thriller openings and I think that the work we have done will help us to progress in the making of our own thriller opening.

When reading through my groups posts, Imogen's posts stood out. Her analysis' in both of the films that she looked at were very thorough and taught me a lot that I didn't already know. The point that I took the most information was her analysis of the actual title sequences themselves. She explained how the use of different colours and shots were essential in success or failure of an opening title sequence. Apart from Imogen's posts, I think our group as a whole have thrown up some very good ideas and points that we need to consider and research more into when producing our own thriller opening sequence.

Thriller Opening Analysis 8: The Forgotten (Done by Bethany Ainsworth-Coles)

---BETHANY AINSWORTH-COLE'S---

Thriller Opening Analysis 7: Sin City (Done by Bethany Ainsworth-Coles)

---BETH AINSWORTH-COLE'S BLOG---

Thriller Opening Analysis 6: Memento (Done by Charlee Murphy-Frost)

---CHARLEE MURPHY-FROST'S BLOG---

Thriller Opening Analysis 5: Psycho (Done by Charlee Murphy-Frost)

Thriller Opening Analysis 4: Frozen (Done by Imogen Welsford)

 ---IMOGEN WELSFORD'S BLOG---

Thriller Opening Analysis 3: Abandoned (Done by Imogen Welsford)

---IMOGEN WELSFORD'S BLOG---

Research Questionairre

This is the link to my groups online questionnaire exploring the appropriate viewing ages and conventions of films. This will be posted on facebook and twitter to try and accumulate as many responses as possible.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/ZXTWVWL

Do Generic Conventions Restrict or Help Filmmakers?

Group 6 2012 AS from Media @ CCC on Vimeo.

Evaluation

-  I think that as a whole our presentation went well. I think we presented our thoughts and ideas well and that we also had confidence and understanding in the topics we were discussing.

- I think we worked well in our transitions also. I think although we all had different sections we had worked on by ourselves for the presentation, the flow between all of our ideas and the correlation of our ideas all added up to a group idea that we planned out to try and communicate from the start.

- I believe that our presentation could have been improved. I think for a lot of the presentation people were reading straight from there notes, making what the were saying very wordy and a bit too wishy washy when we could have been getting straight to our main thoughts and opinions.

Thriller Opening Analysis 2: The Bourne Supremacy

The Bourne Supremacy

Camera Work

The extract begins with quick shots that are currently changing but from what can be scene the majority of the shots POV, this coupled with the quick edits, blurry images and echo-ey dialogue  connoting that the audience are experiencing a flashback or dream. The shot then cuts to a close up shot of the main protagonist  This would have been done to show the reaction of the protagonist to his dream of which he had just awoken from. We then see the man sit up from a medium shot showing his upper torso and head. We see only a silhouette of the man though as the camera is positioned so that the man is blocking light between the light source and the camera, creating a shadow. The shot then cuts to a hand held camera being used to follow the man with a medium shot as he walks and stands. This can be compared to the shots used in the dream as the hand held camera produces a natural camera movement and shake, similar to the dream he just had connoting that he is still thinking about his dream although he is now awake. As the new female character enters, frequent over the shoulder shots are used while the two characters converse in the various rooms they flow between. This give an audience perspective, showing them what it feels like to be on either end of the conversation that is going on between the two characters.

Editing

There is a great juxtaposition between editing styles within just the first couple of minutes of the film. The first shots are very fast paced cuts of blurry and shaky imagery. This style of editing makes it very identifiable to the audience that what they are seeing is some type of dream or flashback. The speed of the cuts rapidly increase until the shot then cuts to the face of the lead protagonist in bed, an iconic sign that he must have been dreaming. From this point editing, as mentioned before, juxtaposes that of the dream as the pace of the cuts, the decision to have longer lasting moving shots and the use of less camera angles and positions slows done the pace of the scene.

Mise-en-Scene

The first aspect of mise-en-scene the audience will see are the use of props. During the dream the audience see lots of different props such as guns, passports ect. As well as this the Lighting during the dream is very unsettled. The switches between darker and lighter shots are constant. The director would have done this to show how unsettled and anxious/nervous the host of the dream feels. Once the dream ends this changes, the lighting becomes very constant. The scene is very darkly lit, denoting that it is night time. The man is wearing shorts and a thin vest, a symbolic sign of heat. The set is very culturally correct. As this scene is located in india, the use of a 4 poster bed with an insect net surrounding it and things such as beads hanging from doorways represent their location in the world. This is supported once the main character and the lead woman walk onto the deck of the house were the audience then sea a beach with the ocean over the edge. 

Sound

During the 'dream' at the beginning of the extract, audio is used in all of the quick paced cuts so for a lot of the time its hard to tell what exactly the sounds are but we know that most of the sounds are diegetic, the sounds that the audience can here are the sounds coming from the various things on screen. As well as these sounds, non diegetic music is introduced into the background. This would have been used to create more of atmosphere of anticipation and fear than would have been possible if the music were not there. Once the dream ends, the sound that is used is entirely diegetic. Sounds such as the crashing waves and wind are used to signify the location of the scene (Near the sea) and other sound such as creaky doors and taps running are all used to create a sense of realism within the beginning of the film .

Thriller Opening Analysis 1: The Bourne Identity

The Bourne Identity


Camera Work

The extract begins with an under sea long-shot  facing upward to ward a man floating in the sea. This shot does not show that much but still reveals to the audience an awful lot. The shot connotes that scene is set in the middle of a stormy sea as the shot shows shimmers of lightning above the sea's surface, also connoting that the surrounding area is stranded as the man has not yet been rescued. When the shot then cuts to being above the ocean, the audience is exposed to an establishing shot where they can see faintly a fishing boat in the distance. This shot is used to start show the audience where the scene is taking place, which is in the sea and aboard the fishing boat. Eventually once the man is rescued and is on the fishing boat, the camera work changes. The establishing long shots that are used to start the film are then juxtaposed by the use of lots of hand held camera work. This would have been done to give the watching audience an example of a POV shot, showing what these events would have looked like through the point of view of the sailors themselves   Once one of the sailors starts to examine the body, lots of close up and POV shots are used to show facial expression of the sailor and to show the attitudes of the sailor towards what he finds out about the man he's trying to save.

Editing

The type of editing actually changes though out the first few minutes of the film. At the start of the film, the pace of the cuts and the use of dark filters on the establishing ocean shots helps to create suspense and establish importance of the floating body in the first minutes of the film. Then is then drastically different to when the floating man is eventually spotted by the boat crew. Then the editing becomes very fast paced. The time between shot cuts are drastically reduced and this combined with the use of the hand held camera shots increase the intensity and urgency of the scene while still maintaining the dark, suspense filled start to the movie.

Mise-en-scene

The man in the water is wearing all black with a utility belt on. This connotes that he may have been on some type of 'mission or task' before being passed out in the sea. The director has done this in the first shot of the film too show that this character will been the main character in the movie and also that there is a back story that the audience do not yet know about, foreboding that we might eventually find out why he was in the sea. The men on the boat all appear as dirty and un-groomed, showing that they may have been out on this boat for days, maybe weeks. Also, the props used when a sailor is cutting open the main characters clothing (Pliers, knives ect) are significant, showing that the sailor has had to of done some sort of thing like this before, weather on a man or animal the audience don't know but this use of props help to give depth and suspense to the scene.

Sound

Through out the beginning of the film, non-diegetic orchestra music is played. First it is slow and calm, building tension and suspense. Then it becomes fast and frantic, signifying the urgency and pace when trying to save the man from the water. Diegetic sounds are also throughout. The sound of the crashing sea along with the sound of thunder and lightning help to the set the scene and build tension in the first minute or so of the film. Also, the use of diegetic dialogue from the sailors is used. There speaking in foreign which is then subtitled in English  This use of foreign language rather than English forebodes that further on in the scene, the main character and sailors may not ne able to understand and be able to communicate with each-other.

Discuss the ways in which Cameron has used binary opposition to create meaning in The Titanic. - Essay

Discuss the ways in which Cameron has used binary opposition to create meaning in The Titanic.

In this extract of The Titanic, Cameron uses an example of binary opposition in the very first shot of the film. The first shot is of the sunken Titanic under the sea that then fades into the newly built, promising Titanic ship. This immediately is presenting the binary opposites of failure and success. The newly built Titanic is a feat of engineering brilliance, while the sunken ship connotes that the ship was a huge failure. The juxtaposition between the sunken ship and the brand new ship is an indexical sign, showing us (in brief) the ships fate in the film. The presentation of the sunken Titanic ship signifies that there is going to be disaster in the film and this being shown at the very start then forebodes this event. The Titanic's sinking was an iconic event that actually happen in April 1912, so Cameron has seemed to have structured it this way to give the audience of the film an indication that they should know that the ship sinks even before the film starts. This use of iconography shows the audience something that they are familiar too, the sinking of The Titanic, and keeps the interested to find out the story behind it all (well, Cameron's version). All of these elements are what helps Cameron to set the tone for the start of the film. Starting with the sunken Titanic quickly turning into the new Titanic gives the film a sense of narrative before the films even gotten started. 

Rose's arrival reveals an instant example of binary opposition. Rose arrives in a golden trimmed car, denoting wealth before we've even seen her. This denotion of wealth is then supported when Rose exists the car. Her hand, laced with a black glove first appears exiting the car to grab the hand of the driver helping rose form the car, showing her upper class. She then exits and her appearance supports this denotion of wealth. She wears purple and white, both signifying wealth and purity. Her first impressions of the ship are not good, she feels that the ship is not as impressive as described and you can tell this by her initial facial expressions when looking at the ship, where as the working class men and women on the dock stare in awe at the ship showing there excitement a long with hints of jealousy of the people who are on the ship. When comparing the working class men and women also on the dock to Rose and her party, we see the binary opposite of rich & poor. The audience can see by the working class peoples flat caps and dark, dreary clothes that there is a very visible barrier between the rich & poor in the scene and most likely throughout the film. The indexical signs that present a juxtaposition between the rich & poor in this scene connote that there will be a bringing together and possibly a clash between the two classes at some point during the film. This scene gives the audience there first introduction of a main character and lets them start to make there own impressions of her, which seems to be that she is a very well off woman who is used to the best in life and isn’t always grateful for what she has.

As people are arriving and attempting to board the Titanic, we see another example of the binary opposite of rich & poor in effect. The first thing the audience notices is that the working class people are forced to get a health check before boarding while the upper class do not. This shows that the poorer people are thought to be possibly dirty and infested by the upper classes and people in charge of the ship. This is juxtaposed when the upper class party’s, such as Rose and her family, board the ship. The upper class are free to enter the ship with no check and are even allowed to bring animals such as dogs on board the ship. The likelihood that the animals are less likely to be infested than the poorer people boarding shows a real separation between the rich and poor in this time period. As well as this, the upper class board at the top of the ship and the lower classes board at the bottom of the ship. This, along with the top of the boat being painted white and the bottom of the boat being painted a sickly green colour, symbolises an obvious divide between the rich and poor when boarding the ship. 

When the audience are introduced to the second protagonist in The Titanic, Jack, there is another example of binary opposites to be seen. Jack is first portrayed playing cards, betting all his money in game of poker taking place In a bar full of working class men (We can tell they're working class due to the iconography of their clothing and location). He speaks the line when playing cards 'If you have nothing, you have nothing to lose.' This piece of speech and reckless approach to the card game shows that Jack is an example of a free spirit, someone who doesn’t take life to seriously.  This is juxtaposed when the other protagonist, Rose, is boarding the ship and we hear her say in her head that she feels as if she's 'chained'. This is an example of the binary opposites of 'Freedom & Restriction'. We see that when jack wins the tickets aboard the Titanic that he is very excited and happy where as Rose feels as if she's being forced upon the ship. This is the first hint too the watching audience that the two main protagonists in the film will at some point have a clash of opinions which will lead to an interesting narrative between the two. These two difference in opinions by Jack and Rose when boarding the ship also shows the binary opposition of 'Grateful and Ungrateful'. The introduction of these two obviously very different types of people are what keep the audience interested. The audience know their will be some type of clash or conflict between the two characters.